Edenville
A Novel
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
"[A]n essential read for horror enthusiasts." —Booklist
An unsettling, immersive, and wildly entertaining debut novel from "a major new talent!" (R.L. Stine).
"[A] delightfully gooey blend of gothic, cosmic, folk and body horror churned by a sharp-bladed critique of academia."— Lucy A. Snyder, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Sister, Maiden, Monster
After publishing his debut novel, The Shattered Man, to disappointing sales and reviews, Campbell P. Marion is struggling to find inspiration for a follow-up. When Edenville College invites him to join as a writer-in-residence, he’s convinced that his bad luck has finally taken a turn. His girlfriend Quinn isn’t so sure—she grew up near Edenville and has good reasons for not wanting to move back. Cam disregards her skepticism and accepts the job, with Quinn reluctantly following along.
But there’s something wrong in Edenville. Despite the charming old ladies milling about Main Street and picturesque sunflowers dotting the sidewalks, poison lurks beneath the surface. As a series of strange and ominous events escalate among Edenville and its residents, Cam and Quinn find themselves entangled in a dark and disturbing history.
Told with equal parts horror and humor, Edenville explores the urban legends that fuel our nightmares and the ways in which ambition can overshadow our best instincts. Sam Rebelein is an exciting, sharp new voice, sure to terrify readers for years to come.
“The mundane horrors of rural and academic living collide with pure cosmic weirdness in Sam Rebelein’s Edenville. Not since Jason Pargin’s John Dies at the End have I been so horrified and grossed out by a book…I could say more, but honestly, the less you know about this book, the better. A fantastic debut.”— Todd Keisling, Bram Stoker Award-nominated author of Devil’s Creek and Cold, Black & Infinite
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Rebelein's busy debut is part cosmic horror, part waggish satire of creative egos. After Cam P. Marion's first novel receives middling reviews and so-so sales, the perennially grouchy author—who recently has been afflicted by bizarre nightmares—is invited to become a writer-in-residence at Edenville College in Upstate New York, locally infamous as the site of several mysterious disappearances. Seized by career anxieties due to his book's reception, Cam jumps at the opportunity, but his girlfriend, Quinn, is suspicious from the get-go. Having grown up in a small town near Edenville, she was immersed in urban legends about the school, and her own college friend, Celeste, vanished years ago, last seen close to where Cam and Quinn would be living. Despite Quinn's hang-ups, Cam accepts the position, and the couple decamps to Edenville's creepy campus. Once there, Cam's nightmares intensify, and horrors linked to multiverses and the area's copious sunflowers start to reveal themselves. Will he and Quinn be the college's latest casualties? Rebelein sprinkles his wild and unpredictable narrative with pop culture references and a gleeful smattering of profanity ("The big oak fuck of a desk"), setting his voice apart. Unfortunately, his ideas don't quite hang together—Rebelein has imagination to spare, but the book eventually crosses over from ambitious to overstuffed. Readers will hope for a more focused sophomore effort.
