En Gilead, un pueblo de escasamente doscientas personas, suceden cosas extrañas y sobrenaturales. Actos atroces, crímenes irracionales, deseos inconfesables, corrupciones incontroladas… Hechos abominables que carecen de toda explicación interrumpen el idilio amoroso de una joven pareja en vacaciones… CaroI y Jeremy notan aterrorizados que son los instrumentos sin voluntad de un poder extraño que les obliga a actuar.

HP Lovecraft and Arthur Machen had a weird, twisted, snake-like baby that is this book. The main character's work on gothic and horror fiction is itself a class on the history of the genre, which is satisfying to read. Yet, it's hard to care about a protagonist who thinks things like this: "Deborah ... was cleaning up in here when we arrived, on her knees scrubbing the floor. Something curiously erotic about a woman in that position, exerting herself while you're at your ease." Ugh. He also talks shit about Shirley Jackson.

In general, the politics are of their time and therefore difficult, and the characters sometimes shift to fit the roles they are supposed to play (e.g., women getting randomly bitchy when they showed no sign of being so before). Also, I'm sick to death of the whole "virgin needed for ancient rite" plot device. It forces Carol into the role of a thing rather than allowing her to be a full and interesting character. It also means she must be saved by "her man", when all along I was hoping that she would save herself somehow. The only other interesting female character, Mrs. Poroth, is just as much a stereotype, cold and unmotherly, who is killed by the walking corpse of her son, offscreen. As if she's being punished for the lack of emotional care a woman is supposed to show. I was hoping she'd have SOME role to play, at least, but aside from smashing an altar, no.

Lastly, you would think that someone who is so well-versed in the literature of the supernatural would recognize some of the supernatural events occurring around him, or at least comment on how similar these things feel to the books he's reading? Is that a comment on the uselessness of academia? Still, there are truly creepy things in here, which have since become tropes of the genre. So, ups and downs. Recommended for horror fans. ( )

Over the years, I kept hearing about this book at odd times...referenced in a review for a different novel, or mentioned by a horror author, etc. I got my hands on a copy, but because of the length of the damn thing, kept putting it off. Finally, we were entering summer, and just coming off COVID containment, so I decided to dive in.

And I'm very glad I did. The book is long, absolutely. It needs to be, as Klein very meticulously first weaves the net, stitch by stitch, inch by inch, loop by loop, and then carefully lays it out for the players to then bumble into. Now, because it's long and intricate (though never complicated or confusing), the author does, at times, drop a stitch or too, or become a touch too focused on a specific element, but these are minor quibbles in the grand scheme of things.

I'm sure there's other novels out there of a similar theme, but none come to mind. Instead, I got vibes of [b:Harvest Home|816085|Harvest Home|Thomas Tryon|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1328585596l/816085._SY75_.jpg|915361], Michael McDowell's excellent [b:Blackwater: The Complete Caskey Family Saga|23476097|Blackwater The Complete Caskey Family Saga (Blackwater, #1-6)|Michael McDowell|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1431177310l/23476097._SY75_.jpg|43067426], and a touch of both [b:The Omen|226162|The Omen|David Seltzer|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1421963974l/226162._SY75_.jpg|219058] and [b:Rosemary's Baby|228296|Rosemary's Baby (Rosemary's Baby, #1)|Ira Levin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327878603l/228296._SY75_.jpg|883024]. Just vibes of each, mind you. Klein never copies or steals.

I'd also suggest that, while different from Stephen King's work, those that love his longer novels will likely enjoy this as well. You will notice a distinct difference from King, however. King builds stories and worlds that run primarily on their own internal logic, with only the odd taste of Matheson or Lovecraft. Other than that, King is firmly driving the bus.

Klein, on the other hand, carefully and systematically builds on those that came before him. Henry James. M.R. James. Robert W. Chambers. Lovecraft. Machen. He's smart enough to choose a main character who is in the process of reading them all and, through Jeremy, Klein offers admiring, yet realistic glimpses into the strengths and downfalls of these earlier pathfinders. The story draws from these earlier works and expands on them brilliantly.

Much is made of Klein's careful build of the primary characters, and it should be noted here, as it's definitely a strength of the story. If you didn't have a solid understanding of what made each one tick, the book would never have been as strong. And Klein is very good at setting up a character as unlikable, then just when you're thinking, what an asshole. I hate this character! he'll have that character show another side of themself, and you'll realize they aren't that bad. He did this to me several times, and in each occasion, it never felt out of character. It was just another facet of that person.

My only other complaint with the book is, Klein took several hundred pages to run us through five weeks of time, with the last third of the book really digging into the last week, day by day. To go through that, and understand and get in tune with the pace of the novel, the ultimate end of the story seemed to happen in the span of a few rushed pages. I would have liked to see the pace quickened, for sure, as it must when the story reaches the climax, but not so rushed that it blows by the reader before they know it.

So, for the minor dropped threads along the way, and the slightly-too-quick ending, one star off what is otherwise a very good horror novel ( )

I read this book when it was first published in paperback; it was a random purchase and turned out to be the best horror novel I have ever read. I love the theme of isolated places with weird goings-on and this certainly filled the bill there. The Lovecraftian monster and his evil minion were quite chilling. I also liked the gothicism of Jeremy's summer reading list; it served as an excellent undertone during the incidents at Poroth farm, and reading the entries from his journal created a sense of uneasiness. Overall excellent. ( )

i quite enjoyed the first half or so of the book (if you can set aside the 80s-era sexism). great buildup of tension and bits of clockwork fitting together. the second half or so just drags on without tension, though-- you know what's going to happen, and suddenly it seems that all of the bits and pieces that the protagonists learned about the creeping horror mean nothing to them. alas. ( )