Recs if you like The Devil All the Time...

Kudzu climbs up the hills, katydids sing in the hollers, and there's something calling from the woods...

Think: whistling winds, howling coyotes, rural isolation, small towns, folklore, religious fanaticism, and ghostly voices coming from the forest

❗️Some of the these books are classified as extreme horror/splatterpunk. PLEASE protect yourself, and check all trigger warnings.❗️

If we are going to do Qwordy's the Hardest Reading Challenge You'll Ever Do 3.0 - we should probably get some Pagebound badges along the way! I'm specifically going to be adding books from Quests and readalongs that go past the July start date and match at least one of these title prompts: Periodic Table, Familial Terms, Rainbow of Words (also Joseph's coat), Numerical Titles, Titular Counting 5+, Pun in the Title, and First & Last Name in the Title. Recommendations welcome!

Country roads, take me home. Appalachia is such an interesting region of the US, and also the setting of many incredible books! Whether it be historical fiction, biographies, folklore, or just every day stories from the Great Smoky Mountains, every recommendation is welcome

where sins of the elders run deep, bodies are hidden in the bayou & haints hiding around corners- recommendations welcomed

Books that were adapted into movies (not tv shows). Let's make this list as long as possible!

(going to only add the first book in a series)

God loves you, but not enough to save you from these stories. Ethel Cain & Preacher’s Daughter vibes/inspired fiction

Created from the list on Goodreads by Cybil and Sadie Hartmann (September 29, 2025)

lots of gore and/or taboo topics trying to add mostly based off what i’ve read

Books that feel like, “I think it is safe to say that while the South is hardly Christ-centered, it is most certainly Christ-haunted.” — Flannery O’Connor AND “Let us take a knife and cut the world in two—and see what worms are eating at the rind.” — Langston Hughes

TLDR; The southern gothic, the grit lit, the darkened, beautiful, rotten, heady places of the South.

unnerving, unsettling, spooky or generally creepy books that take place in summer + have that slow scorching summer dread vibe

Depressing, rage-inducing, a collection of books that thoroughly disgusted me of the events/ the character's thoughts and/ behavior. Sometimes it's important. Sometimes it's just fun. Could be satire, social commentary, or historical!

ps. as always, please do check the TW

Ethel Cain’s bookshelf. Haunted churches, dirt roads, and hymns gone sour.

Past and present winners and nominees of the Shirley Jackson Awards. Frightful reading!

Each year I make a 'best of' list and this is the complete collection. Do I claim these are all truly quality reads? No lol. I am a feral raccoon. But I very much believe books can be enjoyable even if not necessarily good – though do think at least most of these are both.

I hope even just one person enjoys even just one book they might not have otherwise found.

Ethel Cain + True Detective (S1) vibes

Twisted books that wander into some really dark places

authors that grew up in Ohio or live in Ohio now! all genres

A bunch of humans being awful. Don't say I didn't warn you! And as always, check the TW 🫰🏻