This Cursed House

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Brought to you by Penguin.

Some houses keep their secrets. This one keeps its dead.
The dark, atmospheric Southern gothic ghost story longlisted for Goodreads’ Horror Book of the Year 2024

Louisiana, 1962.

The Duchon estate looms over New Orleans, a crumbling relic of Southern charm. Its walls decaying under the weight of its long-buried secrets.

At its door stands Jemma Barker, fleeing the frozen streets of Chicago and a past she won’t talk about. But Jemma wasn’t invited. She was summoned.

Inside await the light-skinned Duchons, bound by a family curse. They believe Jemma is the one who will save them. Never mind her darker skin, a shade they’ve always scorned.

But their curse isn’t just supernatural. It’s woven into generations of silence, superiority, and shame.
As the house stirs and Jemma’s past creeps in, she must decide: will she be the Duchons’ salvation, or risk losing herself to their darkness?
‘A sinister and beautifully rendered Southern Gothic, This Cursed House explores the real-life horrors of racism and trauma. Del Sandeen’s stunning debut haunted me’ Alexis Henderson, author of The Year of the Witching

© Del Sandeen 2024 (P) Penguin Audio 2024

Critics Review

An absolute marvel of a debut from a prodigious talent. This Cursed House is a richly atmospheric, utterly chilling ghost story, an enthralling puzzle box of family scandals and secrets—that's also an unflinching examination of the insidiousness of racism, the horrors of colorism, and how the toxicity of hate is a curse that traps us all with the worst of ourselves. A spellbinding Southern gothic.
Rachel Harrison, national bestselling author of Black Sheep and Such Sharp Teeth
A sinister and beautifully rendered Southern Gothic, This Cursed House explores the real-life horrors of racism and trauma. Del Sandeen’s stunning debut haunted me
Alexis Henderson, author of The Year of the Witching
In this haunting and chilling story, an inglorious remnant of American history is handled so deftly that you won't believe it's Del Sandeen's first novel. It's hard to say which is more disturbing: the otherworldly goings-on in the Duchon mansion or the racism of the South in the 1960s
Alma Katsu, author of The Fervor
An enthralling, twisty Southern Gothic historical full of family secrets and century-spanning sins. A remarkable debut
Eden Royce, award-winning author of Root Magic
Del Sandeen’s This Cursed House is a richly layered Southern Gothic about the cruelty of family secrets and the many different ways we can be cursed. This house is full of ghosts, but it’s the people who are truly haunting. A wonderful debut!
Christopher Golden, New York Times bestselling author of The House of Last Resort
This Cursed House is a hauntingly beautiful story about how far we would go for family—both the living and the dead. An absolute must-read for fans of gothic horror
Darcy Coates, USA Today bestselling author of The Whispering Dead
Buckle up for terror
Press & Journal

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