From Publishers Weekly
A pregnant woman gives birth to a cactus, a small church grows hair and bleeds, a man sprouts an umbilical cord and, one by one, residents of a tiny Southwest town die violently. These and other bizarre events begin occurring shortly after Gregory Tomasov returns to his old hometown of McGuane, Ariz., with his wife and three children. The old adage "You can't go home again" has perhaps never rung more true, as Bram Stoker Award-winner Little (The House) draws upon elements of religion, the supernatural, sexual fantasy and psychological horror to create a modern-day ghost town. Almost immediately after they unwittingly move into an old farmhouse where a deranged man once murdered his family and committed suicide, the Tomasovs are transformed. The two younger children become obsessed with the shadows inside the home's bathhouse, shadows that eat dead animals, torment children and kill mercilessly. As the deaths mount and small-town life becomes more dangerous and freakish, residents begin to blame the Tomasovs, whom they believe carry some kind of curse. Not until the terrifying finale, which takes place during a sandstorm and blackout, does everyone realize the evil's roots. What, in a lesser writer's hands, would have been an obvious conclusion remains a mystery until the end. While reminiscent of Dean Koontz and Stephen King, Little crafts his own vivid landscape full of dark corners, twisted characters and a gruesome plot. (May)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
Praise for Bram Stoker Award-Winning Author Bentley Little
“The horror poet laureate...a master of the macabre!”—Stephen King
“[Bentley Little is] on par with such greats as Stephen King, Clive Barker, and Peter Straub.”—Midwest Book Review
“Little possesses the uncanny ability to take everyday situations and turn them into nightmares.”—Publishers Weekly
“Little has the unparalleled ability to evoke surreal, satiric terror.”—Horror Reader
About the Author
Bentley Little is the author of numerous novels, short stories, articles, essays, and reviews. After earning a BA in communications and an MA in English, Little sold his soul and abandoned all artistic integrity, working for eight years as a bureaucrat for a midsized city in Orange County, California. His first novel, The Revelation, won the 1990 Horror Writers Association Bram Stoker Award for best first novel.
