Kailee Pedersen

Sacrificial Animals

Two brothers return to their family home to care for their dying father, only to find the ghosts of their pasts are restless and hungry for blood in this gothic horror, perfect for fans of Hereditary and readers of Stephen Graham Jones. When their father calls them to tell them he is dying, Nick and Joshua rush back to their Nebraskan childhood home, Stag’s Crossing, hoping for a deathbed reconciliation with the man who raised them. But their return sparks memories of their childhood, and their father—Carlyle—a ruthless, violent racist who ruled Stag’s Crossing with an iron fist and disowned Joshua for marrying a woman of Asian descent. Very quickly, the family find themselves falling into familiar patterns. Joshua and his father renew their tight bonds. As his long-buried memories of a youthful romance with another boy resurface, Nick finds himself ostracised and growing closer to Emilia, his brother’s enigmatic wife. But something else has arrived at Stag’s Crossing, a presence out for revenge, and Nick, Joshua and Carlyle, who have traded in blood, dirt and violence for so long, are about to face a reckoning like no other. Inspired by Kailee Pedersen’s own journey being adopted from Nanning, China in 1996 and growing up on a farm in Nebraska, this rich and atmospheric supernatural horror debut draws on ancient Chinese mythology to explore the violent legacy of inherited trauma and the total collapse of a family in its wake.