Interesting New Horror Novel

Okay, this book is being touted as a thriller, but it's really a sort of thinking-person's horror novel.

It's Justin Evans's A Good and Happy Child. Just out last week. Evans just sold the rights to Paramount.
Very strange book that is genuinely terrifying at times. Reminds me a lot of Ira Levin's Rosemary's Baby with a little Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness thrown in.

I'd be interested to see what you all think.

callalily61 said:

I can't get to Amazon at the moment. Just tell me one thing: Do pregnant women and/or small children get terrified/abused/raped etc? Those are my ironclad "run away" criteria. Thanks.

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Well, the book stars a child, but he's not exactly small. He's an adolescent, 12 or 13 IIRC.

And he gets terrified, yes, but he also does some terrifying.

No abuse or rape, I don't believe.

This is a horror novel that would probably be deemed "psychological horror." It's scary because you never know exactly -- until the end -- what exactly It is.

callalily61 said:

Amazon people have lots to say--98% of it positive. But I'll be skipping it--it is favorably compared to The Exorcist on many levels. And that's the one book (and movie) that I felt physically dirty after reading and watching.

Thanks, tho.

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There's definitely a comparison to be made there.

However, you might like it. There's a lot of discussion of religion--and not just the occult. The main character battles with a lot of things in the book, and one of those "demons" is his own spirituality. There are some interesting discussions by these characters--most of whom are professors--about religion and its basic purposes, its uses and misuses, that I found fascinating.

But yes: the book is essentially about evil.

Have you read M. Scott Peck's The People of the Lie? You could read that weird little text as a horror novel. Even though Peck was uncovered to be a drunkard, a liar, and a womanizer at the end of his life, I HIGHLY recommend this particular book.