Grim Root
Embark on a darkly humorous journey of reality TV meets the macabre. On the set of The Groom, a group of women must compete for the heart of Midwestern bachelor Tristan by spending a week in a haunted house. Divorcee Linda, resigned to her role as the show's underdog, finds her resolve cracking when she begins to fall for fellow castmate Charity. Meanwhile, Sabrina, groomed by her witchy mother to deliver their family from poverty by marrying a rich man, sees winning the competition as her predestined path.
But after a shocking demise, the game takes a sinister turn. As the remaining contestants grapple with their desires for love and survival, they uncover dark secrets within and without the house's walls. Trapped in a twisted new competition, they must confront their own demons or face elimination.
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"In this acidic meta-horror novel, the inherent horror of reality TV mixes with more otherworldly terrors as a dating show descends into madness. This is gory fun." -Publishers Weekly
"Ask me to watch a single episode of a reality TV dating show, and I'll tell you to get out of my face. But set it in a haunted estate, where gruesome curses and death await the players? I'm in. Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam fires up her penchant for pulp, served dry on a platter of her trademark wit, while still managing to invest the reader in the plights of her well-drawn characters. Mystery, love triangles, haunted fruit, oozing walls, and yes, death-that's Grim Root." -Chris Panatier, author of The Redemption of Morgan Bright and The Phlebotomist
"A delectable dark cocktail of a novel, Grim Root is a heady mix of macabre humor and full-on horror, pure delight for fans of literary supernatural fiction." -Elizabeth Hand, author of A Haunting on the Hill and Generation Loss
"As incisive and clever as it is humorous, Grim Root explores the tangled web of female competition, sexuality, and the ways that women destroy each other." -Drew Huff, author of Free Burn and The Divine Flesh
"Whether you love or hate reality TV dating shows, don't we all wish the contestants would be subjected to strange and dangerous paranormal forces? In Grim Root, Stufflebeam
expertly interlaces reality dating dynamics and misogyny with classic gothic madness and decay. You'll refuse that final rose and beg for the embrace of these grim and deadly roots." -Angela Sylvaine, author of Frost Bite and The Dead Spot: Stories of Lost Girls
"Conceptually brilliant, eerie, and entrancing, Grim Root challenges readers to examine societal and Hallmark depictions of love. Stufflebeam masters this close-up of dark intentions in yearning for courtship, status, and the risks for conformity, revealing what is left behind as the flowers of romantic love wilt. Sure to haunt readers long after the final page." -Belicia Rhea, author of Voracious
