Scarecrows: Appalachian Tales

by Steve Rasnic Tem

Steve Rasnic Tem grew up in Lee County Virginia, the westernmost county in the state. It was the heart of Appalachia, isolated, yet beautiful. He has said “Growing up in that small place, it was hard to imagine ever becoming a writer. To me wanting to be a writer was like wanting to become an astronaut or a movie star. I didn’t believe such things ever happened for people like us.”

Now in his seventies, Steve Rasnic Tem’s writings include more than 500 published short stories in a variety of genres, seventeen collections, eight novels, and miscellaneous poetry and plays. He has won the World Fantasy, Bram Stoker, British Fantasy, and International Horror Guild awards. In 2024 he received the Horror Writers Association Lifetime Achievement Award.

“His work…will haunt your imagination and your heart in equal measure, and it both expands and defines the genre.” - Weird Fiction Review

“Steve Rasnic Tem is a school of writing unto himself.” – Joe R. Lansdale

“He’s one of the true masters.” – Ed Gorman

“A Tem story is like no other.” – Simon Strantzas

Appalachian Tales collects the best of Tem’s writings about his native Appalachia, two poems and twenty-four short stories (including five never-before-published tales) concerning the farmers, miners, teachers, preachers, lawmen, itinerants, housewives, elders, children, and creatures who call these southern mountains home. The tales represent a range of fantasy, horror, crime, humor, and realistic local color fiction of the region.

249 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 9, 2024

About the author

Steve Rasnic Tem was born in Lee County Virginia in the heart of Appalachia. He is the author of over 350 published short stories and is a past winner of the Bram Stoker, International Horror Guild, British Fantasy, and World Fantasy Awards. His story collections include City Fishing, The Far Side of the Lake, In Concert (with wife Melanie Tem), Ugly Behavior, Celestial Inventories, and Onion Songs. An audio collection, Invisible, is also available. His novels include Excavation, The Book of Days, Daughters, The Man In The Ceiling (with Melanie Tem), and the recent Deadfall Hotel.

Reviews

[Yegor Voronin · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is genuinely sad to see only a couple of reviews for this book. Steve Rasnic Tem is an excellent author—often called a "writer's writer"—who deserves a much wider audience, and this collection is a perfect example of why.

Scarecrows focuses on the dilapidated, fading towns of Virginia, a setting that feels deeply personal and autobiographical. Many of the stories follow characters who are returning home—visiting family, dealing with the death of a parent, or just looking for their roots. Tem is a master of what critics call "Quiet Horror"; he conveys a dark mood of abandonment and the loss of human connection without relying on cheap shocks.

The title itself feels symbolic: the characters often feel like scarecrows themselves, hollowed out by time and standing watch over a dying landscape. Yet, and this is what makes him special, the stories aren't depressing. They are deeply humanistic. The supernatural elements—ghosts, magic, or just the indescribably "weird"—often feel like manifestations of the characters' own grief and memory.

While not every story is equally strong, there are hardly any misses here. It’s an excellent collection that mixes the realistic with the bizarre, and Tem has quickly become one of my favorite short-story writers. I will definitely be reading more of him.

[Scott Melesky · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been lucky to have been in a writing class taught by the late Dennis Etchison and Peter Atkins. They both taught me what horror writing is all about.
Steve Rasnic Tem's Scarecrows Appalachian Tales is a terrifically written and scary book about Appalachia in Virginia. His collection of 24 short stories and two poems on the region run the gamut of different characters from farmers to teachers to policemen all experiencing different types of horrors in each story which sent chills down my spine as I read it. A great writer and storyteller and highly recommend this book.