The Curse of Hester Gardens

Praise for The Curse of Hester Gardens “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 “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. The Curse of Hester Gardens is a modern classic from one of horror’s best new voices.” —Lee Murray, five-time Bram Stoker Award®-winning author of Grotesque: Monster Stories “A sobering exploration of the tragedy of gun violence, the systemic oppression that breeds it, and the human lives infected and destroyed by its wake. The narrative douses the reader in dread anxiety: just when you feel like you can’t survive another heartbreak, Thompson pulls back the curtain and once again shows you the horror of living with the worst of fears and near-overwhelming despair. What choices would you make to keep your family safe? Compelling and eye- opening, The Curse of Hester Gardens is essential reading.” —Geneve Flynn, two-time Bram Stoker and Shirley Jackson Award® winner “Tamika Thompson’s voice is exquisite, and the story is carefully paced. Part history lesson, part hideous reflection, the souls of the dead wail as a haunting weaves throughout this emotional tome. The Curse of Hester Gardens is a testimony to art imitating life. Poignant and deeply unsettling.” —L. Marie Wood, Bram Stoker Award®-nominated author of Unworthy “A powerful, haunting, and necessary tale in our current times, written with heart and soul and stunning attention to detail. Put this one at the top of your TBR list. I can't wait to see what the talented Tamika Thompson gives us next.” —Brandon Massey, author of Nana and The Landlord “Tamika Thompson’s debut novel adds a supernatural twist to a parent’s worst fears, from structural racism to gun violence, ultimately asking the question: What if your children had to pay for the worst mistake you ever made? As exhilarating as it is devastating, The Curse of Hester Gardens had my heart racing until the very last sentence.” —Lindsay King-Miller, author of This is My Body “Everyone needs to read The Curse of Hester Gardens. This gripping novel fearlessly explores natural and supernatural horrors in a Michigan housing project and introduces a cast of incredibly vivid, complex characters. A great and nuanced story that also changed my perspective—I'll never be the same after reading it.” —Ivy Grimes, author of Glass Stories “Relentlessly real despite its supernatural premise, Tamika Thompson’s The Curse of Hester Gardens portrays a community in the titular housing complex at once resilient and broken, simultaneously close-knit and fractured. With Nona, we follow a protagonist whose many flaws only stoke our empathy as she and her sons struggle against perils paranormal and mundane: vengeful specters, gang violence, racism, precarity, and intergenerational trauma, and all converging at once. A harrowing debut from a promising emergent author.” —Jonathan Louis Duckworth, author of Have You Seen the Moon Tonight? & Other Rumors “Tamika Thompson has pulled together something that speaks of real horrors: systemic poverty, cyclical violence, and the impossible choices parents make trying to protect their children. One might call it supernatural horror with a conscience, and I highly recommend it as something that chills the soul as much as it challenges the heart.” —Kenya Moss-Dyme, author of Seed “If you're looking for your new favorite author Tamika Thompson is where to start. Brilliant, crafted writing that's bleeds with terror and humanity. She is the future of horror.” —Horror editor Josh Darling