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3.51 AVERAGE
3.51 AVERAGE
This was an okay short story for the upcoming Halloween season but fell a little short. I enjoyed the concept but I just needed more back story. Why did they need a Guild? Who started this ordeal? Was the town cursed and that’s why the needed a sacrifice every year? Why was the whole town complacent; they had to know what was going on? I just have too many questions and not enough answers.
This is a solid story told so awkwardly that it's hard for me to love it, but I did think is was still a fun fast read.
The set-up is once a year, a small town has a Lottery meets The Purge ceremony in a classic 70s and 80s movie setting of teenagers vs a creepy rampaging slasher monster. I thought it was going to be a light fun stereotypical romp but the author deftly manipulated expectations and created a really compelling story. Obviously I don't want to go too deep into it without spoiling anything. But what started out being kind of a hacky horror book ended up being pretty solid little action story.
The biggest problem though is that the style of writing just constantly made it difficult for me to fully love. It slopped back and forth through different character's third person limited PoVs through a casual chatty third person omniscient narrator that wasn't a character. So, sometimes you'd be following a character and then suddenly there would be knowledge that the character shouldn't have internalized; seamlessly some guy that sounds like you met him in a New Jersey truckstop is breaking the fourth wall without warning. It's kind of like Ron Howard in Arrested Development, but that works because you know Ron Howard is now talking, and the tone of that show is a light comedy, where this book is rather sad and angsty.
Remarkably, there's also some occasional projections of emotions onto "you" the reader and it briefly will become a second person perspective. Why?
Maybe in a more skilled writer this would work, but I found it to be a jumbled mess. Nothing that is too difficult to follow, honestly the book is very readable, but just personally irritating.
There's also a ton of handwaving to how things work and why things could be that way. In some ways, it made the beginning of the book work. The casual indifference to logic and in-world reality allowed for some preposterous things to happen that had an explanation later but would have been spoiled had the reader ever expected the answer to any question that they had be: Don't worry about it. It's a short book, and the brevity is to its benefit because it didn't overstay its welcome. But I feel like a more critical editor might have encouraged at least 10 pages explaining some of the lore behind it and using the lore to justify the passive reaction from the town. It feels like a missed opportunity that might have made this a great book.
The cover for the book is so great. I had heard that this book was a recent reissue and figured that I should look to see what the original cover might have been. Looking at the copyright date I was shock to find that I had the original edition and that this book was written in 2006. I’d been giving it a bit of a pass on some of the ridiculousness because I thought this was written in the 70s. I'm guessing the author really liked S.E. Hinton.
On whole it is a snappy, quick, and is never boring. I enjoyed it. But it could have been great.
The set-up is once a year, a small town has a Lottery meets The Purge ceremony in a classic 70s and 80s movie setting of teenagers vs a creepy rampaging slasher monster. I thought it was going to be a light fun stereotypical romp but the author deftly manipulated expectations and created a really compelling story. Obviously I don't want to go too deep into it without spoiling anything. But what started out being kind of a hacky horror book ended up being pretty solid little action story.
The biggest problem though is that the style of writing just constantly made it difficult for me to fully love. It slopped back and forth through different character's third person limited PoVs through a casual chatty third person omniscient narrator that wasn't a character. So, sometimes you'd be following a character and then suddenly there would be knowledge that the character shouldn't have internalized; seamlessly some guy that sounds like you met him in a New Jersey truckstop is breaking the fourth wall without warning. It's kind of like Ron Howard in Arrested Development, but that works because you know Ron Howard is now talking, and the tone of that show is a light comedy, where this book is rather sad and angsty.
Remarkably, there's also some occasional projections of emotions onto "you" the reader and it briefly will become a second person perspective. Why?
Maybe in a more skilled writer this would work, but I found it to be a jumbled mess. Nothing that is too difficult to follow, honestly the book is very readable, but just personally irritating.
There's also a ton of handwaving to how things work and why things could be that way. In some ways, it made the beginning of the book work. The casual indifference to logic and in-world reality allowed for some preposterous things to happen that had an explanation later but would have been spoiled had the reader ever expected the answer to any question that they had be: Don't worry about it. It's a short book, and the brevity is to its benefit because it didn't overstay its welcome. But I feel like a more critical editor might have encouraged at least 10 pages explaining some of the lore behind it and using the lore to justify the passive reaction from the town. It feels like a missed opportunity that might have made this a great book.
The cover for the book is so great. I had heard that this book was a recent reissue and figured that I should look to see what the original cover might have been. Looking at the copyright date I was shock to find that I had the original edition and that this book was written in 2006. I’d been giving it a bit of a pass on some of the ridiculousness because I thought this was written in the 70s. I'm guessing the author really liked S.E. Hinton.
On whole it is a snappy, quick, and is never boring. I enjoyed it. But it could have been great.
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A perfect Halloween read, especially to set the mood for the holiday season. I’m always a sucker for horror stories about awful small towns trapping people with ‘traditional values.’
A quick read, fast-paced with a fun, irreverent voice. Loved it.
This intriguing concept, like a Halloween time lottery, could have been a terrifying story. However, with almost no backstory it was just confusing. On top of the boring, flat writing style, I just wasn’t feeling this one.
This is the type of book that begs to be read in one sitting. It draws you in not with a Michael Myers stabs-his-sister sort of scene that instantly shocks, but with a whisper around a crackling campfire, a story told in a low voice that makes you draw your jacket around you tighter, sit closer to the flames, and try not to think about what might be watching in the dark behind your back, beyond that bright ring of safety.
I really don’t know why I’ve never heard of this book before! I was completely enamored with the style, which I thought moved seamlessly between second and third person in a way that showed a clear talent for writing that is not as easy to find as you’d think.
It is also the perfect book for the Halloween season.
I loved the way the narrative took pieces of pre-existing legends, some classic Halloween tropes, and creepy small-town vibes and mixed them together to create something entirely new and original. The way the story builds to the ultimate reveal is paced so well and that makes it all the more thrilling and heartbreaking—I truly loved every page.
What I found most compelling about the book was the way the characters grew and shifted throughout the book. You begin the book thinking about everyone one way, putting them all in one specific box, but by the end, it’s all twisted around and no one was exactly who they appeared to be on the outside. I really like that as a storytelling and character-building technique.
This will probably become a seasonal re-read for me. There is just something so evocative about the setting and the characters—it is everything I want from horror and from a damn fine story, and I’ll definitely be searching out more of Partridge’s work.
Also, wouldn’t this make a great movie? Dang, I would watch this.
I really don’t know why I’ve never heard of this book before! I was completely enamored with the style, which I thought moved seamlessly between second and third person in a way that showed a clear talent for writing that is not as easy to find as you’d think.
It is also the perfect book for the Halloween season.
I loved the way the narrative took pieces of pre-existing legends, some classic Halloween tropes, and creepy small-town vibes and mixed them together to create something entirely new and original. The way the story builds to the ultimate reveal is paced so well and that makes it all the more thrilling and heartbreaking—I truly loved every page.
What I found most compelling about the book was the way the characters grew and shifted throughout the book. You begin the book thinking about everyone one way, putting them all in one specific box, but by the end, it’s all twisted around and no one was exactly who they appeared to be on the outside. I really like that as a storytelling and character-building technique.
This will probably become a seasonal re-read for me. There is just something so evocative about the setting and the characters—it is everything I want from horror and from a damn fine story, and I’ll definitely be searching out more of Partridge’s work.
Also, wouldn’t this make a great movie? Dang, I would watch this.
Dark Harvest was one of those books that I kept seeing included in lists of horror and Halloween reads and as I was looking for something set around Halloween to read this October, I decided to give this one a go.
Every year all the boys in a small midwestern town are starved for five days and then on Halloween night they are let loose to hunt the October Boy, but none of them really know why. One of those boys is Pete McCormick. He's joining the hunt for the first time this year and he knows that killing the October Boy is his only way out of town. But as the night goes one, he realises something more sinister is going on with the October Boy’s true identity.
I liked the story as a whole and I could see where it was trying to go, but the author’s voice and writing style wasn’t working for me. Partridge’s writing could best be described as purple prose where he uses lots of words to say very little. Some scenes run on for way too long and the story gets very repetitive in places. For such a short story, you’d think the words would’ve been used better.
Another thing is that this story follows multiple different characters. I felt like there were too many and because of this I couldn’t really care about most of them or anything that happened to them. None of them are introduced thoroughly and maybe with the exception of Pete, no one really goes through a journey. Additionally, the POV switches happen too quickly at times, I would’ve preferred less of this and more focus on a few characters and their story.
What I did like was learning about who the October Boy is, even if we never really get any answers beyond that. I would've loved more explanations of how the whole hunt came to be and the bigger lore behind the story of the town as I am sure there is some weird history there that tied into the hunt. In the end I was left with lots of questions I would’ve liked an answer to. The ending feels unfulfilling and I almost feel like the writer was done with it or didn’t know how to finish up the story and just left it at that.
Despite all of this, it is a quick and easy read and I enjoyed it for what it was. The story kept me interested enough to read until the end, but ultimately it didn’t really deliver.
If you’re looking for a short read with Halloween vibes that never really goes deep into the lore with a shallow story and characters, then this is the book for you. If you’re looking for anything more substantial, then maybe skip this.
Every year all the boys in a small midwestern town are starved for five days and then on Halloween night they are let loose to hunt the October Boy, but none of them really know why. One of those boys is Pete McCormick. He's joining the hunt for the first time this year and he knows that killing the October Boy is his only way out of town. But as the night goes one, he realises something more sinister is going on with the October Boy’s true identity.
I liked the story as a whole and I could see where it was trying to go, but the author’s voice and writing style wasn’t working for me. Partridge’s writing could best be described as purple prose where he uses lots of words to say very little. Some scenes run on for way too long and the story gets very repetitive in places. For such a short story, you’d think the words would’ve been used better.
Another thing is that this story follows multiple different characters. I felt like there were too many and because of this I couldn’t really care about most of them or anything that happened to them. None of them are introduced thoroughly and maybe with the exception of Pete, no one really goes through a journey. Additionally, the POV switches happen too quickly at times, I would’ve preferred less of this and more focus on a few characters and their story.
What I did like was learning about who the October Boy is, even if we never really get any answers beyond that. I would've loved more explanations of how the whole hunt came to be and the bigger lore behind the story of the town as I am sure there is some weird history there that tied into the hunt. In the end I was left with lots of questions I would’ve liked an answer to. The ending feels unfulfilling and I almost feel like the writer was done with it or didn’t know how to finish up the story and just left it at that.
Despite all of this, it is a quick and easy read and I enjoyed it for what it was. The story kept me interested enough to read until the end, but ultimately it didn’t really deliver.
If you’re looking for a short read with Halloween vibes that never really goes deep into the lore with a shallow story and characters, then this is the book for you. If you’re looking for anything more substantial, then maybe skip this.
Honestly loved this. It hit all of the boxes for me, with a spooky Halloween ritual, a scary but lovable pumpkin creature, and a mysterious dystopian-feeling little hamlet.
I listened to the audiobook on Libby, and the narrator, Vikas Adam absolutely killed it. Although I think I would have enjoyed the book on its own, this is one of the rare cases where I felt that the narration really elevated the experience. This would be a fun tradition to return to each year around Halloween time.
Some of the writing is a little over the top (and cheesy), but it suited the story and felt intentional. It also dragged a bit in spots, but overall this was a pretty lean and fun spooky story that obviously had a lot of care put into it. Would love to read (or listen to) more like this.
That’s about it!
I listened to the audiobook on Libby, and the narrator, Vikas Adam absolutely killed it. Although I think I would have enjoyed the book on its own, this is one of the rare cases where I felt that the narration really elevated the experience. This would be a fun tradition to return to each year around Halloween time.
Some of the writing is a little over the top (and cheesy), but it suited the story and felt intentional. It also dragged a bit in spots, but overall this was a pretty lean and fun spooky story that obviously had a lot of care put into it. Would love to read (or listen to) more like this.
That’s about it!