Praise for Grim Root
“In this acidic meta-horror novel, the inherent horror of reality TV mixes with more otherworldly terrors as a dating show descends into madness. This is gory fun.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Ask me to watch a single episode of a reality TV dating show, and I’ll tell you to get out of my face. But set it in a haunted estate, where gruesome curses and death await the players? I’m in. Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam fires up her penchant for pulp, served dry on a platter of her trademark wit, while still managing to invest the reader in the plights of her well-drawn characters. Mystery, love triangles, haunted fruit, oozing walls, and yes, death—that’s Grim Root.”
—Chris Panatier, author of The Redemption of Morgan Bright and The Phlebotomist
“A delectable dark cocktail of a novel, Grim Root is a heady mix of macabre humor and full-on horror, pure delight for fans of literary supernatural fiction.”
—Elizabeth Hand, author of A Haunting on the Hill and Generation Loss
“As incisive and clever as it is humorous, Grim Root explores the tangled web of female competition, sexuality, and the ways that women destroy each other.”
—Drew Huff, author of Free Burn and The Divine Flesh
“Whether you love or hate reality TV dating shows, don’t we all wish the contestants would be subjected to strange and dangerous paranormal forces? In Grim Root, Stufflebeam expertly interlaces reality dating dynamics and misogyny with classic gothic madness and decay. You’ll refuse that final rose and beg for the embrace of these grim and deadly roots.”
—Angela Sylvaine, author of Frost Bite and The Dead Spot: Stories of Lost Girls
“Conceptually brilliant, eerie, and entrancing, Grim Root challenges readers to examine societal and Hallmark depictions of love. Stufflebeam masters this close-up of dark intentions in yearning for courtship, status, and the risks for conformity, revealing what is left behind as the flowers of romantic love wilt. Sure to haunt readers long after the final page.”
—Belicia Rhea, author of Voracious
GRIM
ROOT
Content Warning
This books is intended for mature audiences.
Reader discretion is advised.
Copyright © 2024 Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam
This book is a work of fiction. Any reference to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s or artist’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without the prior written permission of the copyright owner, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Edited by Rob Carroll
Book Design and Layout by Rob Carroll
Cover Art by Dan Fris
Cover Design by Rob Carroll
ISBN 978-1-958598-36-8 (paperback)
ISBN 978-1-958598-70-2 (eBook)
darkmatter-ink.com
GRIM
ROOT
Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam
For William.
Chapter One
Linda
Even before coming on the dating show, Linda knew she’d need to refer to herself as broken; it was the only way a vague Iowa boy like The Groom would accept a divorcee with a tendency for distant expressions.
For their first solo date, Tristan took her to a taxidermist’s oddity shop. When he removed the blindfold, she yelped. Before her, a stuffed bobcat raged, teeth bared, tongue an ungodly shade of pink as it lolled from its mouth. Then Linda laughed, remembering the camera behind her and the people wielding it.
“This is where you take a lady?” she asked him.
“What can I say?” His drawl was too much.
