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billymac1962's review against another edition
3.0
More fine writing from Thomas Tryon. Had I read Harvest Home in 1973 I'm sure the impact would have been greater than in 2003 as this story line has since been rehashed and copied countless times: A man decides to move his wife and daughter out of the big city and begin a simpler life in an isolated rural farming community. The community is almost Amish in their keeping with the "old ways". This is a horror novel so of course things are not as wonderful as they seem and sinister turns are inevitable. Today, this story is predictable but it's really unfair to diss a 30 year-old novel for this. Regardless of its predictability it is still worth picking up. It gave me the creeps
mgouker's review against another edition
4.0
Let’s take a successful, but troubled couple (Ned & Beth Constantine) with a daughter (Kate) who has emotional issues that manifest in physical illness out of the city and put them in the country where all their problems will be solved. Give them a rainbow to point the way. Now, let’s see what happens.
Is there a more frightening horror archetype than the fertility cult? Belief in Earth Mother, representing both the bounty of the earth and motherhood, is thousands of years old. We see figures that some archeologists believe represent mother goddesses dating back to Paleolithic times. The Venus of Dolni Věstonice (Brno, Czech Republic) dates from 29000 BCE to 25000 BCE. In Neolithic time both in Europe and the New World, there are mother goddess symbols associated with fertility. Later there are Isis & Hathor of the Egyptians and Demeter for the Greeks. There is Venus for the Romans, and Mary who was worshiped as a mother goddess by the Collyridianists.
Fertile Earth, female, provider of all that nurtures, was indeed a ubiquitous fixture in early agricultural civilizations. Neopaganism is also popular today. People from the city might think it’s quaint like Ned does or might immediately feel estranged like Burt & Vicky do in King’s Children of the Corn. Other stories that explore this theme are Robert Graves’s “The White Goddess”, David Pinner’s “Ritual”, and (my favorite!) Brenda Gates Smith’s short series “Secrets of the Ancient Goddess”/“Goddess of the Mountain Harvest”. In many ways, the monotheistic god male-dominant god of Jews, Christians, and Muslims is opposed to the worship of the Earth Mother. In pleasantly pastoral Cornwall Coombe, however, the two work in tandem.
I’m not going to discuss the plot, except to say it is everything you could hope for in a story designed to scare you. Tryon cheats a little bit by making his protagonist, Ned, into *that* character. You know him. He’s the one that goes down into the spooky basement holding a candle because he hears a window opening, just after he finds out a murderer is on the prowl. Ned’s combination of recklessness, over-inquisitiveness, and bad choices makes this story work incredibly well.
So, the lesson here is to watch out for women, because though they are beautiful, nurturing, and so much fun, they have their own needs and Mother Earth most of all must be satisfied. Failure has a very high price, so keep her happy (or else). Also, watch out for where the rainbow ends, especially if you are a city mouse.
tl/dr: A lot of good scary fun...
zaisgraph's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Hallucinagens ✅️
Sex ritual ✅️
Vague nature gods ✅️
Human sacrifice ✅️
Isolated rural community ✅️
Allergic to modern tech ✅️
Small town intrigue ✅️
Withcraft and wizardry ✅️
Honestly if this were a wild excuse/expanation of a cheating husband to his buddies I wouldn't be mad at all lol.
Sex ritual ✅️
Vague nature gods ✅️
Human sacrifice ✅️
Isolated rural community ✅️
Allergic to modern tech ✅️
Small town intrigue ✅️
Withcraft and wizardry ✅️
Honestly if this were a wild excuse/expanation of a cheating husband to his buddies I wouldn't be mad at all lol.
skycrasher's review against another edition
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? It's complicated
2.75
precioussantiago's review against another edition
4.0
ʜᴀʀᴠᴇꜱᴛ ʜᴏᴍᴇ ʙʏ ᴛʜᴏᴍᴀꜱ ᴛʀʏᴏɴ ɪꜱ ᴀ ꜱʟᴏᴡ ʙᴜʀɴ ꜱɪᴢᴢʟɪɴɢ ᴡɪᴛʜ ꜱᴍᴀʟʟ ᴛᴏᴡɴ ɪɴꜱɪᴅɪᴏᴜꜱ ɪɴʜᴀʙɪᴛᴀɴᴛꜱ ᴀɴᴅ ʙɪᴢᴀʀʀᴇ ᴄᴜꜱᴛᴏᴍꜱ. ᴛʜɪꜱ ɪꜱ ᴀ ɢʀᴇᴀᴛ ᴀᴍᴇʀɪᴄᴀɴ ꜰᴏʟᴋ ʜᴏʀʀᴏʀ ꜱᴛᴏʀʏ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ꜰᴜʀᴛʜᴇʀ ᴄᴇᴍᴇɴᴛꜱ ᴡʜʏ ɪ ᴘᴇʀꜱᴏɴᴀʟʟʏ ꜰɪɴᴅ ꜰᴏʟᴋ ʜᴏʀʀᴏʀ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ᴡᴀʏ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴜɴꜱᴇᴛᴛʟɪɴɢ ᴀɴᴅ ᴅɪꜱᴛᴜʀʙɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴀɴ ɪɴ ʏᴏᴜʀ ꜰᴀᴄᴇ ʙʟᴏᴏᴅ ᴀɴᴅ ɢᴏʀᴇ. ᴛʜɪꜱ ᴄᴏᴜʟᴅ ᴀᴄᴛᴜᴀʟʟʏ ʜᴀᴘᴘᴇɴ, ᴘʀᴏʙᴀʙʟʏ ᴅᴏᴇꜱ
pizzamyheart's review against another edition
4.0
Good suspenseful book, but takes awhile to get to the point. The "now" timeline started feeling outdated and caused the book to start dragging. I'm curious to find the tv special that was based on this.
the_enobee's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this book because of the pitch-perfect writing, slow build of tension, and truly horrible revelations. I definitely have mixed feelings about some events and character behavior. The fact that the main character, Ned Constantine, became a non-sympathetic protagonist for me actually added to my enjoyment of the story.
****Spoilers Follow***
Okay, so what the heck was with the scene between Ned and Tamar on the riverbank toward the end? I am still wondering what this added to the story. It didn't reveal anything to me about Tamar or the Mother Earth deity, which I have a feeling was the author's intent. Instead it revealed that Ned was willing to betray his family for a rut in the mud with Tamar. Maybe that was actually the purpose, but I think Ned's total disregard of his family's safety in favor of his pursuit for the truth would have completed his downfall nicely without the icky mud sequence.
What really worked for me was the Widow and trying to guess if she was good or bad throughout the story. I envisioned several possible endings with her making a stand against the town in order to save the Constantine family, and while I also envisioned her turning out evil, I did not imagine how far things would go.
Ned's downfall was complete, and in a way deserved. He was a fool (as many stated), and his shock at Beth's involvement with Harvest Home only proved it. He can romp in the mud with Tamar, but oh my, it's time to lose our mind when Beth enjoys herself some Justin Hooke. And his complete lack of caring where Kate was during the ending sequence cements that his priorities were wrong, and while the ending is brutal for him, I still don't feel 100% sympathetic.
Overall, this was a great foray into the land of "country village is not what it seems". I kinda wish I had saved this for later in the fall, but there's something about the summer that makes it hard for me to resist a good spook story, and I had this on the back burner for awhile. I had never read Thomas Tryon before, and I came away impressed and felt that I was in the hands of an expert. I would recommend this to any horror fan, particularly if they're in the mood for a good secret cult/pagan worship story.
****Spoilers Follow***
Okay, so what the heck was with the scene between Ned and Tamar on the riverbank toward the end? I am still wondering what this added to the story. It didn't reveal anything to me about Tamar or the Mother Earth deity, which I have a feeling was the author's intent. Instead it revealed that Ned was willing to betray his family for a rut in the mud with Tamar. Maybe that was actually the purpose, but I think Ned's total disregard of his family's safety in favor of his pursuit for the truth would have completed his downfall nicely without the icky mud sequence.
What really worked for me was the Widow and trying to guess if she was good or bad throughout the story. I envisioned several possible endings with her making a stand against the town in order to save the Constantine family, and while I also envisioned her turning out evil, I did not imagine how far things would go.
Ned's downfall was complete, and in a way deserved. He was a fool (as many stated), and his shock at Beth's involvement with Harvest Home only proved it. He can romp in the mud with Tamar, but oh my, it's time to lose our mind when Beth enjoys herself some Justin Hooke. And his complete lack of caring where Kate was during the ending sequence cements that his priorities were wrong, and while the ending is brutal for him, I still don't feel 100% sympathetic.
Overall, this was a great foray into the land of "country village is not what it seems". I kinda wish I had saved this for later in the fall, but there's something about the summer that makes it hard for me to resist a good spook story, and I had this on the back burner for awhile. I had never read Thomas Tryon before, and I came away impressed and felt that I was in the hands of an expert. I would recommend this to any horror fan, particularly if they're in the mood for a good secret cult/pagan worship story.
tarah_'s review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0