The Curse of Hester Gardens

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Author(s)

Tamika Thompson

Publisher Name

Erewhon Books

Genre(s)

Age Range

15+

Release Date

March 31, 2026

ISBN13

978-1645663195

ISBN10 or ASIN

We Need to Talk about Kevin as if written by Jason Reynolds and Tananarive Due meets Model Home by Rivers Solomon in an innovative twist on the haunted house novel: about a mother desperate to protect her sons from the twin specters of gun violence and otherworldly menace in their public housing project.

Nona McKinley raised three boys in the Hester Gardens section of Medford, Michigan, an impoverished community divided by those who follow their faith in God and those who turn to crime to survive. With her drug dealer husband behind bars and her eldest son shot to death at eighteen, Nona has devoted herself to ensuring her other children escape their brother’s fate.

Her second son Marcus is on the right path. He's a valedictorian heading to an Ivy League school. He can get out.

But then, strange things start happening to Nona and other residents: mysterious footsteps are heard when she’s alone, people have phantom encounters in the streets, unattended appliances go off at all hours. Even more concerning is the state of Nona’s living sons. Her youngest, Lance, is hanging around with a bad crowd, and Marcus becomes moody and secretive. Sometimes he even seems to act like a different person entirely.

Nona has her secrets too. Her affair with the married church pastor has been weighing on her conscience, but that’s not the only guilt haunting her. She fears that someone—or something— is seeking revenge for an act she made in a moment of weakness to protect her family. And now everyone in Hester Gardens must pay the price . . .

Editor review

1 review

Horror Story about Public Housing and Paranormal Hauntings

March 27, 2026 (Updated: June 03, 2026)

Overall rating

4.0

Writing Style

4.0

Plot

3.0

Characters

5.0

Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

N/A

What I Liked: Don’t be alarmed by the length of this book because each page will keep you hooked and wanting to learn more. This book follows multiple different characters, and the beginning does a fantastic job of introducing you to each of them to ensure you are able to keep up with the story.

This is not just a book about paranormal horrors but also about the horrors of poverty and being Black. The book highlights the options that young boys have in Hester Gardens and the fear that the mothers have for their sons because of their circumstances. I will warn you that this book is devastating, so take a look at the content warnings before diving in. This book is important to showcase the reality of many Black people, especially young men, and what living in public housing can look like.

The book is told in separate parts, which was helpful when breaking down all of the reading. The separate parts do a great job of letting the reader know when the tone is about to shift and when we are about to get into a different part of the story.

The pacing of this book is perfect as the first few parts build up tension and lay out the field for you. Things really pick up in the last ~100 pages as more individuals are found murdered in their homes, and everyone seems to be in a race to find out who is causing these deaths. The anticipation that this book builds throughout the story was great, especially when things are revealed.

The characters introduced throughout this book are well written, and many of their flaws are up front and center. These flaws make these characters come to life and provide you with reasons to be empathetic towards them and the struggles they are facing. As you read the story, you feel close to Nona and feel her pain as she struggles with ensuring her son’s safety and finding out what she wants for herself.

Final Verdict: The Curse of Hester Gardens is a book that pulls the blinds on reality by mixing fictional and realistic horrors. This book has a long-lasting emotional impact, along with the anxiety that it creates as the tension builds in the book. The book will have you guessing until the very last page as to who is involved with the possession, the killings, and just how Nona will save her sons if she can.