With a title such as Crafting for Sinners, I knew Jenny Kiefer‘s latest novel would be a must-read for me, especially with its unique premise of a small-town horror story set in, well I guess locked in, a craft store run by a church cult.
Ruth is trapped. She’s stuck in her small, religious hometown of Kill Devil, Kentucky, stuck in the closet, and stuck living paycheck to paycheck. After her manager finds out that she lives with her girlfriend, Ruth is fired from her job at New Creations—a craft store owned by the church that dominates life in Kill Devil.
In an act of revenge, Ruth attempts to shoplift some yarn but is caught red-handed. Instead of calling the police, the employees lock her in the store—and attack her. As Ruth fights for her life using only the crafting supplies at hand, she plunges deeper into the tangled web of the New Creationists, who are hiding a terrible secret that threatens not only her but the entire town.
Though Crafting for Sinners is based in the small town of Kill Devil, Kentucky, I couldn’t help but compare the New Creations store to a more extreme version your local Hobby Lobby, but sadly not far off. The culture that surrounds the New Creations store and church-cult it’s own by is just as horrifying as what happens inside. It’s a reflection of the world we live in, and the lengths some people will go to judge, exclude, and demonize others for simply being themselves. Jenny Kiefer bundles all this up with just the right amount of black comedy, sarcasm, and horror.
Crafting for Sinners is a locked-in horror that had me flipping pages fast, desperate to see how Ruth would escape the cult’s grip. Just when it seemed like things might finally go Ruth’s way, Kiefer inserted a twist to through us off course and really at what is actually going on. While there is plenty of gruesome and horrific moments, it’s the societal terrors, along with Ruth’s constant struggle to manage her diabetes, that really deepened the fear and tension.
The sheer bizarre premise of Crafting for Sinners made for a great time on it’s own, but what really sets it apart is how Jenny Kiefer weaves in real-life horrors and an all-too-familiar type of extremist group, pushed just far enough feel terrifyingly believable. This was exactly the kind of out-of-the-box novel I was craving, and it’s another standout from Kiefer.
Crafting for Sinners hits bookstores everywhere on October 7, 2025 from Quirk Books.
