Crafting for Sinners by Jenny Kiefer
Quirk Books (October 2025)
Reviewed by Haley Newlin
In Jenny Kiefer’s latest release, Crafting for Sinners, Ruth walks the aisles of a craft store in Kill Devil, Kentucky. There’s fall decor from floor to ceiling, but no sign of ghosts, witches, or black cats for Halloween, the holiday omitted entirely. Emblazoned glass jars read: Be Pure, for those who give themselves to immortality will suffer the punishment of eternal fire. A placard with two vintage handguns forming an X, barrels overlapping, declares: Righteous judgment will be revealed on the day of His wrath – Romans 2:5.
As Ruth searches for yarn for a rush knitting job, she can’t help but wonder why all of the scripture scrawled on home goods throughout the craft store is so bloodthirsty. And then, why is scripture so bloodthirsty? This was such a great detail that hooks readers in with suffocating dread. The moment readers enter the craft store, the walls close in around them. The lights, out. The craftstore is owned by Kill Devil’s mega church and employs its devout servants. Other members go door-to-door with their pamphlets and promises of salvation. They’ve shown up at Ruth and Abigail’s door, too. Kiefer made this common outreach practice feel invasive and perverse, which is timely and, of course, relatable.
Abigail’s mother warned her and Ruth about the church and its fanatical shepherds before she passed away. Sure, they’re strange, pious, and a bit cultish, but Abigail’s mother was always a bit paranoid. The stack of locks descending the front door could tell you that. But Abigail is afraid. She fears they’re being watched. She spies a man with binoculars in the woods, pointing right at them and into their home. She fears persecution. Ruth shrugs it off and assures her that they are safe. But this is a Jenny Kiefer novel. No one is safe from the impending danger and bloodshed. Death is at the door.
The opening structure, stylized as a script of a true crime podcast, was an excellent touch, teasing unsolved disappearances, family secrets, ancient rituals, and even a demon. I was hooked from the get-go. The pacing is steadfast from there, and Kiefer will make your guts churn. However, she doesn’t wait for you to compose yourself and quiet that nausea; instead, she stitches you into page-length gore that sticks with you.
I read a lot of horror, so I know a book is special when a particular entity or grotesque incident lingers after turning the final page. Chuck Tingle’s Mrs. Why in his acclaimed novel, Bury Your Gays, is one of those characters — as is Glue-Man in Kiefer’s Crafting for Sinners. I won’t say more, but readers beware. It’s horrific but absolutely brilliant. I will never, ever forget Glue Man.
Ruth was a great protagonist. Readers will likely identify with her dismissal of the possibility of persecution and the threat of religious fanaticism. Sometimes, recognizing the issue means piling the weight of fear onto your back, and sometimes it’s too heavy to carry, so we leave it behind. But reality always catches up to us.
Throughout her fight for survival, employing knitting needles, decorative mirrors, and other crafty finds, Ruth realizes that Abigail had been right to be afraid. The emotional burden that comes with this epiphany is almost too much, but Ruth must keep fighting. And she is a character readers will never tire of rooting for. Her north star through the pain, gore, complacency, and all the eye-ick is the love she has for Abigail. Great horror always has love worth fighting for.
I also appreciated the hypoglycemic fogs and other diabetic symptoms Ruth experienced because this added another layer of suspense to an already gripping and heart-pounding fight for survival. This book never lets up and isn’t one I’ll forget anytime soon.
Themes present in Crafting for Sinners, as well as the social and political satire, will appeal to readers who enjoyed books like Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare, Camp Damascus and Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle, and Squirming All the Way Up by Joey Powell.
Kiefer’s Crafting for Sinners glitters with gore amongst the top horror books of the year. Unputdownable and a must-read.
