NATIVE FEAR

Debut author Page presents an intricate horror novel set in Michigan.

Coyote Village, Michigan, may seem like a quaint place. It’s not. The town is host to a creepy property called the Elkhourne Ranch. The Elkhournes seem nice enough, but they can be anything but. After Olly Torrance stabs his stepfather (whom he caught sexually abusing his sister), he flees north from Illinois. He lands at Elkhourne Ranch, and despite being beaten and bloody, he is offered a place to stay. The Elkhournes also give him a drink that miraculously accelerates his recovery. Olly will later learn that the drink is brewed from a special mushroom that grows on the property. These mushrooms are the way the Elkhournes make their money, and they’re why the family requires privacy. Or at least that’s what they tell Olly, who is offered a job as the ranch’s factotum. Since he’s on the lam and his other option might be prison, he takes the gig. But the ranch is full of dark secrets. That job as ranch hand is no laughing matter—the whole place turns out to be “the substance nightmares are made of.” The novel begins slowly as Olly finds his way to the Elkhournes with a grisly scene or two along the way (someone’s skull is crushed like a “ripe nectarine”). These instances do not add much to the main question: Will Olly ever lead a normal life? And while readers might guess at a few of the terrors awaiting the protagonist, the scope and breadth of the bloodletting will surprise most. The details of the Elkhournes make for enveloping horror writing; their story grows increasingly complex but still holds together. There is even involvement from a corporation and a scientific-sounding epilogue. Brutal scenes are well paced, and Olly’s ultimate fate is anything but certain.

An inventive take on a rural place filled with unspeakable malice.