Nick Medina is back with another Native American horror story steeped in folklore and mythology in his new novel, “Indian Burial Ground.”

Medina, author of “Sisters of the Lost Nation,” takes us back to the rez to talk about two issues that plague Native Americans – alcoholism and suicide.

In his Acknowledgments, he explains:

These two themes, along with Missing and Murdered Indigenous People, create the backdrop to this Louisiana story.

Synopsis

A man lunges in front of a car. An elderly woman silently drowns herself. A corpse sits up in its coffin and speaks. On this reservation, not all is what it seems, in this new spine-chilling mythological horror from the author of Sisters of the Lost Nation.

All Noemi Broussard wanted was a fresh start. With a new boyfriend who actually treats her right and a plan to move from the reservation she grew up on—just like her beloved Uncle Louie before her—things are finally looking up for Noemi. Until the news of her boyfriend’s apparent suicide brings her world crumbling down.

But the facts about Roddy’s death just don’t add up, and Noemi isn’t the only one who suspects that something menacing might be lurking within their tribal lands.

After over a decade away, Uncle Louie has returned to the reservation, bringing with him a past full of secrets, horror, and what might be the key to determining Roddy’s true cause of death. Together, Noemi and Louie set out to find answers…but as they get closer to the truth, Noemi begins to wonder whether it might be best for some secrets to remain buried.

Review

For those who know me, or follow me on Instagram, they know I reference Nick Medina’s books often, especially when we are discussing Indigenous issues.

One of the themes in this story that really resonated with me was the part about good and evil and how sometimes they can get out of balance. There are times when evil abounds, and then there are times when good outweighs evil. The universe will always try to correct itself when this happens in order to restore balance.

We can not have good without evil or evil without good.

This story is told by Noemi (present day) and Louie (past). For those who have seen Reservation Dogs, Gary Farmer narrates Louie in the audiobook, while Erin Tripp narrates Noemi’s story.

While Noemi is going through a horrible heartbreak (losing her boyfriend to suicide), Louie tells the story of the scary things that happened when he was a teenager. Stories of the Takoda vampire, the Takoda people, and the tamahka (the two great gators). Then there are the people dying and their corpses sitting up during their wakes. Bones in the cemetery are being dug up, and screams can be heard underground. People are going missing.

There are a lot of creepy things happening on the rez.

What I appreciate the most about Medina’s stories is the intertwining of myth and folklore into these characters’ lives in order to explain the unexplained. Each tale invokes ancient wisdom that helps people understand what is going on inside of them as they battle the monsters around them.

With every Medina book, I always learn so much. I enjoy reading Native American mythology and folklore, especially the scary stories that are passed down from one generation to the next. 

The book is out on April 16, 2024. You can purchase the book through the Bookshop.org or Amazon Bookshop links in the Shop menu.