Jenny Kiefer is an award-winning author of spine-tingling, fierce, and cathartic horror. Her debut novel, This Wretched Valley, was a 2024 Bram Stoker Award Nominee and named a Library Journal Best Horror Book of the year. Readers have been anxiously awaiting her second release, Crafting for Sinners, a survival horror story about a queer woman trapped in a craft store run by religious fanatics. It is all over BookTok and Bookstagram as one of the most anticipated horror book releases of 2025.
Together with her mother, Kiefer owns and manages Butcher Cabin Books, an all-horror bookstore in Louisville, Kentucky.
Kiefer sat down with Cemetery Dance to discuss her debut novel, This Wretched Valley, her new release, Crafting for Sinners, survival horror, her favorite reads of the year, and of course, crafts.
You can find the author on Instagram @_jennykiefer and on her website.
(Interview conducted by Haley Newlin)
CEMETERY DANCE: Readers are buzzing about your latest release, Crafting for Sinners. What feels different about debuting this title versus your first novel, This Wretched Valley?
JENNY KIEFER: This was my first book that I wrote on proposal. I sold it before a full, initial draft was written. It was the fastest I’ve ever written a book-length manuscript. It was definitely a different experience from writing Wretched Valley, which had no deadline or book deal when I wrote the initial draft. I went through at least two big developmental edits with Wretched Valley before I signed with my agent or sold the book, and then it took two years working with my editor before publication. But Crafting for Sinners had a much shorter turnaround period from contract to publication, especially considering that I hadn’t written it yet! So I think I was a little more nervous this time around. But I’ve been feeling better as more people other than me and my editor read it.
Crafting for Sinners has appealed to fans of Grady Hendrix’s Horrorstor and Chuck Tingle’s Camp Damascus, which also explores themes like feminism vs. fantasticism, queerness vs. fanaticism, isolation, inescapable conjurations of hate, and, of course, the ultimate power of love. Why do you think Crafting for Sinners and books like it are popular right now?
Unfortunately, we’re seeing a lot of persecution right now for minority groups, including the LGBTQIA+ community. We’re also seeing a rise in Christian Nationalism. I think these types of books can provide some catharsis for those within the community, and possibly can display some humanity for those outside of it.
Abigail frequently warns Ruth about the craft store owned by the church, and takes other precautions to keep them both safe in a place where someone may harm them simply because of who they love. Why was it important to show the slow unraveling of Ruth’s misguided sense of safety?
Ruth’s emotional arc through the story is really about her getting over her sense of abandonment. At the start of the story, she’s been abandoned by her family, her fiancé, and her community. She and Abigail have recently lost Abigail’s mom, who was basically family to Ruth, too. They only have each other, and Ruth fears losing Abigail to abandonment more than she fears persecution for being gay. The one time Ruth did face persecution for being gay, she lost her job, but nothing else really happened to her. Her fear of abandonment has led to some complacency. She and Abigail might not have the perfect life, but they have so far been safe, and they are comfortable enough. It’s facing the enemy you know versus a hypothetical enemy you might face. I think it’s common to hold a belief that whatever event won’t happen to you…until it’s too late.
Ruth is forced to use craft supplies as weapons and survival tools in Crafting for Sinners. How did you determine which items to use? Did you choose any based on your own experience with crafting?
I knew pretty early on that I didn’t want any blades easily available because that seemed too easy and obvious. As a crafter myself, I visit craft stores pretty frequently. On one such trip, I spent a lot of time walking through every aisle and making note of things on the shelves that could be used in self-defense. The list was very long. Not every idea got used! I have not personally tested any of the methods in the book.
Some would say that Crafting for Sinners is more satirical than your debut novel, This Wretched Valley, based on the Dyatlov Pass Incident, though both are survival horror stories. How did you choose to integrate more humor into this narrative? Did it come more naturally through these particular characters?
Personally, I think there are tons of humorous moments in This Wretched Valley, but maybe my sense of humor is wrecked. I think the setting lends itself to more humor, though I don’t want readers going into this book thinking it’s a full-on horror comedy. I think all of my books will have moments of dark humor for sure. But this one is definitely still very serious!
Can readers expect more survival horror books from you, or is there another sub-genre or genre trope that you’d like to explore in your writing?
The next book I’m working on is also a survival horror, but in a different way. It’s still a single location. That’s all coincidence. I really only get one idea for a book at a time. It usually starts with the setting or the inciting incident and develops from there, before I have really given any thought to subgenres, tropes, or themes, or even characters. I just run with the story that comes to me because I don’t have anything else waiting in the wings. That said, I’d love to write something that might be in the vein of Jennifer’s Body… maybe eventually the idea will come.
What have been your favorite reads of the year? Are there any other authors you hope readers discover alongside your work?
My favorite book I’ve read this year is definitely Angel Down by Daniel Kraus. I’m not sure I’d quite classify it as horror, but it’s close enough. It’s an anti-war book with magical realism. I also enjoyed The Unworthy by Augustina Brazterrica and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot.
