NONE OF THIS IS AN INVITATION

by Jessica Alexander, Katie Jean Shinkle

A mystery and queer hauntology, NONE OF THIS IS AN INVITATION is a literary thriller. NONE OF THIS IS AN INVITATION follows Nina Morris, a young woman desperate to escape the defining event of her the disappearance of her friend and love interest, Alex. One freakishly wintry night in Texas, Alex enters the woods of Bidwell Ridge, and-like the girls of urban legends-is never seen again. Nearly two decades later, after Nina's many failed attempts to reinvent herself, Alex returns in phantasmic form beckoning Nina back to the enigmatic dreamscape of their Texas girlhood. Through the uncanny surreality of a mirror world, Nina sets out to solve the enigma of their shared did Nina's older brother abduct Alex? Did Alex commit suicide? Is she still alive after all these years in Bidwell Ridge? What worldly or unworldly forces entwine their a haunted hometown, a curse, or an unspoken desire? "NONE OF THIS IS AN INVITATION is a novella of double-takes. I loved living in the uncanny misdirection, the self-doubt, the unstable points of view. Every image accrues heft alongside the quicksilver narrative. Each chapter break jolted me, like waking up from a dream of falling."--Jac Jemc, author of Empty Theatre and The Grip of It "Jessica Alexander & Katie Jean Shinkle prove in NONE OF THIS IS AN INVITATION that the secret ingredient for a great ghost story is desire with all its traps. A strange little gem of a book that will be hard for readers to put down."--Megan Giddings, author of The Women Could Fly and Lakewood Fiction. LGBTQ+ Studies.

75 pages, Paperback

Published June 20, 2023

Reviews

[Tobias · Rating 4 out of 5]

Haunted, haunting stuff — a book that abounds with familiar settings turning suddenly uncanny.