"Perdita" by Hildegarde Hawthorne

In This House Will Feed by Maria Tureaud, Maggie, a young woman trying to survive the Great Hunger in Ireland, is rescued from a workhouse by the enigmatic Lady Catherine, who brings Maggie back to her estate home. She promises Maggie a roof over her head, food to eat, and, eventually, a shockingly ample plot of land to call her own–with one catch. Maggie must pretend to be Lady Catherine's daughter Wilhelmina. It seems too good to be true–and Maggie may be in more danger than she realizes.    Recommended in this episode: Widow's Bay on Apple TV and The Other Bennet Sister on BritBox  NEWS: We have a Bookshop.org shop now! Find all of our favorite books at our shop–and help out small businesses.  HUGE CONGRATULATIONS TO DANIEL KRAUS ON HIS PULITZER WIN! UP NEXT: Dollface by Lindy Ryan  Buy our books here, including Monster, She Wrote and our newest Toil and Trouble.

Join us as we interview author Maria Tureaud on her Irish Gothic This House Will Feed.    Maria Tureaud is an editor and acclaimed author of middle grade and adult fiction. Born and raised in County Clare on the west coast of Ireland, she now lives with her husband and son in New Jersey and can be found online at AuthorMariaTureaud.com.   Recommended in this episode: The Eyes Are the Best Part and The Devil and Mrs. Davenport and the ultimate Gothic novel Jane Eyre    NEWS: We have a Bookshop.org shop now! Find all of our favorite books at our shop–and help out small businesses.    UP NEXT: This House Will Feed by Maria Tureaud   Buy our books here, including Monster, She Wrote and our newest Toil and Trouble.   

In "Perdita" by Hildegarde Hawthorne, Silvia and Jack settle into their newlywed lives on Alfalfa Ranch, owned by Silvia's Aunt Agnes. Things would be perfect, except for the little ghost child who can't quite leave them alone.  More on Hildegarde here.    Recommended in this episode: The Macabre by Kosoko Jackson NEWS: We have a Bookshop.org shop now! Find all of our favorite books at our shop–and help out small businesses.  UP NEXT: This House Will Feed by Maria Tureaud Buy our books here, including Monster, She Wrote and our newest Toil and Trouble.

In Anne Rivers Siddons's The House Next Door, Colquitt and Walter Kennedy are living their dream life. They have flourishing careers, a thriving social life, and a home they love in an affluent Southern suburb. But when an architect builds a house on the lot next door, immediately Colquitt worries that their quiet life will be disrupted. Unfortunately, the house has something much worse in store for the Kennedys–and anyone else who dares to step inside its walls.   Recommended in this episode: Paul Tremblay's Horror Movie: A Novel    NEWS: We have a Bookshop.org shop now! Find all of our favorite books at our shop–and help out small businesses.    UP NEXT: "Perdita" by Hildegarde Hawthorne    Buy our books here, including Monster, She Wrote and our newest Toil and Trouble.   

In Liz Moore's The God of the Woods, the idyllic setting of the Adirondack mountains conceals something sinister. One child going missing is a tragedy–but two children–and from the same family is a disturbing pattern. A young investigator is pretty sure that the wealthy Van Laar family is concealing something, if only she can get close enough to the family to find out what they are hiding.   Recommended in this episode: Trad Wife by Saratoga Schaefer and preorder Tananarive Due's newest Mazywood (out in September)   NEWS: We have a Bookshop.org shop now! Find all of our favorite books at our shop–and help out small businesses.    UP NEXT: Anne Rivers Siddons's The House Next Door  Buy our books here, including Monster, She Wrote and our newest Toil and Trouble.

Heads up, listeners. The ghosts of Hill House invaded this recording, so you might hear some audio glitches.    In Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House, Eleanor Vance has just buried her ailing elderly mother when she is invited to be part of a psychic investigation at a notoriously haunted house. The plan is to rent the home out for the summer and see what evidence of ghosts they can collect. What could possibly go wrong?    Recommended in this episode: Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and We Love You, Bunny by Mona Awad   NEWS: We have a Bookshop.org shop now! Find all of our favorite books at our shop–and help out small businesses.    UP NEXT: The God of the Woods by Liz Moore   Buy our books here, including Monster, She Wrote and our newest Toil and Trouble.   

In Mo Moshaty's short story "Dandelion Wine" in her collection Clairviolence, a long married couple have a fight over a plum cake won in a bingo game that just might be the end for the two of them.    Recommended in this episode: Lindy Ryan's Dollface, Gwendolyn Kiste's In These Gilded Ghostly Hearts (preorder), and Jane Harper's The Survivors    NEWS: We have a Bookshop.org shop now! Find all of our favorite books at our shop–and help out small businesses.    UP NEXT: The Haunting of Hill House with special guest and podcast favorite Crystal O'Leary Davidson Buy our books here, including Monster, She Wrote and our newest Toil and Trouble.

In Play Nice by Rachel Harrison, carefree Clio Barnes's life is interrupted when her estranged mother dies, and she and her sisters inherit their childhood home. Her plans to renovate the old place and sell it quickly fall apart when the demons from her past refuse to be ignored.  Recommended in this episode: Good Boy, streaming on Shudder NEWS: We have a Bookshop.org shop now! Find all of our favorite books at our shop–and help out small businesses.  UP NEXT: Mo Moshaty's short story "Dandelion Wine" in her collection Clairviolence Buy our books here, including Monster, She Wrote and our newest Toil and Trouble.

In Sarah Orne Jewett's short story "The Landscape Chamber," a woman travelling alone, in search of adventure, finds herself off the beaten path. When her horse is injured, she seeks help at an old manor tucked away in the country, seemingly forgotten by time. There, she meets an old man and his lonely daughter. While they welcome her in, it seems that something in the home does not want her there.    STORY LINKED HERE: "The Landscape Chamber"    Recommended in this episode: Sam Raimi's Send Help and Jennifer McMahon's The Night Sister   NEWS: We have a Bookshop.org shop now! Find all of our favorite books at our shop–and help out small businesses.    UP NEXT: Play Nice by Rachel Harrison Buy our books here, including Monster, She Wrote and our newest Toil and Trouble.

In Silvia Moreno-Garcia's Gothic horror The Bewitching , three different women across three timelines are interconnected by mysterious disappearances, murder, and dark magic. In 1998, graduate student Minerva researches the real events that inspired Beatrice Tremblay's most famous novel. In 1932, Beatrice Tremblay is caught up in the disappearance of her friend and roommate. And in 1908, Minerva's great-grandmother Alba has to fight for her family when a witch takes control of her life.  Recommended in this episode: God of the Woods by Liz Moore and Bless Your Heart by Lindy Ryan  NEWS: We have a Bookshop.org shop now! Find all of our favorite books at our shop–and help out small businesses. And check out this list of Latino-owned bookstores to support.   UP NEXT: "The Landscape Chamber" by Sarah Orne Jewett  Buy our books here, including Monster, She Wrote and our newest Toil and Trouble.