The first book I read in 2016 was over the weekend we had a blizzard, and that book was Off Season by Jack Ketchum.
It was part of a challenge I was going to do, but in the course of my life between New Year’s and now, lost the list, so I just ended up reading this terrifying book.
Basically, a group of friends from New York City go to Maine where they have a cute cabin, in the resort town’s off season (hence, the name of the book). They end up in a cabin that hasn’t been inhabited in quite some time, and it’s near a group of inbred, cannibalistic savages (who, IIRC, were originally normal people who disappeared in what everybody thought were just legends and who, over the generations of inbreeding, became these monster people).
This is the story that movie The Hills Have Eyes was based on. Really, it’s the old American urban legend of cannibal savages that attack strangers for fun.
It was a good, scary book, but it was really, really violent. This wasn’t a terror story, where you never actually “see” anything – this was a horror story, violence, gore, the works.
It wasn’t the kind of book I normally read when I go for scares, because I prefer terror, which I find more effective. That said, this book was very effective in that it was scary and not JUST gory. The whole idea of inbred cannibals is revolting in and of itself. The fact that they were extra violent just added to the revulsion.
There is no shortage of vivid description in this book, and the story is quick paced, which keeps you interested. I’d say there’s 50 pages or less before the action really picks up. I can’t say for certain that this is the case, as I read the kindle version. There were some clear typos in the kindle version, but it wasn’t too bad. Definitely not a deal breaker…especially since I’m not sure the book is still in print.
I suggest reading this book if you want a gruesome thriller. But not in Maine. Or in the woods. Or the dark. Or anywhere alone. Pleasant nightmares!
words in scarlet ink 