[How it Works](https://ashreadshorror.binderybooks.com/how-it-works/) [Bookshop](https://ashreadshorror.binderybooks.com/books/bindery/) [Publishing](https://ashreadshorror.binderybooks.com/publishing/) [Team](https://ashreadshorror.binderybooks.com/team/) [Contact](https://ashreadshorror.binderybooks.com/contact/) Log in or Sign up The Curse of Hester Gardens Tamika Thompson Save to Your Books [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/Ashreadshorror/9781645663195) [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1645663191?tag=pagesandash-20) 100% of affiliate revenue supports ash.reads.horror We Need to Talk about Kevin as if written by Jason Reynolds and Tananarive Due meets _Model Home_ by Rivers Solomon in an innovative twist on the haunted house novel: about a mother desperate to protect her sons from the twin specters of gun violence and otherworldly menace in their public housing project. Nona McKinley raised three boys in the Hester Gardens section of Medford, Michigan, an impoverished community divided by those who follow their faith in God and those who turn to crime to survive. With her drug dealer husband behind bars and her eldest son shot to death at eighteen, Nona has devoted herself to ensuring her other children escape their brother’s fate. Her second son Marcus is on the right path. He's a valedictorian heading to an Ivy League school. He can get out. But then, strange things start happening to Nona and other residents: mysterious footsteps are heard when she’s alone, people have phantom encounters in the streets, unattended appliances go off at all hours. Even more concerning is the state of Nona’s living sons. Her youngest, Lance, is hanging around with a bad crowd, and Marcus becomes moody and secretive. Sometimes he even seems to act like a different person entirely. Nona has her secrets too. Her affair with the married church pastor has been weighing on her conscience, but that’s not the only guilt haunting her. She fears that someone—or something—is seeking revenge for an act she made in a moment of weakness to protect her family. And now everyone in Hester Gardens must pay the price . . . Show more Get the Bindery app * * * Posts about this title from ash.reads.horror [ash.reads.horror\\ \\ ash\\ \\ • May 8](https://ashreadshorror.binderybooks.com/) \\ \\ Welcome back to another Author Interview! Today I am joined by Haley Newlin, author of T _ake Your Turn Teddy, Not Another Sarah Halls ,_ and _The Film You Are About To See._\\ \\ \\ \\ **1\. I always use this first question as an introduction. Tell us as much or as little about yourself as you would like!**\\ \\ > I grew up on the theatrical terror of William Castle's gimmicks and Vincent Price films — both of which have heavily influenced my work. I have published three novels, including _Take Your Turn, Teddy_, and my latest release, _The Film You Are About To See_ which was featured on the 2025 Bram Stoker Reading List. I have written several short stories, including "The Butcher on Blue Jay Way," featured in Kandisha Press's _SLASH-HER: An Anthology of Women in Horror_, and a story in Nick Roberts’s forthcoming _Haunted Minds: Tales of Possession_ anthology. \\ > \\ > I am the managing editor for Cemetery Dance Magazine. When I’m not writing, I’m watching black-and-white horror films or reading horror books. I live in Indiana with my boyfriend and three dogs.\\ \\ **2\. I just saw the amazing news that you are the new Managing Editor for Cemetery Dance Magazine. That is so exciting. Care to tell us a little about what all that will entail?**\\ \\ > Thank you! I’m really excited about this new role. I’ve written for Cemetery Dance Magazine for about five years, mostly book reviews and author interviews. The managing editor curates this content, edits it, and publishes it. \\ > \\ > I’m excited to work on the next print magazine release.\\ \\ **3\. You currently have three books out. Do you have a favorite that you have written? Was there one that was harder to write than the others? One you have more of a personal connection to?**\\ \\ > _The Film You Are About To See_ is definitely my favorite. When I treat myself to some me time, I’m always watching an old horror flick like _The Tingler_(1959), _House On Haunted Hill_(1959), or _Cat People_(1942). \\ > \\ > I’ve always really loved Vincent Price and William Castle and have dreamed of seeing one of their films at the drive-in, my favorite place to watch horror movies. Then, I got to thinking about if I could host my own dusk til dawn night at the drive-in, what kind of movies would I show? How could I bring William Castle’s theatrical gimmicks to the drive-in setting? And the result -- _The Film You Are About To See_. \\ > \\ > I still can’t believe I got to write a book like _The Film You Are About To See_. It was just a blast. And the best part has been readers going and watching some of the films included on the marquee. I love nothing more than a tag on Instagram and someone shares that they read _The Film You Are About To See_ and are watching _Shock_ (1946), Vincent Price’s first starring role, or _The Tingler_, for the very first time. \\ > \\ > _Take Your Turn, Teddy_ was the most difficult book to write, and maybe that’s because it is the most personal. \\ > \\ > For a while, I said that _Take Your Turn, Teddy_ broke my brain. This story came together about a young boy who lives in an abusive home situation, and when he and his mother flee to a house in Indiana, he befriends a dark entity. \\ > \\ > In my childhood and teen years, most days just felt like survival. I didn’t feel that there was a lot of consistency in my life aside from abandonment, disappointment, and isolation. This is the type of narrative the shadow feeds to Teddy. He comes to believe the bad is his only constant. \\ > \\ > So, basically, I’d written some personal elements into what this road looks like for Teddy. Which, eventually, was cathartic. At first, it was grueling. Like pulling teeth. I’d leave the writing desk just feeling gutted and utterly exposed. But for some reason, I pushed through and kept writing. \\ > \\ > I’m glad I did.\\ \\ **4\. Are you working on any new projects at the moment?**\\ \\ > Too many! I am a firm believer in working on one project at a time. I want all of my creativity and ideas to channel into one project. But, my current project calendar has me working on a screenplay and two short stories, simultaneously, so it’s been an adjustment for sure. \\ > \\ > I begin drafting my next novel in June. I won’t say too much but it sort of feels like a sister novel to _Take Your Turn, Teddy_. It’s bleak and set in rural Indiana during the 1940s.\\ \\ **5\. I know you are a HUGE Vincent Price fan. What are your top three Vincent Price movies?**\\ \\ > I never get tired of answering questions like this! \\ > \\ > I really prefer Vincent Price’s films prior to the 1960s, but there is one exception and it’s first on my list. \\ > \\ > 1. _Diary of a Madman_ (1963) \\ > \\ > 2. _The Tingler_ (1959) \\ > \\ > 3. _House of Wax_(1953)\\ \\ **6\. Do you have any writing rituals or routines that help you get in the writing zone?**\\ \\ > I like to start each writing session by listing out a few things I’m most excited about within the project. Maybe it’s the setting, like 1959 at a dusk til dawn Spooktacular, hosted by the local drive-in (as in _The Film You Are About To See_), or a new piece of research I stumbled upon. Sometimes just being reminded of the passion and taking a moment to reconnect to it, makes a blank page less intimidating.\\ \\ **7\. What have been your top 2026 horror book releases?**\\ \\ > I can’t stop recommending _The Curse of Hester Gardens_ by Tamika Thompson and _I’ll Watch Your Baby_ by Neena Viel. \\ > \\ > _The Curse of Hester Gardens_ should be studied on college campuses. It’s a story about poverty, gun violence, familial bonds, curses and ghosts. It’s an unshakable and incredibly emotional read. \\ > \\ > _I’ll Watch Your Baby_ by Neena Viel (May 26, 2026) is inspired by Linda Taylor, known as the original Welfare Queen, who Ronald Reagan caricatured as the ultimate cheat of the system and by extension, the American people. I recommend going into this somewhat blind. The supernatural element and secondary POV come together so powerfully. \\ > \\ > It’s about generational and historical trauma, oppression, and the power of friendship. \\ > \\ > It’s quite visceral, terrifying, and unforgettable.\\ \\ **8\. Some of your favorite backlist titles?**\\ \\ > My favorite read of 2025 was Tananarive Due’s _The Reformatory_. I think everyone should read this book. It’s just brilliant. I’m actually currently reading a book recommended to fans of _The Reformatory_, called _Burn Down Master’s House_ by Clay Cane. It will absolutely make it on my list of top reads of the year. I can’t put it down. \\ > \\ > I also really enjoyed _The Possession of Alba Diaz_ by Isabel Canas. It has one of the most memorable endings I’ve ever read. I wanted to leap from my seat and yell “GOOD FOR HER!” \\ > \\ > A favorite nonfiction read that I can’t recommend enough is _Scream With Me_: _Horror Films and the Rise of American Feminism_ by Eleanor Johnson. It totally changed how I see adaptations of horror books like _The Shining_ and _The Exorcist._\\ \\ **9\. Being an indie author yourself, who are some of your favorite indie horror authors/books?**\\ \\ > I love the _Paisley Mott_ series by Kalvin Ellis, _Squirming All The Way Up_ by Joey Powell, _The Long Low Whistle_ by Laurel Hightower (my scariest read of 2025), and you can’t go wrong with anything from Viggy Parr Hampton, Spencer Hamilton, Briana Morgan, or RJ Joseph.\\ \\ **10\. What horror movies have you been watching lately/are on your radar?**\\ \\ > After reading _Your Favorite Scary Movie:_ by Ashley Cullins, I am looking forward to seeing _Scream 7_ once it hits streaming. I had no idea that the original screenwriter, Kevin Williamson, directed it. He’s been through so much with this franchise and the woes of Hollywood, that I was really excited to hear that he’s back. He always wanted _Scream_ to have a queer director, he said he just never would’ve thought that it would be himself. \\ > \\ > I’m rewatching the whole franchise. I’m currently on the second film, which I’m realizing is a lot better than people give it credit for.\\ \\ **Use the space below to add anything else you want to say in! Such as website, social media handles, etc…**\\ \\ I love connecting with horror fans! I’m most active on Instagram and TikTok - @haleynewlin\_author \\ \\ You can also find me on my website - haleynewlinauthor.com](https://ashreadshorror.binderybooks.com/item/39YvCPe9U648szUThS9B/) [AUTHOR INTERVIEW: HALEY NEWLIN](https://ashreadshorror.binderybooks.com/item/39YvCPe9U648szUThS9B/) * * * 15 books Posts about this book from across Bindery [Boozhoo Books\\ \\ Naomi\\ \\ • Jul 25](https://boozhoo.binderybooks.com/) Join for free [As you know, I was informed my cat needs to have two teeth removed and the high estimate is $3300 (SF prices). \\ \\ I just dropped all my Pango books to 50 % off orders of $20 or more. I’ve got maybe 60 books left.\\ \\ If they don’t sell by Tuesday morning, they will be at my free little library!\\ \\ https://pangobooks.com/bookstore/jackofallnays\\ \\ Check them out! Every little bit helps! \\ \\ I’ve added some books to this post, so you can also click through to bookshop- if you’re doing any shopping this weekend. If you buy any book after clicking my link (even if I didn’t include it) I get a small percentage!](https://boozhoo.binderybooks.com/item/QWnHrdr4d5JNbgSJz7jw/) [Pango 50 percent off LAST CALL](https://boozhoo.binderybooks.com/item/QWnHrdr4d5JNbgSJz7jw/) * * * 5 books 3 [ash.reads.horror\\ \\ ash\\ \\ • May 8](https://ashreadshorror.binderybooks.com/) [AUTHOR INTERVIEW: HALEY NEWLIN](https://ashreadshorror.binderybooks.com/item/39YvCPe9U648szUThS9B/) * * * 15 books [Boozhoo Books\\ \\ Naomi\\ \\ • Apr 1](https://boozhoo.binderybooks.com/) Join for free [Hi All, \\ \\ This month, any purchase from my Bindery (through Bookshop . org ) supports Quiet Quail Books, an Indigenous bookstore in Southern California.\\ \\ **Quiet Quail Books** \\ \\ Quiet Quail Books is a California Indigenous-owned bookseller located in San Bernardino, CA. Quiet Quail Books curates book lists and book sales of various Indigenous authored books and diverse books across all genres. Our goal is to get as many quality Indigenous authored books into people's hands and communities. We are a digital online store, do pop-up bookstores in person on a monthly basis, and have a bookstore hybrid office in San Bernardino, CA. Every book you purchase from our list helps us towards funding our supplies for our pop-up schedule. Thank you so much for your support! \\ \\ To find out more information about our office and other interests, visit our website: quietquailbooks.com](https://boozhoo.binderybooks.com/item/OkxZ5mSjO37g3iQ8WZ21/) [April: Quiet Quail Books](https://boozhoo.binderybooks.com/item/OkxZ5mSjO37g3iQ8WZ21/) * * * 8 books 9 [1](https://boozhoo.binderybooks.com/item/OkxZ5mSjO37g3iQ8WZ21/#comments) [Children of Diaspora\\ \\ Rae the Reviewer\\ \\ • Mar 31](https://children-of-diaspora.binderybooks.com/) Join for free [Don't Forget to Support these March BIPOC Releases!](https://children-of-diaspora.binderybooks.com/item/3kCoUHIPkdLeU1aXIruC/) What are you looking forward to reading in March? I was up till 3 am making this list because March truly snuck up on me 🫠 Let me know you’re anticipated March releases and if you’re joining my book club this month where we not only read books by BIPOC, but specifically books by immigrants 📖 #newreleasetuesday #readingrecs #bookstagram #diversebooks * * * 19 books 3 [Boozhoo Books\\ \\ Naomi\\ \\ • Mar 4](https://boozhoo.binderybooks.com/) Join for free [**_Carnalis_** by Tiffany Morris\\ \\ You know I was obsessed with Tiffany's Indigenous sapphic swamp horror novella _Green Fuse Burning,_ so I cannot wait to dive into Carnalis!\\ \\ Wealthy party girl Lauren hungers for human flesh. Her girlfriend Alex, a recently injured dancer, is trapped in Lauren's toxic and deadly spiral. The looming threat of capture may prove to be less dangerous than Lauren herself and the lengths she will go to satiate her needs. Will Alex be next on the menu?\\ \\ Rich bitches? Cannibalism? My favorite!\\ \\ **_The Curse of Hester Gardens_** by Tamika Thompson\\ \\ _We Need to Talk about Kevin_ as if written by Jason Reynolds and Tananarive Due meets _Model Home_ by Rivers Solomon in an innovative twist on the haunted house novel: about a mother desperate to protect her sons from the twin specters of gun violence and otherworldly menace in their public housing project.\\ \\ Haunted house horror in the projects? Are you kidding me right now? \\ \\ Also, blurbed by one of the greats: “Ringing with lyricism and suspense, _The Curse of Hester Gardens_ is a compelling vision of the horror of trying to raise sons in public housing haunted by violence. Despite ghosts and the uncanny, the true terror is the trap of poverty, which tests a mother's love to its limits. Tamika Thompson's sharp characterization and insightful storytelling make this a must-read.” —Tananarive Due, Los Angeles Book Prize and Bram Stoker Award winner, _The Reformatory_\\ \\ **_Indigent_** by Briana Cox\\ \\ Live-in handyman Xavier seems to be the only one who notices. Or cares. After a chance encounter with the culprit leaves him infected with something horrifying, Xavier is thrust into a surreal nightmare of starvation and consumption all too familiar to his gentrifying Atlanta neighborhood.\\ \\ Succumbing to his infection, Xavier is drawn into the cobbled-together family squatting in Leigh Pierce's basement. People who, through a myriad of doomed roads, fell into the same self-destructive cycle of indigency, harboring dark secrets... and darker appetites. Trapped in a dynamic of codependency and complicity, Xavier and his family- new and old- are forced to confront the cost of survival in a world that has disregarded them.\\ \\ A horror that goes after healthcare? Yeah. Sign me up right now. \\ \\ **_Aviary_** by Maria Dong\\ \\ _A young woman undertakes a terrifying journey―and a terrifying transformation―in this genre-blending speculative suspense novel set in South Korea and the US which mixes fantasy, gothic vibes and queer longing, with a shot of feminist body horror._\\ \\ This is a horror about violence, power, exploitation and transformation. NEED.\\ \\ **_The Sea Hides Its Dead_** by Megan Bontrager \\ \\ Trapped in an underwater cave, a group of academics must face a series of deadly, supernatural trials—each one demanding they confront their darkest sins—in this chilling aquatic cult horror debut\\ \\ Academics studying a sea cult? Trials underwater in a cave to survive? Inject it into my veins. This is crazy. \\ \\ Will you be adding any of these to your TBR?\\ \\ **_As a reminder, any book purchased through my bookshop this month, benefits Black Walnut Books, an Indigenous, Woman and Queer owned bookstore. Check these books out below!_**](https://boozhoo.binderybooks.com/item/g4ZUEKhM225fySA8Ggd9/) [5 Horror Books By Women I'm DYING to Read](https://boozhoo.binderybooks.com/item/g4ZUEKhM225fySA8Ggd9/) * * * 5 books 10 [6](https://boozhoo.binderybooks.com/item/g4ZUEKhM225fySA8Ggd9/#comments) [Boozhoo Books\\ \\ Naomi\\ \\ • Jan 13](https://boozhoo.binderybooks.com/) Join for free [Hello Friends!\\ \\ Coming to drop another 10 horror books written by women that I can't wait to read this year (The Curse of Hester Gardens is a book club read!) \\ \\ 01. 3/17 Mother Is Watching by Karma Brown, - **an art conservator’s obsession with a mysterious painting spirals into a nightmarish descent, where the line between reality and the supernatural shatters, threatening both her sanity and her life**\\ \\ 02. 3/3 The Valley of Vengeful Ghosts by Kim Fu, - **an eerie, spellbinding novel of grief and guilt, with a razor-sharp eye for the absurdity and melancholy of the internet age.**\\ \\ 03. 3/24 Wolf Worm by T Kingfisher, **woman of science, 1800s, gothic, insects**\\ \\ 04. 3/31 The Curse of Hester Gardens by Tamika Thompson- **public housing haunted house, gun violence**\\ \\ 05. 3/10 Cabaret in Flames by Hache Pueyo, novella, **_Interview with the Vampire_ meets _Certain Dark Things_ in an alternate-Brazil where brutal flesh-hungering Guls stalk the night streets and manipulate the government from their glittering cabaret**\\ \\ 06. 3/3 When I Was Death by Alexis Henderson, **YA girls doing Death's bidding**\\ \\ 07. 3/3 Turn Off The Light by Jacquie Waters, **2 women centuries apart, beach read haunted house**\\ \\ 08. 3/24 The Fortune Tellers of Rue Daru by Olesya Salnikova Gilmore, **A fearless fortune teller in 1920s Paris must use her powers to divine who she can trust when an exiled Romanov princess and her brother come to her seeking answers about a decades-old mystery**\\ \\ 09. 3/10 Spoiled Milk by Avery Curran, **gothic, boarding school, queer desire**\\ \\ 10. 3/17 Only Spell Deep by Ava Morgyn, R **ebecca meet The Craft**](https://boozhoo.binderybooks.com/item/pxCGWRpPTjy5kBTLcnHc/) [On Your Radar: 2026 Women in Horror](https://boozhoo.binderybooks.com/item/pxCGWRpPTjy5kBTLcnHc/) * * * 10 books 9 [1](https://boozhoo.binderybooks.com/item/pxCGWRpPTjy5kBTLcnHc/#comments) [Boozhoo Books\\ \\ Naomi\\ \\ • Dec 1 2025](https://boozhoo.binderybooks.com/) Join for free [Hello Folks,\\ \\ Women in Horror Book Club 2026 is gonna be lit! If you aren't in the club, simply connect to the Discord and join us! Book club takes place primarily in the Discord and occasionally, the authors join us for a chat! I will update these photos again once What Feeds Below and Our Cut of Salt have covers out!\\ \\ [Women in Horror Book Club 2026](https://boozhoo.binderybooks.com/item/Lfd0N0OWH02uNd3tCIp0/) * * * 12 books 21 [2](https://boozhoo.binderybooks.com/item/Lfd0N0OWH02uNd3tCIp0/#comments)