Books to Read After Watching Sinners

A chilling tale of blood, buffalo and revenge. When an 18^th century Lutheran pastor’s diary is found buried deep within a wall, a ruthless narrative unfolds, introducing us to an elusive Blackfeet named Good Stab and his routine confessional visits in the heart of a dark and stuffy chapel. Based on gruesome true events, Jones blends history and horror in a haunting story of vengeance and survival.

No one writes horror like Tananarive Due, and her latest is her best yet. Sharp, tragic, heartbreaking and terrifying, The Reformatory takes readers back in time to an all-boys school in 1950s Florida. Twelve-year-old Robbie has always been able to see haints — or ghosts — throughout his life, and when he’s sent to the Gracetown School for Boys, he experiences both the horror of the Jim Crow South and sinister supernatural happenings hidden within the school.

Vampires and dark academia collide in this bloody feast of a story. Kidan Adane grew up far away from the world she was born into where bloodlines matter more than anything — even if it means gaining power by being bound to a vampire for life. When her sister goes missing, Kidan infiltrates Uxlay University to confront a possible suspect and gets pulled into a sharp-toothed world of romance and revenge.

A father can pass down many things to his son: a dutiful sense of loyalty to his family, a muscle car — even his life of crime. Meet Beauregard “Bug” Montage, a doting husband, loving father and adamantly retired from being the best getaway driver on the East Coast. When his old life comes knocking, Bug has to decide between the mysteries of his past and the possibilities of his future. This is a breakneck crime story about legacy and inheritance from a master of the genre.

This is southern folklore horror like you’ve never seen it before. P. Djèlí Clark takes us back in time to 1920s Georgia, where the Ku Klux Klan ran rampant and monsters weren’t just the things of stories. Maryse Boudreaux and her fellow freedom fighters fight back against the Klan, targeting demons in their ranks and sending them straight back to Hell. Infused with our nation’s darkest legacies and African folklore, Ring Shout is a gripping dark historical fantasy.

Like the Smokestack Twins, the protagonist of Lone Women has a mysterious trunk she carefully guards and brings with her everywhere she goes. Adelaide Henry heads to Montana, traveling far away from the volatile past she left behind and toward a new future of community and prosperity with her mysterious trunk in tow. As she settles into her new life, those around her can’t help but wonder what’s in the trunk — and why do people keep disappearing?

A sixteen-year-old girl, grieving the recent death of her mother, gets pulled into a secret world of mages, pages, demons and scions at her new school. As she endures microaggressions from the all-white members of a secret society and encounters the dark history of bloodshed and racism seeped into the soil of her home state, she discovers she has powers of her own — she’s a root wielder, much like Annie, the beating heart of Sinners. Bri learns to harness her powers while falling deeper into the dangers and politics of the Legendborn world, making this a gripping take on Southern folklore and Arthurian legend.

Leaving for college is complicated enough, but what if you don’t even know the truth of your own story? Grappling with the disappearance of his mother, Malik has spent the last ten years looking over his shoulder and taking care of his brother — all while keeping his newfound powers hidden. When he connects with his long-lost grandma and she invites him to attend an HBCU for other root workers like himself, he has a long road ahead of him of complicated family histories and mysteries to untangle.

Steeped in West African mythology, Children of Blood and Bone introduces us to Zélie Adebola, a magic wielder called a maji, who must keep her powers hidden under the ruthless rule of King Saran of Orisha. Determined bring the maji out of hiding and take their power back, Zélie teams up with her brother and a mysterious princess. Fun fact: Oscar-winning production designer of Sinners, Hannah Beachler, is currently working on designing The Children of Blood and Bone live-action movie set.

Jordan Peele has brought a certain brilliance to the horror genre, and now the renaissance of horror publishing continues alongside it. Out There Screaming is an anthology of Black horror chosen by Peele and written by some of the best names out there. Grab a seat, lower the lights and get ready for a read as thrilling as any of Peele’s films.