Crafting for Sinners: A Novel
“You will compulsively turn these pages well into the dead of night.”—Paul Tremblay, New York Times best-selling author of Horror Movie and The Cabin at the End of the World
A queer woman must fight her way out of a craft store run by a megachurch in this gripping survival horror novel by Jenny Kiefer, author of This Wretched Valley.
The ratcheting tension and gut-churning terror will appeal to fans of Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle and Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix.
Ruth is trapped. She’s stuck in her small, religious hometown of Kill Devil, Kentucky, stuck in the closet, and stuck living paycheck to paycheck. After her manager finds out that she lives with her girlfriend, Ruth is fired from her job at New Creations—a craft store owned by the church that dominates life in Kill Devil.
In an act of revenge, Ruth attempts to shoplift some yarn but is caught red-handed. Instead of calling the police, the employees lock her in the store—and attack her. As Ruth fights for her life using only the crafting supplies at hand, she plunges deeper into the tangled web of the New Creationists, who are hiding a terrible secret that threatens not only her but the entire town.
Urgent, scathing, and utterly original, Crafting for Sinners cements Kiefer’s status as a dazzling new star in horror.
A queer woman must fight her way out of a craft store run by a megachurch in this gripping survival horror novel by Jenny Kiefer, author of This Wretched Valley.
The ratcheting tension and gut-churning terror will appeal to fans of Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle and Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix.
Ruth is trapped. She’s stuck in her small, religious hometown of Kill Devil, Kentucky, stuck in the closet, and stuck living paycheck to paycheck. After her manager finds out that she lives with her girlfriend, Ruth is fired from her job at New Creations—a craft store owned by the church that dominates life in Kill Devil.
In an act of revenge, Ruth attempts to shoplift some yarn but is caught red-handed. Instead of calling the police, the employees lock her in the store—and attack her. As Ruth fights for her life using only the crafting supplies at hand, she plunges deeper into the tangled web of the New Creationists, who are hiding a terrible secret that threatens not only her but the entire town.
Urgent, scathing, and utterly original, Crafting for Sinners cements Kiefer’s status as a dazzling new star in horror.
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Community Reviews
Jenny Kiefer, in her sophomore work (Wretched Valley), drops readers into Kill Devil, Kentucky, the only home that Ruth has ever known. Opportunities for work are slim, and when she gets engaged to Charlie, he helps wrangle a job for her at the craft store New Creations. Though it is run by the New Creationist mega-church, Ruth manages to enjoy her job. When best friend Abigail confesses her love for Ruth, things turn bad quickly in the tiny conservative town. Ruth loses her job and is forced to move in with Abigail and her mom Judy, who has multiple locks on doors and windows and never goes out unconcealed. Abigail is sure that people are spying on them, ready to turn them away from their sins. Working on a blanket commission, Ruth is forced to return to New Creations for more yarn and is ambushed by Noble Shepherds, determined to herd this black sheep back to the flock. Diabetic and low on sugar, armed with knitting needles, super glue, pinking shears and her wits, she must find a way to escape the store and get back to Abigail, whom Ruth discovers has a bizarre connection to the New Creationists. This is a rollicking gem of a story with a very satisfying ending, solidly in the cozy horror/mystery genre along with Direct Descendant by Tanya Huff and Eat the Ones You Love by Sarah Maria Griffin.
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