Left Unread Books | Bad Cree: A Novel

Bad Cree: A Novel

Jessica Johns

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In this gripping, horror-laced debut, a young Cree woman’s dreams lead her on a perilous journey of self-discovery that ultimately forces her to confront the toll of a legacy of violence on her family, her community and the land they call home.

A mystery and a horror story about grief, but one with defiant hope in its beating heart. —Paul Tremblay, author of A Head Full of Ghosts and The Pallbearers Club.

When Mackenzie wakes up with a severed crow's head in her hands, she panics. Only moments earlier she had been fending off masses of birds in a snow-covered forest. In bed, when she blinks, the head disappears.

Night after night, Mackenzie’s dreams return her to a memory from before her sister Sabrina’s untimely death: a weekend at the family’s lakefront campsite, long obscured by a fog of guilt. But when the waking world starts closing in, too—a murder of crows stalks her every move around the city, she wakes up from a dream of drowning throwing up water, and gets threatening text messages from someone claiming to be Sabrina—Mackenzie knows this is more than she can handle alone.

Traveling north to her rural hometown in Alberta, she finds her family still steeped in the same grief that she ran away to Vancouver to escape. They welcome her back, but their shaky reunion only seems to intensify her dreams—and make them more dangerous.

What really happened that night at the lake, and what did it have to do with Sabrina’s death? Only a bad Cree would put their family at risk, but what if whatever has been calling Mackenzie home was already inside?

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Posts about this title from Left Unread Books

Left Unread Books\ \ Michael LaBorn\ \ • Apr 6 2025

Authors, I want to publish your books!

Pitchfest starts in three days and I am VERY determined to find our next publication! So, to help you help us both, here is a detailed look at exactly what I'm looking for.

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Left Unread Books\ \ Michael LaBorn\ \ • Mar 24 2025

Authors: It is Pitchfest time! Bring me your books!

There is another Pitchfest quickly approaching and I want to make sure you have all of the information you need to participate! So authors, check this out for a list of the type of manuscripts I am looking for! And good luck everyone!!!

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Left Unread Books\ \ Michael LaBorn\ \ • Nov 4 2024

Indigenous Books You NEED To Read This November!

If you aren't already aware, November is Native American Heritage Month. And while I think you should have Indigenous books moving through your TBR all year round, I thought this would be a good time to tell you about some of my favorites!

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Left Unread Books\ \ Michael LaBorn\ \ • Oct 24 2024

The five most disturbing books I read this year!

I don't know about you, but I have a habit of falling in love with the most disturbing books. And even more troubling... I have made a habit of making sure everyone in my life has read them! So here are the five most disturbing books I read in 2024.

7 books

Left Unread Books\ \ Michael LaBorn\ \ • Jul 28 2024

[SOME OF MY FAVORITE HORROR BOOKS\ \

**Bad Cree by Jessica Johns: **I don't even know what to say about this book, other than it terrified me to my core! It follows a young Cree woman years after the death of her sister. She begins to have terrifying dreams about their last weekend together, followed by a string of seamingly supernatural occurances that forces her to flee back home to her mother and aunties, who help her uncover the truth of what really happened to her big sister...and what may just happen to her if she isn't careful.\
**No One's Gonna Take Her Soul Away by Amanda Weaver: **This book follows a Black woman who is murdered and unjustly sent to the seventh level of hell, where she must partner together with a werewolf and a vampire in order to fight her way through all seven levels of hell in order to confront the goddess that condemned her there.\
**The Getaway by Lamar Giles: **This book was...intense. Not haunting in the way that _Bad CreeI was, _but incredible and terrifying in it's own way. This is probably more of a dystopian book than a horror book, but it shook me and I made the list, so I can include it if I want to. bahahaha! The book follows a young man who works in one of the nations only remaining resorts in a post-apocalyptic world, where natural disaster and war has ravaged most of the known world. As an employee, he must serve the American elite who can afford to vacation there. But when he uncovers a conspiracy happening among the guests, his life and everything he's ever known will be in jeopardy.\ \ NOTABLE MENTIONS THAT I HAVEN'T READ YET\ \
**Fledgling by Octavia Butler: **If you know who Octavia Butler is, I'm sure you're as excited as I am to read this! Fledgling is often called the world's best vampire book. On the other hand, it is also often called the most haunting vampire story out there. So...yeah... I definitely wanna read this one!\
**Never Whistle at Night: **This is an indigneous horror anthology that I have been told is PHENOMENAL! I cannot wait to read this! Which is lucky for me, because it is also our bookclub pick for August! So make sure you grab a copy so you can read along with me!\ \ \ \ \ \ ](https://leftunreadbooks.binderybooks.com/item/avfOyYnfOgzWQT3khN5e/)

A few of my favorite horror books!

In honor of reaching 666 subscribers today, here is a list of some of my favorite horror books!

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Posts about this book from across Bindery

Death by TBR Books\ \ Stephanie\ \ • Apr 27

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I shared a post on Instagram recently but wanted to give even more book recs on here for Pocahontas characters and the reasons I chose each one. \ \ THOMAS \ \ The Death of Jane Lawrence by Caitlin Starling & Juniper & Thorn by Ava Reid\ \ Both stories center control, repression, and systems that look orderly on the surface but are quietly rotting underneath. That tension between logic and something deeply wrong mirrors Thomas perfectly.\ \ KOCOUM\ \ Never Whistle at Night: Back for Blood & Bad Cree by Jessica Johns\ \ These both ground horror in ancestry, land, and generational memory. Together, they reflect Kocoum’s connection to community and the idea that the past is never truly separate from the present.\ \ JOHN \ \ The Hacienda by Isabel Canas & The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell\ \ Both books trap their characters in controlled, domestic spaces that slowly turn hostile. That loss of authority in the face of something supernatural lines up with John’s need for certainty.\ \ RATCLIFFE \ \ Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin & The Violence by Delilah S. Dawson\ \ These are both brutal, society-breaking narratives where survival requires adaptation to constant violence. They match Ratcliffe’s world, where chaos isn’t an anomaly, it’s the baseline.\ \ FLIT \ \ Maeve Fly by CJ Leede & A Certain Hunger by Chelsea G. Summers\ \ Both lean into indulgence, performance, and female rage with a sharp, self-aware edge. That mix of chaos and control fits Flit’s unpredictable, almost theatrical energy.\ \ MEEKO \ \ Nothing Tastes As Good by Luke Dumas & Bloom by Delilah S. Dawson\ \ These stories start soft and intimate before shifting into obsession and transformation. That progression mirrors Meeko’s curiosity and loyalty evolving into something more complicated.\ \ PERCY \ \ Diavola by Jennifer Thorne + Rouge by Mona Awad\ \ Both focus on vanity, image, and identity unraveling under pressure. They reflect Percy’s arc from surface-level entitlement to a more self-aware, fractured perspective.\ \ POCAHONTAS \ \ White Horse by Erika T. Wurth + Shutter by Ramona Emerson\ \ These both center cultural memory, spiritual responsibility, and connection to land. Together, they align with Pocahontas’s role as someone who carries history rather than escapes it.\ \ I'm definitely going to do more of these types of posts. Everyone has their own niche on Instagram and I think since I love watching and reading so much it's a great way to combine the two. Also, the books for each character are readalikes so generally if you like one you'll like the other.\ \ Upgrade for $5 or login

Book Recs for Pocahontas Characters

16 books

Kurryreads\ \ Kerry\ \ • Nov 1 2025

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Indigenous Heritage Month - Thriller, Mystery, & Horror Book Recommendations

Native American Heritage Month - Thriller, Mystery, and Horror books by Indigenous Authors to diversify your bookshelves 📚📖 #nativeamericanheritagemonth #indigenousbooks #readindigenous #booktok #bookrecommendations

21 books

Boozhoo Books\ \ Naomi\ \ • Sep 12 2025

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\ \ Join for free or login](https://boozhoo.binderybooks.com/item/vlZE1BZn0SiqMk2zPyOs/)

Indigenous Books To Add To Your Spooky Season TBR

Indigenous books for your spooky season TBR! This is a non exhaustive list.

Join my Good Day To Read Indigenous book club by connecting to our community Discord!

If you purchase any of the books below, I do get a small commission. (Even if you buy completely different books!)

18 books

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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2-Spirit Bookshelf\ \ (@Indigenousbookshelf)\ \ • Aug 1 2025

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Indigenous Books the Reservation Dogs would read 🐕📚 This one might be a bit too niche for bookstagram but I’m hoping that at least some folks will like it! It was a challenge to make lol so many thoughts. What do you think they would read????

12 books

Boozhoo Books\ \ Naomi\ \ • May 19 2025

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Women in Horror. Do our tastes align?

Women in Horror edition! Drop your score below! Did you know that my publishing imprint on Bindery has expanded? We are publishing books by Indigenous authors AND horror books written by women?! And you can help us, by showing up to support (even as a free follower!) I have almost 6,000 followers here and it would be everything if all of you would go and follow me right now! #womneinhorror #horrorbooks #bookrecs

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Boozhoo Books\ \ Naomi\ \ • Apr 21 2025

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Shelves and The City Influencers Recommend Indigenous Books (Part One)

At Shelves and the City, I asked influencers to give me an Indigenous book they would recommend! Shout out to Joshua who wasn’t the only influencers to admit he hadn’t read one, but suggested he talk about it on film! You’ll also notice a lot of repeats! Nothing wrong with that! Great books! My hope is to get people to expand and read more books by Indigenous authors. At an event with over 100 readers, I passed out about 50 book bingo cards and if you didn’t get one and were there, drop a note in our chat and I will mail you one if you want! If you aren’t a member of my reader community on Bindery, joining is free (first 🔗) and I’ll be posting about my entire SATC experience and a post with all the books mentioned here to make them easy to check out! My goal with my publishing imprint, Boozhoo Books, is to help make sure people have several options in the genres they love to read #readindigenous #shelvesandthecity #bookinfluencer #bookrecommendations @steph ✨ 📚 ✡︎ (@starrysteph) @zach•booksthatslay @aubrei @priyanka 📚✨ @Alex @Amivi⁷ @serareadthat 🌿📖🤠 @SARAH @Rae @Mari - booktok + media reviews @maya @A Very Queer Book Club @Rachel Skye @EmmaSkies @Greekchoir🧋| Bailey @IG/YT: ashunti_reads @Seth | dramakingbooks @Emma Ann (@theaceofbooks) @Joshua @Michael LaBorn

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Boozhoo Books\ \ Naomi\ \ • Feb 4 2025

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In honor of reaching 666 subscribers today, here is a list of some of my favorite horror books!

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Boozhoo Books\ \ Naomi\ \ • Jun 29 2024

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You may not have heard this, but Bindery Books signed a first look deal with Bad Robot. That’s super exciting news for the first four books coming out this October.\ \ It’s hard not to get excited about the possibility of an Indigenous Imprint. I read in every single genre, but I would be super excited about fantasy, thriller, horror and romance! The popularity of Stephen Graham Jones and the success of Never Whistle at Night is an undeniable force. White Horse by Erika T Wurth, Green Fuse Burning by Tiffany Morris and Bad Cree by Jessica Johns are some of my favorite horror books!\ \ Indigenous romance is also on the rise! My book club is reading indie Indigenous romance Lizards Hold The Sun by Dani Trujillo in July and the first traditionally published Indigenous romance, The Truth According to Ember by Danica Nava, will be out from Berkley this August. (Spoiler Alert: It will be the pick for book club in September!)\ \ Rebecca Roanhorse! Cherie Dimaline! Darcie Little Badger! Moniquill Blackgoose! all have had massive success in the fantasy arena.\ \ And I think Vanessa Lillie’s thriller would lend itself great to television!\ \ Speaking of television: Dark Winds and Rez Dogs are two Indigenous tv series that people can’t stop talking about.\ \ And I want to see Lily Gladstone IN LITERALLY EVERYTHING.\ \ I feel like a studio would JUMP at the opportunity to have the next big Indigenous tv show or movie with an already built in audience - and that’s US! Fans of the future Bindery published book (fingers crossed!)\ \ I know that there are Indigenous writers out there who are writing and waiting for the opportunity to be published and I know that their books are not getting prioritized like their contemporaries. We can help to change that.\ \ You are already helping by just being here.\ \ I saw Jenn Harper, Ceo of Indigenous makeup brand Cheekbone Beauty speak at an Indigenous women’s conference not long ago and she said, “I don’t come from generational wealth, I come from generational poverty” and that is something that has stuck with me and I repeat often, because I find it all too relatable.\ \ I come from poverty, so I want to make it clear, though I would love everyone to eventually become a paid subscriber, I know that is not feasible for everyone and I want to make sure I always have free content available. You being here supporting is important to me and I am happy to have you along on this journey to imprint.\ \ If you can afford to buy me a coffee once a month, please consider subscribing at the $5 level.\ \ If you can afford to buy me a lunch once a month (okay, you buy the salad, I will buy the Diet Coke LOL), please consider subscribing at the $12 level.\ \ Please don’t forget to join the Discord and come chat with others who are passionate about Indigenous books and making this Indigenous imprint with Bindery a reality. I have a channel in there now dedicated to the journey to imprint.\ \ https://discord.gg/7feMCgFEuK\ \ Miigwech,\ \ Naomi

Imagining an Indigenous Imprint

click here to read the entire blog about our dreams of an Indigenous imprint with Bindery Books.

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Boozhoo Books\ \ Naomi\ \ • Jun 21 2024

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Mood Reads\ \ Hannah\ \ • Feb 6 2024

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How much money I saved using the library in the month of Jan! #librarytok #chicagopubliclibrary #libraries #booktok #booktoker #bookmath

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Mood Reads\ \ Hannah\ \ • Jan 31 2024

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WHEW! My first monthly wrap up of 2024! 23 books!! #januarywrapup #januarybooks #2024books #booktok #booksireadthismonth #bookish

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Mood Reads\ \ Hannah\ \ • Jan 14 2024

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Book Review: Bad Cree by Jessica Johns

Book Review: Bad Cree by Jessica Johns #bookreview #booktok #booktokrecommendations #badcree #horrornovels #mysterynovel #indigenousauthors

1 book

Mood Reads\ \ Hannah\ \ • Jan 14 2024

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Boozhoo Books\ \ Naomi\ \ • Jan 13 2024

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If you are interested in horror, but call yourself a scaredy cat, here are three great Indigenous recs to get you started.

3 books

Boundless Press\ \ Jananie\ \ • Sep 11 2023

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the 40+ books on my fall TBR 🍁🍂 fall book recommendations ☕️

tell me your fall book recommendations in the comments! 🍁🍂

🎃 books mentioned 🎃

Misc. ↳ rouge ↳ she walks in shadows ↳ silver nitrate

Dark Academia ↳ in these hallowed halls: a dark academia anthology ↳ vita nostra ↳ plain bad heroines

“Classic” horror ↳ rebecca ↳ interview with a vampire ↳ dark tales

Real World Horror ↳ natural beauty ↳ lakewood ↳ her body and other parties ↳ bad cree ↳ weight of blood

Vampires ↳ vampires of el norte ↳ a dowry of blood ↳ masters of death ↳ house of hunger ↳ the book eaters

Haunted House books ↳ a house with good bones ↳ she is a haunting ↳ the hacienda ↳ just like home

Deathly Retellings ↳ a haunting on the hill ↳ the death i gave him ↳ one for my enemy

Cozy fantasies ↳ legends & lattes ↳ the very secret society of irregular witches ↳ venco ↳ emily wilde's encyclopaedia of faeries

Fantasies ↳ nettle & bone ↳ gods of jade and shadow ↳ juniper & thorn ↳the wolf & the woodsman ↳ the bone orchard ↳ the adventures of amina al-sirafi

Other ↳ my dark vanessa ↳ station eleven ↳ glass hotel ↳ sea of tranquility

socials 🤍 instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisstoryaintover/ 🤍 twitter: https://twitter.com/jananiekvelu 🤍 tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisstoryaintover?lang=en 🤍 storygraph: https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/thisstoryaintover 🤍 goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/thisstoryaintover

💌 for business/sponsorship inquiries please contact eric@smallscreenmarketing.com 💌 for all other inquiries please contact me at thisstoryaintover@gmail.com

faqs 🤍 how do you pronounce your name? - my name is Jananie—pronounced JEN-nuh-nee (like a knee!)

🤍 what's your background/ethnicity/etc? - both my parents are Sri Lankan Tamil, and I was born and raised in Canada!

🤍 what is your job? - aside from youtube I also work in product marketing!

40 books

Boundless Press\ \ Jananie\ \ • May 10 2023

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I'M BACK.... & I bought more books for a haul 📚

Get your first Book of the Month box for only $5 with the code FLOWERS in the U.S. https://www.bookofthemonth.com/?utm\_source=Social&utm\_medium=YouTube&utm\_campaign=Partner In Canada, get your first box for $14.99 CAD with the code DAISY.

socials 🤍 instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisstoryaintover/ 🤍 twitter: https://twitter.com/jananiekvelu 🤍 tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisstoryaintover?lang=en 🤍 goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/thisstoryaintover

💌 for business/sponsorship inquiries please contact eric@smallscreenmarketing.com 💌 for all other inquiries please contact me at thisstoryaintover@gmail.com

faqs 🤍 how do you pronounce your name? - my name is Jananie—pronounced JEN-nah-nee (like a knee!)

🤍 what's your background/ethnicity/etc? - both my parents are Sri Lankan Tamil, and I was born and raised in Canada!

🤍 what is your job? - aside from youtube I also work in product marketing!

13 books