Sights + Sounds: 'The Curse of Hester Gardens' horror novel

About this episode

Tamika Thompson discusses her horror novel 'The Curse of Hester Gardens' and the real-life issues that inspired it.

In the novel, “The Curse of Hester Gardens” a Black mother lives in a Michigan housing project with her teen sons. She’s raising them alone while her husband serves time in prison. Hester Gardens is haunted and cursed.. But not just by ghosts. Injustices like systemic oppression, poverty, and gun violence have also become monsters in the residents' lives. Tamika Thompson is the author of “The Curse of Hester Gardens.” She is from Detroit and now lives in the East Bay. She talked with KALW’s Jeneé Darden, host of the Sights and Sounds show. In this excerpt from their conversations, she reflects on how her personal experience witnessing gun violence growing up in Detroit inspired her book.

People in this episode

Host: Jeneé Darden

Guest: Tamika Thompson

Topics covered

• horror novel
• systemic oppression
• gun violence
• single motherhood
• personal experience
• Detroit

Keywords

• horror
• novel
• systemic oppression
• gun violence
• Detroit
• single mother
• Hester Gardens

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: The Curse of Hester Gardens

Places: Michigan, Detroit, East Bay

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