What I\u2019ve Been Reading This Week: <\/strong><\/p> A book that did everything I wanted it to. A book about the power of community\u2014family, yes, but more than that, community<\/em>. A book that\u2019s wall-to-wall moodiness and terror but with enough love and light to keep it from being one-note, but not the kind of love and light that makes things unbearably saccharine. No, this is a book that keeps you scared, even when you do reconcile with your sister. Because\u2014are the crows still following you? Are you sure you\u2019re not going to bring any feathers back from the dream world? This book will have you wondering. I\u2019m talking, of course, about Bad Cree<\/em> by Jessica Johns. <\/p> This is a tight novel, all the fat trimmed off and fast-paced without relying on cliffhangers or cheap tricks. Johns simply says what needs to be said, makes every detail important, and gets out. The cumulative effect is mystery and horror, details being uncovered as the threat ramps up, but neither element diluting or bogging down the other. <\/p> Another trick that makes the mystery fun? It\u2019s a coming home narrative for narrator Mackenzie, and the course of her reconnecting with her family only deepens the myth the story\u2019s built upon and untangles pieces of the puzzle. The family scenes really give an extra layer that you don\u2019t have in, say, The Ring<\/em>. Not only is Mackenzie grappling with whatever haunts her, not only is she learning something about being Cree, but there is real, down-to-earth struggles with family members. Secrets kept, or things left unsaid without knowing the hurt you\u2019re causing. Grappling with being far away from your hometown, missing out on your relatives\u2019 lives. I know all about that stuff and I don\u2019t think<\/em> a murder of crows is following me. <\/p> One last element I want to highlight, but I need to be vague, to avoid spoilers. A big element of why What\u2019s Haunting Mackenzie is haunting her is because of something she had no control over. Sure, Mackenzie (and her relatives, to some extent) do not-great things and thus leave themselves open to this kind of supernatural attack. But I love horror where the real external threat comes from the characters being out of control. Like The Rental<\/em>\u2014sure, there were cracks and fissures already in that friend group, but the evil was beyond. Yes, fiction is most interesting when characters have agency. But there\u2019s something about being a person in the 21st century that makes you feel like most important things are out of your hands. This novel speaks to that. <\/p> LINKS!<\/strong><\/p> Something to listen to while you browse? We\u2019re nearing and nearer to spooky season, and these are all local-related links. Here\u2019s Satan and a local band. <\/p>![\"Bad](\"https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/91232388-2fe1-4e53-8ed3-10604211edf2_3024x4032.heic\")
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