Reviewed by Vincent Dublado for Readers' Favorite

Our instincts can protect us from things we sense as dangerous, but they also arouse enough curiosity to make us venture into the mysterious and the unknown. Such is the case of Moira Clarke in J.E. Erickson's Offerings to the Flower Moon: The Tale of the Abrams Witch. Moira likes old stories and is taking a double major in Anthropology and English. For her senior project, she chose to focus on the Abrams Witch folklore. The story isn't ancient or a historically revised misogynist cautionary tale. It is said that since the 1940s, the Abrams Witch had been blamed for everything from deaths to crop failures. As she digs up the story in a rural Minnesota town, she uncovers files and articles about a missing girl, Celeste Martin, and a group of her frightened friends. As Moira comes closer to the truth, her life and that of the one she loves will be put in grave danger of supernatural proportions.

Offerings to the Flower Moon is an extraordinarily effective supernatural novel, and J.E. Erickson knows how to use its power to the maximum effect. The main protagonist doesn't just go somewhere and get into trouble, as occurs in most stories and films in the genre. Moira is an intellectual who feels the need to share and educate people about old stories that are pure and unadulterated. Because her interest has been ignited by the legend of the Abrams Witch, Erickson provides a storyline that has a high level of thrills and suspense. It provides juicy information without trying too hard to reveal it all at once. Offerings to the Flower Moon highlights the advantage of written stories over the visual form. In a time where movies can portray almost anything, Erickson's narrative demonstrates that the written word still has enough power to scare. This is a must-read.