This Cursed House
Some houses keep their secrets. This one keeps its dead.
The dark, atmospheric Southern gothic ghost story longlisted for Goodreads’ Horror Book of the Year 2024
‘A sinister and beautifully rendered Southern Gothic, This Cursed House explores the real-life horrors of racism and trauma. Del Sandeen’s stunning debut haunted me’ Alexis Henderson, author of The Year of the Witching
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Louisiana, 1962.
The Duchon estate looms over New Orleans, a crumbling relic of Southern charm. Its walls decaying under the weight of its long-buried secrets.
At its door stands Jemma Barker, fleeing the frozen streets of Chicago and a past she won’t talk about. But Jemma wasn’t invited. She was summoned.
Inside await the light-skinned Duchons, bound by a family curse. They believe Jemma is the one who will save them. Never mind her darker skin, a shade they’ve always scorned.
But their curse isn’t just supernatural. It’s woven into generations of silence, superiority, and shame.
As the house stirs and Jemma’s past creeps in, she must decide: will she be the Duchons’ salvation, or risk losing herself to their darkness?
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Praise for This Cursed House:
‘An absolute marvel of a debut from a prodigious talent. A richly atmospheric, utterly chilling ghost story, an enthralling puzzle box of family scandals and secrets – that's also an unflinching examination of the insidiousness of racism, the horrors of colorism’ Rachel Harrison, national bestselling author of Black Sheep and Such Sharp Teeth
‘An enthralling, twisty Southern Gothic historical full of family secrets and century-spanning sins. A remarkable debut’ Eden Royce, award-winning author of Root Magic
‘An inglorious remnant of American history is handled so deftly that you won't believe it's Del Sandeen's first novel’ Alma Katsu, author of The Fervor