| Title | : | Boys In the Valley |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 318 |
| Publication | : | Expected publication July 11, 2023 |
Turn of the century, in a remote valley in Pennsylvania.
Here, under the watchful eyes of several priests, thirty boys work and learn and worship. They live their lives in a methodical way and get along despite different personalities and pasts. Peter Barlow, orphaned by a nighttime murder at his childhood home, has made a new life here. As he approaches adulthood, he has friends, a future…family.
Then, late one stormy night, a group of men arrive at their door, one of whom is badly wounded, his body covered with occult symbols carved into his flesh. Upon his death, an ancient evil is released that infests
Boys In the Valley Reviews
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horror is not my preferred genre, but ‘lord of the flies’ is one of my favourite classics, so i was willing to give this a shot. and i have to say, while i didnt hate this, i also didnt love it.
what makes ‘lord of the flies’ work is the realistic decline of humanity, how boys can lose themselves to chaos and power. thats what makes it so compelling. i think if this had followed similar themes, i would have enjoyed it more.
however, the driving force is this is and i just couldnt get behind it. its just not something i personally find entertaining, spooky, or believable. which is quite a shame because i actually really enjoyed the writing and the characters.
but readers who are more open to things relating to should enjoy this one!
thanks, tor publishing, for the ARC.
↠ 2.5 stars -
This is the scariest coming of age horror I’ve read since Stephen King’s IT. 100 pages or so into this book and it is all horror ALL THE TIME. Full review soon
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One of the best books I’ve read this year!
Religious horror is one of my favourite subgenres of horror – and this book ‘Boys In The Valley’ has it in bucket loads; so much of the stuff that I was drenched in it, think Stephen King’s Carrie on prom night, that was me by the stories conclusion – absolutely caked in the stuff, and I bloody loved it.
This is my first time reading Fracassi’s work and it will not be my last, as I’ve found in this book another breath-taking author to champion and I look forward to catching up on his other works and whatever he comes up with next.
‘Boys In The Valley’ focuses on St. Vincent’s Orphanage for Boys and those young men that are living under its roof, under the watchful eye of several priests many of which enjoy the torture they inflict in the steering of these young men into adulthood and departure from the orphanage or the possible guidance into the priesthood.
Fracassi’s ability to pull the reader into this story is cemented with the opening chapter, a dark opening that ensnares the reader's heart and mind, refusing to let them go and forcing them, whether they want to or not to follow this path of destruction all the way to its biblical conclusion.
Life in the orphanage is not as expected, it’s a cruel place, a place devoid of the much love and devotion these young boys need – many arriving through awful and heart-breaking circumstances, seemingly only to have been thrown from the frying pan into the fire. They are fragile things, near to breaking, and those that have managed to mend are still haunted, but a great many of these boys are destroyed further, through cruel punishments intent on gaining their obedience or apathy of their circumstance and hopes for the future.
Our ray of hope in this place is the orphaned Peter, who although strong and an older brother to many of the young boys in the home also carries a dark past, one that utters its presence in the cold long nights. But there is hope for Peter, he’s been singled out as a boy with prospects, a possible priest in waiting – but does he want the gift of priesthood that is being offered or do the yearnings of his flesh hold a more pleasing path for this young boy approaching adulthood.
If the nightmares these boys face couldn’t get any worse, one stormy night a group of men arrive at the orphanage, one is near death but somehow clinging to life, he’s covered in occult symbols and hides a dark secret – the men leave the following morning, but their chance encounter, their presence in that place leaves some ancient evil behind that begins to manifest in the lives, hearts and minds of the children. The scene of the half-dead man arriving at the house is full of insidious menace and is the fuse to the bomb that blows these lives apart by the stories conclusion - creepy, sinister, horrific and troubling. The depictions of this man and his crimes are nightmarish in their scope and the writing by Fracassi here is nothing but masterful, the imagery, the scene-setting and the gruesome depictions lodge themselves firmly in the reader's mind and turn the stomach as well as that swelling feeling of dread and horror and revulsion as we realise what is soon to come.
The sense of dread festers throughout this book, it’s almost a single brooding note on an organ, and it’s unsettling and puts your teeth on edge. Soon allegiances are formed, the boys loyalty is called into question with one another and the priests who care for them – what is taking part is not survival, it’s a battle of good vs evil – a battle that has been waging for millennia, but who will survive and who will be spared – ‘Boys In The Valley’ is a gripping read that suffocates the reader and demands your attention.
To go too much more into this story will spoil the surprise – so I’ll leave the review here, but one thing is for certain, horror now has a new and bold voice and his name is Philip Fracassi – this book is published by Earthling Publishing and I’m sure will and should get picked up for a wider release in the near future. -
BOYS IN THE VALLEY is a dark stunner of a debut novel. Heart pounding and heartbreaking in equal measure.
I'm very familiar with Fracassi's stories and novellas, so it was exciting to see all those powers put to use in the service of a longer story. I think Fracassi naturally writes tales to get lost in, stories that are focused in their scope but suggest something far beyond the edges. COMMODORE comes immediately to mind. You know there's so much more at work than just what we see.
I love books that feel like no one else could have written them, and BOYS IN THE VALLEY is Fracassi all the way through. Style, substance, terror, heart, violence, and some kind of unique electricity that shoots this monster full of life.
Highly recommended for any reader who loves books that leave you stumbling out of them dazed, disoriented, and speechless. -
This is an absolute gut punch of a novel.
The horror and heartbreak don’t let up for a minute. In fact, every chapter just gets darker and darker until the incredibly sad yet satisfying ending.
Smart, violent, and terrifying.
I loved this and want more!
• ARC via Publisher -
A big thank you to Earthling Pub for my review copy. Full review to come, but absolutely loved it!
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Locked-in orphanage horror? Take my money. Priests, an ancient evil and creepy kids? Take ALL my money! I couldn't help but want to read this one after I read the synopsis... though I was a little hesitant because sometimes these types of stories don't quite work for me. Happy to find that this was more unique and, for me, felt like a cross of Lord of the Flies meet Children of the Corn meet the Exorcist.. you get the gist, no?
This is my first Fracassi and most definitely will not be my last. His writing from first to last page is SO atmospheric... it felt ominous from the very first creepy smile. Fracassi gives us different POVs to where we see the struggle of the *priest potentials* not realizing they have a choice and then having to make one. Faith, loyalty to God.... these are all tested here. I will say that stories of faith aren't typically my thing and just because I'm me, I find myself feeling a bit meh during the parts where there's internal struggling of faith. However, I do realize it's an essential part of the story and while I was riveted to the pages, I didn't realize how invested I was until I could breathe again after I turned that final page.
Also, can I just mention that I gave myself a paper cut turning a page and for just a teeny second thought the blood would resurrect some demon from the pages. Happy reading, folks! -
I did an entire blathering, detail-free review of this on my YouTube channel, The Jeff Word. Here, I'll give you even less.
I've never read anything by Fracassi before but that will change as of now. I loved this book. I was in deep immediately. It's both a slow-build and a fast page-turner. There are themes of good and evil, morality, mortality, family, purpose, and sacrifice.
Imagine the isolation of The Shining and the demonic manipulation of The Exorcist. Add the struggles of early 20th century rural America. And include a pinch of Catholicism. Now you have Boys in the Valley.
I got an advance uncorrected proof from Earthling Publications in exchange for an honest review. But I also pre-ordered the hardcover because I honestly loved it.
I strongly recommend this book for fans of quiet horror and those who enjoy watching good and evil bat around a building full of orphans.
5 FULL stars. The fullest. -
Boys in the Valley is being rereleased by Tor Nightfire in the Summer of 2023. I'm stoked and I've also got my hands on an early copy. Thanks so much, Tor!!
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Wow this novel was an emotional read. I'm glad i was able to get a copy after it was sold out. The signed limited by Earthling Publications is beautiful. This is my first read by Fracassi and i will be reading more of his work. Peter is awesome. The writing is top notch. This book is very creepy and disturbing. The setting fits the story.
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“For better or worse, our home is a reclusive haven, settled deeply into the hollow of the valley’s throat.”
Every time I read in this book it gave me a book hangover, whether I read just a couple pages or several chapters it left me having to transition back into my world because I was still so immersed in St. Vincent’s Orphanage with the boys.
The setting is bleak, isolated, and very atmospheric however your heart warms to the place as, even in 1905, the grumblings and mutterings of the 32 young boys creates a connection that makes you long to be a part of it all, even if it’s just to lighten their mental and physical burdens. These characters as so real, you want to hug them and stand by them. David wonders early on in the book “What if he had been loved? If he’d been cared for? Educated? Given a chance to do something good with his life…”
Things don’t stay the course as one night several men arrive at the orphanage with a wounded man that is crazy and possibly possessed. His arrival turned everything upside down and sparks a transformation throughout all aspects of the book. The good becomes evil and some of those that you thought were bad become good. Their security has turned into a trap as their home turns into a hell, and the bodies pile up like wood for the furnace.
“One eye is missing, or burned shut, as the flesh looks to have melted over the socket. The other is open wide, showing the white, roving the room like a mad predator.”
I am going to have to look for more books by Philip Fracassi. This was so good. I am also going to have to look for more of Earthling’s Halloween Series as this is the 16th book in that collection.
Thank you to Paul Miller and Earthling Publications for this Advance Uncorrected Proof for an honest review. -
Strong, powerful.
Earthling Halloween: Boys in the Valley by Philip Fracassi is the fine press pick for the holiday this year, as a horrific The Exorcist meets Lord of The Flies story occurs at the St. Vincent’s Orphanage for Boys in rural Pennsylvania.
There is a fun unnerving other worldliness to the historical setting for this circa 1900 horror tale.
And the prose by author Philip Fracassi is tight, vivid, and compelling.
On All Hallow’s Eve TFF covers the riveting Earthling Publications ARC read leading up to the spooky season with the following Spoiler-free Preview Review** of Boys in the Valley by Philip Fracassi.
Read the rest here:
https://theforgottenfiction.com/earth... -
I don’t usually give 5 stars unless a book being finished makes me feel frozen with emotion. Boys in the valley succeeds at this in so many ways. This book starts out unassuming with kids and an orphanage. We learn who is who and where they’ve come from along with the staff of priests. Some good some seem a bit evil. In the middle of the night some people show up with a prisoner who has done the unthinkable. From there the creep factor builds and you will literally have goose bumps from these creepy kids…. The blurb on the cover is about an accurate description as I can think of “gut wrenching, heartbreaking, and terrifying”. It truly is all of these things and Left me with tears in my eyes.
This limited edition book is the Halloween series book this year from Earthling Publications and there a still some left to preorder.
Www.earthlingpub.com
This will not be the last PhillipFracassi I read that’s for sure. What a ride!!! Just go order it….. -
Wow! This was my first book by this author, and I read it so fast because it was so hard to put down! This was an incredible tale about a boy named Peter being raised in an all boys catholic orphanage around the turn of the century. We have friendships, love, hunger, and responsibility being Peters biggest trials in his short life, until one stormy night, a group of men come looking for help from the Priests as one of the men were badly hurt. Upon this strangers death, an evil entity was released and weird things started happening at the Orphanage. The boys started to change in character, choosing sides and came the fighting and killing.
I was really blown away by this debut novel, and will be looking forward to read more of his work. -
One of the best books I’ve read all year. Peter Barlow is such a well written and lovable character, but Philip Fracassi puts him through hell in Boys in the Valley. After surviving tragedy at such a young age, he faces even more anguish at St. Vincent’s orphanage. Such an exciting and terrifying story of evil that infects this group of boys that are already facing constant hunger and cruel punishment from Father Poole and Brother Johnson.
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Review Copy
I've never read a Fracassi story I didn't like and BOYS IN THE VALLEY was no exception. I was so thrilled to get an advance copy from Tor/Nightfire!
BOYS is the story of a Catholic orphanage at the turn of the 20th century in rural Pennsylvania. It focuses on one boy, Peter, and how he came to be in that horror show they called an orphanage. And let me tell you, having known someone who did time in a Catholic orphanage half a century later, this place was mild compared to that. But for the outhouses, lack of electricity, lack of cars, demons...
OMG! This was horror, non-stop. And once you get started, DO NOT STOP. It has it all. Boy even meets girl. Reserve your copy now. -
4.5 rounded up for Goodreads
Thank you to Paul Miller from Earthling Publications for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Boys in the Valley is a coming-of-age, good vs. evil story about Peter and his fellow orphans at St. Vincents Orphanage for Boys.
The book opens with a brutal scene and it is apparent what kind of story awaits. I fell in love with Fracassi's writing from the beginning. There is a lot of description and I felt like I was truly transported to the places in the book and could clearly see the sights and hear the sounds. There are a few main characters that narrate most of the story and they are all quite different. We have Peter who is one of the oldest boys at the orphanage and the main character, David who is Peter's age and his friend, Father Andrew who is Peter's mentor, Father Poole who is one of the leaders although not a very kind one, and Johnson who is an ex-con who works at the orphanage. I like the fact that they were each given a voice to tell their parts of the story.
The book is told in four parts. Part One explains the events that put everything in motion. In Part Two, some of the boys start acting strange and this is where the dread and uneasiness really set in. Part Three really ramps up the gore and violence and I was holding my breath while frantically turning the pages to find out what was going to happen. Part Four really keeps the suspense going and brings us to the conclusion. I don't want to go into much detail because this is a story best discovered by reading it oneself.
This is a very well-written book and while it is good vs. evil and takes place in a Catholic orphanage, Fracassi manages to write about this without being at all preachy. The writing is descriptive enough to transport the reader into the story without being overly wordy or drawn out. I got really attached to a couple of the characters and experienced many emotions while reading this one.
I would recommend this to anyone who likes coming-of-age horror. This book is available as a hardcover limited edition at Earthling publications and I can't wait to have that copy in my horror-loving hands! Go get yourself a copy while it's still available! -
Philip Fracassi’s short fiction mixes the grotesque and the beautiful in a way that defies comparison to any other authors. Though he’s released novella-length work, Boys in the Valley is Fracassi’s debut novel. Earthling Publications will release a limited edition as part of their Halloween Series, and what a great addition to the lineup this is.
Part coming-of-age and part possession story, Boys in the Valley ticks a lot of boxes for what makes a great horror novel. The characters, including but not limited to Peter, make compelling characters in their own right. Some people will tell you what makes a good horror novel is how readable the story is if the horrific elements are removed. In answer to that question, I would read 300 pages of Peter and the other boys’ time at the Catholic orphanage. Their story is compelling and the reader will find themselves quickly and deeply invested.
As much as I believe in the mantra of horror being readable without the horror, the terrifying elements are not lacking here. With the advent of media like Game of Thrones, this idea that no character is safe has started pervading storytelling, but from the get-go, Fracassi establishes a story where nothing is off limits, and it never feels cheap. Numerous scenes throughout the 320 pages run will raise the hair on your arms and twist your stomach in knots.
Boys in the Valley was the hundred and first book I finished in 2021, and although it’s had stiff competition, it’s my favorite of them all. Earthling’s run of the book is limited to 500 copies, so if they’re still available, I can’t recommend it highly enough. Here’s hoping Fracassi will do another print run in the future, because this is a book that demands a big readership.
I received a copy from the publisher for review consideration. -
Evil visits an isolated Pennsylvanian orphanage
If you looking to snag a copy of Philip Fracassi’s latest work Boys in the Valley then I suggest you move fast as the 500 signed/numbered hardbacks being released by Earthling Publications around Halloween time are dwindling, and I imagine will all be snagged via pre-orders. This is much too entertaining a novel to keep hidden away from the general public and one hopes it will resurface as a trade paperback and ebook further down the line, picking up a wider audience.
I approached this book with considerable interest as I have read the majority (and reviewed several) of Fracassi’s other works and was particularly keen to see how he made the jump to a full novel. If you have never read him, simply put, Fracassi is an absolute master of the short story and novella and has the back catalogue to prove it. He can weave literary magic over the 100-page format and few can nail a sentence to the page better than he, but could he pull the rabbit from the magic hat over 320 pages? Indeed, he can.
Before we look at Boys in the Valley in more detail, if you are new to Fracassi here are some of my personal favourites you can check out to get a feel of his earlier works should you find it difficult securing a copy of this limited release. Both Behold the Void (2017) and the recent Beneath a Pale Sky (2021) are sublime short story collections and my favourite novellas are Fragile Dreams (2016), Sacculina (2017) and Shiloh (2018). There is also a brand-new novella, Commodore, which has not yet appeared as an ebook and I am looking forward to snagging that as soon as it comes available.
One of the major strengths of Fracassi’s short work is the fact that his stories have absolutely no flab and not a word is wasted and he carries this forward into Boys in the Valley which had a tight story, told over four distinct parts, which hangs together nicely having me on the hook for the entire duration. I am a prolific and fussy reader but sped through this gripping and excellently paced novel over three evenings as events quickly spiralled from bad to worse. One wonders whether this story started life as a novella and then the author realised there was just too much going on to squeeze it into his usual 100-pages? If that was the case Fracassi did the right thing, expanding it into a fuller and richer work where the pain and fear of the little boys literally bleeds from the pages.
The action takes place in St. Vincent's Orphanage for Boys, which is located in a remote Pennsylvanian valley, where the nearest town is over twenty miles away. Set in 1905, thirty orphan boys live, work and worship under the tutelage of a small group of priests. This is a very harsh, cruel and hungry life, the boys farm much of their meagre crops and the painful pangs of starvation are never far away. Fracassi sets the scene beautifully, this is not a choice of faith, the boys are there simply because they have nowhere else to go and as orphans are unwanted and unloved. Punishments are cruel and unwashed hands can lead to missing a meal or overnight stays in an underground hole similar to something you might find in a prison chain-gang. However, most have accepted their lot in life and make the most of this very tough existence, dreaming of escape when they come of age.
Boys in the Valley is told from several points of view, both boys and priests. Interestingly, Peter Barlow who is the main character and takes up the most page time, has his story told in the first person, whilst all the others are in the third person. Peter is the most fleshed out, given the most comprehensive backstory and nudges the plot into the realms of a coming-of-age story. At sixteen, not only is Peter the oldest of the boys he is also contemplating life as a priest and is encouraged by Father Andrew who acts as his mentor. However, Peter is conflicted as he is attracted to a local farm girl, from where the orphanage trades goods and writes letters to her. This was an engaging part of the story as Peter’s inner voice and his turmoil surrounding his faith and temptations which could be compared to the bigger picture of what is about to play out in the orphanage.
Early in proceedings, late one night a group of men arrive, one of which is badly wounded. Amongst the group is the sheriff from the local town who has the injured man tied up. Seeking sanctuary, the orphanage takes in the man whose body is covered with strange symbols carved into his flesh. At this point the story is seen from the point of view of Father Andrew, who believes the man to be possessed and after violent death, it soon becomes clear that he has brought some sort of evil into the orphanage that infests St. Vincent's and the children within.
I do not want to say too much more about the plot except that things take a dark turn and it happens relatively quickly. Events kicks off beautifully and with some intensity, one boy is unexpectantly defiant to the priests in dinner (something which is unheard of) and is sent to the hole and quickly boys begin to act differently, taking groups and sides. Younger boys are suddenly confrontational to their elders and the atmosphere in the sleeping dormitory darkens and can be cut with a knife. Fracassi builds this threatening tension beautifully and Peter worries something unnatural is at work.
Boys in the Valley can be read as a good versus evil story and is a rollicking good yarn, which is built around a great range of well-drawn characters of which even the most brutal garner sympathy. Once the plot shifts through the gears there is a great deal of violence and some horrific imagery with Fracassi’s lean and brutal prose spilling into the bloodletting as things spiral out of control and the smallest instruments are used as weapons of attack and defence. Strangely, something of the isolated snowbound reminded me of John Carpenter’s The Thing, in that at certain points of the story it was difficult to tell which side some of the boys were on.
Fracassi recently announced he was taking a break from his day job to concentrate on his writing and I hope this bold move takes his fiction to a wider audience. His existing fans will lap up Boys in the Valley and its eventual wider availability should bring in plenty of new readers also. To make a living as a successful horror writer, novels are the key to the big time and Fracassi most definitely has the literary juice to mix with the big boys. His website already lists A Child Alone With Strangers (2022) and Don’t Let Them Get You Down (2022) for release, an announcement which should excite the horror world. -
Excellent horror novel begging for a movie or tv series. It centers around a Catholic orphanage tucked away in a valley that becomes the battle between good and evil all against the background of a blizzard. Highly recommended
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"Boys in the Valley" by Philip Fracassi is an astonishing accomplishment for any author, let alone a debut novel. I have not been this blown away since I discovered Ania Ahlborn and Josh Malerman.
This story has depth, meaning, deep loss, suffering, and pain. Yet, what really brings the story through is the companionship, hope, love and feeling in Mr. Fracassi's storytelling abilities. You really hope that these forgotten and abandoned little boys find away through all the horrors that you know are coming.
This is a story primarily about two boys, orphans dumped in a home ran by priests around the year 1900 in the Pennsylvania hills.
One night, they are awoken in the middle of the night by knocking. Hard, desperate knocking followed by loud voices, the sounds of chaos erupting from below, laughter, all of it silenced by a gun shot.
Everyone has their demons, most are hidden but not all. So, after the echo has faded from memory and the acrid lingering cloud of gunsmoke has dissipated into nothingness its time for some of that darkness to come out into the light.
And things start to....happen around the orphanage. Kids disappear, kids start behaving differently, kids getting violent.
As the sense of dread deepens you are drawn into the lives of the characters. Their dreams, struggles, hopes, and failures.
I really don't want to spoil the masterful way in which Mr. Fracassi weaves it all together. So, I'll just finish by say this book is STILL AVAILABLE FOR SALE directly from Earthling Publications for so low a price it's almost ridiculous.
5 out of 5 Snouts
🐽🐽🐽🐽🐽
#earthlingpublications #philipfracassi -
things i liked about this book:
1. the cover art
2. the Hole (genuinely the only scary part)
3. the mcr lyric quoted on the first page
4. paced well & reads fast
things i didnt like about this book:
1. peter as the mc was like, totally unbelievable as a 16 yr old boy. i know hes our christ allegory okay but he didnt think like a kid- all the chapters from his perspective took me out of the story bc i just couldnt take him seriously? he also had no flaws? besides not wanting to become a priest?
2. the other characters were really2 dimensional so when the killing happened i didnt care about their deaths. there were only 2 deaths that affected me because they were plot important :/
3. SPOILERS but if this took place in a church in the early 1900s how did no one EXCEPT peter believe that there was demon possession afoot like literally what???
4. ties in with point 3 but i didnt feel like this was taking place in the early 1900s except for when they occasionally mention the privy and use horses to get around but the speech and style of the book was too.. modern
5. this would work better as a movie. and seeing as philip fracassi has his chops in screenwriting i get it. its not a BAD book but it was clunky (esp the beginning! and how the exposition was delivered!!). pretty underwhelming but entertaining for the most part. -
Thanks so much to NetGalley and the author/publishers for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!
I’m not sure why this book is getting republished, but I do know I’m obsessed with it. This is a pure nightmare coming of age story. This was marketed as a mash of Lord of the Flies, the Exorcist, and Midnight Mass and it literally is just all of it put together. I was blown away at how engaging and interesting this was.
Peter is an orphan who at only 16 is the oldest boy at his orphanage. There, the boys have monotonous and boring days where they work and play with the priests as their guides. Peter is on track to becoming a priest himself and thinks of himself as an older brother and father figure to the young children there. Everything changes when a strange man is brought to the orphanage to be healed. At his death, something sinister and unholy is unleashed before the boys who will never be the same again. Boys start acting strange and taking sides.
It was so easy for me to hate some of these characters. I had my mind set on hating Father Poole and Johnson. I had to take everything in me to sit back and try to understand why everything was happening and why they act they way they do. This is a classic tale of good and evil. Except everyone has some good and some bad in them. Even Peter says he has a darkness in him that he is afraid will one day get out. Is it so easy to know who’s truly evil?
This story completely tore my heart in two. Some scenes made me so mad and frustrated I had to take breaks. A few times I had wanted to cry at the pure chaos these poor boys were thrown into. Peter is only a child himself and yet the whole world is thrown at him to carry the weight of. He’s to be the savior and hero of these poor kids when he’s just one himself. I really did like Father Andrew. He was the goodness and light that Peter mirrored and he was the father figure that Peter needed. My only fault with him was how pushy he was about Peter being a priest when he was only 16.
I applaud Philip for this one. There were scenes that were so violent and shocking my anxiety was through the roof. Do not read this book if you are sensitive to child death and child abuse. This book is horror and chaos and I loved it. Definitely one of my favorites. -
This book is a tightly paced and brutal ride that doesn’t stop once it gets going. Fracassi’s talent as a writer is on full display here, and he manages to nail both big important scenes and smaller moments of creeping dread. If you enjoy Fracassi’s short stories, you will enjoy Boys in the Valley. I eagerly await whatever he decides to do next.
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I want to first acknowledge my thanks to Paul Miller from Earthling Publication for sending me this ARC.
This book was a very fast paced read and reminding me a lot of Lord of the Flies. I would highly recommend giving this book a read and there are still copies available at Earthling Publication.
Will for sure read more books by Philip in the future.
http://www.earthlingpub.com/pf_boysin... -
I thought I knew what this would be, judging from the blurbs and the cover atwork. I thought it would be a story about a turn of the century orphanage in a remote valley in Pennsylvania. I was expecting a quaint and possibly boring exploration of what it would be like living there, and maybe some spooky shit would happen ho hum.
And I was right for about, oh....49 pages.
now don't get me wrong, i loved every single one of those 49 pages! I was totally absorbed. I loved these kids and I could have read a 1,000 pages about that orphanage and its priests and 30 or so poor little orphans, and that beastly Brother Johnson who seems to enjoy punishing these starving kids.
But i was so wrong,
at page 50 shit got real, there was frantic knocking at the door and outside waitiing was The Exorcist and Lord of the Flies and pain and murder and mayhem and fighting and burning and... well damn i did not see any of this coming!
Philip Fracassi writes in a simple and direct way. His prose is lean and brutal. There is a modest cast of characters to follow and you get to know them very well.
I want to say more but I don't want to spoil a thing, I suggest you get a copy and read it cold
There is a great deal of violence and some horrific imagery, There is no question this is a great horror novel, so far my favorite read of 2021.
I will seek out and read more by this author. -
I’m going to make this sweet and short. Fracassi is a master at the craft of writing in any genre he sinks his claws into!
