Author Event: The Forest Bleeds by Rachel Kitch

Join us for a night of horror, cryptids, folklore, and spooky conversation with debut author Rachel Kitch, moderated by MJ Huntsgood, on October 29.

The Forest Bleeds, out October 13, brings an atmospheric blend of South Asian and Appalachian folklore in a beautiful package. Steeped in the deepest, eeriest mountains, this gripping thriller will lure you in and pounce when you least expect it.

Hear about the inspiration and careful crafting of the story, and pick up your personalized copy of The Forest Bleeds.

About the book: (OUT 10/13/26; Available for pre-order with your ticket or at Birch Tree)

A speculative horror-romance that combines the magical dark academia of The Atlas Six, the unsettling atmosphere of Mexican Gothic, and the psychosexual power dynamics of The Last Housewife.

Saige Chambers, Arcane Bioengineering student and blood witch, is constantly anxious and chronically over-prepared. When Saige and her fellow witch doctoral candidates depart for a conference, she plans and anticipates every last detail. Except she’s not prepared for the moment their bus turns off the highway and takes them to a remote mansion in the Appalachian Mountains, the gates sealing shut behind them.

The mansion’s owner, Arius Medea, issues a simple mandate: fix his injured, rotting leg or die. But it’s no ordinary injury—the flesh melts off the bone, emitting waves of foul magic that set Saige’s blood alight. Saige’s colleagues want to fight back and escape. Saige thinks their best chance is to fix him fast and get out.

As tensions rise, Saige finds herself growing closer to Vaishnavi Sri, a poison witch and Saige’s long-term crush. But first impressions can be misleading, and as Saige’s reluctant attraction to Arius grows, she begins to wonder if there’s a better life waiting for her in the walls of this mansion.

But, as one by one, Saige's colleagues start to disappear, Saige realizes that dying may not be the worst option—because there are far worse fates lurking in the woods.

“An eerie Appalachian Gothic stitched together from blood magic, the medical-industrial complex, and dark, swirling obsession. This horror debut really, truly understands the mountains.”—Andrew Joseph White, New York Times bestselling author of Hell Followed With Us and You Weren't Meant to Be Human

“The Forest Bleeds is a perfect debut. It's compelling as fuck, cool as hell, and character-driven in a uniquely fascinating way. I'm blown away by Kitch's storytelling and her world. Go into it blind if you can because WOW! This is the epic, dark academia/fantasy thriller I didn't know I needed right now.”—Sam Rebelein, Bram Stoker Award-nominated author of Galloway’s Gospel

“Sinister, sultry, and steeped in Appalachian dread, The Forest Bleeds is a pulse-pounding, haunting horror novel that understands danger and desire are often twined together. Kitch transforms the mountains into something ancient and hungry, seamlessly weaving witchcraft and academic obsession around a romance that burns hot enough to feel reckless. The result is darkly delicious, genuinely terrifying, and impossible to put down. If evil, why hottie indeed.”—Carolina Flórez-Cerchiaro, author of Bochica

“Forget everything you know about dark academia, and its place in the complexities of horror. The Forest Bleeds changes the game, down to the bloody quick. This book is as fresh as it is fun; in a tangle of STEM-based magics, ancestral blood debts, and Appalachian wackiness, Kitch presents us with a cast, and a story, steeped in tenderness and truth. To all the freaks, the sapphic yearners, the cryptid lovers, and the disenfranchised academics — this book is for us.”—Megan Bontrager, author of The Sea Hides its Dead

About Rachel Kitch

Rachel Kitch is a mixed-race Thai American speculative horror author with a love of writing unsettling, creepy books that still have a spark of light.

Rachel has her Masters in Design from the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelors from West Virginia University. As a generation 1.5 immigrant, Rachel loves to blend her heritage and incorporate Thai and Appalachian folklore into her projects. When not writing, she can be found designing author brands and websites, or reading books on her Kindle that would kill a Victorian child.

About MJ Huntsgood

MJ Huntsgood writes the weird, the dark, and the uncanny. She’s queer, a little messy, and unafraid to drag horror into the everyday. Once homeless, she survived on air mattresses and sheer stubbornness. She then spent years in monoclonal antibody manufacturing on night shifts, clawed her way through a master’s degree, and bought her own home. Somewhere in there, she became a writer.

Her work blends dark humor, body horror, and sharp emotional insight. It often features deep first-person POV and morally complex, villain-leaning protagonists who refuse to die easily. Her speculative writing, poetry, and nonfiction has appeared for adults in presses such as Timber Ghost Press, Moss Puppy Magazine, The Hooghly Review and with Macmillan Children’s Press for young adults. Her story “A Common Tongue” is listed on the SFWA Recommended Reading list for the 2026 Nebula Awards (Flash Fiction) and she has also been nominated for the Pushcart Prize (2025) and Best of the Net (2025).

She lives in an unreasonably haunted townhome in Washington DC with her single surviving air plant, 2 cats, and trophy husband.