Oil on Canvas

A queer, Black horror-thriller about a woman returning to the upstate New York town in which she grew up in order to uncover the terrifying truth about her mother and a set of terrifying paintings. From the author of the TikTok sensation Cinderella is Dead.

Perfect for fans of Grady Hendrix and Riley Sagar.

Jasmine Payton is glad that her mother is dead.

Not that Antonia was much of a mother to begin with. Forced to endure alcohol-fueled rages her entire childhood, Jasmine escaped Antonia's abuse as a teenager and never looked back. Now, she's an investigative journalist, is a mom herself, and has firmly put her past behind her when she gets the call to make arrangements for her deceased mother. Her hopes to quickly bury her and skip town are dashed when the police won't release her body, as Antonia is a suspect in a recent missing person's case.

With nothing to do but wait for the detectives to work the case, Jasmine starts cleaning out Antonia's belongings when she discovers several unsettling items: gruesome paintings that depict all manner of torture and a series of deranged letters in which Antonia admits to brutalizing inmates while she was the warden at the local prison.

Trusting her journalistic instincts, Jasmine tracks down information about the now-abandoned prison, convinced that it's still harboring deadly secrets tied to her mother's past. As she explores the bowels of the penitentiary, she uncovers the truth behind Antonia's obsession with one inmate and how they connect to her disturbed paintings.