Paperback, 384 pages
Published Sept. 21, 2021 by Tor Nightfire.
"Welcome to Black Spring, the seemingly picturesque Hudson Valley town haunted by the Black Rock Witch, a seventeenth-century woman whose eyes and mouth are sewn shut. Muzzled, she walks the streets and enters homes at will. She stands next to children's beds for nights on end. Everybody knows that her eyes may never be opened or the consequences will be too terrible to bear. The elders of Black Spring have virtually quarantined the town by using high-tech surveillance to prevent their curse from spreading. Frustrated by being kept in lockdown, the town's teenagers, decide to break their strict regulations and go viral with the haunting. But, in so doing, they send the town spiraling into dark, medieval practices of the distant past."--Jacket.
I really enjoyed this one. The setting and antagonist and pretty much everything were like catnip to me.
//read in 2022
Sehr gesellschaftskritisch, tut dem Lese- und Gruselspaß aber keinen Abbruch.
Teilweise waren mir die "Beweise", dass das Buch jetzt in Amerika spielt, zu sehr vor die Nase gehalten, insbesondere die Obamawahl. Das tut da wirklich nichts zur Sache, und falls es zeigen soll, wie fortschrittlich und modern die Dorfbewohner sind, klappt leider nicht mal das.
So ganz klar ist mir außerdem nicht, was Tyler bewirken wollte, aber am Ende ist auch das für die Geschichte kein Hindernis.
Alles in allem auf jeden Fall ein empfehlenswerter Horrorroman.
The last half wasn’t as good as I expected, but it’s still going to stand out as a thoughtful example of this genre. I was reminded several times of Stephen King and there were moments I was concerned Heuvelt might fall into the same pitfalls that make King’s work unbearable for me, but he always managed to sidestep it. I’m not sure the ending works, but given how few books there are exploring these ideas - in the vein of The Crucible - I have to give it credit for embracing the modern, technology infused world and managing to at least question some of the tropes of the genre, especially in terms of the witch herself. I wish it had gone a little farther but it’s still an improvement from previous works.
Disclaimer, I’m a bit of a wuss so don’t read much horror but HEX is the right balance of creepy and engaging plot with developed characters. It’s a great concept to write about witch hunts in a town that has a quite obvious witch. People always want a scape goat, someone to blame the bad stuff on. You would think they would blame the witch which haunts their town but no, they blame each other. The townsfolk point fingers at those who have angered or insulted the witch in some way. It is not Katherine’s fault, there must be someone else to blame, and punish.
The Witch of Black Rock is quite creepy, I had a few moments when I half expected an apparition to appear in the room after reading. She has had her eyes and mouth sewn shut and the single attempt to release them led to disaster... …
Disclaimer, I’m a bit of a wuss so don’t read much horror but HEX is the right balance of creepy and engaging plot with developed characters. It’s a great concept to write about witch hunts in a town that has a quite obvious witch. People always want a scape goat, someone to blame the bad stuff on. You would think they would blame the witch which haunts their town but no, they blame each other. The townsfolk point fingers at those who have angered or insulted the witch in some way. It is not Katherine’s fault, there must be someone else to blame, and punish.
The Witch of Black Rock is quite creepy, I had a few moments when I half expected an apparition to appear in the room after reading. She has had her eyes and mouth sewn shut and the single attempt to release them led to disaster... Yet that isn’t what really makes HEX the excellent book it is. Giving the ghost a name, Katherine, helps humanise her and I actually felt some sympathy for her.
The enforced isolation of the town permits a more primal justice system, there is no one who is going to run to the authorities to complain about a miscarriage of justice. One character likens the town’s legal system to Sharia law and how difficult it becomes for people to speak against it. If it’s not affecting you, you just go with it and hope for an easy life. The town leaders drum up group hysteria and mob mentality. With few people able to look at the situation in an objective manner, things soon get out of control.
It also touches on censorship and privacy issues. The teenagers rebel against their controlled internet. They told them it’s for their own good, their own protection, but they want the freedom to go on social media. They also want the freedom to talk about it with people outside the town. Everything they do is monitored, something many of us feel is already happening.
It kinda felt like there was a little bit product placement, do we really need to know how good a GoPro is? It did tend towards mentioning brand names rather than the object, but maybe that’s just how we think these days.
Review copy provided by publisher.
