Hello! I saw your post about summer solstice and was wondering if you could recommend any good Southern Gothic novels?
Oh, there are so many. I tend to prefer Southern Gothic horror subgenre (as Southern Gothic tends to include classics like The Sound and the Fury, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, etc., which are all well and good but don't quite scratch that itch). I'll include the first to come to mind, in no particular order:
Beloved by Toni Morrison - This one really is at the top of my list. There is a supernatural element but that’s not the true horror of the story. It’s truly wrenching.
Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn - More of a whodunnit than horror. There's an HBO series based on this that I also enjoyed.
Wounds: Six Stories from the Border of Hell and North American Lake Monsters by Nathan Ballingrud - I adore Ballingrud's work. He's based in Ashville, NC now and is a regular at Malaprops.
The Dark-Thirty: Southern Tales of the Supernatural by Patricia C McKissack - this is actually an illustrated children's book but it was one I loved growing up.
Harrow County - a graphic novel series from Dark Horse Comics. It has a spin-off series, Tales from Harrow County, that is being released now.
Almost anything written by Shirley Jackson. I find Jackson herself fascinating, if not her work, and so I find myself favorably disposed to it.
"To-Read" items I'm looking forward to:
The Toll by Cherie Priest - southern Gothic with eldritch horror elements. Cherie Priest is very popular in Southern Gothic horror; she's also written The Family Plot and Boneshaker.
The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones - this takes place at least in part in North Dakota. It follows four Native American men after a traumatic incident in their childhoods. Jones has been described as "the Jordan Peele of horror literature" so my hopes are high.
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia - promises to be a slow-burn, eldritch (you may be noticing a theme), Brontës styled horror in Latin America.
My Best Friend's Exorcism and The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix - these just look like silly, fun reads.
To Be Devoured by Sarah Tantlinger - this one is set in the South but may not be Southern Gothic. It sounds very macabre.
Other Media (in case you're interested). Podcasts:
Old Gods of Appalachia (podcast, anthology)
Unwell (podcast, series) - this doesn't do a lot of horror so much as the classic strained tension of Southern Gothic, but some of the scenarios and one liners the characters whip out are delightful.
Alice Isn't Dead (podcast, series) - this takes place all over America as a trucker tries to find her wife who has gone missing. It absolutely captures the feel of Southern Gothic in its tone and atmosphere of seedy truck stops, Wal-Mart parking lots, and highway diners.
Chelsea Wolfe, particularly her Birth of Violence album
Rhiannon Giddens, previously of the Carolina Chocolate Drops
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