Small Town Horror
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- $17.99
Publisher Description
Five childhood friends are forced to confront their own dark past as well as the curse placed upon them in this horror masterpiece from the bestselling author of Come with Me.
Maybe this is a ghost story…
Andrew Larimer has left his past behind. Rising up the ranks in a New York law firm, and with a heavily pregnant wife, he is settling into a new life far from Kingsport, the town in which he grew up. But when he receives a late-night phone call from an old friend, he has no choice but to return home.
Coming home means returning to his late father’s house, which has seen better days. It means lying to his wife. But it also means reuniting with his friends: Eric, now the town’s deputy sheriff; Dale, a real-estate mogul living in the shadow of a failed career; his childhood sweetheart Tig who never could escape town; and poor Meach, whose ravings about a curse upon the group have driven him to drugs and alcohol.
Together, the five friends will have to confront the memories—and the horror—of a night, years ago, that changed everything for them.
Because Andrew and his friends have a secret. A thing they have kept to themselves for twenty years. Something no one else should know. But the past is not dead, and Kingsport is a town with secrets of its own.
One dark secret...
One small-town horror...
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Malfi (Black Mouth) refreshes a familiar horror trope—the surfacing of a long-hidden secret—with nuanced characterizations and a genuinely surprising reveal. Successful Manhattan attorney Andrew Larimer grows increasingly anxious about his wife Rebecca's pregnancy as it progresses, and eventually comes to feel that a "dark wraith" has attached itself to their unborn child. Andrew works hard to conceal his stress, but his fears only solidify when he gets a late-night call from Dale Walls, a childhood friend, who insists Andrew return to his hometown of Kingsport, Md., to help Dale out of an undisclosed jam. Andrew lies to Rebecca about his destination, and, when he arrives in Kingsport, learns that Dale's wife, Cynthia, has disappeared. Malfi doles out the details of the friends' past gradually, illuminating a 20-year-old tragedy that they and several others, including the current deputy sheriff of Kingsport, were responsible for, and which involved a woman reputed to be the town witch. While some of the beats are predictable, Malfi impresses with his ability to maintain readers' sympathy for Larimer despite the character's past sins. Christopher Golden fans will be especially pleased.
