Southern Gods book cover by John Hornor Jacobs

Southern Gods

Adult • Blues (Music)
WWII veteran seeks a mysterious musician Phantom radio drives men insane Path leads to dark Arkansas backwoods Rumors of a soul sold to the Devil Encounter with malevolent forces

Recent World War II veteran Bull Ingram is working as muscle when a Memphis DJ hires him to find Ramblin' John Hastur. The mysterious blues man's dark, driving music - broadcast at ever-shifting frequencies by a phantom radio station - is said to make living men insane and dead men rise.

Disturbed and enraged by the bootleg recording the DJ plays for him, Ingram follows Hastur's trail into the strange, uncivilized backwoods of Arkansas, where he hears rumors the musician has sold his soul to the Devil. But as Ingram closes in on Hastur and those who have crossed his path, he'll learn there are forces much more malevolent than the Devil and reckonings more painful than Hell...

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Edition information

Book details

Publisher
Night Shade Books
Publication date
2011
Print length
290 pages
Language
English
ISBN
978-1597803533

Blues (Music)

Reader guide

What to Know Before Reading Southern Gods

Atmospheric, dark blend of Southern Gothic fiction and cosmic horror. Set in the summer of 1950 Arkansas, the story follows Bull Ingram, a scarred World War II veteran working as a muscle-for-hire, who is hired by a Memphis DJ to track down a mysterious blues musician named Ramblin' John Hastur. This elusive musician's radio broadcasts are rumored to drive listeners into fits of violent madness and strange, unearthly hysteria.

As Ingram ventures deeper into the oppressive heat of the Deep South, his investigation forces him to cross paths with Sarah Miller, a woman fleeing her own abusive past, leading them both into a terrifying world where ancient, cosmic entities collide with the violent realities of human nature.

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About the author

John Hornor Jacobs

John Hornor Jacobs

John Hornor Jacobs' first novel, Southern Gods, was published by Night Shade Books and shortlisted for the Bram Stoker Award for First Novel. His second novel, This Dark Earth, was published in J2012 by Simon & Schuster. His young adult series, The Incarcerado Trilogy comprised of The Twelve-Fingered Boy, The Shibboleth, and The Conformity, was described by Cory Doctorow of Boing Boing as "amazing" and received a starred Booklist review. His Fisk & Shoe fantasy series composed of The Incorruptibles, Foreign Devils, and Infernal Machines has thrice been shortlisted for the David Gemmell Award and was described by Patrick Rothfuss like this: "One part ancient Rome, two parts wild west, one part Faust. A pinch of Tolkien, of Lovecraft, of Dante. This is strange alchemy, a recipe I’ve never seen before. I wish more books were as fresh and brave as this." His fiction has appeared in Playboy Magazine, Cemetery Dance, Apex Magazine and his essays have been featured on CBS Weekly and Huffington Post. Jacobs resides in the American South and spends his free time when not working on his next book thinking about his next book.Visit him at www.johnhornorjacobs.com.
Author information: Wikipedia

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