Nellie Gardner is looking for a way out of an abusive marriage when she learns that her long-lost grandfather, August Redfern, has willed her his turpentine estate. She throws everything she can think of in a bag and flees to Georgia with her eleven-year-old son, Max, in tow.
It turns out that the "estate" is a decrepit farmhouse on a thousand acres of old pine forest, but Nellie is thrilled about the chance for a fresh start for her and Max, and a chance for the happy home she never had. So it takes her a while to notice the strange scratching in the walls, the faint whispering at night, how the forest is eerily quiet. But Max sees what his mother can't: They're no safer here than they had been in South Carolina. In fact, things might even be worse. There's something wrong with Redfern Hill. Something lurks beneath the soil, ancient and hungry, with the power to corrupt hearts and destroy souls. It is the true legacy of Redfern Hill: a kingdom of grief and death, to which Nellie's own blood has granted her the key.
From the author of The Boatman's Daughter, The Hollow Kind is a jaw-dropping novel about legacy and the horrors that hide in the dark corners of family history. Andy Davidson's gorgeous, Gothic fable tracing the spectacular fall of the Redfern family will haunt you long after you turn the final page.
About the Author :
Andy Davidson is the Bram Stoker Award-nominated author of In the Valley of the Sun and The Boatman's Daughter, which was listed among NPR's Best Books of 2020, the New York Public Library's Best Adult Books of the Year, and Library Journal's Best Horror of 2020. Born and raised in Arkansas, he makes his home in Georgia with his wife and a bunch of cats.
Review :
An Esquire Best Horror Book of 2022
A Paste Magazine Best Horror Book of 2022
"Andy Davidson is quickly establishing himself as the newest master of southern gothic horror. The Hollow Kind seeps into your subconscious and waits for you in your nightmares."
--S. A. Cosby, bestselling author of Razorblade Tears
"A deep, dark story of family secrets and inherited horrors, Andy Davidson's The Hollow Kind is as gripping and twisted as old tree roots--you can practically smell the creosote and longleaf pine. This one kept me up, turning pages long into the night."
--T. Kingfisher, author of What Moves the Dead
"The Hollow Kind is a gloriously wild, twisted family saga with buckets of body horror and is going to mess you up good."
--Paul Tremblay, author of The Pallbearers Club, on Twitter
"Mr. Davidson once more proves himself master of the art of horror writing."
--Wall Street Journal Review
"Davidson effectively uses horror to explore intergenerational trauma. The characters are diverse and interesting.... Inventive and rich, The Hollow Kind is an entertaining and frightening family saga."
--Sarah Rachel Egelman, Book Reporter
"Masterful writing... The Hollow Kind is a riveting novel that will satisfy any horror fan (and many soon-to-be fans). Andy Davidson has done a sublime job with this portrait of a family plagued by supernatural terror and very human trauma."
--Mariko Hewer, Washington Independent Review of Books
"Lush, imaginative, and teeming with skin crawling imagery, The Hollow Kind is a stunning blending of genres and eras into one very impactful package"
--Matthew Jackson, Paste Magazine
"The Hollow Kind is a classic piece of Southern Gothic literature: dense, baroque, and rooted in the history of the land. Faulkner and Lovecraft would both approve."
--Neil McRobert, Esquire
"A visceral story that weaves past and present together, The Hollow Kind is a well-crafted tale about secrets that refuse to stay hidden, the weight of past sins, and redemption. With atmospheric imagery, compelling characters, and a gripping premise, Davidson proves why horror is one of the most effective genres for exploring interpersonal conflict and the complicated nature of familial relationships."
--Popmatters
"Andy Davidson's imagination is deep, dark, and visceral."
--BN Editors, Best Horror Books of 2022
"With his third novel, Davidson plants his roots in horror's soil as one its most talented voices . . . The Hollow Kind is a Southern Gothic epic that masterfully weaves elements of body, folk, and cosmic horror, knitting it all together into something wholly new, immersive, terrifying, and utterly breathtaking."
-Becky Spratford, Booklist
"Greed, trespass, revenge, and obsession provide the emotional palette for this breathless, wide-eyed horror fable that chronicles the unforgivable trespasses that cost multiple generations their souls."
--Kirkus Reviews
"Whether you call it historical horror, folk horror, or southern gothic, Andy Davidson's The Hollow Kind is as beautifully written as it is chilling. The combination of dual timelines with a little-explored piece of America's past truly sets this book apart. Every page reverberates with inescapable dread."
--Alma Katsu, author of The Fervor
"Andy Davidson has mapped out a terrifying family tree of Southern Gothic genealogies--think the Hatfields and McCoys as penned by Stephen King."
--Clay McLeod Chapman, author of Ghost Eaters
"A lovely, lyrical, terrifying epic. One of the best horror novels I've read in years."
--Shaun Hamill, author of A Cosmology of Monsters
