
Member Reviews

Errant Roots is a chilling, fast-paced novella that explores the darkness lurking in family history. Sonora Taylor’s writing is smooth and accessible, making it an easy read despite the weight of its harrowing themes—ranging from generational trauma to sudden, brutal violence. These moments hit hard, often without warning, which adds to the unsettling atmosphere but may be jarring for some readers.
Deirdre’s journey into her family’s sinister past is compelling, and the horror builds quickly. However, the story feels a bit rushed; with such rich material, it would have benefited from more time to develop its characters and expand on the disturbing revelations.
Still, Errant Roots leaves a strong impression—a haunting look at the things we inherit, both known and buried.

Errant Roots is a thought-provoking exploration of memory and identity with a haunting, introspective tone. Taylor’s prose is steady and evocative, pulling readers into a layered narrative that lingers. Some parts feel slower, but the emotional depth keeps you engaged.
Overall, it’s a compelling, well-crafted book. Ideal for those who appreciate reflective, atmospheric fiction with a touch of mystery.

This was wonderful! I loved the writing style, the characters, the world-building…everything about it was top-notch. I will definitely be recommending this book!

A compelling story about a sinister legacy and corrupted power.
After Deirdre confides in her mother that she's pregnant, her mother decides that it's time for Deirdre to meet her relatives. Deirdre is a little weirded out by the intensity of her grandmother Yvonne, the casual disrespect of her young cousins, and the strange compliance to a family belief and its rituals.
Things take a shocking turn soon after they arrive, and Dierdre must figure out how and if she wants to be part of a violent legacy.
This was creepy, and I think a nice example of what's called folk horror. The atmosphere is cloying, the tension building with the unquestioning adherence to superstitions rituals, building to a surprising conclusion.
I enjoyed this creepy tale, as author Sonora Taylor dealt with a family built on trauma and obedience.
Thank you to Netgalley and to RDS Publishing for this ARC in exchange for my review.

Thank you Netgalley and RDS Publishing | Raw Dog Screaming Press for ARC in exchange of an honest review.
So errant roots is about traditions and family and it's roots. I didn't find it scary enough to categorise it as horror novella. It definitely has a bit of sinister and witchy vibes.
It wasn't as shocking or surprising as it should have been, it was quite straightforward. A mother who has never told her daughter about her family wants to take her daughter back to her family suddenly. It was all so predictable. The story made no sense as I'm not sure what they were gaining from doing what they did. Coz most people do things for their beliefs if those are benefitting them somehow. I didn't find any reason for that.
The violence and gore felt unnecessary and overdone to me. For a short story it had punch but it didn't captivate me. In the end just too predictable for my liking.
Star rating : 2.5 stars

How do family traditions get started? Sometimes it's because people read things into certain events, things that aren't true, and then get trapped in the bad traditions. This is a story about a homecoming, Deirdre doesn't know why she's never met her mother's family, until she gets pregnant at 24 and her mother brings her home. It turns out her family has beliefs that could threaten everything for her, but what can she do to save herself and her child? Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this.

Publishing date: 15.10.2024
Thank you to NetGalley and RDS Publishing for the ARC. My opinions are my own.
RDS strikes again with the continuation of this wonderful series. I am once again very pleased with what I read and looking forward to continuing with book 7 when it comes out.
Errant Roots goes into the "slasher" category for me. No proper jumpscares, not that much "horror". More raw violence. The plot itself is very tense. The moment the main character got to the house was when I started feeling something was wrong. Boy did it go wrong too.
There is also a very strong focus on family trauma and cult-like behaviours. If this is a sore theme for you I would recommend skipping this one.
My only complaint is that the deaths didn't seem to matter that much. A little more internal monologue or the characters taking the loss of life more seriously would be nice. I know, circumstance, but even then I would like a little more reflection.
All in all, a very good book. I found it entertaining, tense, and a great continuation of the series. Will be looking out for book 7. 4 stars!
TLDR: A short slasher with family trauma and cult behaviour.

This was a very engaging story. I enjoyed the suspenseful buildup of the first couple chapters. There is a subtle eeriness that draws the reader, offering the slight foreshadowing of the terror ahead. But the turn comes so suddenly that it managed to catch me off guard and left me a little shocked. And then there's still more surprising moments and unraveling that kept pushing me to get the end. Totally recommend, great read.

This book was fine. I really wanted to love it. I love folk horror, and the author did a really good job of setting an eerie tone for the story, so it had potential.
However, the characters were just so dumb that it was barely even plausible. The cult-think was so weak that it wasn't plausible. If the concept and cult beliefs were more realistic and fleshed out, and the characters were more three dimensional and plausible, it would have been amazing.

This bad boy can fit so much generational trauma! Errant Roots has one heck of an opening scene. After hearing Taylor read it at Authorcon IV, I made a beeline to grab a copy. I'm so glad I did.
I love how she uses folk-horror elements to tell a story about spiritual and generational trauma. Some of the specifics may be out there, but they evoke a very familiar sense of dread. I really enjoyed the botanical theme and the past interwoven with the present. Similar vibes to Whispers of Apple Blossoms by Brett Mitchell Kent.
I also received a copy as a Netgalley ARC. I'm leaving this review of my own accord.

3.5 stars
**Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.**
Errants Roots OUT NOW
Basics
Author: she/her (from US)
Genre: contemporary horror
Length: read-in-one-sitting novella (98p)
Pros
+ Deirdre (newly pregnant) and her boyfriend visit her ancestral home
+ family cult
+ lore set by the matriarch
+ gender reveal gone wrong (or right?)
+ violence & gore
+ vibes: anxious, insidious, menacing
+ themes: family tree, inheritance, generational trauma, female power
Cons
- Deirdre's mom acts unbelievably (sometimes naive, sometimes complicit)
- the whole story hinges on the mom bringing Deirdre but it goes against everything she's done in the past 25 years, so I didn't believe an oddly-timed pregnancy would make her act that way
- unheeded warnings make my sympathy for the characters lessen (I'd much rather they try to listen to warnings and fail)
Similar Vibes: Follow Me to Ground by Sue Rainsford (book) X Ready or Not (movie)
TW: murder of adults and children (off-page), murder of adults (on-page), blood, cutting, drugging, burning alive, corpse/bones/ash

“ The roots of your family tree can run deep, but they can also become twisted, spreading a seeping rot that will eventually affect everything.”
Errant Roots is the 6th instalment in Raw Dog Screaming Press’ horror novella series ‘Select Papers from the Consortium for the Study of Anomalous Phenomena’ edited by RJ Joseph. Each volume features a different author but the themes within the pages all build on these need and ideas explored by the previous author and their narratives.
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I personally reached out to RDSP for an arc copy of this novella, like I do with every single previous book in the series. This is my favourite series currently, ever since reading Bleak Houses, the first volume.
This is probably my second least favourite of the whole series. It was well written, a quick and easy read that could be done in one sitting. I just found the narrative a little too predictable and that is the opposite of what I’m accustomed to while reading novellas from this series.

A very strong novella exploring how generational traditions (murderous rituals) and family bonds can lead to being completely disconnected from reality and oblivious to atrocities from within a comforting, but cocoon of lies.
I will say though that this will end up being a forgettable story for me because the characters felt like caricatures and the lore was a great concept but ultimately left quite a few plot holes. Imagine a full-length novel that dives deep into each character and their psyches, lore that intertwines folk horror elements and generational family secrets. How good would that be?

i wanted to love this more than i did. there's hints of lore and ominous stories here, but they're lost in the squash of this book that should be 250 pages into 90. 3 stars. tysm for the arc.

Errant Roots
Sonora Taylor
3.75 / 5
This was one fu#ked up family tree. Talk about metaphorically cleansing yourself of familial traumas and bonds! I really dug this!
This was a fun horror story with excellent writing. I had a great time while reading.
I predicted where things were going right off the bat, but I'm kinda used to that (consuming as much horror as I do), and it didn't ruin my reading experience. I still had a great time discovering precisely how we were going to get there.
Recommended!
3.75 / 5 (rounded up)

A surprise! It kept me on the edge of my seat for the entire read. Recommend! Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for a free e-arc copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Beautiful, sad and twisted. As a mother and daughter myself who has "sacrificed" for generational change, this one hit home. The author did a wonderful job showing the relationships between mother and daughter and how sometimes you need to leave family to make family better and stranger.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the eARC in exchange for an honest review
A short folk horror about family and the legacy of beliefs we left behind, hits close to home. We meet Deirdre, a woman who has become pregnant with her long-time boyfriend Tom. As soon as she gets pregnant and informs her mother, her mother's mysterious family comes into play. This comes as a shock, as Deirdre has never heard anything about them. A trip to her family's rural home quickly goes awry.
A quick one-sit read, this captivated me once Deirdre, her mother, and Tom make their way to the farmhouse. A bit predictable, but it allowed me to personally reflect on a similar family legacy, filled with principles and beliefs that are not quite well explained, but are expected to be carried out. It can stem from a simple experience and can shape entire generations of practice. The title? Well chosen, as family "trees" are a common statement, and I, myself am an errant root. This short novella helps us question whether these beliefs are worth inheriting and passing along, and how these very beliefs shape us and affect us in invisible ways.
Harriet's doubt with her initial decision, and taking Deidre back to her family home, and realizing that may be the incorrect choice. (Trauma) or atleast my take away with their visions, hasn't completely left her, and without proper support from the outside world, she is left to wonder who may have been right all along. Deidre may have not been raised within this family, didn't react immediately to danger, reflective of most closed group's initial "friendly" or "familial" impression has impaired her sense of safety, but that disconnect ultimately saved her and a few others.
I love one sit-reads! So this book is great for that and I fell into the folk horror role!

I was hoping this would be the non-binary, anti-gender essentialist horror novella of my dreams, but alas.
We have generations of a family of (cis) women who, for some unknown reason (still unknown by the end of the story) have decided that the coincidence of bearing children in their 24th year is vitally important—nay, a matter of life or death. The world-building is loose and the foundation nonexistent. We must suspend disbelief as estranged mothers reach out to daughters and vice versa, without explanation ... and innocent people are murdered based purely on a superstition with unknown threat potential. We also have "gender reveal" parties and "either boy or girl" and sex=gender and so on. At one point, a character questions the time period relatives are living in, but when it comes to the treatment of sex and gender here, I find myself asking: Is the author living under a rock? With contemporaries like the trans-embracing and gender euphoric "The Sapling Cage" (Margaret Killjoy), I find myself left with a sour taste in my throat ... and not because of the intended horror elements. Finally ... why the heck would content warnings be included at the BACK of the book? To con the wary reader into taking a peak while rifling through the pages on the way there?
This was well-written and well-paced, and there's a hint of something more interesting afoot, but otherwise this one was unsatisfying for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Raw Dog Screaming Press for the ARC!
To be honest, I didn't have super high hopes for this one going in. However, I have to say that this really surprised me. Quite literally. I had no idea what was going to happen next, and I was on the edge of my seat trying to figure out what was going on. For being a short read, it packed a really solid punch. I highly recommend this one but PLEASE check your trigger warnings before reading.