Overall, I enjoyed this novel. This was my first experience with Little, and although I'm not sure I'm a fan of his work, it's likely that I'll give him another shot at some point. Little's style reminds me a lot of Dean Koontz, who apparently "discovered" Little, with the major difference being Little's ability to create as effectively as Koontz a complex storyline that doesn't contain any holes or loose ends. Readers of horror novels frequently talk about the scare-factor with regard to the books they read, something that I've come to realize, especially after reading The Town, is really difficult to pull off as a writer, and I actually have a greater respect for authors in this genre after reading Little's novel. There were some genuinely creepy and disturbing moments in this book, the pendulum of horror swinging from the ghoulish, to the sinister, from the paranormal to the psychotic. But the goosebumps were far and few between, and for the most part I could anticipate when the scary moments would occur. In other words, the scare-factor was relatively low, but to elicit that visceral reactions---that palm-sweating, stomach-turning, spine-tingling sensation---is a really tall order for a writer.Most of the book actually concerned itself with characterization and the build-up of tension as individual characters were picked-off by the forces of evil and the main characters were transformed by the evil. I'm a fan of strong characterization, but at times I felt that I wanted to know the characters a little more beyond simply their fears. With that said, one of my primary criticisms of the book would be its over-emphasis of the anxiety that the characters faced and the lack of emphasis on the malevolent forces that stalked them. The characters worry all the time about everything---which is logical, given the circumstances of the story---but that’s all they seem to do. My other criticism for the book would be that it leaves too many loose ends, too many things unresolved. We never really come to understand just what it is that haunted the town, why it took the form that it did, what happens to some of the victims, and what becomes of the many evil manifestations that all seem, we learn, to draw their power form a single entity. Despite its flaws, this is overall a good read. I loved the diversity of the spooky elements---a cactus baby, shadow demons, possession, ghosts, evil statues, a flying Bible, a hair-covered church---and I thought Little did a good job of gradually and consistently building toward the climax at the end of the novel. I would likely recommend this book.
This horror novel takes the traditional haunted house paradigm and expands it to an entire town. The town in question is McGuane, Arizona, a very small town with a fairly large percentage of Russian Molokans. Gregory Tomasov, a Molokan himself, has recently won the California state lottery and has decided to uproot his family from the LA suburbs and move them back to his hometown of McGuane. Big mistake.Bentley Little often reminds me of early Dean Koontz in that he does a great job of introducing characters, particularly regular middle class families, letting us get to really know them and like them and then toss them gradually into the horror of the larger plot. This was a fun novel to read but make no mistake; it is not “comfortable” at all.The horror builds along two main arteries. The supernatural horror grows as expected, its intensity growing as the novel progresses and culminating in some pretty explosive terror. The other branch of horror is what many people experience every day in the real world: prejudice. The Molokans in the town of McGuane are blamed for everything that isn’t perfect so of course they must be responsible for the supernatural horrors that grow in the town as well. Reading some of these parts of the novel was probably more uncomfortable than the more traditional horror aspects.Another fine horror read from Mr. Little.
What do You think about The Town (2000)?
If you haven't read him, he's an American horror writer, often overlooked. However, he was discovered by Dean Koontz and praised by Stephen King, which speaks for his talent. For me, some of his titles are too far out there, while others are great. His plots often focus on a bizarre what if, such as The Store (what if your local Walmart-esque store took over your small town, so much so it began to own you, body and soul) or The Association (what if a homeowner's association took over your gated community, so much so they began killing off people who didn't follow the rules). In Guests (later renamed The Town), 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. If you like horror, give this one, or any of Little's novels a shot. If it sounds too weird, it probably is for you!
—Jeremy Bates
Stephen King recommended author. He says: "BEST OUTRIGHT HORROR NOVELIST. Bentley Little, in a walk. Don't know Bentley Little? You're not alone. He's probably the genre's best-kept secret, but at least 10 of his novels are available in paperback; you can pick up three for the price of that flashy new hardcover you've got your eye on. The best thing about Little is that he can go from zero to surreal in 6.0 seconds. My favorites are The Store (think Wal-Mart run by SAYYY-tan) and Dispatch, in which a young fellow discovers that his letters to the editor actually get things done. Bad things."
—Debra
Evil, cackling dwarves and cactus babies sure are frightening and entertaining, but this book gets more scary points for the real-life "grown folks" situations that we encounter with the Tomasav family, who are Molokan people eager to shake their traditional roots (except for Grandma).Again, there are numerous crazy, terrifying incidents that made me laugh out loud more than a couple of times. That stuff is like candy to me. But some of the situations in this book are genuinely terrifying because I can directly relate to them. For instance, feeling that you have made a terrible decision that will affect your entire family negatively. Or trying to be constructive and proactive only to have the whole thing go terribly wrong, which makes you wonder why you should give a shit at all.Yeah, it's not just boogies and stabbies here, although you will get plenty of that. I liked this book because it unnerved me with the "real life" situations while making me laugh at the "scary shit." It's a one-two punch that I didn't see coming.
—James
