Little Sister Death
A Novel
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
David Binder is a young, successful writer living in Chicago and suffering from writer’s block. He stares at the blank page, and the blank page stares back harder. So when his agent suggests maybe a lighter sophomore novel, maybe something genre that they can sell real quick and buy him some more time to pen his magnum opus, he’s quick to recall an old ghost story he once heard. With his pregnant wife and his young daughter in toe, he sets out for Tennessee with high hopes of indulging the local lore surrounding Virginia Beale, Faery Queen of the Haunted Dell and whiling away the summer away from life in the city. But as his investigation goes further and further, and the creaking of the floor boards grows louder and louder, the David Binder realizes he’s not only endangered himself, but also his wife and daughter.
A stirring literary rendition of Tennessee's famed Curse of the Bell Witch, Little Sister Death skillfully toes the line between Southern Gothic and Horror and further cements William Gay’s legacy as not only one of the South’s finest writers, but among the best that American literature has to offer.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This horror story from the Southern gothic author Gay (Twilight), who died in 2012, takes the popular Bell Witch ghost tale as its direct inspiration. David Binder, a budding author in his early 30s, resides in Chicago with his wife, Corrie, where he works his day job at an aircraft parts plant. He breaks through when his debut novel is published in 1980 to much critical acclaim but only tepid commercial sales. After his follow-up novel gets rejected, Binder's literary agent advises him to write a horror novel, which is the current hot-selling genre. He decides to base his third novel on the Bell Witch legend and relocates his family, including his young daughter, Stephanie, to Beale Station, in his native state of Tennessee, to conduct book research. The Binders live in the old homestead, "a ruined backwoods mansion," where the Bell Witch ghost incidents occurred in the early 19th century. Gay inventively gives his version of the bizarre, often creepy back story about the legend. Though Gay's story feels a bit thin in spots, his signature muscular prose, authentic dialogue, and vivid setting combine to make this posthumous novel a worthwhile read.
