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 . . . Praise for The Curse of Hester Gardens “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 “Thompson’s first horror novel is a masterful mix of the supernatural unfolding in a contemporary neighborhood, populated by the living who feed the curse with their greed, secrets and need for revenge. The chilling journey of loss and madness is magnificently told through characters who became so real I was emotionally vested in their fight to protect their loved ones in the end. This is a perfect and deeply fulfilling book for a break from the stress of real-life.” —Linda D. Addison , award-winning author, HWA Lifetime Achievement Award recipient and SFPA Grand Master. “ The Curse of Hester Gardens is a chilling and vital debut that uses an underseen setting and distinct characters to give the genre a jolt.” —Johnny Compton , author of Devils Kill Devils “Thompson has excelled in truly gifting the experience of living with a persistent haunting. The storytelling, character development and masterful weaving of both dread and regret comes together for what I can only say is the pinnacle of modern-day gothic.” —Vincent Tirado , Bram Stoker Award ® -nominated author of We Came to Welcome You “A powerful debut that explores love, grief, and violence with aching emotion. This unique take on the Gothic and what it means to be haunted, both internally and by an external force, boldy shows just how complex human beings can be. Hester Gardens may harbor darkness and tragedy, but Thompson's engaging prose and commitment to truth shine through with so much unwavering strength.” — Sara Tantlinger , Bram Stoker Award-winning author of The Devil's Dreamland “Tamika Thompson makes you fall in love with characters drawn with care and depth before taking them through the ringer. Horror at its best, rooted in the real-life terrors of gun violence and generational poverty, The Curse of Hester Gardens was an emotional rollercoaster that I'll remember for a long time.” —Justin C. Key , author of The Hospital at the End of the World “Tamika Thompson’s The Curse of Hester Gardens is a bold and astonishing debut: expertly wrought, expansive and complex, tragic and redemptive. A heartbreaking story of a mother, a family, and an entire community struggling with supernatural dangers as well as the all-too-real threats of gun violence and systemic oppression. Poignant, chilling and immersive.” —Christi Nogle , author of the Bram Stoker Award® winning first novel Beulah “Tamika Thompson slays all expectations with her much-anticipated debut, The Curse of Hester Gardens , a dark gothic saga set in urban Michigan, where poverty and despair aren’t the only spectres haunting the projects. Thompson doesn’t pull any punches, crushing the reader with achingly brutal prose that lands every time, startling us with tragedy and truth, with the unrelenting, inexorable toll of grief and trauma. Yet despite the squalor, there is beauty here, Thompson leading us through the violence to the light.