The Sacraments of Blackgum Lake

by Clint Smith

158 pages, Paperback

Published May 1, 2026

About the author

"Smith is a real find, an elegant stylist with an imagination that’s unsettling, paranoid, gruesomely funny at times, and startlingly original." — T.E.D. Klein

Clint Smith is the author of the collection GHOULJAW AND OTHER STORIES (Hippocampus Press), and the novella, WHEN IT'S TIME FOR DEAD THINGS TO DIE (Unnerving). His sophomore collection, THE SKELETON MELODIES, was released by Hippocampus Press. “THE SKELETON MELODIES…is an excellent second collection,” wrote Ellen Datlow in THE BEST HORROR OF THE YEAR, Volume Thirteen. “While Smith sometimes uses pulp tropes, his writing is so good that the stories aren’t pulpy at all. A real achievement.” In 2026, Lethe Press released his novella, THE SACRAMENTS OF BLACKGUM LAKE.

Of late, his work has appeared in COSMIC HORRO MONTHLY, AMERICAN CANNIBAL (Maenad Press), and CHTHONIC MATTER QUARTERLY. A chef and Honors Graduate from Le Cordon Bleu, he lives in Indiana with his family, just outside Deacon’s Creek.

Reviews

[Frank · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading the novella The Sacraments of Blackgum Lake several days ago and having had some time to think about it, I'm confident in saying Clint Smith is by far one of the most accomplished prose stylists I've ever read. And I don't say that lightly. I'd give my eyeteeth to be able to use language the way he does.

There are some very gifted writers in the genre who wear their craft on their sleeve, the mechanics of their sentence construction laid bare. I'm in no way suggesting their prose can be imitated simply by understanding how it's put together, but you can at least break it down and then marvel at how it was accomplished.

Clint Smith is on another level altogether. The descriptive elegance of his prose is extraordinarily unique. He employs adjectives, abstract nouns, and adverbs with balletic craftsmanship, all of it intricately connected, akin to a single-shot take that constantly eddies and swims along. For the life of me, I simply couldn't intuit or gauge how he did it. Page after page after page of impenetrable beauty.

Impenetrable beauty.

I'm clumsily trying to convey the seamless rhythmical quality it evoked.

The plot is seemingly simple: a young high schooler and his father spend a few summer weeks renovating an old family getaway cabin. Only any potential for familiar territory is atmospherically subverted for something more profound and damaging and enthralling. Clint Smith applies the same mastery to story and character as he does to the immaculate procession of language. A pitch-perfect story from beginning to end.

A true craftsman.

He's a writer's writer, someone to aspire to, someone who makes you want to try that little bit harder. He positively affected my writing this week, so much so that I dug a little bit deeper.
The Sacraments of Blackgum Lake is published by Lethe Press and available from all Amazon outlets and the publisher.

[Erin Cataldi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clint Smith's newest novella is eerie, forbidding, and deliciously dark. Cecil Mears has questions and it's past time for his father to come clean about that long ago summer back at Blackgum Lake. For most of Cecil's youth, the cozy little lakefront cabin was filled with good memories and laughter. But over the years it's fallen into disrepair and only gotten worse as his parent's marriage has disintegrated. One fateful teenaged summer, Cecil and his father go to Blackgum lake alone to salvage what they can of the cabin. While restoring the cabin, Cecil starts to learn more about the lake and the secrets it holds. Did Dillinger really dump bodies here? Is his elderly neighbor seeing things, or is she really being visited by her dead husband at night? And worst of all, his father, who is he calling at night? There is something far worse than secrets in the deep dark water. Something far more powerful and menacing awaits in the murky depths. One fateful summer at Blackgum Lake will change everything. This novella is perfect for those looking for a quick, dark read with local color. Clint Smith is an Indianapolis author and culinary arts educator in Greenwood.

[Douglas Ford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clint Smith name does not come up enough in the horror community, despite the fact that he has written two excellent story collections. This novella, hopefully, will start the renaissance that Smith deserves. The story here is lean and compact, but the language soars with rich imagery, and the ending packs a wallop. Without giving too much away, Smith manages to evoke works as disparate as This Boy's Life by Robert McCammon and John Carpenter's The Thing. It makes for outstanding reading.