3.5
The Haunting of Velkwood
By Gwendolyn KistePublisher Description
From Bram Stoker Award–winning author Gwendolyn Kiste comes a chilling novel about three childhood friends who miraculously survive the night everyone in their suburban hometown turned into ghosts—perfect for fans of Yellowjackets.
The Velkwood Vicinity was the topic of occult theorists, tabloid one-hour documentaries, and even some pseudo-scientific investigations as the block of homes disappeared behind a near-impenetrable veil that only three survivors could enter—and only one has in the past twenty years, until now.
Talitha Velkwood has avoided anything to do with the tragedy that took her mother and eight-year-old sister, drifting from one job to another, never settling anywhere or with anyone, feeling as trapped by her past as if she was still there in the small town she so desperately wanted to escape from. When a new researcher tracks her down and offers to pay her to come back to enter the vicinity, Talitha claims she’s just doing it for the money. Of all the crackpot theories over the years, no one has discovered what happened the night Talitha, her estranged, former best friend Brett, and Grace, escaped their homes twenty years ago. Will she finally get the answers she’s been looking for all these years, or is this just another dead end?
Award-winning author Gwendolyn Kiste has created a suburban ghost story about a small town that trapped three young women who must confront the past if they’re going to have a future.
The Velkwood Vicinity was the topic of occult theorists, tabloid one-hour documentaries, and even some pseudo-scientific investigations as the block of homes disappeared behind a near-impenetrable veil that only three survivors could enter—and only one has in the past twenty years, until now.
Talitha Velkwood has avoided anything to do with the tragedy that took her mother and eight-year-old sister, drifting from one job to another, never settling anywhere or with anyone, feeling as trapped by her past as if she was still there in the small town she so desperately wanted to escape from. When a new researcher tracks her down and offers to pay her to come back to enter the vicinity, Talitha claims she’s just doing it for the money. Of all the crackpot theories over the years, no one has discovered what happened the night Talitha, her estranged, former best friend Brett, and Grace, escaped their homes twenty years ago. Will she finally get the answers she’s been looking for all these years, or is this just another dead end?
Award-winning author Gwendolyn Kiste has created a suburban ghost story about a small town that trapped three young women who must confront the past if they’re going to have a future.
Download the free Fable app
Stay organized
Keep track of what you’re reading, what you’ve finished, and what’s next.
Build a better TBR
Swipe, skip, and save with our smart list-building tool
Rate and review
Share your take with other readers with half stars, emojis, and tags
Curate your feed
Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesStay organized
Keep track of what you’re reading, what you’ve finished, and what’s next.Build a better TBR
Swipe, skip, and save with our smart list-building toolRate and review
Share your take with other readers with half stars, emojis, and tagsCurate your feed
Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communities81 Reviews
3.5
2sash2trot
Created about 22 hours agoShare
Report
harmonyispimp
Created 5 days agoShare
Report
“Damn this was good. I almost read the whole thing in one sitting. Once things got going, I couldn't stop. This was easily one of the most original "ghosts" stories I have ever read. Fantastic!”Multi-layered charactersBeautifully writtenOriginal writingAddictiveSuspensefulUnpredictableImmersive settingComing of ageAbuseHomophobia
MakadoSan
Created 11 days agoShare
Report
“The Haunting of Velkwood is just that - a haunting.
Everything in Talitha's life is haunted. She's haunted by her past, the dreams so never got to make happen, a love she always wanted but never got to keep, secrets that constantly brew under the surface, and the disappearance of their neighborhood.
It's been twenty long years before she returns and, with her return, all the secrets she and her two friends hoped to keep buried forever begin to emerge.
This book was so beautifully crafted and outstandingly haunting. The ache of a love you've craved forever, long forgotten like the future you never got to have, is so damn heartbreaking. Heartbreaking as being stuck in your past and never being able to take an actual step forward. Weighed down by childhood traumas and the unanswered questions that come with them. It's far more haunting than the actual disappearance that Talitha experiences and the grief she feels searching for her family in the aftermath of everything.
I highly recommend this book. It's so moving in a way you don't expect a horror book about ghosts to be. It has a hauntingly real and painfully beautiful take on life, relationships, and those who are supposed to be our protectors but how they can become our oppressors. And in the very end, it gives you just enough hope to make it all seem possible to take those first step towards the life you’ve always wanted to live.”
Bee McVee
Created 13 days agoShare
Report
“I love the symbolism of the neighborhood and the ghosts. One can never completely escape their roots can they? 4.5 stars ⭐️ Great story.”Likable charactersEasy to readOriginal writingFast-pacedUnpredictableHeartbreakingAbuseHomophobia
LauraRhiannon
Created 14 days agoShare
Report
Likable charactersMulti-layered charactersDescriptive writingSuspensefulDark settingMagical setting
About Gwendolyn Kiste
Gwendolyn Kiste is the three-time Bram Stoker Award–winning author of The Rust Maidens, Reluctant Immortals, Boneset & Feathers, Pretty Marys All in a Row, and The Haunting of Velkwood. Her short fiction and nonfiction have appeared in outlets including LitHub, Nightmare Magazine, Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy, Vastarien, Tor’s Nightfire, The Lineup, and The Dark. She’s a Lambda Literary Award winner, and her fiction has also received the This Is Horror Award for Novel of the Year as well as nominations for the Premios Kelvin, Ignotus, and Dragon Awards. Originally from Ohio, she now resides on an abandoned horse farm outside of Pittsburgh with her husband, their excitable calico cat, and not nearly enough ghosts. Find her online at GwendolynKiste.com.
Other books by Gwendolyn Kiste
Start a Book Club
Start a public or private book club with this book on the Fable app today!FAQ
Do I have to buy the ebook to participate in a book club?
Why can’t I buy the ebook on the app?
How is Fable’s reader different from Kindle?
Do you sell physical books too?
Are book clubs free to join on Fable?
How do I start a book club with this book on Fable?
Similar Books
Save to a list
0
/30
0
/100
Private List