Strange Folk

 

Strange Folk is an Appalachian gothic paranormal fantasy (with light horror elements) by Alli Dyer.  Released 6th Aug 2024 by Simon & Schuster on their Atria imprint, it's 320 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. Paperback format due out from the same publisher in 3rd quarter 2025. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout.

This is a distinctly *odd* tale, full of witchy Appalachian females and more stereotypes than you can shake a jar of moonshine at. It's atmospheric, full of nebulous dread and threat, and dream(like) sequences which are cinematic (and creepy). There are few relatable actually likeable characters, and most of them are running from something including their own damaged personalities and self-created problems. 

There is some difficult/potentially triggering content, including -masses- of substance abuse (it's a central theme), sexual assault (including predatory behavior toward a minor by an adult in a position of trust), sketchy incest-lite, illegality, murder, violence, and more. There is some explicit material and the language is R-rated. 

The unabridged audiobook has a run time of 10 hours 36 minutes and is capably read mostly by Megan Tusing (et. al.). It's heavy on regional (Appalachian) accents, but the narration encompasses generic American (California) as well, and a range of ages and both male and female voices. Sound and production quality are high throughout. 

Three stars. For readers who really enjoy fantasy magical realism in the same general genre as Alice Hoffman, Sarah Addison Allen, and Jennifer McMahon will likely get more enjoyment out of the read (3,5-4 stars). 

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.