Emily Carpenter’s latest thriller, Gothictown, masterfully merges Southern Gothic traditions with contemporary anxieties to create a chilling portrait of a seemingly idyllic town with horrific secrets. Set against the backdrop of post-pandemic America, the novel follows Billie Hope, a restaurateur who moves her family from New York City to Juliana, Georgia, lured by an unbelievable deal—a Victorian mansion for $100 and a generous grant to open a new restaurant. What begins as a fresh start quickly unravels into a nightmare as Billie discovers the town’s dark underbelly and the sinister “old guard” who maintain their power through unthinkable means.
Carpenter’s fifth novel continues her exploration of Southern settings and family secrets that marked her previous works like Burying the Honeysuckle Girls and The Weight of Lies, but with Gothictown, she elevates her craft to new heights. The result is a disturbing meditation on community, belonging, sacrifice, and the lengths we’ll go to protect those we love.
Plot and Structure: A Slow-Burning Descent
The novel opens with a haunting prologue set in 1864 that establishes the town’s sinister founding myth—when three town elders sealed women and children in a gold mine to hide them from General Sherman’s troops. This sacrifice becomes the first of many “offerings” to the town’s patron, Juliana Minette, daughter of the founder.
From this dark beginning, Carpenter builds tension methodically. Billie’s initial enchantment with Juliana gradually gives way to unease as strange occurrences multiply: her husband Peter’s insomnia and mood swings, their cat’s bizarre behavior, persistent nightmares, and the uncanny feeling of being watched. The pacing accelerates in the final third as Billie discovers the horrifying truth—the town’s original families sacrifice outsiders to maintain their prosperity, and her husband has become their latest victim.
The novel’s structure, with its historical interludes spaced between contemporary chapters, effectively draws parallels between past and present atrocities. These glimpses into Juliana’s history—from the 1864 founding myth to a 1934 sawmill “accident” to a 1975 medical clinic murder—create a tapestry of horror spanning generations.
Character Development: Complex and Flawed Protagonists
Gothictown‘s greatest strength lies in its deeply flawed yet sympathetic protagonist. Billie Hope is no innocent victim; she’s a complex woman desperate for success after losing her New York restaurant during the pandemic and estranged from her mother who joined a cult-like commune in Maine. Her hunger for belonging makes her vulnerable to Juliana’s charms, and her attraction to local antique dealer Jamie Cleburne demonstrates her capacity for betrayal. Yet her fierce love for her daughter Meredith and eventual determination to expose the town’s horrors make her ultimately heroic.
The supporting cast is equally well-rendered:
- Peter, Billie’s husband, whose skepticism about the town proves justified
- Jamie Cleburne, whose charm masks murderous devotion to the town
- Wren Street, a former resident investigating the town’s dark secrets
- Mayor Dixie Minette, the calculating matriarch of one of the founding families
- Major Minette, the mayor’s childlike brother-in-law with his own secrets
Even six-year-old Meredith emerges as a fully realized character, navigating her own relationship with the strange town while sensing the adult tensions around her.
Themes and Symbolism: The Price of Belonging
Gothictown explores several resonant themes:
- Community vs. Individual: The novel examines how community belonging can become toxic when it demands unquestioning loyalty.
- Religious Fanaticism: The town’s worship of Juliana Minette as a patron deity reflects how easily faith can be twisted to justify violence.
- Post-Pandemic Desperation: The “Juliana Initiative” exploits post-COVID economic vulnerability, targeting people like Billie who lost their livelihoods.
- Class and Power: The founding families maintain their status through exploitation, evading taxes while ordinary citizens shoulder the burden.
Symbolism abounds, from the gold mine representing buried town secrets to the recurring motif of “The Vacant Chair” hymn sung by the children’s ghosts. The recurring white dust throughout the house serves as a subtle reminder of the town’s influence gradually permeating every aspect of Billie’s life.
Atmosphere and Setting: Southern Gothic Reimagined
Carpenter excels at creating atmosphere, and Juliana, Georgia, emerges as a character in its own right. The juxtaposition of the town’s picture-perfect exterior—Victorian houses, gleaming town square, friendly residents—with its sinister underpinnings creates constant unease. Details like the bracelet charms worn by townsfolk, the town’s special grace before meals, and the bronze statue of little Juliana with a butterfly on her finger contribute to the sense of a community bound by shared, terrible secrets.
The Dalzell-Davenport house where Billie’s family lives becomes increasingly claustrophobic as the story progresses, its white dust and basement mine entrance literal manifestations of the town’s buried history rising to the surface.
Strengths and Weaknesses
What Works
- Atmospheric tension: Carpenter builds unease masterfully, balancing subtle wrongness with escalating horror.
- Unreliable perception: The carbon monoxide leaking from the mine creates ambiguity about whether supernatural elements are real or hallucinations.
- Satisfying conclusion: Billie’s clever use of tax evasion charges to bring down the town elite provides a realistic solution while maintaining the novel’s supernatural undertones.
- Cultural commentary: The book offers pointed observations about small-town power dynamics, post-pandemic economic vulnerability, and the ease with which communities can turn a blind eye to evil in their midst.
Where It Falls Short
- Pacing issues: The middle section sometimes meanders, with too much time spent on restaurant operations that don’t advance the plot.
- Underdeveloped supernatural elements: The novel occasionally struggles to balance its realistic thriller elements with its more supernatural ones, creating some confusion about what’s “real” within the story world.
- Convenient plot resolutions: Some late revelations, like Wren’s survival and Peter’s conveniently recorded video message, feel contrived.
- Jamie’s evolution: His transformation from charming love interest to revealed villain happens abruptly, though his fanaticism is effectively chilling once established.
Final Verdict: A Compelling Southern Gothic Thriller
Gothictown is an impressive achievement that blends Southern Gothic traditions with modern psychological thriller elements. Carpenter skillfully layers historical atrocity with contemporary horror, creating a portrait of evil perpetuated through generations. While some plot elements strain credibility, the emotional core of the story—Billie’s struggle to protect her daughter and expose the town’s secrets—remains compelling throughout.
The novel’s exploration of how communities maintain harmful power structures feels especially relevant in our divided times. As Billie observes near the end: “Their need to turn a blind eye to anything that looked remotely amiss created the right conditions for the old guard to wreak their havoc. The people of Juliana so desperately needed for their lives to go on as usual…that they failed to hold those who were leading them accountable.”
Fans of Karen Dionne’s The Marsh King’s Daughter, Gillian Flynn’s Sharp Objects, or Riley Sager’s The Only One Left will find much to appreciate in Carpenter’s brooding atmosphere and morally complex characters. Gothictown stands as a worthy addition to the Southern Gothic tradition while offering a fresh, contemporary perspective on small-town horror.
For readers who enjoy atmospheric thrillers where setting becomes a character in its own right, Gothictown delivers an engrossing reading experience that lingers long after the final page.
For Readers Who Enjoyed
- Burying the Honeysuckle Girls by Emily Carpenter
- The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward
- Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
- The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James
- The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix
