Dodlytown: A Gothic Folk Horror Novel

By Mustapha Ben-D

Some towns are built on roads.
Dodlytown was built on a choice no one truly made.

When Grace Miller sees a photograph of her missing sister Amy beside a weathered sign reading DODLYTOWN, she knows the image is not just a clue. It is an invitation.

Nine months earlier, Amy vanished while investigating an old rural legend tied to the Yohintan land, a place locals avoid, maps refuse to explain, and missing-person stories never seem to leave. Detective Daniel Howard warns Grace not to follow the trail alone, but grief has already become a road, and the road is waiting.

Beyond Bellweather, Grace finds a village that should not exist: a church built over roots, a post office that sorts more than letters, a cemetery that feeds, and a dead tree at the center of everything. The people of Dodlytown smile, bargain, mislead, and obey. Some are alive. Some are preserved. Some have been waiting too long to remember the difference.

At the heart of the village is Dudley Yohintan, a man who learned how to turn love, guilt, and fear into permission. To save Amy, Grace must understand the rules of a place where every rescue can become a bargain, every name can become an address, and every answer opens another door.

But Dodlytown does not only want victims.

It wants someone strong enough to replace its dying tree.

Dark, atmospheric, and unsettling, DODLYTOWN is a gothic folk horror novel about missing people, cursed places, old bargains, and the terrifying cost of refusing to belong.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0H7SY5GQN
• ISBN13: 9798185784440
• Release Date: July 2026
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 284 Pages
• Weight: 0.66 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.5"