In this gripping debut, a young Cree woman’s dreams lead her on a perilous journey of self-discovery that ultimately forces her to confront the toll of a legacy of violence on her family, her community, and the land they call home.

When Mackenzie wakes up with a severed crow’s head in her hands, she panics. Only moments earlier she had been fending off masses of birds in a snow-covered forest. In bed, when she blinks, the head disappears.

Night after night, Mackenzie’s dreams return her to a memory from before her sister Sabrina’s untimely death: a weekend at the family’s lakefront campsite, long obscured by a fog of guilt. But when the waking world starts closing in, too — crows stalk her every move around the city; she gets threatening text messages from someone claiming to be Sabrina — Mackenzie knows this is more than she can handle alone.

Travelling north to her rural hometown in Alberta, she finds her family still steeped in the same grief that she ran away to Vancouver to escape. They welcome her back, but their shaky reunion only seems to intensify her dreams — and make them more dangerous.

What really happened that night at the lake, and what did it have to do with Sabrina’s death? Only a bad Cree would put their family at risk, but what if whatever has been calling Mackenzie home was already inside her?

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‘A rare voice in contemporary fiction. Her debut novel similarly carves out a unique space.’

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‘Eerie, atmospheric, and intriguing … a notable intervention into the genre and an accomplished debut: rich in dark folklore-inspired imagery, this is a novel about grief as a bond, inherited trauma through a cultural lens, and refreshingly intersectional sorority; with remarkable representation and a large cast of female characters at the core of the story.’

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‘This gripping horror debut … is a satisfying slow burn that explores loss, generational trauma, and violence through a narrative that is chilling yet, at its centre, burning with a defiant resilience.’

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‘Johns utilises horror tropes to work out the ramifications of generational trauma to perfect effect … a chilling narrative that’s about spirits and ghosts, but also about healing.’

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‘[Bad Cree] is … a story about grief and family and the lingering effects of the infringement of industrialism on native lands. At its heart are the strong familial bonds between its predominantly Cree cast of characters as the story is put in the context of the Cree experience, with aspects of their history, culture, and lore present throughout … When the book ends, what readers will remember most are the moments these characters shared together, playing cards and talking late into the night.’

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‘[A] wonderfully haunting and oft visceral read; one which plays with genre conventions to tell a story steeped in culture and chills.’

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‘[A] debut novel of extraordinary power.’

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‘Johns … ties Cree beliefs about dreams and deep-rooted indigenous lore to how women in a family rally around one another to battle grief.’

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‘Bad Cree is an engaging read with well-drawn characters.’

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‘Clever, funny, moving, and haunting, Bad Cree employs and subverts genres.’

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‘Bad Cree is a creepily effective horror story. Johns makes the most of strange happenings, potentially deadly dreams, jump scares and evil spirits. This is a book that dares readers to turn off the light, consider not walking alone and possibly even turn off their phones. But Bad Cree is ultimately about the power of family and the deep well of knowledge within the Cree community … She has delivered a sometimes chilling, page-turning narrative in which dreaming and the power of dreams is central. But Bad Cree is also a stake in the ground for the power of a community that continues to survive while dealing with the ongoing destructive impacts of colonisation and environmental exploitation.’

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‘[D]reams take centre stage in the narrative, there is a freshness to the way she explores the real impact that dreams have on ourselves … The narrative is intricate and offers enough structurally and linguistically for more mature readers to take away from the text … Johns demonstrates a real talent in the connection between waking life and dreaming, giving the impression of the spiritual world and its impact on the day to day existence of the “real world” that sits so comfortably in the narratives of first nation peoples … It’s dark, and there are some horrific sequences, but the construction of the supernatural really is something worth noting … It sits in a genre of its own and creates an otherworldliness that is rare in modern novel writing. Highly recommended.’

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‘Bad Cree, the debut novel from Cree woman Jessica Johns, is a work of decolonisation. Reading this paranormal thriller is like watching your reflection as you walk towards a glass door: the story is fluid and lifelike but there’s an unsettling essence of the untouchable, a reminder that there’s more to life than the tangible.’

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‘Jessica Johns weaves Native American mythology and classic horror themes together seamlessly to build a captivating and thrilling story of family, love, and grief … One of Bad Cree’s greatest powers is its effortless ability to show that not all hauntings are bad; we can be haunted by the ones we love and find comfort and solace in that.’

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‘Lovingly layered, haunting, and effectively executed.’

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‘Steeped in Cree tradition, the complicated dynamics found in strong families and the perennial challenges of coming-of-age, this novel smoulders its way towards a gripping, supernatural, and unforgettable conclusion.’