The Creepening of Dogwood House
by Eden Royce (Author)
The Walter Award Honor–winning author of Root Magic returns with a terrifying story in the Southern Gothic tradition, inspired by the hoodoo practice of hair burning.
At night, Roddie still dreams of sitting at his mother’s feet while she braids his Afro down. But that’s a memory from before. Before his mom died in a tragic accident. Before he was taken in by an aunt he barely knows. Before his aunt brought him to Dogwood House, the creepiest place Roddie has ever seen. It was his family’s home for over a hundred years. Now the house—abandoned and rotting, draped in Spanish moss that reminds him too much of hair—is his home too.
Aunt Angie has returned to South Carolina to take care of Roddie and reconnect with their family’s hoodoo roots. Roddie, however, can’t help but feel lost. His mom had never told him anything about hoodoo, Dogwood House, or their family. And as they set about fixing the house up, Roddie discovers that there is even more his mother never said. Like why she left home when she was seventeen, never to return. Or why she insisted Aunt Angie always wear her hair in locs. Or what she knew of the strange secrets hidden deep within Dogwood House—secrets that have awoken again, and are reaching out to Roddie…
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Publishers Weekly
A period of upheaval and heartbreak in a Black preteen's life is exacerbated by supernatural forces in this emotional Southern horror by Royce (Conjure Island). Twelve-year-old Roderick Bolden has been in the care of Williamson Orphanage ever since his mother's death. That is, until the intervention of Aunt Angela Hamilton, Roddie's only living relative, whom he's never met. Grieving the loss of her estranged sister, Aunt Angie welcomes Roddie to Dogwood House, the family's ancestral home. The mansion, "a monster place in the middle of nowhere," has been languishing in disrepair, and Aunt Angie intends to restore it. Grateful for his new home, Roddie is nonetheless unsettled by the dilapidated structure and the disturbing things he encounters, such as discovering clumps of hair under peeling wallpaper and a skeletal figure in an upstairs window. After Roddie finds a map of Dogwood House drawn by his mother, Aunt Angie informs him of the family's hoodoo culture. Now, Roddie must connect with his cultural history to ward off the evil spirits that have taken notice of him. Royce employs marvelously eerie ambiance to craft a tale that is at once a moving narrative about grief and remembrance and a frightening, slow-burning haunted house adventure. Ages 8-12. Agent: Jim McCarthy, Dystel, Goderich, & Bourret. (July)
Copyright 2024 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.
Kirkus
A thrilling, hair-raising story with strong cultural roots and a well-developed sense of place.
Review quotes
"Eden Royce's thriller has all the earmarks of a classic haunted house tale paired with deeply-woven family traditions centered on hoodoo and Black hair. While the horror plot will keep you turning the pages, it's the emotional story of grief and family healing that will have you cheering at the end." — Tracey Baptiste, New York Times-bestselling author of The Jumbies
"Royce employs marvelously eerie ambiance to craft a tale that is at once a moving narrative about grief and remembrance and a frightening, slow-burning haunted house adventure." — Publishers Weekly
JUV058000 - Juvenile Fiction | Paranormal, Occult & Supernatural
JUV018000 - Juvenile Fiction | Horror
