Eden Royce Books in Order

Where to Start Reading Eden Royce

Eden Royce is a master of blending the rich, historical folk magic of Gullah-Geechee culture with elements of Southern Gothic horror and dark fantasy. Because her stories span multiple age ranges—from middle-grade historical fantasy to chilling adult horror—the best place to start depends entirely on what kind of reading experience you are looking for.

For Younger Readers (and Young at Heart): Root Magic

If you want to experience the book that put Eden Royce on the map, start with her debut middle-grade novel, Root Magic. Set in 1963 South Carolina, it serves as the perfect introduction to Gullah culture, family conjuring traditions, and the historical reality of the Jim Crow South. It is a heartfelt, sometimes spooky, but ultimately empowering tale that appeals to both middle-grade readers and adults.

For Adult Horror Fans: Hollow Tongue

If you prefer dark, unsettling adult speculative fiction, start with Hollow Tongue. This award-winning novella centers on trauma, family secrets, and visceral Southern Gothic horror. It is the perfect entry point for readers who want to experience Royce's short, punchy, and deeply atmospheric adult writing style.

The Middle-Grade Conjure and Gothic Novels

Eden Royce has written three acclaimed standalone novels for middle-grade readers. While they do not share characters or direct plotlines, they are deeply connected by their South Carolina settings, exploration of Gullah-Geechee folklore, and themes of young protagonists discovering ancestral magic.

• Root Magic (2021): Follows eleven-year-old Jezebel Turner as she and her twin brother, Jay, begin learning the secrets of rootwork from their uncle Doc in 1963. They must navigate both the magical dangers of the marshlands and the very real dangers of local racial tensions.
• Conjure Island (2023): Centers on Delphinia "Del" Turner, a girl who has never known her family or her heritage. When she is sent to live with a grandmother she has never met on a mysterious barrier island, she finds herself enrolled in an academy where ancestral magic and Gullah conjure are part of the curriculum.
• The Creepening of Dogwood House (2024): Shifts the perspective to a twelve-year-old boy named Roddie. After the tragic death of his mother, Roddie moves to a decaying South Carolina family estate where he must uncover his mother's hidden past and learn Hoodoo traditions to survive the supernatural forces residing in the shifting house.

Adult Southern Gothic and Historical Fantasy

For mature audiences, Eden Royce's long-form fiction explores the darker, more complex corners of historical reconstruction, folklore, and visceral horror.

• Hollow Tongue (2024): An intense, award-winning Southern Gothic horror novella. It explores the psychological and physical aftermath of trauma as a woman returns to her ancestral roots to confront the dark forces holding her family's history hostage.
• Psychopomp & Circumstance (2025): A historical fantasy set during the Reconstruction Era. The story follows Phee St. Margaret, a young woman who defies her family's wishes to take over her estranged aunt's funeral home, stepping into a world of death, spirits, and historical duty.

Short Story Collections

Before publishing full-length novels, Royce established herself as a prominent voice in speculative short fiction. Her collections gather these atmospheric, dark tales of folklore, Southern horror, and conjure.

• Spook Lights (2015): A collection of chilling short stories that first introduced readers to Royce's signature blend of Gullah traditions and eerie Lowcountry atmospheres.
• Spook Lights II (2017): The follow-up volume containing further short stories detailing the spirits, magic, and mysteries of the American South.
• Who Lost, I Found (2023): A critically acclaimed collection featuring stories of Hoodoo, graverobbing rootworkers, death row last requests, and wakers of the dead. It includes the Shirley Jackson Award-nominated story "Room and Board Included, Demonology Extra."

Eden Royce Books in Publication Order

If you prefer to read Eden Royce's works in the order they were released to the public, follow this timeline of standalone novels, novellas, and collections:

1. Spook Lights (Collection, 2015)
2. Spook Lights II (Collection, 2017)
3. Root Magic (Novel, 2021)
4. Conjure Island (Novel, 2023)
5. Who Lost, I Found (Collection, 2023)
6. The Creepening of Dogwood House (Novel, 2024)
7. Hollow Tongue (Novella, 2024)
8. Psychopomp & Circumstance (Novel, 2025)

Chronological Context and Reading Caveats

Because Eden Royce's novels and collections are standalone stories, there is no chronological narrative continuity that connects them. However, they take place across various historical eras, which can offer an interesting thematic progression if you read them in chronological order of their settings:

• Reconstruction Era: Psychopomp & Circumstance explores the immediate aftermath of the Civil War and the development of Black spiritual and funeral traditions.
• The Jim Crow Era (1960s): Root Magic highlights the struggle for civil rights, community solidarity, and cultural preservation in 1963 South Carolina.
• Modern Day / Near-Modern: Works like Conjure Island, The Creepening of Dogwood House, and Hollow Tongue bring ancestral conjure and Hoodoo practices into contemporary settings, showing how younger generations inherit or rediscover these vital traditions.