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Blood Kin
WINNER OF THE 2015 BRAM STOKER AWARD
A dark Southern Gothic vision of ghosts, witchcraft, secret powers, snake-handling, kudzu, Melungeons, and the Great Depression.
Michael Gibson has returned to the quiet home of his forebears and now takes care of his grandmother Sadie – old and sickly, but with an important story to tell about growing up poor and Melungeon (a mixed race group of mysterious origins) in the 1930s, while bedeviled by a snake-handling uncle and empathic powers she barely understands.
In a field not far from the Gibson family home lies an iron-bound crate within a small shack buried four feet deep under Kudzu vine. Michael somehow understands that hidden inside that crate is potentially his own death, his grandmother’s death, and perhaps the deaths of everyone in the valley if he does not come to understand her story well enough.
‘His words take root, growing like kudzu in every crack and crevice, smothering your senses with suspense and tension. Best book I have read all year.’
Michael Knost, Bram Stoker award-winning author
‘This two-headed snake of a tale is superbly structured and gracefully paced, whilst the plot proves almost unstoppable.’
Tor.com
A dark Southern Gothic vision of ghosts, witchcraft, secret powers, snake-handling, kudzu, Melungeons, and the Great Depression.
Michael Gibson has returned to the quiet home of his forebears and now takes care of his grandmother Sadie – old and sickly, but with an important story to tell about growing up poor and Melungeon (a mixed race group of mysterious origins) in the 1930s, while bedeviled by a snake-handling uncle and empathic powers she barely understands.
In a field not far from the Gibson family home lies an iron-bound crate within a small shack buried four feet deep under Kudzu vine. Michael somehow understands that hidden inside that crate is potentially his own death, his grandmother’s death, and perhaps the deaths of everyone in the valley if he does not come to understand her story well enough.
‘His words take root, growing like kudzu in every crack and crevice, smothering your senses with suspense and tension. Best book I have read all year.’
Michael Knost, Bram Stoker award-winning author
‘This two-headed snake of a tale is superbly structured and gracefully paced, whilst the plot proves almost unstoppable.’
Tor.com
288 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 25, 2014
34 people are currently reading
1191 people want to read
About the author
Steve Rasnic Tem
464 books308 followersSteve 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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews
June 7, 2020
i like reading books where i think to myself "this would have been a great x-files episode…" and this one certainly qualifies.
this is a sweet little piece of southern gothic/horror which splits itself between the 1930s and the present day, using visions and psychic/empathic powers to bind the two.
it takes place in rural-rural appalachia, and is the story of the gibson family: they of muddy melungeon ethnicity, magical gifts, and some backwoods madness. the now-elderly sadie is telling her story to her grandson michael who is a solitary and displaced man returned home to care for the ailing sadie after his own failed suicide attempt. as she tells her story, her gift (and his own) makes the distance between the past and present collapse, and the events become almost real to michael; he lives inside of them and is depleted whenever sadie pauses in her tale. but the story must be told to the end, because there is a danger coming, and it is beginning to stir in a buried iron crate under a thickening snare of kudzu.
it's got all the things you need to get membership in the southern gothic club: ghosts, snake-handlers, gruesome murders, incest, inscrutable old-timers who hold all the secrets, moonshine, poverty and prejudice, religious fervor, all of that. but it also has a good story under all that window-dressing, a tale of long-awaited justice and a family legacy of hatred and fear building up generation after generation until a final explosive sequence may or may not put everything right.
oh, and did i mention snake handlers??
this has some of the best snake-scenes i have ever read. oh, pentacostals, i do not understand your ways… however, if there is ever a religious group that offers red panda-handling, drop me a line, okay?? i'm not even fussy about the rest of the belief system - tell me who to hate and i'll do it, make me marry 40 people, tell me i have to give up zippers cuz they're too flashy, just let me hoist red pandas above my head for a couple hours and we're good.
come here, imma handle you...
come to my blog!
this is a sweet little piece of southern gothic/horror which splits itself between the 1930s and the present day, using visions and psychic/empathic powers to bind the two.
it takes place in rural-rural appalachia, and is the story of the gibson family: they of muddy melungeon ethnicity, magical gifts, and some backwoods madness. the now-elderly sadie is telling her story to her grandson michael who is a solitary and displaced man returned home to care for the ailing sadie after his own failed suicide attempt. as she tells her story, her gift (and his own) makes the distance between the past and present collapse, and the events become almost real to michael; he lives inside of them and is depleted whenever sadie pauses in her tale. but the story must be told to the end, because there is a danger coming, and it is beginning to stir in a buried iron crate under a thickening snare of kudzu.
it's got all the things you need to get membership in the southern gothic club: ghosts, snake-handlers, gruesome murders, incest, inscrutable old-timers who hold all the secrets, moonshine, poverty and prejudice, religious fervor, all of that. but it also has a good story under all that window-dressing, a tale of long-awaited justice and a family legacy of hatred and fear building up generation after generation until a final explosive sequence may or may not put everything right.
oh, and did i mention snake handlers??
this has some of the best snake-scenes i have ever read. oh, pentacostals, i do not understand your ways… however, if there is ever a religious group that offers red panda-handling, drop me a line, okay?? i'm not even fussy about the rest of the belief system - tell me who to hate and i'll do it, make me marry 40 people, tell me i have to give up zippers cuz they're too flashy, just let me hoist red pandas above my head for a couple hours and we're good.
come here, imma handle you...
come to my blog!
January 9, 2014
This book starts off just pure Appalachian tale. Michael has come home to the Mountains to recover from a suicide attempt and to care for his ailing Grandmother Sadie. Sadie starts telling the history of the Gibson clan to him as her health allows. Sadie was a young girl growing up in the mountains in the 1930's. I loved her parts of the story. I eat up Appalachian folklore with a spoon. The history and tales in this part of the book come alive. I live at the base of the Appalachian mountain chain so I have experienced some of the happenings that are told. Yes I've been to a church that handled snakes.(No I didn't touch them) It's not something you discuss in proper company but I grew up curious about everything and as a young teenager I jumped at the chance to go once I found out what the outing would include. A church that speaks in tongues and picks up snakes is something this reader will never forget. A chill ran through me as I read this part of the book remembering. The author does a fantastic job detailing this in the book.
Southern Appalachian history to me is just like no other. The Granny in this book were so familiar to me growing up that I saw her in my mind perfectly. Old wives tales that came from her lips were reminiscent of my grandmother's getting on to us youngun's as we constantly tested their nerves.
The book swerves into horror towards the end and I think then I became disjointed from the story. I just wanted it to be more than it was. The ending became rushed and disjointed.
Southern Appalachian history to me is just like no other. The Granny in this book were so familiar to me growing up that I saw her in my mind perfectly. Old wives tales that came from her lips were reminiscent of my grandmother's getting on to us youngun's as we constantly tested their nerves.
The book swerves into horror towards the end and I think then I became disjointed from the story. I just wanted it to be more than it was. The ending became rushed and disjointed.
November 22, 2023
A strange, engrossing southern gothic read by Tem, but one that unfolds rather slowly. Michael Gibson, our main protagonist, recently returned to his small, Virginia hometown to take care of his elderly and sickly grandmother Sadie. Sadie is one of the last Gibsons, and lore links the family to the Melungeon, a mixed race of mysterious origins 'discovered' during the early exploration of the mountains. In any case, the Gibsons are rather special.
Michael has no real love for his grandma Sadie, just as he has no real love for much of anything. Now at age 30, he realizes he spend the last decade drunk and stoned, never really accomplishing much at all. Still, taking care of his grandmother is not really fun. Sadie turns a blind eye to this, however, and insists in her own way on telling Michael about her childhood in the 30s. Sadie, like Michael, however, are powerful empaths, and story telling is more like reliving.
Tem oscillates between the poor, depression hit small town in the 1930s and now, but once the book really gets going, we spend most of it reliving Sadie's history. The Gibsons were a big 'clan' to say the least, but they do not all get along. Sadie's uncle is the local 'fire and brimstones' preacher in town, and he livens up his services with snakes; big snakes. At first the preacher is a minor character, but as the story progresses, he starts to dominate the narrative...
The novel itself is beautifully produced, with nice cover art and illustrations at the start of each chapter; fitting, as Tem's prose is really quite poetic at times, as it is hard and realistic. You really find yourself in Sadie's tale, her trials and tribulations, and the mysteries of the strange Gibson clan. Expect a slow burn here, but one that builds ever so carefully up to the denouement. Wonderfully crafted to say the least, and now I am looking forward to more of Tem's work. I think you have to be in the right mood to really enjoy this, especially as it takes a bit to get into. It did remind me of Kelly's work, and also shades of Pollock's The Devil All the Time. If you like either of these authors, you will probably like this. 4 dark stars!
Michael has no real love for his grandma Sadie, just as he has no real love for much of anything. Now at age 30, he realizes he spend the last decade drunk and stoned, never really accomplishing much at all. Still, taking care of his grandmother is not really fun. Sadie turns a blind eye to this, however, and insists in her own way on telling Michael about her childhood in the 30s. Sadie, like Michael, however, are powerful empaths, and story telling is more like reliving.
Tem oscillates between the poor, depression hit small town in the 1930s and now, but once the book really gets going, we spend most of it reliving Sadie's history. The Gibsons were a big 'clan' to say the least, but they do not all get along. Sadie's uncle is the local 'fire and brimstones' preacher in town, and he livens up his services with snakes; big snakes. At first the preacher is a minor character, but as the story progresses, he starts to dominate the narrative...
The novel itself is beautifully produced, with nice cover art and illustrations at the start of each chapter; fitting, as Tem's prose is really quite poetic at times, as it is hard and realistic. You really find yourself in Sadie's tale, her trials and tribulations, and the mysteries of the strange Gibson clan. Expect a slow burn here, but one that builds ever so carefully up to the denouement. Wonderfully crafted to say the least, and now I am looking forward to more of Tem's work. I think you have to be in the right mood to really enjoy this, especially as it takes a bit to get into. It did remind me of Kelly's work, and also shades of Pollock's The Devil All the Time. If you like either of these authors, you will probably like this. 4 dark stars!
April 27, 2014
An engaging novel of Appalachian Gothic, that weaves the unique folklore and beliefs of the region from the Great Depression into the modern day. Marked by a strong sense of time and place, this is a chilling work of regional horror.
June 11, 2015
4.5 stars
March 28, 2016
Blood Kin won the Bram Stoker award for best horror novel in 2014. I can understand why. Blood Kin introduces Sadie, a member of the Gibson clan who populate the mountain in Appalachian Virginia. Sadie has the gift of the 'feeling' - she is able to understand people, read them and their intents, and sometimes intuit what is going to happen. Her uncle, known as the Preacher, also has the 'feeling' and has established a fire and brimstone church up in the mountains with snake handling and all. Most folks know not to disobey the Preacher and many try and avoid him.
What I enjoyed most about this book was the life in the Appalachian mountains. I think the author gave a very realistic look at the culture and mindset of mountain folk and how they live separate from the outside world. With someone who has 'powers' and unscrupulous intentions to control people and rise to power, bad things begin to build quickly to a frightening level. The horror in this book was intense, especially if you don't like snakes, and I found myself a bit startled during the night after I realized my bed-sheet had wrapped around my body. Not for the faint of heart.
The book is written by Sadie's point of view as an older woman telling her story to her grandson Micheal who also has the 'feeling' and can experience the events as if he were there with a young Sadie. A very good read and highly recommend for those who enjoy a supernatural take with their mountain lore.
What I enjoyed most about this book was the life in the Appalachian mountains. I think the author gave a very realistic look at the culture and mindset of mountain folk and how they live separate from the outside world. With someone who has 'powers' and unscrupulous intentions to control people and rise to power, bad things begin to build quickly to a frightening level. The horror in this book was intense, especially if you don't like snakes, and I found myself a bit startled during the night after I realized my bed-sheet had wrapped around my body. Not for the faint of heart.
The book is written by Sadie's point of view as an older woman telling her story to her grandson Micheal who also has the 'feeling' and can experience the events as if he were there with a young Sadie. A very good read and highly recommend for those who enjoy a supernatural take with their mountain lore.
Read
August 7, 2015DNF'ing at 25%
Maybe it's my fault, reading this between two awesome books in an awesome series. I just can't get into it. The stories about the Gramma's past are good, but the present day POV of the selfish, spoiled 20-something brat is just making me weary. And I haz tooooo many to-read books to force myself to read something I'm not lovin'the-shit-outta.
Maybe it's my fault, reading this between two awesome books in an awesome series. I just can't get into it. The stories about the Gramma's past are good, but the present day POV of the selfish, spoiled 20-something brat is just making me weary. And I haz tooooo many to-read books to force myself to read something I'm not lovin'the-shit-outta.
November 7, 2015
Blood Kin is a loving and respectful Southern Gothic. I read it as part of my quest to find the best 21st-century horror novels. Steve Rasnic Tem has done a grand job with this sub genre, updating it slightly while honoring its glorious, ill roots.
The plot turns on stories. Indeed, it's all one old woman's recollections of growing up in a strange Virginia mountain family until the conclusion, when a frame story comes to the fore. Our present-day protagonist is staying with his grandmother, caring for her and coming to depend on Sadie's increasingly disturbing narratives.
Sadie grew up in the Great Depression, descended from a disreputable family and eking out life in poverty. Blood Kin fleshes out her family and community's history, from nearly magical elders to a manic snake-wielding preacher. It's a little suspenseful, with touches of horror. More of a bildungsroman, as we see Sadie learning about life, from family relationships to shoplifting.
What's to like? Characters, to begin with. Sadie is a fine, rich character who keeps revealing depths as the novel proceeds. Michael, her grandson and putative hero, starts as a mild version of this Night Gallery episode's villain, a lush and parasite, but grows up a bit. The preacher makes for a fine villain.
As Southern Gothic, Tem ticks all the check boxes. We have tangled family roots, the threats of incest and inbreeding, religion crazed and comforting, backwoods belief and folks, persistent poverty, violence, and a sense of doom, irresistible kudzu, touches of the supernatural. The Gibson family is not exactly white (Michael "was Indian or black. He was maybe part Portuguese or gypsy, or some throwback to a creature from another world", Kindle location143), and seems to have a mythic origin somewhere in Tennessee.
There are also plenty of classic Gothic features, such as haunted architecture reflecting mental and familial states, secret books, plus hidden objects of great portent. I think there's even a nice shout-out to the classic silent b+w vampire film Vampyr (1932, with an evil thing drowned in corn (Kindle 3350).
I was surprised that a major theme of empathy emerged from the book. Some family members have a form of psychic connection, and their ethical distribution shapes their response to it.
Overall, a good Gothic. A nice sign of the genre being alive in the 21st century.
The plot turns on stories. Indeed, it's all one old woman's recollections of growing up in a strange Virginia mountain family until the conclusion, when a frame story comes to the fore. Our present-day protagonist is staying with his grandmother, caring for her and coming to depend on Sadie's increasingly disturbing narratives.
Sadie grew up in the Great Depression, descended from a disreputable family and eking out life in poverty. Blood Kin fleshes out her family and community's history, from nearly magical elders to a manic snake-wielding preacher. It's a little suspenseful, with touches of horror. More of a bildungsroman, as we see Sadie learning about life, from family relationships to shoplifting.
What's to like? Characters, to begin with. Sadie is a fine, rich character who keeps revealing depths as the novel proceeds. Michael, her grandson and putative hero, starts as a mild version of this Night Gallery episode's villain, a lush and parasite, but grows up a bit. The preacher makes for a fine villain.
As Southern Gothic, Tem ticks all the check boxes. We have tangled family roots, the threats of incest and inbreeding, religion crazed and comforting, backwoods belief and folks, persistent poverty, violence, and a sense of doom, irresistible kudzu, touches of the supernatural. The Gibson family is not exactly white (Michael "was Indian or black. He was maybe part Portuguese or gypsy, or some throwback to a creature from another world", Kindle location143), and seems to have a mythic origin somewhere in Tennessee.
There are also plenty of classic Gothic features, such as haunted architecture reflecting mental and familial states, secret books, plus hidden objects of great portent. I think there's even a nice shout-out to the classic silent b+w vampire film Vampyr (1932, with an evil thing drowned in corn (Kindle 3350).
I was surprised that a major theme of empathy emerged from the book. Some family members have a form of psychic connection, and their ethical distribution shapes their response to it.
[T]he understanding didn't necessarily make you nice; it didn't even make you kind... You could use that power to make other people feel better, or worse. Once inside their heads, you could push them anyway you wanted to. (Kindle 3218)The way Blood Kin handles this strikes me as optimistic, more like heroic fantasy and less than some horror.
Overall, a good Gothic. A nice sign of the genre being alive in the 21st century.
May 2, 2014
Blood Kin by Steve Rasnic Tem has a nice Appalachian authenticity in style, atmosphere and dialog. The dialog sings and descriptions like "A smile like that surely'd kill a baby" speaks to its Southern Gothic roots. Yet all the authenticity in the world will not save a poor plot. Fortunately, that is not an issue here. Steve Rasnic Tem has devised a plot that grabs you from the beginning and keeps you interested through a technique of alternating time frames. This is one of those book that elevate the art of storytelling in that the art of storytelling becomes part of the plot. Michael is caring for his grandmother Sadie . He has returned home to do this carrying an ambivalence about his family and his roots. Every night his grandmother clings precariously to life and tells stories about her childhood in the 1930s. It becomes clear that she is telling him these stories for a purpose, perhaps to fill a destiny.
Blood Kin has backwoods magic, snake handling preachers, and a mixed race group that has the burden of special gifts. There's a box in the kudzu that holds lingering menace and this tale is loaded with...did I mention snakes? The Southern Gothic influences of Flannery Connors and David Grubbs are noticeable. References to Faulkner shows up a few times in the writing. One character has a fondness for The Sound and the Fury. I also detect a nod to Manley Wellman's Silver John tales. Yet this story has a darker supernatural tint in it than Wellman's and becomes downright creepy at times. It is a delicious edge-of-your-seat form of creepy with enough atmosphere to let you escape into its literary creepiness. This is a novel that will not only appeal to horror fans but also will please lovers of regional fiction.
Blood Kin has backwoods magic, snake handling preachers, and a mixed race group that has the burden of special gifts. There's a box in the kudzu that holds lingering menace and this tale is loaded with...did I mention snakes? The Southern Gothic influences of Flannery Connors and David Grubbs are noticeable. References to Faulkner shows up a few times in the writing. One character has a fondness for The Sound and the Fury. I also detect a nod to Manley Wellman's Silver John tales. Yet this story has a darker supernatural tint in it than Wellman's and becomes downright creepy at times. It is a delicious edge-of-your-seat form of creepy with enough atmosphere to let you escape into its literary creepiness. This is a novel that will not only appeal to horror fans but also will please lovers of regional fiction.
March 2, 2014
Book Review originally published here: http://www.iheartreading.net/reviews/...
Blood Kin is dark, unsettling, and deliciously creepy. Alternating between the 1930s and present day, it tells the legacy of a family haunted by mystery and horror, and something very dark and sinsiter.
Michael Gibson cares for his grandmother, Sadie. She’s old, sick, and on the verge of dying, but she clings on to life, with one last story to tell. The more she tells Michael about the history of his family, about an iron-bound crate buried four feet deep in a small shack, about mountain people he never even knew, the more he begins to realize the story’s importance. Not just for him, but for everyone in the valley.
What bothered me the most about the story is how disjointed it feels. I realize I’m not the first reviewer commenting on this, but it’s the truth. The first part of the book is mostly historical fiction, Southern gothic, with only a hint of the horror to come. It starts out strong, then the middle part drags on, expanding upon certain themes I’m not sure had to be expanded on, and then the end is one dashing scene of horror after the other. As if the book exists of two seperate genres smashed together in a less than favorable execution.
If the book had stuck to one genre, and would’ve been a bit shorter (the middle part really drags on), it would’ve been great. As it stands now, it’s a decent read, but not spectacular.
Blood Kin is dark, unsettling, and deliciously creepy. Alternating between the 1930s and present day, it tells the legacy of a family haunted by mystery and horror, and something very dark and sinsiter.
Michael Gibson cares for his grandmother, Sadie. She’s old, sick, and on the verge of dying, but she clings on to life, with one last story to tell. The more she tells Michael about the history of his family, about an iron-bound crate buried four feet deep in a small shack, about mountain people he never even knew, the more he begins to realize the story’s importance. Not just for him, but for everyone in the valley.
What bothered me the most about the story is how disjointed it feels. I realize I’m not the first reviewer commenting on this, but it’s the truth. The first part of the book is mostly historical fiction, Southern gothic, with only a hint of the horror to come. It starts out strong, then the middle part drags on, expanding upon certain themes I’m not sure had to be expanded on, and then the end is one dashing scene of horror after the other. As if the book exists of two seperate genres smashed together in a less than favorable execution.
If the book had stuck to one genre, and would’ve been a bit shorter (the middle part really drags on), it would’ve been great. As it stands now, it’s a decent read, but not spectacular.
August 7, 2018
Steve Rasnic's "Blood Kin" jumps between past and present, as young Mike learns more of his family's strange history in a poor backwater town. The transitions between 1930's and 2000's are smooth; Mike listens to his grandmother's tale, and pieces together the family history.
Only, he doesn't just LISTEN, since he and his grandmother share a special kind of empathy, that allows them to physically experience stories learned by ear. As his grandmother describes the various trials she went through in her youth, watched over by her twisted, sadistic preacher uncle, he feels what she felt. This makes for some abrasive storytelling, far as Mike's concerned, since Grandma didn't have a particularly friendly upbringing.
The preacher, in particular, sticks with the reader after the story's ended. I couldn't help but picture him as Kane from "Poltergeist II."
"Blood Kin" didn't appeal to me immediately; the first few pages almost lost my interest. If you feel similarly during the first chapter, be aware: the story gets moving shortly after, and contains many weird characters and small-town sorcery to keep you entertained.
Only, he doesn't just LISTEN, since he and his grandmother share a special kind of empathy, that allows them to physically experience stories learned by ear. As his grandmother describes the various trials she went through in her youth, watched over by her twisted, sadistic preacher uncle, he feels what she felt. This makes for some abrasive storytelling, far as Mike's concerned, since Grandma didn't have a particularly friendly upbringing.
The preacher, in particular, sticks with the reader after the story's ended. I couldn't help but picture him as Kane from "Poltergeist II."
"Blood Kin" didn't appeal to me immediately; the first few pages almost lost my interest. If you feel similarly during the first chapter, be aware: the story gets moving shortly after, and contains many weird characters and small-town sorcery to keep you entertained.
January 27, 2014
I received an electronic advanced reading copy of this from the publisher via NetGalley.
I began this excited from the book's description, eager to delve into a horror novel with rich, gothic mood. High expectations probably account somewhat for my overall feeling of being let down. I've come across Steve Rasnic Tem's ficiton through short stories, particularly those published in Asimov's in the past years and seeing how his style fit into a longer form held my curiosity. To my mind his work is known for a heavy dose of darkness, occurrences that will not go well for characters, no bright futures.
"Blood Kin" fits into this thematic mode well, but the plot and overall divided structure of the novel creates some problems. I'm not talking about the division of plot into two point-of-view protagonists here. Both Michael, and his grandmother Sadie are compelling characters. The switch of narration between the 'present day' and Sadie's past works well. The division that posed a problem for me is regarding the genre emphasis throughout the novel. The story opens with a strong sense of Southern Gothic realism, with perhaps a tint of the magical. After building some tension and increasing the fantastic elements of the story it ends in a stronger dose of horror. At least one other reviewer found this to be the case and preferred the first half of the novel. However, for the most part, my interest in the story lay stagnant until the last moments.
There are some notable exceptions to this. The start of the novel with its Southern gothic vibe and the element of the encroaching kudzu grabs your attention. About midway through there is a fantastic chapter detailing Sadie's first exposure to the church and its snake handling. Between these moments and the close, however, I simply felt the story drift within a lot of potential, but going nowhere significant.
This would have made a fantastic novella, the aforementioned highlights of the novel could have been condensed into one and I think the story would have had a far greater impact overall. If you are a fan of Tem's work, or if the plot description rings as something you tend to like then this is worth reading. I wish as a novel it would have had greater development or a more consistent focus on horror/fantasy.
I began this excited from the book's description, eager to delve into a horror novel with rich, gothic mood. High expectations probably account somewhat for my overall feeling of being let down. I've come across Steve Rasnic Tem's ficiton through short stories, particularly those published in Asimov's in the past years and seeing how his style fit into a longer form held my curiosity. To my mind his work is known for a heavy dose of darkness, occurrences that will not go well for characters, no bright futures.
"Blood Kin" fits into this thematic mode well, but the plot and overall divided structure of the novel creates some problems. I'm not talking about the division of plot into two point-of-view protagonists here. Both Michael, and his grandmother Sadie are compelling characters. The switch of narration between the 'present day' and Sadie's past works well. The division that posed a problem for me is regarding the genre emphasis throughout the novel. The story opens with a strong sense of Southern Gothic realism, with perhaps a tint of the magical. After building some tension and increasing the fantastic elements of the story it ends in a stronger dose of horror. At least one other reviewer found this to be the case and preferred the first half of the novel. However, for the most part, my interest in the story lay stagnant until the last moments.
There are some notable exceptions to this. The start of the novel with its Southern gothic vibe and the element of the encroaching kudzu grabs your attention. About midway through there is a fantastic chapter detailing Sadie's first exposure to the church and its snake handling. Between these moments and the close, however, I simply felt the story drift within a lot of potential, but going nowhere significant.
This would have made a fantastic novella, the aforementioned highlights of the novel could have been condensed into one and I think the story would have had a far greater impact overall. If you are a fan of Tem's work, or if the plot description rings as something you tend to like then this is worth reading. I wish as a novel it would have had greater development or a more consistent focus on horror/fantasy.
May 1, 2014
"Blood Kin" is a properly creepy, atmospheric read that gave me a lot to think about.
Set in the present day and in the Depression era in the Southern US, it tells the story of Michael Gibson, a young man who has come back to the small, remote town of Morrison to nurse his grandmother, Sadie. It's important to Sadie - and increasingly to Michael - that she tell him of her childhood in the 1930s, of her abusive father, her uncle, the monstrous snake-handling Preacher - and of the enigmatic Grans, elders of the family. Michael and Sadie are Melungeons, descendants of a strange clan with uncertain origins. More particularlarly they are Gibsons, a family with eerie inherited abilities to empathise, to experience what others are doing or seeing.
You might think that would make them kinder, gentler, better people - but for some, the opposite is true...
Sadie's story contains some terrible events, but Michael begins to realise the worst of it: the story isn't a safe relic of the past, it's not over, and he was born to become involved, for good or ill.
Rasnic Tem tells a rattling good story and is excellent at evoking atmosphere - whether the dirt-poor 30s and the desperate souls there struggling to stay alive, or the creeping evil in the present day, symbolised by the ever-present and spreading kudzu vine, an invasive, imported species that seems to have a special relationship with the Preacher. The very landscape seems to become alive, and hostile. This sense of hostility, of viciousness, in Nature is something that Rasnic Tem also used in a previous book, "Deadfall Hotel", but here he moves on from the slightly parodic, in-jokey atmosphere of that book to something which, from the first page to the last, is imbued with a sense of real menace.
Set in the present day and in the Depression era in the Southern US, it tells the story of Michael Gibson, a young man who has come back to the small, remote town of Morrison to nurse his grandmother, Sadie. It's important to Sadie - and increasingly to Michael - that she tell him of her childhood in the 1930s, of her abusive father, her uncle, the monstrous snake-handling Preacher - and of the enigmatic Grans, elders of the family. Michael and Sadie are Melungeons, descendants of a strange clan with uncertain origins. More particularlarly they are Gibsons, a family with eerie inherited abilities to empathise, to experience what others are doing or seeing.
You might think that would make them kinder, gentler, better people - but for some, the opposite is true...
Sadie's story contains some terrible events, but Michael begins to realise the worst of it: the story isn't a safe relic of the past, it's not over, and he was born to become involved, for good or ill.
Rasnic Tem tells a rattling good story and is excellent at evoking atmosphere - whether the dirt-poor 30s and the desperate souls there struggling to stay alive, or the creeping evil in the present day, symbolised by the ever-present and spreading kudzu vine, an invasive, imported species that seems to have a special relationship with the Preacher. The very landscape seems to become alive, and hostile. This sense of hostility, of viciousness, in Nature is something that Rasnic Tem also used in a previous book, "Deadfall Hotel", but here he moves on from the slightly parodic, in-jokey atmosphere of that book to something which, from the first page to the last, is imbued with a sense of real menace.
January 12, 2016
don't waste your time and money, the book is terrible, boring, pages and pages about vegetation, snakes, and the ending ? is there an ending? i felt relieved after finishing it Last month, i thought tha i had read the worst book up to now (the supernatural enhancements / edgar cantero), but now i realize that it wasn't so bad as i thought, there is something worse, BLOOD KIN. Nothing by this author anymore.
October 16, 2018
Gave up on page 158. Kept waiting for the scary, but I’m just too bored to continue.
July 17, 2018
You know, I don't think I've ever read a book that could call itself Southern Gothic and yet I could rattle off the tropes - poverty, race tensions, incest, snake-handling churches, KUDZU - and they are all here in abundance (especially the kudzu!) Maybe it's because, as I said, it's not a genre I read much if at all, but Sadie's story didn't feel tired or trite to me. And Sadie's chapters were the most engaging part of the story. The end did feel a bit rushed to me, after all the WHAT IS IN THE BOX UNDER THE KUDZU (you will figure out what is in the box after, like, a chapter) tension. What did the preacher do? What were his Evil Plans? What would he have gone on to do if the book had not ended as it did? I would have liked more on these topics. I also was a little confused why Tem decided to have the main characters be Melungeons; it felt a little like writing them as people of color as a way to make the Gibsons and their strange ways and talents seem a little more mysterious and mystical, and people should cut that out.
Content warnings: some body horror (if you're at all squeamish, skip the part where Jesse and Lilly go home after church) and snakes. LOTS OF SNAKES. Indiana Jones would hate this book.
Readalikes: there's a strong tie to Stephen King's IT with children believing they've vanquished a childhood terror only for it to return years later.
Content warnings: some body horror (if you're at all squeamish, skip the part where Jesse and Lilly go home after church) and snakes. LOTS OF SNAKES. Indiana Jones would hate this book.
Readalikes: there's a strong tie to Stephen King's IT with children believing they've vanquished a childhood terror only for it to return years later.
August 8, 2022
Just OK
This book shows a pretty good understanding of the culture it’s trying to portray. Unfortunately, most of the horror is just derived from real life horrors. The supernatural stuff is all pretty silly and, like in the case of the Grans, downright cartoonish. It makes for an uneven experience. Also, the author really leans into the snakes and kudzu as his main tools of horror and it just doesn’t work for me. The way he describes kudzu is honestly, far too dreamy and a touch romanticized. And the snakes I just felt sorry for. It’s not their fault they’ve been made into a lazy literary device. They’re just animals.
For a book about an evil preacher, the author sure seems reluctant to make any real statement about religion itself. So it all comes off a bit wishy washy by the end. Too me, it felt like he was too neatly trying to draw a parallel between The Gibsons being a negative subset of the other normal and respectable branches of their family and this preacher being the same in regards to religion. And that’s pretty severely intellectually dishonest.
Ultimately. I just didn’t think it was very interesting. A lot of overused tropes and themes with no real point to any of it. Just misery porn. Not scary in the least.
This book shows a pretty good understanding of the culture it’s trying to portray. Unfortunately, most of the horror is just derived from real life horrors. The supernatural stuff is all pretty silly and, like in the case of the Grans, downright cartoonish. It makes for an uneven experience. Also, the author really leans into the snakes and kudzu as his main tools of horror and it just doesn’t work for me. The way he describes kudzu is honestly, far too dreamy and a touch romanticized. And the snakes I just felt sorry for. It’s not their fault they’ve been made into a lazy literary device. They’re just animals.
For a book about an evil preacher, the author sure seems reluctant to make any real statement about religion itself. So it all comes off a bit wishy washy by the end. Too me, it felt like he was too neatly trying to draw a parallel between The Gibsons being a negative subset of the other normal and respectable branches of their family and this preacher being the same in regards to religion. And that’s pretty severely intellectually dishonest.
Ultimately. I just didn’t think it was very interesting. A lot of overused tropes and themes with no real point to any of it. Just misery porn. Not scary in the least.
December 15, 2018
Begins as pitch-dark, atmospheric Appalachia-set literary horror, with a milieu so rich and terrifying--and the suggestion of misery being passed down through generations so foreboding--that it's disappointing when it eventually turns into a distinctly Stephen King-ian good-vs.-evil showdown. Rasnic Tem is a legend in horror circles, and while I didn't quite love this, I appreciated his elegant prose and willingness to both embrace a difficult setting and not shy away from truly grim subject matter.
July 11, 2017
Fine Southern gothic with a good bit of gore and otherworldly weirdness. The end was somehow particularly satisfying? Maybe I am a fiend. Not super exciting and a slow start, but a reasonable quick (or lazy summer) read. Content warning for non-explicit CSA.
January 26, 2021
This novel is even greater than it thinks itself to be. It just needs others to convince it.
The detailed review of this book posted elsewhere under my name is too long or impractical to post here.
Above is one of its observations at the time of the review.
The detailed review of this book posted elsewhere under my name is too long or impractical to post here.
Above is one of its observations at the time of the review.
did-not-finish
November 6, 2019Inter library loan that i couldn’t finish because it’s so weird. I like the author’s short stories but this book was not to my taste.
October 2, 2020
A fine southern Gothic tale with a bit of nature horror mixed in. Reminiscent in parts of Blackwater and the Ceremonies. Perfect if you are looking for regional spooks.
March 14, 2021
Wow! Just a phenomenal Southern gothic novel with a twist. The writing is superb, and the scene in the snake handling church revival was totally mesmerizing. What a great book.
April 30, 2024
3.5 stars
November 6, 2024
Reading this book felt like pulling out teeth without anesthesia. There might have been a good story here, but after half the book, I just had to give up on it. Sorry.
March 1, 2016
Blood Kin was the winner of the 2014 Bram Stoker Award for best novel, and I understand how so. Steve Rasnic Tem has crafted a seductively fluid tale that draws readers into the mysterious and unknown with flawed characters that are deeply familiar and dark struggles that are very relatable. Tem incorporates some universal concepts we can all relate to in some form or another; coming of age, religious and spiritual journeys, family relationships and history, helplessness, guilt, and aging. He seamlessly weaves these themes into a supernatural tale that remains fully embedded in human identity.
The Goodreads summary (which is the same as on the back of my copy) provides an adequate synopsis. The central event the story is based on is the storytelling; Sadie Gibson is recounting stories of her youth to her grandson, Michael. Most chapters alternate between past and present. While Michael assumes Sadie is telling these stories for some important future purpose, it becomes clear that Sadie herself is unsure why she is telling them. She knows something terrible is coming, but, just as in the stories of her youth, she is completely unaware of how to go about stopping it.
The Gibson family has strange powers. Some ability to perceive and influence the thoughts of others. Sadie, her long-dead uncle, the Preacher, and Michael all seem to have manifest these powers most potently. None of them can explain these powers, or define how they should be used. The Preacher, the villain of the story, uses his powers as a means to control others, and has attempted to define it within the a Christian apocalyptic framework. Sadie and Michael are victims of circumstances and their power, its potential, and purpose, is lost on them. This is the central struggle of Sadie’s story; she feels she should use her power for good, but she cannot figure out how. She ends up focusing on stopping the evil of the Preacher, and ends up unable to harness her own power nor put an end to the evil.
Tem does a fabulous job of storytelling as he conveys these struggles. He places limitation on his characters’ ability to understand themselves and their experiences, and this sense of frustration and helplessness is transferred smoothly to the reader. The perspective of twelve year old Sadie is limited by her youth. These important events happened before she could fully grasp their significance, and she has carried this awareness of missing something into her old age. These limitations and lack of understanding also haunt thirty year old Michael, whom Sadie seems to have avoided attempting to help until just about the last possible opportunity.
I was captivated by the unanswered questions regarding the powers, the roots of the Melungeons, the identity of the apparently ancient characters Elijah and Addie, what certain characters hoped to accomplish in confronting the evil of the preacher, and exactly what Sadie hoped to accomplish by telling the story to Michael.
The unanswered questions either make or break the book, depending on one’s perspective. It really comes down to reader interpretation.
We are given what the main characters know, and nothing more. Their limitations become our limitations. This makes the story real. This makes the story terrifying.
The Goodreads summary (which is the same as on the back of my copy) provides an adequate synopsis. The central event the story is based on is the storytelling; Sadie Gibson is recounting stories of her youth to her grandson, Michael. Most chapters alternate between past and present. While Michael assumes Sadie is telling these stories for some important future purpose, it becomes clear that Sadie herself is unsure why she is telling them. She knows something terrible is coming, but, just as in the stories of her youth, she is completely unaware of how to go about stopping it.
The Gibson family has strange powers. Some ability to perceive and influence the thoughts of others. Sadie, her long-dead uncle, the Preacher, and Michael all seem to have manifest these powers most potently. None of them can explain these powers, or define how they should be used. The Preacher, the villain of the story, uses his powers as a means to control others, and has attempted to define it within the a Christian apocalyptic framework. Sadie and Michael are victims of circumstances and their power, its potential, and purpose, is lost on them. This is the central struggle of Sadie’s story; she feels she should use her power for good, but she cannot figure out how. She ends up focusing on stopping the evil of the Preacher, and ends up unable to harness her own power nor put an end to the evil.
Tem does a fabulous job of storytelling as he conveys these struggles. He places limitation on his characters’ ability to understand themselves and their experiences, and this sense of frustration and helplessness is transferred smoothly to the reader. The perspective of twelve year old Sadie is limited by her youth. These important events happened before she could fully grasp their significance, and she has carried this awareness of missing something into her old age. These limitations and lack of understanding also haunt thirty year old Michael, whom Sadie seems to have avoided attempting to help until just about the last possible opportunity.
I was captivated by the unanswered questions regarding the powers, the roots of the Melungeons, the identity of the apparently ancient characters Elijah and Addie, what certain characters hoped to accomplish in confronting the evil of the preacher, and exactly what Sadie hoped to accomplish by telling the story to Michael.
The unanswered questions either make or break the book, depending on one’s perspective. It really comes down to reader interpretation.
We are given what the main characters know, and nothing more. Their limitations become our limitations. This makes the story real. This makes the story terrifying.
December 12, 2016
Blood Kin, by Steve Rasnic Tem, is some Southern Gothic horror complete with runaway kudzu, a few ghosts, something mysterious buried underground, and mostly a villainous, snake-handling preacher. It takes a while to build up momentum, but has a bloody good ending.
We are in southeastern Virginia, far away from the D.C. area, and Mike Gibson, a troubled young man, is back in his home town to take care of his aged grandmother, Sadie, The story alternates between the present day and Sadie telling Mike the story of when she was a girl.
The Gibsons are Melungeons, a mixture of races (we knew them in northern New Jersey as Poor Jackson Whites): "No one ever uncovered the answers to their mystery, although the theories were many. Cousin Lillian preferred the one that said they were Raleigh’s Lost Colony. Cousin Ella liked to think they were descended from Ponce de León’s men. Neither cared to discuss the theories that they were descended from runaway slaves and halfbreed squaws." Also, "They were spirited, them Gibsons. Black nasty magical."
Sadie is a Gibson, and her uncle is the preacher, a domineering man who handles snakes. Snake handling is still practiced in a few churches in the U.S., and every time somebody dies from it we can all smugly chuckle about it, but Tam, in his description of Sadie's first time going to a service, is horrifyingly vivid: "His face came like a ghostly oval out of the blackest part of the night, rushing towards them like he had wings, the rest of him so dark that pale face was all she could see, like he was the moon or something, set loose from its heavenly tether and flying through the night sky." then later, "The preacher stood up straight then, like he could stretch every bone in his body to make himself taller, and he was already a tall man. His lips spread out like they were reaching for his ears. He made probably the widest smile she’d ever seen, but it was the way she imagined one of them African crocodiles in her geography book smiled, because his eyes weren’t smiling at all. They were like two black stones down at the bottom of the creek."
The preacher will be more than he seems, as bad as that already is, and will be part of the resolution set in modern times. But Tam's book hums along with all sorts of Southern mysticism, such as a pair of old people called the Grans--I'm not sure who they are grandparents to--who live deep in the woods and appear not to ever die, and an illiterate midwife who is a healer and aids Sadie in their battle against the preacher. There's also Mickey-Gene, thought to be stupid, but who is revealed to be quite the reader, and in the climactic moments quotes from Macbeth.
Some of the early parts of Blood Kin are slow, but it redeems itself in the end, when the kudzu can't be burned back and the dead rise. This is possibly not a book for some with ophidiophobia.
May 25, 2014
Blood Kin is a southern Gothic horror story about the strange goings on in a poor family. Michael Gibson, a Melungeon man from a small southern town, moves back home to take care of his elderly grandmother Sadie. As he is caring for her, she tells him stories of her childhood in the 1930's. As she tells him stories of a dark past, he begins to realize that the darkness of her childhood still exists and she is trying to prepare him for a final showdown with a family nightmare.
Honestly, I picked up this book because it had a cool cover and an interesting premise. Plus, I was impressed that the author was creating Melungeon characters; none of the people I know have even heard of Melungeons, let alone know anything about them.
However, I was slightly disappointed in this book. Although the characters and the story have a lot of promise, I think that promise was unfulfilled. The characters were compelling, but Rasnic Tem could have done so much more with them. And the writing was convoluted and had quite a few plot holes; for example, in one chapter, the Grans are described as being reclusive shut ins that almost no one in the family has ever seen, while just a few pages later, everyone in the family is showing up for a birthday party for them. This makes no sense.
However, I do have to say that Rasnic Tem does a wonderful job of evoking atmosphere; I really loved reading the parts about Sadie's life as a poor child in the 1930's. I was really able to put myself into the environment and that was wonderful. I just wish the rest of the book had been as good.
Honestly, I picked up this book because it had a cool cover and an interesting premise. Plus, I was impressed that the author was creating Melungeon characters; none of the people I know have even heard of Melungeons, let alone know anything about them.
However, I was slightly disappointed in this book. Although the characters and the story have a lot of promise, I think that promise was unfulfilled. The characters were compelling, but Rasnic Tem could have done so much more with them. And the writing was convoluted and had quite a few plot holes; for example, in one chapter, the Grans are described as being reclusive shut ins that almost no one in the family has ever seen, while just a few pages later, everyone in the family is showing up for a birthday party for them. This makes no sense.
However, I do have to say that Rasnic Tem does a wonderful job of evoking atmosphere; I really loved reading the parts about Sadie's life as a poor child in the 1930's. I was really able to put myself into the environment and that was wonderful. I just wish the rest of the book had been as good.
January 25, 2017
Blood Kin is a lush Southern Gothic tale that crashes and burns at the end. The bulk of the book concerns Michael Gibson, a young man living with his grandmother. Sadie, the grandmother, begins telling Michael stories from her own youth, and through a special sort of family magic, he finds himself watching Sadie's life unfold.
That lets Steve Rasnic Tem alternate chapters between Sadie's youth and Michael's rather abrupt entry into the family secrets. It's also, unfortunately, entirely unnecessary. Sadie's story is compelling and horrifying and beautiful, mixing tiny-town culture with an ominously supernatural preacher uncle. Michael's is not so much, devolving into the timeworn "the evil is still alive" plot.
Worse, both stories come to an abrupt crashing end in the present over a handful of pages, reducing the entire plot and a horrifying villain to the sort of back-from-the-dead boogeyman battle you'd expect from one of the lesser Freddy Krueger movies. Oh, and there's a "sting," too, just in case we wanted a sequel.
My advice: Read through until Sadie's story ends and then put down the book. Skim Michael's chapters. You'll thank me later.
That lets Steve Rasnic Tem alternate chapters between Sadie's youth and Michael's rather abrupt entry into the family secrets. It's also, unfortunately, entirely unnecessary. Sadie's story is compelling and horrifying and beautiful, mixing tiny-town culture with an ominously supernatural preacher uncle. Michael's is not so much, devolving into the timeworn "the evil is still alive" plot.
Worse, both stories come to an abrupt crashing end in the present over a handful of pages, reducing the entire plot and a horrifying villain to the sort of back-from-the-dead boogeyman battle you'd expect from one of the lesser Freddy Krueger movies. Oh, and there's a "sting," too, just in case we wanted a sequel.
My advice: Read through until Sadie's story ends and then put down the book. Skim Michael's chapters. You'll thank me later.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 6, 2015
I picked up Steve Rasnic Tem's Blood Kin last month as it won the 2014 Bram Stoker Award for best novel, and I've been reading the winners of that list for years now.
My familiarity with the horror sub-genre of southern gothic is a little light to be fair; I loved Robert R. McCammon's Gone South, William Hjortsberg's Fallen Angel, and (although not a novel) Stan Winston's 1988 film Pumpkinhead all work well to show just how nicely horror can be used in the setting.
Blood Kin is a multi-generational story, taking place both in modern day and in the 1930s, using both a male and a female protagonist, and really focuses on the ideas of the sins of the father being visited upon the sons (or grandsons) and moves deftly between straight horror and dark fantasy elements.
A word to the wise, some of the horrific scenes in the book made me quite uncomfortable (and I read horror monthly, so that's saying something), so it may not be the best thing to read before bed, but I strongly recommend it if your interested in giving it a try.
My familiarity with the horror sub-genre of southern gothic is a little light to be fair; I loved Robert R. McCammon's Gone South, William Hjortsberg's Fallen Angel, and (although not a novel) Stan Winston's 1988 film Pumpkinhead all work well to show just how nicely horror can be used in the setting.
Blood Kin is a multi-generational story, taking place both in modern day and in the 1930s, using both a male and a female protagonist, and really focuses on the ideas of the sins of the father being visited upon the sons (or grandsons) and moves deftly between straight horror and dark fantasy elements.
A word to the wise, some of the horrific scenes in the book made me quite uncomfortable (and I read horror monthly, so that's saying something), so it may not be the best thing to read before bed, but I strongly recommend it if your interested in giving it a try.
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