In 1935, when WWI veteran Frank Nichols inherits a house in Whitbrow, Georgia, from his aunt, he gladly leaves Chicago and his faltering academic career behind. Even though his aunt expressly wrote in her will that she did not want him to inhabit the house and to sell it as soon as possible, Frank and his soon-to-be wife, Eudora, are looking forward to a new start after the problems they had in Chicago. They quickly find those troubles are nothing compared to what they experience in Whitbrow and the eerie woods across the river.

While Dora works as a schoolteacher in Whitbrow, Frank plans to research and then write a book about his Civil War ancestors, who ran the much-maligned Savoyard Plantation, the ruins of which are just across the river from Whitbrow. Frank has heard horror stories about how his relative would not release his slaves after the emancipation, but instead took delight in torturing them. As he comes to know the local townsfolk, he realizes things are not as peaceful as he and Dora first thought. The locals live in constant fear as a sacrifice is required with each new moon. And now that a descendant of the evil plantation owner is on the scene, things become even worse.

THOSE ACROSS THE RIVER is a riveting horror novel that I could not put down until I'd found out what the menacing presence was across the river. There are lots of horrific twists and turns as this story progresses, and it keeps you on the edge of your seat with each new surprising element, as well as the outcome. This is quite a debut novel for Buehlman.