Darker Days - by Thomas Olde Heuvelt (Hardcover)

About the Book

"From the author of the internationally acclaimed bestseller Hex comes a modern horror story with echoes of Paul Tremblay, Joe Hill, and Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery," about a gilded street in a small Pacific Northwest town where the charmed residents have made a frightening bargain . . . with devastating consequences"-- Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

"Thomas Olde Heuvelt is back with another wicked, fascinating, chilling tale, expertly balancing the supernatural with the horrors inherent in human nature. Darker Days reinforces that Olde Heuvelt is one of the most vital and exciting voices in modern horror"-- Mike Flanagan, director of The Haunting of Hill House, The Fall of the House of Usher, Dr. Sleep, and Life of Chuck

"No one builds agonizing tension like Thomas Olde Heuvelt. Darker Days is his best yet." -- Catriona Ward, award-winning author of The Last House on Needless Street and Looking Glass Sound

From the author of the internationally acclaimed bestseller HEX comes a modern twist on the Faustian bargain tale about a gilded street in a Pacific Northwest town where the charmed residents have made a frightening deal . . . with devastating consequences.

Sometimes you think you can see things behind the fence. Bad things. So it's better not to look . . .

In Lock Haven, a quiet little town in Washington State, Bird Street is a special place. The residents of this pretty cul-de-sac on the edge of the woods are all successful, healthy, and happy. Their children are prodigies; well-mannered and... unnaturally smart.

But come November, the "Darker Days" descend, bringing accidents, bad luck, conflict, and illness. Luana and Ralph Lewis-da Silva prepare for this, and so do their children Kaila and Django. It is in November when a stranger appears to collect on a longstanding debt. A price must be paid for the good fortune they enjoy the rest of the year. A sacrifice must be made.

So it has been for over a century. To assuage their guilt, the residents of Bird Street choose carefully who will be sent into the woods. Usually, it is an elderly or terminally ill individual who wishes to die with dignity and is content to be helped on their way.

But this year, things don't go to plan and events take a terrifying turn . . .

Darker Days is a propulsive, haunting novel that begs the question: "How far will we go for our own happiness and what sacrifices we are willing to make?"

Review Quotes

"Thomas Olde Heuvelt is back with another wicked, fascinating, chilling tale, expertly balancing the supernatural with the horrors inherent in human nature. Darker Days reinforces that Olde Heuvelt is one of the most vital and exciting voices in modern horror." -- Mike Flanagan, director of The Haunting of Hill House, The Fall of the House of Usher, Dr. Sleep, and Life of Chuck

"No one builds agonizing tension like Thomas Olde Heuvelt. Darker Days is his best yet- a terrible sacrificial offering that doesn't reveal its shocking nature until the very last page." -- Catriona Ward, award-winning author of The Last House on Needless Street and Looking Glass Sound

"What price would you pay for a life of privilege? Darker Days is a new take on the Faustian bargain completely in keeping with our new age of greed and entitlement, with a twist at the end you won't see coming. This is Olde Heuvelt at the height of his powers." -- Alma Katsu, Bram Stroker Award-winning author of Fiend and The Hunger

"Thomas Olde Heuvelt's Darker Days begins on an uncomfortably grim and mysterious note. Olde Heuvelt increases the dread and tension over the course of this labyrinthine and distressing novel until the pressure is almost unbearable. There's a distinctly unpleasant current of inevitability coursing beneath every page of this genuinely distressing work--the inevitability of ritual, retribution, sacrifice, and death. This is a daring and uncompromising jewel of horror fiction. Reminiscent of the flawless work of Stephen King, Michael McDowell, and Robert R. McCammon, but still completely its own singular and disturbing vision." -- Eric LaRocca, author of Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke

"There are days where I can't help but wonder if Thomas Olde Heuvelt made a deal with the devil. His writing is so completely captivating, his forged worlds so engrossing and expansive, there has to be some soul-selling afoot. Darker Days is his Dr. Faustus on the grandest of scales, which makes Olde Heuvelt our modern day Marlowe." -- Clay McLeod Chapman, author of Wake Up and Open Your Eyes and Ghost Eaters