J D Wilkes

In a forgotten corner of western Kentucky lies a haunted forest referred to locally as "The Deadening," where vampire cults roam wild and time is immaterial. Our protagonist and his accomplice--the one and only, Carver Canute--set out down the Old Spur Line in search of the legendary Kudzu House, where an old couple is purported to have been swallowed whole by a hungry vine. Their quest leads them face to face with albino panthers, Great Dane-riding girls, protective property owners, and just about every American folk-demon ever, while forcing the protagonist to finally take stock of his relationship with his father and the man's mysterious disappearance. The Vine That Ate the South is a mesmerizing fantasia where Wilkes ambitiously grapples with the contradictions of the contemporary American South while subversively considering how well we know our own family and friends.

Kentuckians have been wearing out shoe leather at informal jamborees since the state was settled over two hundred years ago. Tadpole's Dew Drop Inn played host to some fifteen hundred musical shindigs in its time as a mecca of Marshall County music. A Rosine barn dance gave bluegrass founder Bill Monroe his start, and another fosters new musical talent at its weekly get-togethers. Clawhammer banjo players, Appalachian cloggers and square dance callers from Possum Trot to Rabbit Hash celebrate the unique musical culture of Kentucky. Join Grammy-nominated soundtrack artist J.D. Wilkes as he waltzes around the Bluegrass, looking for oprys, socials, porch pickins and barn dances in every holler.

If tree branches scratching at your window on a stormy April night or the hot, sticky oppression of a stifling summer's day puts fear into your heart. Or rustling November leaves, and the chill that sneaks into your bones during the darkened days of winter makes you quiver with anxiety, then reading spooky thrillers shouldn't wait until October. From masterful storytelling duo Roberta and Lonnie Brown comes Spookiest Stories Ever: Four Seasons of Kentucky Ghosts, a creepy collection of tales from their home state. Featuring familiar Kentucky landmarks such as the Palace Theater and the Waverly Hills Sanatorium in Louisville and Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, these accounts from across the commonwealth are sure to put a tingle in the reader's spine. These notable stories, including tales of the "chime child" who can see and talk to ghosts, graveside appearances, and the Spurlington Witch of Taylor County, occur in all four seasons and come from every corner of Kentucky. An essential part of the American storytelling tradition, these ghost stories will delight readers who love getting goose bumps all year long.