T. Kingfisher is fast becoming one of my favorite horror authors. I absolutely loved NETTLE & BONE and thought WHAT MOVES THE DEAD was the best adaptation of an Edgar Allan Poe short story that I have ever read. I am happy to report that Kingfisher is at the top of her game with her latest release, A HOUSE WITH GOOD BONES. This is gothic horror at its finest with a nice Southern twist.

The action takes place in the eccentric home of Sam Montgomery’s youth on Lammergeier Lane in the hills of North Carolina. She is staying with her mother, Edith, for an extended visit as her place in Tucson is still being sublet for a few more months. Sam is an entomologist (a bug specialist), but her latest archaeological dig was brought to an untimely end when some human bones were dug up instead of hordes of rare insect species.

"This is horror writing that recalls the early works of such prolific authors as Stephen King and Peter Straub, with shout-outs to masters like Poe himself.... A HOUSE WITH GOOD BONES demands to be read in one sitting, followed by several sleepless nights."

Upon arriving at Edith’s house, Sam notices an eerie black vulture that is perched atop the back of the mailbox post. Much later in the novel, she will observe several of these vultures in the area, all of which are paying close attention to the house. Edith has been living there alone since the death of Sam’s Gran Mae, yet Sam has to chuckle when she still finds evidence of her mother’s quirkiness in the form of sticky notes with various reminders posted all around the house. But then she spots a few bizarre notes that appear to be speaking to Gran Mae as if she was still there.

One of the first eerie occurrences to personally impact Sam is when her old room is overrun with a slew of invasive ladybugs, even though none are found anywhere else in the neighborhood. It forces her to sleep on the living room couch while the local handyman patches up the wall. After a night on the sofa, Sam wakes up with what looks like bloody scratches from a thorn bush all over her body. They seem to be from the very same rose bushes that Gran Mae was so famous for growing, in many different varieties, all around the front of the house.

Sam calls her brother, Brad, to recount some of the horrors she has been experiencing. Brad reminds her of the dreaded “underground children” with whom Gran Mae used to threaten them. What they thought was just a childish fear turns all too real when Sam is grabbed by something near the rose bushes and snaps a photo that depicts what appears to be a ghostly white arm reaching up through the soil. Sam decides to get in touch with their longtime neighbor, Gail, who is purported to be a witch. Gail lives with a vulture named Hermes, and she is more than willing to defend Edith’s sanity and agree that it is very likely the house is haunted by the spirit of Gran Mae, among other things. When a jar of what looks like human teeth is dug up in the front yard, many questions are raised and the narrative really takes off.

I have not even begun to describe the terrors to come. All I can say is that you must leave all expectations aside and go along for the wonderfully beautiful gothic ride that T. Kingfisher has in store for you. This is horror writing that recalls the early works of such prolific authors as Stephen King and Peter Straub, with shout-outs to masters like Poe himself. This is high praise indeed, but it just skims the surface of the magnificent tale that Kingfisher has conjured up. A HOUSE WITH GOOD BONES demands to be read in one sitting, followed by several sleepless nights.