The Gordon Place

An admirable, albeit simplistic, critique of racism and toxic masculinity pervades this well-crafted horror novel from Thorne (Plant). Newly elected Lost Hollow, Tenn., constable Graham Gordon, who is white, sets out to rehabilitate his family’s dilapidated former property, which the townspeople believe to be haunted. On one of his visits, a mysterious force pushes him down the stairs into the dank cellar, where his body is overtaken by his father’s ghost. Lee Gordon was a racist, sexist, and brutally abusive drunk when he was alive, and he’s no different in the afterlife. As Graham and Lee fight for control of Graham’s mind and body, Lee reveals that he is responsible for a string of decades-old murders. Meanwhile, black newscaster Afia Afton returns to Lost Hollow for the first time since she was 12, when her father was murdered in an unsolved hate crime, to write a Halloween fluff piece about the town. While following a story lead, Afia stumbles on the possessed Graham in his basement, giving rise to a heart-pounding series of events. With the right amount of gore and a permeating sense of dread, this work proves Thorne to be a gifted storyteller. (Self-published.)