In the small town of Anytown, USA in 1963, teenage boys participate in an annual Halloween ritual known as the Gauntlet, where they must stop the October Boy, an undead creature made of vines and candy, from reaching the town's church. The story follows Pete McCormick, a 16-year-old boy aiming to win the Gauntlet for a chance to escape his troubled life in the town. As the tale unfolds, secrets and sacrifices of the town are unearthed, challenging the readers to question who the real villains are. The plot is fast-paced and offers a mix of action, horror, and coming-of-age elements, reminiscent of works like The Hunger Games and The Lottery.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
Triggers include violence, dark themes, and references to death, making content warnings medium.
From The Publisher:
Soon to be a major motion picture!
Norman Partridge's Bram Stoker Award-winning novel, Dark Harvest, is a powerhouse thrill-ride with all the resonance of Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery."
Halloween, 1963. They call him the October Boy, or Ol' Hacksaw Face, or Sawtooth Jack. Whatever the name, everybody in this small Midwestern town knows who he is. How he rises from the cornfields every Halloween, a butcher knife in his hand, and makes his way toward town, where gangs of teenage boys eagerly await their chance to confront the legendary nightmare. Both the hunter and the hunted, the October Boy is the prize in an annual rite of life and death.
Pete McCormick knows that killing the October Boy is his one chance to escape a dead-end future in this one-horse town. He's willing to risk everything, including his life, to be a winner for once. But before the night is over, Pete will look into the saw-toothed face of horror-and discover the terrifying true secret of the October Boy . . .
"This is contemporary American writing at its finest."-Publishers Weekly (starred review) on Dark Harvest
Ratings (10)
Incredible (1) | |
Loved It (4) | |
Liked It (3) | |
It Was OK (2) |
Reader Stats (32):
Read It (11) | |
Want To Read (16) | |
Not Interested (5) |
What can you read after
Dark Harvest?
About the Author:
A two-time Stoker Award-winner, NORMAN PARTRIDGE has published three short story collections, several comics, and five novels. Partridge lives in California.
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