These Bones
by Kayla Chenault
“Short but powerful . . . [an] intricate, entrancing tale.”
“Lazarus, son, don’t ever go anywhere you can’t come back from.
Don’t get down a path that don’t lead back to alive.”
In a neighborhood known as the Bramble Patch, the Lyons family endures despite poverty, racism, and the ghoulish appetites of an underworld kingpin called the Barghest. As the years pass and the neighborhood falls into decay, along with the town that surrounds it, what’s left of the Bramble Patch will learn the saying is true: These bones are gonna rise again.
FICTION / African American & Black / Historical
FICTION / Horror
FICTION / Literary
Print: $17.00, EPUB $9.99
Print ISBN: 978-1-941360-55-2
Digital ISBN: 978-1-941360-56-9
Publication Date: September 14, 2021
Publicity Contact: Feliza Casano, publicity@lanternfishpress.com
Credit: Jenni Heller Photography
About the Author
Kayla Chenault is a practitioner of Black Girl Magic and holds a Master's in Creative Writing from Eastern Michigan University. When she is not writing, Kayla is found at the museums where she works or telling everybody about the history of popular music and social dance. She is a former line editor and contributing writer for Cecile's Writers. Her previous work can be found in The Blue Pages Journal and Honey and Lime literary magazine.
Author Links
Comp Titles
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Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor
The Salt Fields by Stacy D. Flood
Daughters of the Air by Anca L. Szilàgyi
The Quelling by Barbara Barrow
Talking Points for Booksellers & Librarians
A Midwestern gothic tale set in a doomed, decaying town, with elements of horror that will haunt readers long after the final page
Great for readers of historical fiction seeking diverse perspectives on small-town settings in the twentieth century
Perfect for fans of Jesmyn Ward and Victor LaValle
Praise for These Bones
“Chenault’s short but powerful gothic work blends the best elements of folklore, horror, the blues, and archival history in resonant and lyrical prose. Fans of alternate histories, suspenseful literary fiction, and Black speculative fiction will be hooked on piecing together this intricate, entrancing tale.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Kayla Chenault has created something truly exquisite: a rich tapestry whose gorgeous poetics never obscure its themes or narrative. From beginning to end, These Bones is a sheer pleasure of Dalloway-esque perspectives, postmodernist structures, joined histories, and the ghosts they reveal.”
—Stacy D. Flood, author of The Salt Fields
"What a remarkable book. A generational history viewed obliquely through vignettes of various voices, songs, sermons, and ephemera full of magical realism, horror, righteous anger, sorrow, betrayal, love and revenge. Utterly original. It's a gut punch."
—Alana Haley, Nicola's Books
"Chenault brings forth a history that isn't buried as far underground as once thought, a history soiled with horror and ferocity that finds harmony in the stunning prose."
—Caitlin Chung, author of Ship of Fates