Celestial | Black Sheep
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Black Sheep
Rachel Harrison
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A New York Times Best Horror Book of the Year.
A cynical twentysomething must confront her unconventional family’s dark secrets in this fiery, irreverent horror novel from the author of Such Sharp Teeth and Cackle.
Nobody has a “normal” family, but Vesper Wright’s is truly...something else. Vesper left home at eighteen and never looked back—mostly because she was told that leaving the staunchly religious community she grew up in meant she couldn’t return. But then an envelope arrives on her doorstep.
Inside is an invitation to the wedding of Vesper’s beloved cousin Rosie. It’s to be hosted at the family farm. Have they made an exception to the rule? It wouldn’t be the first time Vesper’s been given special treatment. Is the invite a sweet gesture? An olive branch? A trap? Doesn’t matter. Something inside her insists she go to the wedding. Even if it means returning to the toxic environment she escaped. Even if it means reuniting with her mother, Constance, a former horror film star and forever ice queen.
When Vesper’s homecoming exhumes a terrifying secret, she’s forced to reckon with her family’s beliefs and her own crisis of faith in this deliciously sinister novel that explores the way family ties can bind us as we struggle to find our place in the world.
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Posts about this title from Celestial
IT’S CULT TIME!
📚 books mentioned: - The Merry Dredgers by Jeremy C. Shipp - Black Sheep by Rachel Harrison - You Weren’t Meant to Be Human by Andrew Joseph White - Herculine by Grace Byron
👗💄: - dress is from Free People, rented from Nuuly - eyeshadow is Fade Into Hue Palette from Colourpop - mascara is Lash Princess False Lash (Purple) from Essence - lip combo is Lip Liner Stay-n (Clover) from and Lip Elixir (Midnight Lychee) from Sacheu Beauty - (also if you have a question about my makeup or something i’m wearing, most of it is curated in my shopmy!)
thank you to Meerkat Press, Berkley Books, and Saga Press for the gifted copies!
#cultbooks #horrorbooks #horrorbookrecs #nycinfluencer #bookstagram @meerkatpress @berkleypub @sagapressbooks @colourpopcosmetics @essence_cosmetics @sacheubeauty
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cult books • books about cults • horror books • unique horror horror books • dark humor books • unique books • diverse books
4 books
2
Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Jan 23
get ready to be haunted by mothers SO HARD …
get ready to be haunted by mothers SO HARD … here are a handful of horror books with distressing mother-daughter relationships!
📚 books mentioned: - On Sundays She Picked Flowers by Yah-Yah Scholfield - Tender Beasts by Liselle Sambury - Nails and Eyes by Kaori Fujino, translated by Kendall Heitzmann - Black Sheep by Rachel Harrison
👗💄: - eyeshadow is Ellis Atlantis Palette from Blend Bunny Cosmetics and In A Trance Palette from Colourpop - eyeshadow shimmer is Mermaid Palette from Ourbella Cosmetics - eyeliner is Vegan Longwear Eyeliner (Lilac) from Pacifica Beauty - lip combo is Lippie Pencil (Twisted) from Colourpop and Jelly Job Lip Gloss (Honey, It’s Jelly) from NYX Cosmetics - (also if you have a question about my makeup or something i’m wearing, most of it is curated in my shopmy!)
thank you to Saga Press, Simon Teen, Pushkin Press, and Berkley for the gifted copies!
#horrorbooks #horrorbookrecs #disturbingbooks #nycinfluencer #bookstagram @sagapressbooks @simonteen @pushkin_press @berkleypub @blendbunnycosmetics @colourpopcosmetics @ourbella.us @pacificabeauty @nyxcosmetics
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horror books • mother horror books • mommy horror • horror book recommendations • best horror books • queer horror books • diverse books
4 books
Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Mar 17 2025
Women in Horror (60 recs!) | recording & thank you
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2
Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Dec 7 2024
book recs to gift your horror loving reader friends!
book recs to gift your horror loving reader friends!
📚 books mentioned: - Ghostroots by ‘Pemi Aguda - The Unfinished by Cheryl Isaacs - I Was a Teenage Slasher by Stephen Graham Jones - Monstrilio by Gerardo Sámano Córdova - Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah - Black Sheep by Rachel Harrison - Delicate Condition by Danielle Valentine - Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas - The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi
and before you all ask, the incredible Bunnicula shirt is from Out of Print. yes, you all need one, too!!! @outofprint
#horrorbook #horrorbookrecs #horrorbooktok #outofprint #gifted #outofprintpartner #starrysteph #nycinfluencer #bookstagram
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Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Jul 18 2024
books that involve … cults! 🌀and i could share soooo many more.
3 books
Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Feb 20 2024
otherwordly books to read if you have mommy issues
as soon as i made this video i thought of like 10 more books to add, but oh well. here are some otherwordly books to read if you have ✨ mommy issues ✨ (warning: might make them worse.)
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Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Nov 30 2023
drop your messiest book rec down below. 👀 she’s a 10, but she likes reading about …
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Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Nov 1 2023
october reading wrap up time! what was your favorite book from october?
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Posts about this book from across Bindery
Infinite Realms Book Club \ \ Nozomi \ \ • May 25
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6 books
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IT’S CULT TIME!
thank you to Meerkat Press, Berkley Books, and Saga Press for the gifted copies!
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cult books • books about cults • horror books • unique horror horror books • dark humor books • unique books • diverse books
4 books
2
Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Jan 23
get ready to be haunted by mothers SO HARD …
get ready to be haunted by mothers SO HARD … here are a handful of horror books with distressing mother-daughter relationships!
thank you to Saga Press, Simon Teen, Pushkin Press, and Berkley for the gifted copies!
.
horror books • mother horror books • mommy horror • horror book recommendations • best horror books • queer horror books • diverse books
4 books
ash.reads.horror\ \ ash\ \ • Nov 5 2025
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\ \ Hi all and welcome to my review of One Bad Night published by Aardvark Bookclub. \ \ In case you're unfamiliar with Aardvark Bookclub, they are a monthly subscription box similar to Book of The Month. Not only do they have fantastic book selections each month (including horror books), but they also do a fantastic job with their social media. I love trying to decode the hints they drop each month of what their books will be. Last month they dropped their first ever short story collection. A horror themed anthology featuring some fantastic names in horror fiction. All the authors previously had a book featured in the Subscription Box.\ \ I LOVED this anthology. There was not a single bad story featured.\ \ Below, I plan to break down each story and give my thoughts. I'll do my best to keep this spoil free!\ \ Two Observers of The Slaughter Rights On Gannet Island by Kay Chronister\ \ \ \ To kick off the collection we follow an anthropologist and his wife as they look for a new and groundbreaking discovery for a book. They catch wind of an island where once a year a mysterious ritual is preformed. The couple is allowed to stay and view the ritual as long as they don't interfere.\ \ Kay Chronister is the author of The Bog Wife and Desert Creatures. Chronister's short story featured was a great way to open! I found myself enthralled by this mysterious, isolated community and the strange ritual they do. For animal lovers be warned there is cattle sacrifice in this one. I think this story is perfect for fans of Midsommar.\ \ My Lithopedia by Del Sandeen\ \ \ \ This one helped me learn a new word! In My Lithopedia, a woman learns that she had an unborn twin sister that was extracted as a stone baby during her mother's autopsy. The woman decides to take the stone baby home and things quickly go awry from there.\ \ Del Sandeen is the author of This Cursed House. This one gave me chills. Can you imagine carrying a calcified fetus in your body for decades? And the medical gaslighting in this one is the most horrifying thing of all. Why are pains often dismissed and not investigated? Anyway, this story was wild. I loved the slow descent into madness the story told. I love a good unreliable narrator!\ \ Lady Jawbone by Kylie Lee Baker\ \ \ \ Imagine a world so dark that the only light you see could also be your demise. This is the world Baker has built in Lady Jawbone. It follows Lilou who works in a hellish phosphorus match factory. The only light comes from dim candles and the scalding oven. One day a strange, new worker appears promising an escape to a world full of light.\ \ Kylie Lee Baker is the author of Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng ( a favorite of mine). Lady Jawbone captures isolation and bleakness perfectly! I loved the shimmer of hope this stranger offered the characters in this dark world.\ \ A Necromancer’s Guide to Reconnecting with Your Ex by Rachel Harrison\ \ \ \ What better way to reconnect with your ex than death? Roxanne is able to see and communicate with the dead. When her ex appears out of the blue after years without talking, they take a little time to reconnect. Especially since he's dead...But when he ask Roxanne to resurrect him, she has to grapple with what it means to truly let go.\ \ Rachel Harrison is the author of several horror books such as Black Sheep and So Thirsty. Harrison does a fantastic job capturing grief and the what ifs. Death hits us hard. We do questionable things out of grief--something Pet Sematary by Stephen King captures so well. While this story isn't the scariest out of the collection, it definitely packs a punch for all the people who think "what if I did this instead of that?"\ \ Red Tide by CJ Leede\ \ \ \ This story will make you think twice about working in an aquarium. A woman running from her past gets a job at an aquarium in a small town. When the red tide rolls in, she learns about the mythic "spectre fish" which is a carnivorous mer-fish. When everything around her starts going wrong, she starts to wonder if this legend has some truth behind it.\ \ CJ Leede is the author of American Rapture and Maeve Fly.This one was creepy! It definitely gave me some Into The Drowning Deep vibes with the killer mer-creatures! Leede does a fantastic job capturing beautiful yet gruesome imagery in her work. \ \ 47 Pineview Way by Jennifer Thorne\ \ \ \ An anxious mother drops her son off at his first ever sleepover party. The next morning when she goes to pick him up, the house is gone. The other parents begin losing their memories of their children, but she holds strong in hopes of find her son.\ \ Jennifer Thorne is the author of Diavola. This story captures the anxieties of parenthood perfectly. Sometimes intrusive thoughts pop into our head. Things like--maybe it would've been easier if they were never born. But if given the opportunity would we actually allow that to happen? Or would we fight for the ones we love?\ \ A Meditation on the Existence of Certain Cutlery (There is No Spoon) by SA Barnes\ \ \ \ Commander Janna Field is on a covert mission to the lunar south pole—or so she thinks. Toggling between two realities, Janna must determine whether she’s trapped on the moon’s surface, struggling to breathe in a damaged space suit, or whether she’s actually the victim of an immersive training simulation gone wrong.\ \ SA Barnes is the author of several space horror novels including Ghost Station and Dead Silence. This one messed with my mind! It was so hard to tell what was actually happening. I love a good psychological horror and this did not disappoint. And the isolation of space made it even more chilling. \ \ One Bad Night by Stephen Graham Jones\ \ \ \ And the last story in this collection is One Bad Night by Stephen Graham Jones. Just a heads up animal lovers, this one does deal with a sick, old Corgi! Steck, an aging, lonely man becomes fixated on a sinister green parrot after it predicts the death of his beloved dog. Torn between his dying father and dog, Steck is confronted with an impossible choice.\ \ Stephen Graham Jones is the author of over 35 novels/novellas. This one was just sad for me. The difficulty of losing both a father and a beloved family pet at the same time is something no one should ever have to face--but we do anyway. I think the true horror of this one is how closely it resembles the horrors of real life.\ \ Thanks for reading this review! If you've read this collection let me know your thoughts down below!\ \ Join for free or login](https://ashreadshorror.binderybooks.com/item/ka6RzE5eAypN2R7EL2A1/)
12 books
3
Kurryreads\ \ Kerry\ \ • Sep 11 2025
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Ranking Author Books: Rachel Harrison 📖📚 #booktok #booktoker #rankingbooks #bookranking #rankingauthorbooks #rachelharrison #rachelharrisonbooks #blacksheep #cackle #sothirsty #thereturn #suchsharpteeth #books #horrorbooks #horrorreader #arc #arcreader #bibliophile #bookish #weirdbooks #girlypophorrorbooks #ranking #kurryreads #funhorrorbooks
6 books
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Boozhoo Books\ \ Naomi\ \ • Aug 16 2025
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[Hello My Friends,\ \ I've been working on so many thing but Return to Office has been kicking my butt, so I'm a bit behind on sharing!\ \ I'm so excited to be able to share our first WOMEN IN HORROR BOOK BINGO CARD!\ \ If you've been around for awhile, you are familiar with my Indigenous Book Bingo Cards (we currently have 3!) These are available in my Instagram Stories and in our Community Discord! (Join now if you haven't already!)\ \ I had so much difficulty limiting this to 25 books, so if you fear your favorite female author is missing, don't! There will definitely be more rounds of this game!\ \ I was STUNNED to see that with a total of 191 works being nominated for the Stoker Award best novel that only 26 WOMEN have been nominated since inception! (33 total as some were nominated more than once). That number is egregious. When Tananarive Due won in 2023 for The Reformatory, the last woman who won in the category was Caitlin R Kierman (who is problematic and not recommended) in .....2012!!! There have been times when every nominee in the category were men. There has NEVER been a time when every nominee was a woman.\ \ Women write incredible horror every year. Let's work together to help people read more women. I'll come up with some prize options and will post them in the Discord! There will be one more card coming this year, likely in December!\ \ Our Community Discord also hosts our Women in Horror book club. This month we are reading The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno Garcia and next month we are reading The Possession of Alba Diaz by Isabel Canes (and I've partnered with Berkeley to do a giveaway, so stay tuned!) I've also been working on some upcoming chats! If you're an author who would like to participate in chats, please reach out directly.\ \ If you appreciate the work that I'm doing there are three ways to support!\ \
- Go Shopping From This Post. I receive a small percentage from any purchase you make on Bookshop or Amazon from this post, including books not listed.\ \
- Upgrade your membership to the $5 or $12 tier. This community is striving to make change in the publishing industry. We are dedicated to publishing YA and Adult fiction by Indigenous authors and horror books written by women. Voices that need amplifying! We are currently guaranteed publishing one book per year. My goal is to be able to publish 4. My current goal is to reach 10,000 total subscribers. If you cannot afford a paid tier right now, please refer your friends join as free or paid members! And if you're reading this and not subscribed, please do so now!\ \
- All paid subscribers get behind the scenes access to the publishing industry and as we only recently selected a book, this is amping up now! Paid subscribers also get early copies of the books. Additionally, $12 and $25 subscribers get their name on the collaborator page!\ \ \ Thank you so much for being a member of this community!\ \
She's Heeeere! Women in Horror Book Bingo
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Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Mar 17 2025
Women in Horror (60 recs!) | recording & thank you
24 books
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Boozhoo Books\ \ Naomi\ \ • Mar 16 2025
Join for free
RECORDING: Women In Horror Panel
YouTube link to Women in Horror Celebration, all of the (most of the) books discussed, info about our Discord bookclubs
62 books
2
Boneyard Picnic\ \ Natalie Meagan\ \ • Dec 31 2024
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My Best, Worst and Most Disappointing Reads of 2024
Please enjoy my list of the best, worst and most disappointing books I read in 2024!
11 books
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Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Dec 7 2024
book recs to gift your horror loving reader friends!
book recs to gift your horror loving reader friends!
and before you all ask, the incredible Bunnicula shirt is from Out of Print. yes, you all need one, too!!! @outofprint
#horrorbook #horrorbookrecs #horrorbooktok #outofprint #gifted #outofprintpartner #starrysteph #nycinfluencer #bookstagram
9 books
Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Jul 18 2024
books that involve … cults! 🌀and i could share soooo many more.
3 books
Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Feb 20 2024
otherwordly books to read if you have mommy issues
6 books
Boneyard Picnic\ \ Natalie Meagan\ \ • Jan 12 2024
Join for free
You guys really showed me so much love for my birthday and Iam so grateful and excited to read these beautiful books! You are the sweetest book buds in all the land! Thanks for making 36 feel so special!
ALL THE LINKS YOU COULD EVER WANT
✨ Support me on Bindery? https://boneyardpicnic.binderybooks.com/
🛍 Shop my wares? https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheCrybabyClub
☕ Donate a coffee? http://ko-fi.com/weirdobookclub
📚 Join the book club? https://bit.ly/3Hgz1ex
You can also find me here: Newsletter: https://weirdobookclub.substack.com/ Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@weirdobookclub Bookstagram: http://instagram.com/weirdobookclub StoryGraph: https://bit.ly/3TWDw5N GoodReads: https://bit.ly/3TTHpYX
17 books
Boneyard Picnic\ \ Natalie Meagan\ \ • Jan 8 2024
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I don't like sticking to lists, I am a mood reader with an aversion to being told what to do - even if I am the one doing the telling. BUT if I did stick to a list this year, this would be the list!
Books Mentioned: Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russel We Spread by Iain Reid Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier Book Lovers, Happy Place and Funny Story by Emily Henry The Warm Hands of Ghosts, The Bear and the Nightingale and Small Spaces by Katherine Arden Cackle and Black Sheep by Rachel Harrison The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna The Butterfly Garden by Dot Hutchison Beautiful World, Where Are You? And Normal People by Sally Rooney The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky Spark of the Everflame by Penn Cole
ALL THE LINKS YOU COULD EVER WANT
✨ Support me on Bindery? https://boneyardpicnic.binderybooks.com/
🛍 Shop my wares? https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheCrybabyClub
☕ Donate a coffee? http://ko-fi.com/weirdobookclub
📚 Join the book club? https://bit.ly/3Hgz1ex
14 books
Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Nov 30 2023
drop your messiest book rec down below. 👀 she’s a 10, but she likes reading about …
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Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Nov 1 2023
october reading wrap up time! what was your favorite book from october?
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