The Wicker Man meets The Twisted Ones in QUAINT FOLK—a queer folk horror novel by Hugo and Stoker Award-nominated author Bitter Karella (Run For It; October 2026) that peels back the idyllic veneer of a seemingly perfect island town to reveal the rot beneath.
From the outside, it looks like Jessica has the perfect life. She’s a stay-at-home mom, married to a man with a respectable job, raising a son they adore. Her family is as wholesome as all-American pie. But deep down, Jessica knows there’s something wrong with her; she knows she can’t escape her past.
When her husband’s job has them move abroad, Jessica thinks this is her chance for a fresh start. On the remote island of Hasenhurst, the modern world can’t get in. The people there grow their own herbs, make their own jam, and mind their own business. They believe in folk tales and the power of dreams. They tell visitors, we’re a quaint, quiet people. The right sort of family would do well here.
Jessica is determined to be the right kind of person for a family—and a life—like this. But as she tries to befriend the townsfolk and learn their ways, she soon realizes that beneath the town’s cozy idyll, something sickly-sweet and rotten lays buried.
QUAINT FOLK by Bitter Karella
On-Sale Date: October 6, 2026
Hachette Book Group: Run For It
ISBN: 9780316581943
$19.99 Trade Paperback
