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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
What an incredible way to kick off the year.
The Auctioneer is a wintry little thriller-horror story about a town besieged by a man who, in theory, isn't doing anything wrong. He's just helping the town grow! Don't they want progress? Don't they want an ambulance and a strong police force? Isn't it all worth a few boxes of junk for the auction?
But of course it doesn't stop there. Capitalism, exploitation, it never stops there. And through double-talk and implicit threats, he holds the line tight up to the very last pages of the book.
This book, too, places the blame not just on the exploiter but those who have the power to say something and don't. Those who could have taken action to defend their neighbors from the insidious forces offering false security from the harm progress might be (there is also a throughline of racist exploitation, too, which manifests in some interesting ways, especiallyat the child auction, where a clearly wealthy woman who is explicitly labeled as a person of color falls for racist appeals for maintaining a purer bloodline through a white child , but I feel I'm already getting long-winded here) while chastising them for fearing progress toward a modern society in the same breath. It really, truly sucks that this little book from the 70s is still so relevant and hard-hitting.
I'll also give a shout out to the prose stylings here. Others have compared her work to Cormac McCarthy, and if you're interested in that sort of sharp, tight prose that never feels the need to state outright but is still somehow so tasty, this one offers a lot.
The Auctioneer is a wintry little thriller-horror story about a town besieged by a man who, in theory, isn't doing anything wrong. He's just helping the town grow! Don't they want progress? Don't they want an ambulance and a strong police force? Isn't it all worth a few boxes of junk for the auction?
But of course it doesn't stop there. Capitalism, exploitation, it never stops there. And through double-talk and implicit threats, he holds the line tight up to the very last pages of the book.
This book, too, places the blame not just on the exploiter but those who have the power to say something and don't. Those who could have taken action to defend their neighbors from the insidious forces offering false security from the harm progress might be (there is also a throughline of racist exploitation, too, which manifests in some interesting ways, especially
I'll also give a shout out to the prose stylings here. Others have compared her work to Cormac McCarthy, and if you're interested in that sort of sharp, tight prose that never feels the need to state outright but is still somehow so tasty, this one offers a lot.
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
What if the REAL villain was the gentrification and capitalism we met along the way???
I might be too autistic for this book, but I could not understand John's motivations at almost any point when he changes his mind.
Very slow, almost methodical in its set up, it doesn't get going until the halfway point. Not scary so much as a long, protracted twist of dismay in your gut.
I might be too autistic for this book, but I could not understand John's motivations at almost any point when he changes his mind.
Very slow, almost methodical in its set up, it doesn't get going until the halfway point. Not scary so much as a long, protracted twist of dismay in your gut.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Police brutality, Trafficking, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Classism
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child death, Gun violence, Infertility, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Stalking, Car accident, Murder
When I think about 70s horror, I think about The Exorcist or something bizarre like The Sentinel. Someone compared Samson to Shirley Jackson, and there's definitely similar quiet menace, although it's otherwise a more straightforward drama-heavy horror for people who don't like the bloodier stories.
A charismatic auctioneer arrives in Harlowe, an isolated New Hampshire farming community, and every week the people donate something to his auction. Slowly the requests become more forceful and gently threatening, and more and more men become his deputies doing his dirty work.
What happens when progress becomes intimidating and sinister? Or when the rich benefit from the poor without giving a thought what the sacrifices are doing to them? When a piece of land has been with a family for generations and both your possessions and your confidence are slowly drained, a decision needs to be made. Will you surrender or will you stand up? The ending is haunting, because it doesn't really solve anything. You're just left on the precipice to fend for yourself.
A charismatic auctioneer arrives in Harlowe, an isolated New Hampshire farming community, and every week the people donate something to his auction. Slowly the requests become more forceful and gently threatening, and more and more men become his deputies doing his dirty work.
What happens when progress becomes intimidating and sinister? Or when the rich benefit from the poor without giving a thought what the sacrifices are doing to them? When a piece of land has been with a family for generations and both your possessions and your confidence are slowly drained, a decision needs to be made. Will you surrender or will you stand up? The ending is haunting, because it doesn't really solve anything. You're just left on the precipice to fend for yourself.
The Auctioneer is a 70s paperback horror republished by Valancourt Press with Grady Hendrix, and one of the finest examples of its kind. It's a simple story about a man coming to a tiny rural New Hampshire town and requesting donations for an auction. As the weekly auctions go on, the demands grow more serious -- and yet people are unable to say no as the auctioneer takes over the mechanics of the town's workings and enlists the residents.
As the auctioneer unveils his plans for the town, it's no surprise to the reader that this entails his ideal of a white society. After all, he represents the embodiment of the fear of change and the other that has plagued America since the beginning -- and the violence that results from the delusion of white supremacy. It's tragic that Joan Samson died at the very beginning of her career because this book is a masterpiece of horror fiction.
As the auctioneer unveils his plans for the town, it's no surprise to the reader that this entails his ideal of a white society. After all, he represents the embodiment of the fear of change and the other that has plagued America since the beginning -- and the violence that results from the delusion of white supremacy. It's tragic that Joan Samson died at the very beginning of her career because this book is a masterpiece of horror fiction.
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Tense and stressful. Enjoyable if not smothering in places. Would reccomend to any fan of horror/thriller.
Stava diventando bello inquietante, dopo un progresso lento e subliminale, e poi ha gettato la spugna sul finale. Peccato.
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I call this novel "horror," but in a more kafkaesque way (without making your head hurt: it reads smoothly, like a thriller). Written in 1975, the novel foregrounds the danger of a smooth-talking businessman to a rural community that cannot quite believe that piece by piece, they are losing control over their property, town, and families. Folks trying to figure out the Trump era may find this book particularly disturbing.
A mix of the thematic hivemind and gothic tones of "The Lottery" with the small town Americana and charismatic villain of Needful Things, this superb book shows that Joan Samson was an amazing talent. We are so lucky to have gotten this book from her before she passed away suddenly from brain cancer soon after its publication in 1976, but I can't help but to wonder what else she might have had in store. Because this book is truly brilliant.
It is hard to just sum this book up as a mix of those two other tales, but it makes for an intriguing tagline. There are definitely traces of both Shirley Jackson and Stephen King in Samson's book. The way she writes about a small farming community and really creates the people who live there reminded me so much of how King is able to craft people (not just characters) within his stories. And the tone of the book, the fairly terse and compact sentences, without much fluff but with intensely clear description and vivid dialogue reminded me fiercely of Jackson and her strange gothic style.
But before you are even five pages in, it is completely clear that Samson created something all her own, completely original, and downright chilling.
I read this book with alternating white-hot rage at Perly, the auctioneer, and intense frustration at the Moores, the main family whose perspective we witness the decay of the town from. The book is engineered to make you feel this way, and also to engender an utter helplessness, because what else are they supposed to do? What other options do they have?
It is timely that this book is coming back into print now, with our social and political situation in its current upheaval. There are plenty of similarities to be seen between Perly's slow and total takeover and our government. The people in charge seem to take and take and take until we have nothing left to give but the unthinkable—to the point that even official channels are either under the spell or simply don't believe that anything like THAT could be happening, not here at least, in the land of the free.
Yes, it is perhaps a little close to home, and the timeless quality of the story definitely resonated with me. But Samson's story is also just powerful on its own literary merit and is a classic in my book.
This edition has a new introduction by Paperbacks from Hell author Grady Hendrix!
It is hard to just sum this book up as a mix of those two other tales, but it makes for an intriguing tagline. There are definitely traces of both Shirley Jackson and Stephen King in Samson's book. The way she writes about a small farming community and really creates the people who live there reminded me so much of how King is able to craft people (not just characters) within his stories. And the tone of the book, the fairly terse and compact sentences, without much fluff but with intensely clear description and vivid dialogue reminded me fiercely of Jackson and her strange gothic style.
But before you are even five pages in, it is completely clear that Samson created something all her own, completely original, and downright chilling.
I read this book with alternating white-hot rage at Perly, the auctioneer, and intense frustration at the Moores, the main family whose perspective we witness the decay of the town from. The book is engineered to make you feel this way, and also to engender an utter helplessness, because what else are they supposed to do? What other options do they have?
It is timely that this book is coming back into print now, with our social and political situation in its current upheaval. There are plenty of similarities to be seen between Perly's slow and total takeover and our government. The people in charge seem to take and take and take until we have nothing left to give but the unthinkable—to the point that even official channels are either under the spell or simply don't believe that anything like THAT could be happening, not here at least, in the land of the free.
Yes, it is perhaps a little close to home, and the timeless quality of the story definitely resonated with me. But Samson's story is also just powerful on its own literary merit and is a classic in my book.
This edition has a new introduction by Paperbacks from Hell author Grady Hendrix!
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No