This Wretched Valley

Jenny Kiefer is a debut author, avid rock climber, and Kentucky resident. She also owns and manages Butcher Cabin Books, a horror bookstore in Louisville, KY, with her mother. Her background is in copywriting and journalism and she is the recipient of the Miracle Monocle Editor s Award for Emerging Writers (2017) and four Society of Professional Journalism Awards (2018). She was a 2021 Pitch Wars mentee and is a member of the Horror Writers Association.

2025 Splatterpunk Award Nominee for Best NovelA January 2024 Indie Next List PickOne of Esquire’s Best Horror Books of 2024 (So Far)A Library Journal Best Horror Book of 2024“A hallucinatory nightmare of a novel that blends adventure, horror, and historical fiction and isn’t shy about violence or strangeness.”—New York Times“Kiefer’s debut heralds the arrival of a major new horror talent. Through vivid descriptions of the creepy setting and thoughtful character portraits, Kiefer maintains a feeling of unease and nail-biting tension throughout. Devotees of daylight horror will be entranced.”—Publisher’s Weekly, ★ starred review “A terrifying debut, rendered with the intensity and skill of Scott Smith’s cult favorite The Ruins and touches of The Hunger by Alma Katsu and Echo by Thomas Olde Heuvelt. The novel announces Kiefer’s intentions to boldly begin her climb to the top of the genre.”—Library Journal, ★ starred review“Kiefer’s gory and intense debut centers on a doomed rock-climbing expedition beset by horrors both human and supernatural. Kiefer, a climber herself, utilizes her knowledge of the sport to deliver an evocative and pulse-pounding survival horror novel inspired by the Dyatlov Pass incident. This disturbing outing marks her as a writer to watch and will appeal to fans of Scott Smith’s The Ruins (2006) and the Showtime series Yellowjackets.”—Booklist“A master class in both suspense and gore, This Wretched Valley is a treat for climbers and horror lovers alike.”—Laura Hubbard, BookPage“Despite being the author’s debut novel, This Wretched Valley is a glittering contender for Best Horror of 2024…this book is unshakeable.”—Cemetery Dance “If you love wilderness horror, This Wretched Valley is a must-read. But be forewarned: after reading this chilling debut, you may never want to set foot in the great outdoors again.”—Alma Katsu, author of The Hunger and The Fervor “This propulsive, hair-raising read will have you jumping at shadows and second-guessing your next trek into the woods. With nimble pacing, scream-worthy scares, and an ever-present sense of dread, a trip to This Wretched Valley is one you’ll never forget. A standout debut.”—Rachel Harrison, national best-selling author of Cackle and Such Sharp Teeth “Twisty and brutal, Jenny Kiefer’s debut unfolds like your favorite creepy new horror flick. Welcome to This Wretched Valley, where everything bleeds.”—Christopher Golden, New York Times best-selling author of All Hallows and Road of Bones“A dread-inducing Kentucky spin on the Dyatlov Pass incident, This Wretched Valley drops its readers right into uncharted territory without a compass and demands we navigate our way out alive and in one piece. Not since Scott Smith’s The Ruins has a novel imbued a region with such desperate horror.”—Clay McLeod Chapman, author of Ghost Eaters and What Kind of Mother“[This Wretched Valley is] horror that challenges our perceptions and understanding of the physical world, and that distorts our reality, [with] all of the elements I look for in horror—folklore, an environment that is a character itself, and characters trying to understand and survive through a horrific situation.”—Cynthia Pelayo, Bram Stoker Award–winning author of Children of Chicago and The Shoemaker’s Magician“This Wretched Valley made me nervous to keep going; not many books can do that. There’s a heaviness to the dread, and Kiefer layers looming atmosphere onto gripping desperation with a masterful touch. Forget the outdoors—stay inside with this enthralling book instead.”—Hailey Piper, Bram Stoker Award–winning author of Queen of Teeth“This Wretched Valley is a fast-paced free fall straight into a Kentucky nightmare. Kiefer’s prose sings in this horrific tragedy of blood and dread and paranoia. The story will drag you kicking and screaming into the night and will not let you go. I lost sleep over it. Highly recommended.”—Todd Keisling, Bram Stoker Award–nominated author of Devil’s Creek and Cold, Black, and Infinite“This Wretched Valley is a reality-warping, body-horror, don’t-go-into-the-woods nightmare which grips from its very first sentence. Kiefer deftly weaves something Dyatlov Pass–shaped from her characters’ hubris and pain, leading them to a ghastly and inevitable end sure to delight fans of The Troop or Blair Witch. A truly unforgettable debut.”—Ally Wilkes, Bram Stoker Award–nominated author of All the White Spaces “This Wretched Valley is suspenseful, mysterious, and filled with racing adrenaline and paranoia. Jenny Kiefer calls us to question reality along with the novel’s characters and haunts us with repeating pasts and rotting bones both refleshed and unfleshed.”—Ai Jiang, Nebula and Locus Award finalist and author of Linghun“Jenny Kiefer takes one of the most intriguing and horrific mysteries of the last century—the Dyatlov Pass incident—and pushes beyond our worst imaginings. An isolated valley and ominous small-town warnings set the stage for a skillful and bone-chilling tale of isolation and the limits of human endurance. Kiefer skillfully weaves historical horror into a modern-day setting, and the result is a deliciously adrenaline-laden nightmare. A fantastic debut that keeps all its promises.”—Laurel Hightower, author of Below and Crossroads“Jenny Kiefer’s debut novel, This Wretched Valley, is rich with poisonous paranoia and a steadily climbing dread. By the time you realize that you are lost in this book’s clutches, you’ll think twice about ever camping in the woods again.”—P. L. McMillan, author of Sisters of the Crimson Vine“Set deep in the backwoods of eastern Kentucky, This Wretched Valley by Jenny Kiefer took me to a place I’d never want to go, yet found myself completely unable to leave. What started off as a Michael Crichton–like adventure soon gave way to something more reminiscent of Jennifer McMahon’s The Winter People and Scott Smith’s The Ruins. A ghost story on steroids, with wonderfully disturbing images laced throughout. I don’t think I’ll ever go hiking again!” —J. H. Markert, author of The Nightmare Man“Reading This Wretched Valley, you will find malice dangling from every branch while an old hunger gathers beneath your feet. Eerie, vicious, and unforgettably Kiefer.”—Andrew F. Sullivan, author of The Marigold and The Handyman Method“Scary on multiple levels, highlighting the terrors of the wilderness and exploring the supernatural.”—Amanda Mullen, ScreenRant