Tantalizing Tales — September 2025 — Part Four

Hello, dear readers! We’ve officially entered that time of year where it’s chilly in the morning but sweltering in the afternoon, at least over here in Maryland. So what better time to check out other mystifying North American scenarios such as those brought to us in Leanna Renee Hieber and Andrea Janes’ upcoming America’s Most Gothic!

Subtitled Haunted History Stranger Than Fiction, this nonfiction title explores some of the most hauntingly Gothic episodes of American history. And I do mean literally haunting, as ghosts abound in these folk tales and legends that all share the hallmarks of creepy Gothic fiction but are all very much rooted in real lives and tragedies.

Included here is the case of teenager Mercy Brown: was she a victim of Rhode Island’s vampire hysteria of the 1890s, or a predator? “Mad” Lucy Ludwell was an eighteenth century socialite who fell on hard times, but none so hard as her internment in the insane asylum where she died. Her ghost continues to haunt the Virginia estate that should have been her final home. The spirit of Helen Peabody still watches over the women’s college, now part of Ohio’s Miami University, where she was once a president who strenuously opposed coeduction. Meanwhile, the spirits of the many workers who died while building the Hoosac Tunnel aren’t the only ones haunting it till this very day. Further north and further back in time, French noblewoman Marguerite de la Rocque was condemned for “sexual crimes” and exiled to Canada’s phantasmic Isle of Demons, in a shocking story of death and, against all odds, survival.

Rich with little-known episodes of history that still reverberate with the flavor of Gothic literature, this collection is a can’t miss for fans of spooky Americana!

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Our next selection is also historical, with a firm basis in things that actually happened, tho told through a fictional lens. Kathy Watson’s debut novel Orphans Of The Living blends fiction with fact and what she knows of her own family history, to chronicle the lives of an early 20th century family fleeing to the west in search of a better life.

Four parallel narratives — those of two parents and two children — tell the tale of the Stovall family. Times are hard in Mississippi in the Jim Crow South of the 1930s, even for white people like the Stovalls. When the impoverished Barney and Lula Stovall run afoul of a plantation overseer, they must figure out a way to escape with their lives… even if it means leaving some of their children behind.

At least in California, no one is trying to lynch them. But the dairy farm they manage to obtain is barely profitable, as the family tries desperately to survive. From the brig at the San Francisco Presidio to the building of the Golden Gate Bridge, the Stovalls will gradually attempt to reconnect and forgive one another as the years pass, tho not all will succeed.

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Turning to titles publishing in October, our first selection is a book that expertly blends travel with horror. John Hornor Jacobs’ latest chilling novel The Night That Finds Us All is a nautical “locked ship” nightmare that’s been heralded as a seductive mix of Southern gothic with cosmic horror, as a young captain finds herself trapped aboard an ancient, haunted ship.

All Sam Vines wants to do is sail her boat. But with funds for repairs low — weirdly, tourists are happier to pay for more luxurious expeditions than the hard-drinking, snarky young captain is either willing or able to provide — she’s forced to take on a gig delivering a massive hundred year-old sailboat from Seattle to England instead.

It should be easy: Sam is an expert sailor who knows how to handle the Blackwatch’s engine. She’s also committed to staying sober while at sea. But when her crew begins to disappear and she finds a weird old diary chronicling the Blackwatch’s dark past, she can’t help but wonder whether she’s committed to far more than she’s bargained for, as something sinister stalks her across the seas.

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Kathleen S Allen’s debut novel The Resurrectionist is another Gothic tale of terror. Inspired by Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and set in the late 1800s, this is the story of an ambitious young scientist who descends into corruption when a breakthrough discovery grants her the power to overcome death itself.

Seventeen year-old Dilly Rothbart’s life takes a dark turn when she uncovers her deceased father’s journal, which may contain the chilling secret to bringing the dead back to life. Driven by ambition to surpass her father and secure her own legacy, Dilly ventures into a shadowy underworld of corpse-stealing, grave-robbing… and murder. Not even her own twin sister will be able to stop her, as she goes to extreme lengths to prove that she can defy death, no matter the cost.

Dilly is a bold feminist antihero who’s unflinchingly determined to prove her worth in a man’s world. But just how far is she willing to go… and how many monsters will she create along the way?

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Another girl who isn’t afraid to wield a knife is the focal point of Freida McFadden’s latest cat-and-mouse thriller, The Intruder. With beautifully sprayed edges, this volume is one you’ll definitely want to show off in your collection!

Casey is bracing against a hurricane as she hunkers down in her admittedly rickety cabin in the woods. It wasn’t built to withstand such violent storms, but at least it’s shelter… which is more than what’s available to the young girl Casey finds lurking outside her kitchen window. The girl is alone and covered in blood. Perhaps more worrying is the fact that she refuses to loosen her grip on the knife that she clutches in her right hand.

The girl refuses to explain where she comes from, but Casey isn’t about to let her weather a hurricane outdoors. But then Casey makes a terrible midnight discovery. The girl has a dark secret that she’ll do anything, even kill, to protect. Will Casey and her newfound knowledge be able to survive the night?

With the impending release of the movie based on Ms McFadden’s book The Housemaid — a film that’s already garnering rave reviews — this is a great time to catch up on the rest of her work, old and new!

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A ghost haunts Bella Mackie’s latest satirical take on murder in the upper classes, What A Way To Go. From the press materials:

“When Anthony Wistern died, he expected his family to make a bit more of a fuss about it. Especially after he’d died in such dramatic fashion: skewered by an exorbitantly expensive party decoration in the private lake of his Cotswold’s manor house at his sixtieth birthday party, surrounded by the people for whom he most loved flaunting his wealth. And now even death has disappointed him; instead of Heaven or Hell or an empty void, Anthony’s soul is stuck in a strange kind of purgatory while he tries to figure out who killed him—before he is finally released from this interminably exasperating waiting room.

“Olivia Wistern knows she should probably try to appear at least a little upset about her husband’s death, but she honestly can’t be bothered. As usual, he’s left behind an unbelievable mess—financially, socially, personally—that she’s going to have to clean up. Their four grown children will be of absolutely no help; she shouldn’t have let them become so hopelessly spoiled. And is it just her, or are the police and their “murder investigation” intentionally getting underfoot? There’s no shortage of people who hated Anthony, so can’t they look for a killer somewhere other than her house?

“While the Wisterns are more concerned about the fate of their money than the fate of their patriarch, one internet sleuth is highly interested in Anthony Wistern’s death. She isn’t about to let the opportunity to create a sure-to-be smash true crime podcast pass by, not when the murder was committed mere yards away, and not when she has her own history with the victim. She’ll make her name and her own fortune off Anthony’s death one way or another, whatever it takes…”

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Finally and perhaps most delightfully — and certainly the most relevantly given the content of this week’s round-up column! — we have behavioral scientist Coltan Scrivner’s Morbidly Curious, a non-fiction tome that strives to explain why people love the thriller, true crime and horror genres.

Blending fascinating insights with cutting-edge research, Dr Scrivner reveals the psychological forces that compel us to explore our darkest fears. This proclivity is more than just a quirk: it’s actually a powerful survival instinct, helping us mentally prepare for real-world threats, all from the safety of our imaginations. In this book, he makes a powerful argument for the value of playing with fear and embracing the gruesome.

Several of the topics he explores include the evolutionary basis for being morbidly curious, or how heightened curiosity can lead to better detection of dangers and threats, resulting in a higher survival rate for the species. He also discusses the therapeutic nature of scary movies, exploring how individuals with high anxiety can use such films as a tool to reduce stress. The appeal of violence is also considered, as the need to observe violence in controlled settings — such as via violent video games and sports like MMA and boxing — allows the average person to better assess the true formidability of potential threats.

If you’ve ever wanted to explain to your loved ones why you love consuming bloody entertainment but have never been able to quite find the words, then this is definitely the book for you! Or even for them, if they’re readers, too!

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Let me know if you’re able to get to any of these books before I do, dear readers! I’d love to hear your opinions, and see if that will help spur me to push any of them higher up the mountain range that is my To Be Read pile.

And, as always, you can check out the list of my favorite books in my Bookshop storefront linked below!