| Title | : | Boys in the Valley |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1250879035 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781250879035 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 335 |
| Publication | : | First published July 11, 2023 |
Turn of the century, in a remote valley in Pennsylvania.
Here, under the watchful eyes of several priests, thirty boys work, learn, and worship. Peter Barlow, orphaned as a child by a gruesome murder, has made a new life here. As he approaches adulthood, he has friends, a future... a family.
Then, late one stormy night, a group of men arrive at their door, one of whom is badly wounded, occult symbols carved into his flesh. His death releases an ancient evil that spreads like sickness, infecting St. Vincent's and the children within. Soon, boys begin acting differently, forming groups. Taking sides.
Others turn up dead.
Now Peter and those dear to him must choose sides of their own, each of them knowing their lives — and perhaps their eternal souls — are at risk.
The Exorcist meets Lord of the Flies, by way of Midnight Mass, in Boys in the Valley, a brilliant coming-of-age tale from award-winning author Philip Fracassi.
Boys in the Valley Reviews
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“Boys in the Valley” by Philip Fracassi is truly a hell of a read that I didn’t see coming at all. This was a monthly group read for one of the groups I’m a part of on Goodreads and my goodness, I’m beyond glad I decided to read this because it was awesome for the most part.
Now, before I jump into my review, there are a ton of trigger warnings I found while reading. They are…
- Domestic abuse
- Child abuse
- Suicide
- Self-harm
- Orphans/Orphanage
- Violence against kids
- Violence against priests
- Violence against animals (horses)
If any of these trigger you, please do not read this novel as things get very graphic and disturbing. Moving along, this was the first novel I’ve ever read by Fracassi and wow, his writing style is excellent. It’s so good, he took religious horror to incredible new heights with this one.
The intro was nothing short of brutal, horrific, and set the tone nice and early for me. I love it when novels do that since it gives me a great feeling that I’m in for a rollercoaster of a ride. I immediately got a sense of dread, sadness, and all the atmospheric vibes of being an orphan raised in a strict religious orphanage. I legit felt I was there so again, Fracassi nailed that aspect of this horror novel.
Speaking of which, the demonic twist that happened at the start was beyond wild. That was pretty unique and launched several crazy horror moments which I loved. As I was reading, I got major “Lord of the Flies” vibes with a religious, demonic twist. Felt as if “Lord of the Flies” and “The Exorcist” had a demon child and it was set in an orphanage. All the characters I met along the way were good and fleshed out pretty well. From the different priests to all the distinct orphans, I enjoyed them all.
While reading I did notice some parts dragged on at around the 30% mark. I’m glad things didn’t fizzle out too much but there was just a bit too much dialogue at this point that took me a bit out of the reading experience. However, things did pick up nicely around the 50% mark where some insanely creepy and extremely savage moments happened.
Don’t worry, I won’t spoil anything for you but WOW, one of the most horrific events I’ve ever read in a novel occurred a bit after the halfway point. That was incredible, unexpected, and delivered beyond my wildest imagination.
I loved Fracassi’s way of writing that part as well as all the demonic possessions, events, and pivotal moments in the plot. I made many weird faces while reading some of the more gruesome parts as these moments were brilliantly written and executed flawlessly.
That also wasn’t the only insanely scary/vile part that happened, either. There are a few more that were spectacular in all their evil glory. “Boys in the Valley” gave me a ton of old-school horror vibes with the way it was written and just hits you out of nowhere to deliver some killer thrills and all sorts of emotions. It’s all the sign of a great author as this was next-level demonic horror.
The race to the end was pretty suspenseful as I had no idea how all this was going to end and wow, that was quite the ending. It capped off a fantastic story with all sorts of demonic showdowns that ended in a blaze of glory. The emotions a reader will feel at the end of this one will leave a mark on your soul. I guarantee it.
I give “Boys in the Valley” by Philip Fracassi a 4/5 as this was a solid novel with a good cast of characters, tons of demonic violence, and a satisfying ending. Several times this became a genuine pageturner but also had moments where things dragged on. Regardless, I had a lot of fun reading this novel and would recommend it to anyone who wants a religious horror novel written in a way that hasn’t been done before. That’s a big reason why this delivered and if it wasn’t for the few parts that dragged on while reading, this would have been a perfect read for me. Either way, I am keeping an eye on Fracassi and his future work as he’s an author to follow in horror. -
Boys In the Valley is a classic Horror story; an absolutely delightful scarefest that gripped me from the start.
In the opening scene, we meet a young boy on the night that he loses both of his parents and his home in one bloody tragedy. The violence of this scene aptly sets the tone for the entire story, tense and atmospheric.
From there, we find ourselves at St. Vincent's Orphanage for Boys, a self-contained parochial orphanage and school set in a remote valley in Pennsylvania.
It's the early 1900s and being in such a location makes for a dire lifestyle. The boys at the orphanage, under the careful watch of several priests, grow their own food and only ever socialize with one another.
There are occasional supply runs to a distant farm, but only one of the priests, Father Andrew, and one of the older boys, Peter, ever go. For the rest of the boys, the grounds and the orphanage make up their entire world.
On a dark and dreary night, as all the boys lie in their bunks in the dorm, they hear a disturbance below. Someone has come seeking help from the priests.
It's a group of men, one of whom is badly injured. The injured man is raving, dangerous, he has occult symbols carved all over his body. As the priests attempt to aid him, he dies suddenly, releasing an ancient evil with his last breath.
The boys upstairs aren't privy to these events, but as the doors to their dorm room suddenly burst open and the cross hanging sentry above their door falls to the ground, many can feel a shift in atmosphere.
Soon a few of the boys begin acting strangely. They're suspicious and mean, bullying in ways they never attempted before. They begin forming groups and taking sides.
Peter, the oldest and golden boy of the orphanage, an aspiring priest, becomes the unofficial leader of one side, as another boy, Bartholomew, leads the dark side.
As the tension rises, so does the danger and before the innocents can even wrap their minds around it, all hell breaks loose at St. Vincent's. It's chaos.
Fracassi transported me with this story. I loved the historical feel and the remote setting was so well done. I felt like I was there in the dark and the cold. I literally felt cold and I read this during one of the hottest weeks of the year.
That's a damn good story.
It scared me. There were scenes, particularly in the beginning as it begins unfolding, that got my pulse-racing. I was simultaneously horrified and delighted.
This felt like a treat to read. There are no tricks, or gimmicks. It's just a well-told, well-plotted, well-developed, atmospheric, engaging and creepy tale. A story that could be told just as easily around a campfire, as read in the silence of your own room at night.
It's got that epic good-versus-evil feel, but stripped down to a fluid Lord of the Flies meets The Exorcist combination.
I would absolutely recommend this to any Horror fan, particularly if you are creeped out by things like religion and kids. If you are, this will play right into your sweet spots.
Thank you so much to the publisher, Tor Nightfire, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I'm really excited to pick up more from this author! -
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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An Awesome Book!
I’m just going to say it. I’m really glad I read this book. It is great horror fiction and it’s easy to suspend your disbelief.
So much death and suffering and misery and destruction. It’s just the way it is in this world of religion. With religion there is always suffering and death and destruction and misery. That’s all that you have to look forward to.
A monastery with three priests and a handyman are watching over thirty-two boys.
Late one night there’s a knock at the door. The sheriff insists that the head priest bring his brother inside. His brother brings them bad luck and dies there releasing demons from his body.
That is the reason for this story. And the reason the story happens this way.
With the help of the head priest, who does an exorcism, the demons are the ones that are the masters of everything.
And so the story begins, and ends with five stars.
Five stars. 💫💫💫💫💫 -
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Oh my goodness this book was horrifyingly terrific, my first by this author and it was awesome. This is a story about an orphanage, run by the Catholic Church, that becomes the site of demonic possession. This isn't your typical good vs. evil story as the demons possess many children, and even though it has Lord of the Flies and The Exorcist vibes, Fracassi makes it uniquely his own. This was an emotional story as I couldn't decide if the lives the children were living at the orphanage was the true horror story or if it was being possessed by demons...Are the adults, mostly priests, the true demons?
This is weird to say about a horror story but it is very character driven as we learn about the harsh reality of an orphan life in the early twentieth century. I was captivated by the large cast of characters, their backstories and their current situation. I couldn't help but feel for them and cheer them on as they fight for their lives against the massive, hidden evil. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time I was reading this. It is a very fast-paced, easy read and I loved the ending. I will definitely be reading more of this author's work. If you like historical fiction with a horror twist and a little gore thrown in this is a book for you!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the Advance Readers Copy. -
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 -
ARC provided by the publisher—Orbit Books—in exchange for an honest review.
4.5/5 stars
Well, Boys in the Valley was so good. It was surprisingly so good.
“All of life is a great gift,” he says. “Not because of what it gives us, but because of what it allows us to give others.”
I read a horror novel probably once or twice a year. That is not to say I don’t like reading the genre, as I do read plenty of horror manga, but my preference tends to lean toward fantasy, sci-fi, and historical fiction novels more than horror novels. But I’m determined to read at least one horror novel every year, and this year, due to the unmissable praises for Boys in the Valley I saw online, I decided to pick it as my horror read. Horror reviewers and authors such as the like of legendary Stephen King highly praised it, and wow… I never read any book by Fracassi before, and Boys in the Valley might become the biggest pleasant surprise of the year for me.
“The harder you fight to join the path of your choosing, the more the decision will resonate within you.”
When I read Boys in the Valley, I didn’t know anything about the content of it. Literally nothing. And I do believe my reading experience was improved because of that. If you want more details regarding its premise, I recommend you check out the official blurb on Goodreads or Amazon. But to give you a minimum pitch, several readers have mentioned this is Lord of the Flies meet The Exorcist with a dose of Midnight Mass, and I think that is an accurate comparison. It did not take long for me to feel the oozing and ominous atmosphere from the narrative, and the story took a darker turn with each page turned. Mark my words. Boys in the Valley is intense, gory, and brutal. But in my opinion, what made it stand out is how the themes of hope strive to shine through all the darkness. I am not what you would call a religious person. However, I can totally understand the power and necessity of faith and the irreplaceable strength it can bring to many people. I think these themes were reflected wonderfully without ever feeling like it was preaching, and I loved that.
“Frederick Douglass once wrote, ‘The soul that is within me no man can degrade.’ Now, I’m shifting the context a bit. He wasn’t referring to a life in Christ, but he was talking about the power of humanity, about rising above the oppression of those who had forced him into slavery. And he was talking, I believe, about being true to himself, to the man he was at his core… I’d like to think his statement applies here, as well. What I’m trying to express, Peter, is that whatever you decide to do with your life, you must have faith that your soul will always remain your own. It cannot be degraded, not if you stay true to yourself.”
Fracassi’s way of keeping the tension running was incredible. The first 100 pages were pulse-pounding at the right moments, but once we moved past the 100-page mark, it was a non-stop thrill and chaos to the end. I never felt bored reading Boys in the Valley. If anything, I wanted more pages out of it. Due to my constant exposure to reading fantasy and sci-fi tomes, I did feel Boys in the Valley was slightly too short, and the concluding sequence was a bit too soon, but these are just minor issues due to my own preference. And it needs to be mentioned the horror and terrifying aspect of the circumstances certainly never felt diminished. They actually felt more genuine because Fracassi always remembered to make sure the fear and stressful moments the characters felt were palpable and also relatable to his readers. When you see someone so mentally strong break down in tears, it is not a pleasant thing to witness because you will know just how stressful and tenuous the pain and pressure the individual endured. And Fracassi explained it so well and simply here:
“To see him so visibly, dramatically shaken is like seeing an adult cry for the first time. Seeing someone—someone you had thought unbreakable—splinter and crack. I still recall the first time I saw my mother cry. It was the first time in my life I felt truly exposed. Truly at risk. Because if our parents can be hurt, or shaken, or brought down by despair, what hope have we?”
Considering that Boys in the Valley is a horror novel, I expected a bloody, creepy, and unnerving atmosphere conjured from the text, and in these, Fracassi succeeded. What I didn’t expect, however, was how fast I became invested in the characters. Peter, David, Father Andrew, Brother Johnson, Father Poole, and all the other characters were well-written characters. Note that I didn’t say they’re all likable. But well-written characters don’t mean they have to be lovable. Some characters can be well-written even though they exist to serve the purpose of being hated by readers. But rest assured, it is not difficult to like Peter’s mentorship under Andrew, his friendship with David, or his innocent crush toward the only woman in the novel: Grace. It is precisely because of how quickly I felt invested in the character’s journey that the horror and intensity felt more terrifying. I kept turning the pages to find out how Peter and the other protagonists would rise and survive their ordeals, and I was not disappointed by what I read.
“First of all… be careful you don’t confuse evil with despair. One reason tragedy exists is to teach us how to help others, help others learn how to find a way through their own dark time, through a journey of growth. As a priest, you must always be in the light, Peter. You must find courage inside yourself when you feel there is none. It is in these darkest moments that you will discover your true self. When you do that, when you discover this new you through life’s most difficult trials, only then will you find salvation. Only then will you lead others to that same salvation, guide them safely along their own dark paths.”
Whether you are a fan of the horror genre or not, I believe Boys in the Valley by Philip Fracassi is absolutely worth the read if you are in the reading mood for an unputdownable, scary, and tension-filled standalone novel. It is not a surprise now why so many horror writers and reviewers praised the hell out of this book, and I think it's only a matter of time before Boys in the Valley became more popular. And yes, this novel would work so well being adapted into a horror movie or a one-season mini-series. I can definitely see it happening someday, and Fracassi deserved it.
“I like to hope that, ultimately, these tests of character will strengthen us, versus weaken; that these storms of conflict, of struggle, will brighten our inner light and make us beacons to those in need, and not darken our minds, hurl us into madness and despair, lead us to defeat and certain death.”
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BOYS IN THE VALLEY is dark, religious horror that feels old school in its execution, and my eyes were glued to its pages from word one.
In a valley sits a Christian orphanage, full of thin boys and teens that have nowhere else to go. One winter’s night a stranger is brought in from the surrounding wilderness for emergency medical care and things are never the same again. What happened at this isolated orphanage? Will the boys survive it? You’ll have to read this to find out!
Setting aside the first thoughts that come to mind when thinking about Christians, especially Catholics, when it comes to young boys, this orphanage was a perfect setting for a horror story. One of the things I liked best about this one is that there aren’t any long expositions about what happened or how it came to be: it just IS. For me, that’s where a lot of stories fall apart. The characters here don’t know what’s going on and neither does the reader: you’re both in the same boat. I think that gives the tale more immediacy and it certainly jacks up the suspense factor.
A few of the characters wormed their way into my heart, which made it all so much worse as the narrative raced towards the denouement. I admit that I did tear up at the end, but hey, it’s spring and there’s a lot of pollen in the air. ;)
I believe this is my first Phil Fracassi novel, even though I already own a few of them. I’ll have to bump them up in my TBR and soon, because honestly, this tale blew me away.
My highest recommendation!
* Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for this eARC, in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it!* -
Good Versus Evil!
It is the early 1900's when little Peter who is nine years old experiences a horror that no child should ever experience and it will be forever burned in mind, heart and dreams when he loses the warmth and safety of his family all in one night. Peter will be sent to a boys orphanage run by priests which will become his home and family until he turns eighteen unless he runs away as so many other boys had done in the past.
The story begins seven years later where Peter is one of the oldest boys among a group of 30 or more. Peter has always been a good boy and has become a leader and role model without even trying and all the younger children respect and look to him for comfort and guidance when needed. It's a very hard life that the boys live. The head priest is strict beyond words and if any of the rules are broken, there are no excuses accepted and the punishments given out are more than cruel. So this is why all the boys help one another to avoid breaking a rule.
Sadly, the more children there are the less food they get to eat and each meal is so sparse that hunger is always in their minds as the sounds of stomachs groan and rumble night after night. The boys are assigned daily chores from morning until supper time along with daily mass and prayer time. This is the life they live until their thin and sometimes frail bodies leave the orphanage. They reside in Pennsylvania so the winters are very brutal with many blizzards and the orphanage can be snowed in for weeks at a time. Every winter that passes brings illness with the freezing temperatures and the boys worry if they will lose another member of their small knit family since many the sickly children will not survive until the springtime.
One night a group of men including the sheriff bring a wounded man to their door begging for help from the priests to help save the man's life. The priests discover an assortment of occult carvings on the man's skin along with a gunshot wound but the priests know he needs spiritual help far more than physical care. Awful, strange and hideous sounds come from the man and the inhuman strength he exudes as he breaks the restraints and attacks a deputy and a few others brings death to the orphanage and an unseen evil presence will be left behind to assault the spiritually weak and it will gain strength in its numbers as two groups will emerge where the boys will be pitted against one another while the evil grows quickly fighting for dominance and will not leave any boy or priest untouched by it's malevolent power.
This book was terrifying in the creeping of insideous evil that I could feel through the pages that I read. The book was had such a frightening effect on me that I was afraid to read it in the.middle of the night. I haven't experienced those feelings with reading a book in a very long time. It's such a difference between being afraid and feeling creeped out which I find in reading many horror books. The novel was downright horrifyingly scary!
This book will appeal to any horror lover but if you were raised Catholic and especially if you attended parochial schools years ago then this book may have a big impact on the reader as far as the sinister evil attacking a Catholic orphanage and all those within because of their belief systems between good and evil.and the cruelty and abuse these children suffered on a daily basis. Please, don't get me wrong you don't have to be religious to understand or be entertained by the story because I can't imagine any reader not being affected by this very, very creepy book. The beautiful, atmospheric writing by "Philip Fracassi" was a complete reading experience. The characters were so relatable and my heartstrings were continuously tugged and pulled throughout the novel from page one until the very last page. I felt so many different emotions while reading this book while feeling tears welling up in my eyes so many times.
The writing was absolutely stellar! Fracassi did not overwrite or be repetitive with his descriptions yet he captured all the essence of youth and innocence combined with the coming of age to these boys that I felt I was right there with the boys experiencing their pain and terror and I was so emotionally caught up with each child that it hurt my heart. An amazing effect that the powerful writing had on myself. This book will be an unforgettable read for me and I just can't say enough about the exquisite writing and flow of words that brought out so many unexpected feelings and the fear factor, wow, wow, wow! I hope this talented author continues to write many stories along this line and hopefully this will be on the bestseller list for a.long, long time.
I highly, highy recommend this horror novel!
I sincerely want to thank the author "Philip Francassi" the publisher "Tor Publishing Group/ Tor Fire" and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this fantastic book and any thoughts or opinions express are unbiased and mine alone!
I have given a rating of 5 TERRIFYING AND HEART SHATTERING 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 STARS!! -
¡¡Qué bestialidad de novela y qué bien escribe Fracassi!! 🖤
Empezaré destacando la portada, que es una obra de arte, aparentemente irradia un ambiente idílico, de paz y tranquilidad, hasta que te fijas bien en cada uno de los detalles.
Y entonces, solo entonces te das cuenta de la oscuridad que te espera cuando pases la primera página.
⛪ Tenemos una localización perfecta y que da mucho juego en este tipo de historias; el orfanato de San Vicente, que alberga a un buen puñado de niños desde los 6 a los 16 años aproximadamente. Tenemos a Peter Barlow, el gran protagonista de esta historia, que nos dará su versión de la historia presente y también de su turbulento pasado, alternando esos capítulos en primera persona con otros en tercera que nos ayudará a tener una visión más global de lo que allí ocurre.
Peter, junto a un grupo de amigos; David, Simon o Basil entre muchos otros, tendrán que averiguar de manera inesperada cómo deben afrontar los nuevos horrores que están sufriendo y que se suman a los que ya padecían (hambre, cansancio o castigos muy severos impartidos por los que deberían velar por ellos) y decidir en qué bando se posicionan.
El ambiente está enrarecido desde que llegó aquel hombre en medio de una noche de tormenta, algo se ha desatado y algunos niños se comportan de manera extraña, ¿y por qué sonríen de esa manera tan inquietante?.
De la noche a la mañana los niños, hartos de tanta disciplina, pretenden hacerse con el control del lugar al más puro estilo "El señor de las moscas" de William Golding, ni los curas cuya disciplina más férrea los ha mantenido a raya hasta ahora, serán capaces de manejar esta situación.
A las condiciones ya de por sí extremas por la escasez de alimentos, castigos igual de extremos y al duro trabajo en el campo para ganarse la poca comida que albergan sus pequeños estómagos, se suma el frío y el terror más absoluto por no saber qué está pasando.
Y es que ya lo dijo el gran Chicho Ibáñez Serrador; ¿Quién puede matar a un niño?.
Brutal de principio a fin.
🔝De Philip Fracassi ya había leído anteriormente su colección de relatos "Bajo un cielo lívido", también editado por la magnífica Dilatando Mentes, que me pareció exquisita y considero que cualquier amante del buen terror debería tener en su biblioteca.
Por eso no lo dudé ni un segundo cuando vi que iban a publicar su novela "Los chicos del valle", una historia de terror clásica con niños en un orfanato aislado en medio de un valle, y por supuesto, no podían faltar los demonios.
Esta historia tiene todos los ingredientes que todo buen amante del terror desea; muertes, posesiones, momentos muy angustiantes, una atmósfera oscura, asfixiante y decadente, y unos personajes retratados a la perfección con los que inevitablemente te encariñarás y harán que incluso sueltes alguna lágrima.
En apenas cuatrocientas páginas ha logrado estremecerme de puro terror y como digo, emocionarme 🥲
Fracassi tiene esa capacidad de envolverte con sus historias y que sientas la angustia de sus personajes con una facilidad pasmosa, creando una atmósfera muy lograda al igual que todos y cada uno de sus personajes; esas escenas con los niños atrapados en la habitación me produjeron auténtico pavor 😨
Con solo leer unas pocas líneas ya quedas irremediablemente atrapado en sus letras. Y más si juntas el terror con niños que en teoría son seres puros e inocentes, con demonios, curas malévolos y otros que no lo son tanto, y toda la parafernalia, ahí ya me tienes ganada 🖤
Realmente esta historia tiene todos los clichés del género, no nos cuenta nada nuevo, pero lo hace de manera sobresaliente, dotando a la narración de un gran pulso narrativo que la hace destacar sobre otras que traten los mismos temas.
Philip Fracassi puede pasar de relatarnos escenas de extrema dureza sin escatimar en detalles, a darnos un poco de esperanza con unos personajes poderosísimos que nos recuerdan que después de toda la barbarie y maldad que impregna cada resquicio del orfanato, siempre habrá cabida para el amor y sobre todo, la amistad.
Mi resumen podría ser algo así como ⤵️
Qué miedo dan los puñeteros niños y más si son como los que nos encontramos en "Los chicos del valle" 😂😱🫣
Una vez más, dar las gracias a la editorial Dilatando Mentes y su cuidada edición 📚❣️
🔝👌🏻Anímate a adentrarte tras los muros del orfanato de San Vicente, acata las estrictas normas que ha establecido el padre Poole si no quieres acabar encerrado en un agujero bajo tierra sin más compañía que el frío. Elige bando, hazte con un arma por si alguien golpea la puerta en mitad de la noche y reza por tu vida.
⛪"[...] Da un paso atrás, y el vacío de su rostro se ilumina al quedar bañado por la luz de la luna. Lo que mi madre solía llamar la luz de los muertos.
Se me corta la respiración cuando veo que una sombra le cruza la cara, como si algo rompiera el flujo de luz de la luna a través de la ventana. Algo del exterior, rápido, silencioso, que se desplaza en la noche."⛪
✝️ "Ahora sois instrumentos de Dios. Sed fuertes. Sed compasivos. Sed valientes. El señor os infundirá valor."✝️
https://m.facebook.com/profile.php/?i... 🖤📖 -
I would like to begin this review with an excerpt of my review for Fracassi's previous book,
Gothic, which I read last year:
"So there are highlights, lowlights, and a little in-between. I wouldn't hesitate to read more from this author, he definitely knows his way around keyboard, and I hope his future offerings give me the chills I'm looking for."
I'm thrilled to tell you that Fracassi hit me right in my horror loving heart this time around. While I really hate book comparisons made by publishers I have to admit that The Exorcist meets Lord of the Flies is a perfect fit for this novel.
It's the turn of the century when Peter is brought to St. Vincent's Orphanage for Boys after the horrific death of his parents. Here he lives with many other boys working the fields and subsisting on meager rations of food. Father Poole doles out punishments with glee and no one wants to find themselves in "the hole".
Peter, now 16, finds that many of the younger boys look up to him. He makes it his personal mission to take these boys under his wing protecting them from some of the other bullies that also reside in the orphanage.
One night, while the boys are sleeping in their dormitory, they hear a loud commotion. Men have arrived demanding that the priests help them. They have a sick passenger and nowhere else to go. The priests, unable to turn them away, decide they will do what they can to help.
They never knew the hell they were about to unleash until it was far too late.
"When the man died," he says warily, as if he isn't sure he wants the answers he's seeking, "Something strange happened inside the dormitory. The doors were thrown open, as if by a strong wind. And the cross....it fell to the floor. It was as if...."
Andrew waits, trying to temper his own apprehension.
"As if something entered that room, Father," Peter says, his eyes no longer delirious, or frightened, or feverish. They look at Andrew steadily. Assured. "As if, something had come inside...and settled there."
Fracassi went full throttle into the world of possession and all the horrifying details that entails. It's brutal, gory, and action packed from start to finish. Don't be fooled into thinking this is going to be some kind of YA horror tale, being that most of the cast are kids, this is an adult horror novel through and through. The one thing that surprised me the most is how much I cared about some of these characters. Peter was perfectly realized and I adored him. I loved how selfless he was and how much he cared about everyone around him. I don't think I'll forget him for a long time to come.
I also need to mention what an excellent writer Fracassi is. This is a man that was born to write. I was so very impressed with what he accomplished here. The older I get the more I struggle to find horror writers I enjoy. A lot of horror novels are too campy, too cheesy, too amateurish, too sexualized. Not the case here. THIS is the literary horror novel I've been craving and Fracassi delivered in spades. Amen! 5 stars!
Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for my complimentary copy. -
4,5 ⭐
Una buena novela que he disfrutado mucho. No conocía al autor, pero voy a repetir con él seguro.
Dice la sinopsis:
Orfanato para niños de San Vicente. Principios del siglo XX, en un remoto valle de Pensilvania.
Bajo la atenta mirada de varios sacerdotes, treinta chicos trabajan, se instruyen y rinden pleitesía al Señor. Viven sus vidas de forma metódica y se llevan bien a pesar de tener personalidades y pasados diferentes.
Peter Barlow, huérfano desde la infancia, ha forjado una nueva vida entre sus muros y, a medida que se acerca a la edad adulta, echa la vista atrás y ve que ha conseguido un grupo de amigos, un futuro, una familia...
Una noche de tormenta, un grupo de hombres llega hasta las puertas del orfanato, uno de ellos malherido, con el cuerpo cubierto de símbolos extraños grabados en su piel. Tras su muerte, se libera un antiguo mal, y pronto, los chicos, empiezan a actuar de forma diferente...
Ahora, Peter y aquellos a los que consideraba sus hermanos, deben elegir bando, sabiendo que sus vidas, y tal vez sus almas, están en juego.
¿Qué destaco del libro?
Un libro de terror muy bien escrito, que se mueve a ritmo de thriller. La prosa de este hombre es a un tiempo directa y colorista. Tiene la virtud de describir, retrotraerse a episodios del pasado y ambientar sin ralentizar la acción. Engancha desde el principio y es difícil dejar de leer.
Se estructura en cuatro partes, cada una subdividida en capítulos de corta duración. Alterna sin patrón fijo capítulos en primera persona, en los que la voz de Peter, el protagonista, nos cuenta la historia, con otros en tercera por medio de un narrador omnisciente. La alternancia entre ambos tipos de narrador le proporciona al lector una visión más completa y global.
La atmósfera que pone en juego es de nota. Va in crescendo sin prisa, pero sin pausa. Nos muestra de forma ágil, pero precisa, lo que es la vida de estos huérfanos en San Vicente en un día normal para pasar a desarrollar los acontecimientos que se desencadenan a partir de la llegada, esa noche, de un grupo de hombres. Estamos ante una novela de terror con escenas truculentas en las que al autor no le duelen prendas. Sin embargo, lo verdaderamente inquietante, no son tanto esas escenas sino la manera en que Fracassi nos sumerge en la mentes y emociones de esos niños más aterrorizados a cada minuto que pasa. El ambiente, la tensión, el desamparo y el miedo que se mascan en ese dormitorio, eso sí que me puso los pelos de punta.
Los personajes complejos, en tonos de gris y bien construidos. Nos los traza con precisión a lo largo de la trama sin para la acción. Peter, David, el padre Andrew, el hermano Johnson y el padre Poole, son los más destacados. De todos ellos mi preferido es David, el más humano, el que no está sujeto a grandes ideales, el que se debate entre su instinto de conservación, que le dice que huya, o el quedarse y ayudar al resto de los niños. Sobre el resto, una infinita pena por el destino de Peter, el que lo llevó al orfanato y el que le marcan allí. Poole y Andrew son lo que cabía esperar y Johnson es el hombre primario, cruel, torturado por su pasado y, que, ante todo, anhela la redención.
El desenlace no desmerece. En esa atmósfera de menos a más, que crea Fracassi, el final es el apocalipsis. Se le pude poner algún pero, aunque a mí, me tuvo tan absorbida, que los paso por alto.
Un último apunte sobre lo bonita que es la edición. Dilatando Mentes no decepciona.
En conclusión. Una novela de terror que se mueve a ritmo de thriller. Una trama atractiva, una atmósfera in crescendo construida de forma impecable y buenos personajes. Recomendable. -
Amazing how this book abruptly lost its charm for me in the last, say, 50 pages.
What starts as a wonderfully creepy tale appealing to empathy and giving serious chills, turns into a dull, formulaic, religious resolution in which
I have to say though it is really well written and has the potential to glue you to the pages. The characters are so vivid, their pain so real you actually feel with them, and want to quickly know what happens.
Looking at all the reviews it’s hard to find anything less than 4 stars, so wow, I’m obviously the outlier, just not my book, I guess. 2,5 rounded up. -
Boys in the Valley is the first book that I’ve read by Philip Fracassi.
I was hoping to believe the hype on this one from the many horror friends that loved it.
And I'm a believer!
Boys in the Valley is a tale as old as time on good vs evil and does a fantastic job of showing both in a book that oozes with despair, chokes you with dread, and pulls you into a terrifying nightmare of possession.
This is definitely in the top five of horror books that I’ve read for the year.
I loved the old school horror vibe along with the great writing and the excellent characterization Fracassi does with the priests and orphans at St. Vincent’s.
Every time I picked up this book, I would have a sense of dread and fear for the orphans. It’s just brilliant storytelling and atmosphere!
I'm excited to read more books by Fracassi in the future! -
RTC.
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Boys in the Valley is tagged as The Exorcist meets Lord of the Flies, which is a very apt description. Enjoyable religious horror if that is your kind of thing.
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3.5 Stars
Video Review:
https://youtu.be/O1gEf94XYdE
This is my third time reading a novel by this author and I am impressed by their range. This story is so different than Gothic and A Child Alone Among Strangers. I like an author who can write a variety of stories but ultimately some will work better than others.
I loved the setting of the Catholic orphanage. The story has a slower start but I happen to love the classic tropes surrounding orphaned children so that wasn't an issue for me. Once the horror started it leaned into some elements that I personally enjoy which was great.
Overall I liked this one but I felt like there was a missed opportunity with the Catholic school setting and I incorrectly predicted that the author would lean into some social commentary focusing on the evils of humanity. Instead the setting was simply the setting, which is fine but makes for a less powerful story.
Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher. -
Boys in the Valley is the story of a traumatised kid who ends up in a Catholic orphanage (OH NO) where food is scarce and kindness and compassion are even more rare. So the boy takes refuge in his faith in god, weird books and a pen-pal relationship he makes with a girl named Grace.
Into this difficult situation the police bring a feral lunatic who may or may not be possessed by a demon. Good job, police.
This event unleashes a wave of devastation across the orphanage. Whatever began in the lunatic spreads to the kids. And like little steaming teapots their pent-up fury over their daily humiliations escalates into a screaming death whistle. Where hatred and fear metastasises into a blood-curdling explosion of violence that makes Children of the Corn look like Paddington 2.
Killer kids running amok (whether possessed by demons or not) is one of the truly great sub-genres of horror because children are both beautiful and absolutely terrifying. The idea of seeing kids twisted into hellish devious little maniacs is disturbing, because they are so innocent and pure. But it also rings true, because kids can be creepy little freaks. Even the best kid can wake up their parents in the middle of the night, whispering to imaginary friends, laughing at jokes only they can hear and quietly quoting Latin verses from the book of the dead. Why? BECAUSE CHILDREN. And some of those creepy little freaks turn into straight-up cold-blooded horror-shows from the deep. And the line between the cold-blooded horror-shows and the adorable innocent cuddle-dumplings can get pretty blurry in the wrong circumstances.
And this is one of those very wrong circumstances.
Where rumours of possession and tribal infighting against oppressive and abusive authority figures makes things go from bad to biblical. Where every little sweetheart with a sob story is just one claw-hammer away from turning your face into a steaming bucket of gory mashed potatoes.
Boys In the Valley is the 4th book I've read from Philip Fracassi. I've checked out his two brilliant short story collections Behold the Void and Beneath a Pale Sky. And they are two of the best collections of this decade. I also read his epic 80s callback with the evil desk that eats people's arms: Gothic. And I am still walking funny.
Each time a new Philip Fracassi book drops in my lap I'm always impressed and a bit surprised. In every new book he's just continuously changing and diversifying his style. Building upon his arsenal. He's an extremely versatile writer who is constantly pushing his boundaries and trying new things.
On one hand he'll have ridiculous plots where secret organisations connected to evil sorcerers hunt for a possessed desk that is a portal to a hell dimension. On the other hand he'll do heart-breaking stories about growing up that casually link the emotional abuse children face in the places they feel the most safe with cosmic horror. But he treats all these stories with a sense of seriousness and discipline.
His pacing is pitch perfect, his characterisation is challenging and his themes are rock solid. He's remarkably consistent and succinct. He's also not afraid to get right to the point and let the storytelling do the work. You can tell a lot of writers try to over-stuff their plots and sell the idea to their audience too much with repetitive talking points or prose.
They want to spell out the meaning of their ideas and concepts, so they repeat them and repeat them and repeat them. Even when that isn't necessary.
Fracassi just lets the story speak for itself. He just lets it go. And that takes talent and a sort of crazy bravery. A dedication and belief in the world you're building. To just open it up and let it exist.
And it does.
He doesn't hold anything back. Not ever. There are writers who bleed onto the page and it shows. They open a vein and the work flows from that sheer vulnerability. Fracassi doesn't just open a vein, he spills his guts. Real samurai work. And then he bids you to climb inside his stomach to take refuge from the cold.
A lot of his stories feel intensely personal to the point where every inch of it is so uncomfortable, it's like a novel written in raw nerves. And Boys in the Valley feels like his most deeply personal and thematically dense work to date.
Every single character in this horror novel has a raging internal struggle between who they believe they are and who they actually are and by the end of the book that conflict is resolved. And the book is pretty short. And there's a lot of characters.
Boys in the Valley deals with so many topics and so many characters and so many perspectives. And we go from internalising trauma and suicide to facing depression to the cowardice of violence and abuse to the difference between faith and religion and the power between them. But the book remains easy, quick, always moving. This book is as nasty as a swarm of snapping turtles and it is also a lot of fun.
I read Boys in the Valley in a single sitting, and there are many images and horrific concepts that will stick with me forever. The dead father tormenting his child, the abusive authority figure remembering a kid's brains spilling out of their head, the old priest praying to go blind. It's violent, it's brutal, it's intense.
But I'll also remember the kindness at the center of this novel. This book is uplifting, it's soulful, and in its final moments, it's warm. Like a memory of making angels in the snow. It's a story about the random violence and cruelty and pain that takes us into depths of hell and the kindness and love and hope that leads us out.
9/10
Highly recommended. -
I'll start off by saying – the beginning frightened me, and that doesn't so come easy. It was a horrifically ugly scene of anger advancing into madness, but know that this scene represents a past, not what will come. It captured an amazing amount of background with short brushstrokes. The narrative then flashes forward a number of years, and within the current setting I realized I knew the young boy, Peter, who would become Boys in the Valley's main character. At 16 he had a feeling about the future, yet only bound by two likely paths ahead. One to follow God, predicated by growing up in the orphanage with other young boys raised by priests; the other to follow his heart and love. In the moment, he doesn't know that his heart could possibly be the guide for either choice, nor that he will be influenced by those earliest memories and the suddenly closing future. With a winter storm it will change everything that had mattered before, forcibly defining his inner self and the decisions he will make. If anything could have possibly prepared Peter, it was his past.
I most appreciate a character like Peter. He's vulnerable, but has conviction. He's loving, yet he has questions. I focus on Peter, though there are others to both like and hate. Fracassi creates an isolated setting that's believable by being so. Yes, there were some very hard scenes here, but like the best stories they scenes were balanced by tenderness. In the forward, Davidson said it offers as much hope as despair, and I believe that describes it perfectly. -
BOYS IN THE VALLEY was a pretty good horror/supernatural story, probably the best that I have read in a long time. The story centers around some young boys in a US orphanage in 1898. If we are to believe all we have heard about orphanages and asylums from those days it is a wonder that anybody ever survived their incarcerations there. Yet we must admit things could have been pretty bad there, at least by today's standards, which helps set the mood for the story.
Right off the bat one gets immersed in the boys' world and can't help but keep turning the pages. Before long the real horror rears its ugly head and that is when the real story takes off.
Thankfully there are short chapters, which I can appreciate, for I hate having to stop in the middle of a long chapter and then have to pick up where I left off the night before. For me it is like when you are watching an episode of a show and they start off with, "Previously ..." because I have go back to reread parts.
Even though some minor parts are predictable, probably due to human nature, there was plenty of suspense. The ending was fitting, that is all I will say on the matter, lest I give too much away.
One problem that I have with supernatural stories is when they go into a lot of detail to explain certain things. Unless I remember that it is just a work of fiction, I find myself thinking that it is just too far-fetched to make for an entertaining read. That isn't the case for me here. Some things are left to the imagination, which allows us to fill in the blanks and scare ourselves -
I'm obsessed with this book. This is set in an orphanage located in a remote place in Pennsylvania, managed by priests who have no qualms doling out medieval style tortures to little kids. Their already dire situation is dialed up to an infinite madness and terror when they have the sheriff and his deputies knocking on their doors along with a wounded criminal. This one incident changes all of their fates. There will be sides taken-the hunter and the hunted. Oof.. this evoked so many emotions in me. This will be included in my fav horror books of all time🖤. I will never shut up about it😌
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A lo largo de los años he ido acumulando una buena cantidad de obras de terror que han modelado al lector que ahora soy. No sabría decir que fue lo que encontré en aquellos libros, por qué me fascinaban, qué los diferenciaba del resto de obras literarias convencionales… O si en realidad fueron ellos los que encontraron en mi a un niño miedoso y propicio para atormentarlo con ese abanico de sangre, atrocidades y muerte que desfilaba por aquellas añoradas páginas.
Ha pasado el tiempo y sigo disfrutando de esta aterradora experiencia. A día de hoy no me planteo otra manera de entender la diversión con los libros que la que supone el enfrentarse a esas historias, en donde la incertidumbre ante lo desconocido continúa provocándome todo tipo de estremecimientos. Libros como El exorcista, Nuestra parte de noche, Cementerio de animales, La chica de al lado…presentan diferentes modos de enfocar el horror y todos ellos, lo han conseguido.
Sin embargo, acariciar las redes del terror no es tarea sencilla. Es fácil caer en la tentativa de frecuentar espacios, repetir esquemas y sorprender con giros de la trama que, por desgracia, suelen ser previsibles.
En Los chicos del Valle, Philips Fracassi nos plantea una experiencia reconocible para el lector acostumbrado a este tipo de historias. Nos encontramos inmersos en un viejo orfanato, alejado de cualquier contacto con la sociedad, en condiciones ambientales complejas, cuya rigidez en las normas, la escasez de recursos y la férrea disciplina, suponen por sí mismas una fuente inagotable de horror. Bajo esas circunstancias crece Peter, nuestro protagonista, que trata de servir de guía al resto de los niños de la institución pero cuyos traumas del pasado continúan presente cada día en sus pensamientos.
Pero una noche, de madrugada, llaman a la puerta…
Con esas premisas, Los chicos del Valle no deja de ser una apuesta por esos ambientes fríos, lúgubres y góticos que tan bien se adaptan a la literatura de terror. Sin embargo, esa llamada a la puerta hace que la novela se tiña de unos colores lo suficientemente oscuros como para viciar las paredes de ese orfanato, recordándonos que lo que habíamos leído hasta ese momentoera una simple introducción.
En las novelas que mencioné antes, todas ella estremecedoras y virtuosas en eso del terror, se mantienen unos nexos en común que están presentes en esta obra de Fracassi. Más allá del origen del mal que describan, en esos grandes libros los autores se toman su tiempo para que te familiarices con los personajes, les cojas cariño y, como es obvio, terminen por importarte. Pero, al igual que en esta historia, una vez que te has familiarizado con ellos, se desata esa incertidumbre que te hará temer por todo aquello que les pueda pasar.
Eso genera miedo, mucho, dentro de esta obra cuyo núcleo central radica en la supervivencia de unos pequeños cuya vida ya estaba siendo terrorífica antes de escuchar los golpes de la puerta. Fracassi es impecable con sus personajes y les dota de las herramientas necesarias para aterrorizar al lector hasta el punto de tener que reflexionar alejado del libro acerca de determinados pasajes narrados que están llenos de pura maldad.
Soy consciente de que el terror no deja de ser una percepción, una percepción tremendamente subjetiva. La misma que me lleva acompañando desde que me inicié a leer este tipo de historias que continúan a mi lado pese al paso de los años. Ese miedo lo encuentro entre las líneas de historias tan fantásticas como las que se presenta en Los chicos del valle.
Y es que, pese al transcurrir de los años, leer novelas como esta no dejan de hacerme feliz. -
This was good and REALLY sad. It didn't hit the fear factor elements as well for me as it did for a lot of my friends, unfortunately, but it tugged at my heart a whole lot and the writing was lovely. RTC
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Los chicos del valle es una novela de Philip Fracassi publicada en español por Dilatando Mentes. Yo la catalogaría como terror religioso (posesiones/exorcismos).
En ella, la vida de 30 huérfanos se ve alterada una noche, tras la llegada de un grupo de hombres armados y heridos al orfanato que resulta en dos muertos.
Pero la cosa no ha hecho más que empezar ya que algo oscuro se ha instalado entre los muros del orfanato y amenaza la vida y la seguridad de los pequeños.
Este género del terror nunca ha sido mi favorito y al leer esta novela he entendido por qué.
Los chicos del valle tiene lo que le falta a otras novelas del género y por eso me ha gustado tanto!
Tiene acción y un ritmo trepidante. Tiene demonios activos que no se dedican a poseer un cuerpo y estar tumbados en el lecho esperando a que un cura los joda, sino que no paran de hacer el mal. Demonios que toman la forma de lo más puro e inocente, niños pequeños, pero que no escatiman en violencia y crueldad. Demonios que se alimentan de la rabia y el dolor de los huérfanos y lo usan a su favor.
Todo esto me ha parecido. Simplemente perfecto ya que esos sentimientos de los niños nos hacen arden a nosotros de impotencia por cómo los tratan en el orfanato.
Todo esto, sumado al amplio elenco de personajes y a la elección del narrador (que tiene su foco en más de 5 de ellos) nos envuelve en la trama confusa y frenética y hace que no podamos parar de leer hasta llegar a un final que nos va a dejar con la mandíbula en el suelo y el corazón roto.
Para mí han sido 5/5⭐️ y no puedo hacer más que recomendároslo!! -
In the story, Jesus commanded the demons out of the man and cast them into a herd of two thousand pigs. Driven mad, the pigs rush into a nearby lake and drown.
This is an important lesson to keep in mind the next time you perform an exorcism, 'cause you just KNOW those demon are gonna go lookin' for other hosts.
Here is a fine, suspenseful tale of evil unleashed at a boys' orphanage in 1905. Not much else to say other than there's lots of tension and gore, and other stuff they don't warn you about in the seminary.
Yikes! -
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. -
A battle of good vs evil with a supernatural twist! The setting is so atmospheric. It’s cold, dark, and it even smells old. I was transported in history and there in this brutal environment with the characters. One would think that a book that takes place in a Christian orphanage with children would be a bit more wholesome. This is definitely not that. Some of the children are delightful (Peter ❤) and some may or may not be demonic. It is absolutely gruesome in spots, and there is one horrific scene that I won’t soon forget. I think the book did suffer a touch with some pacing issues about a third or so in, but everything else made up for that. I even teared up a little in the end. 4.5 stars, rated up.
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Ugh the Christ child won. 🙄💀
That said, ehh it was aight, wanted more demon aspects than just the basic possession aspect. -
"God is not found through escape from a distant place, but through the arrival of where you already are."
I'm still rather misty-eyed as I write this. Forgive me...
In Pennsylvania 1905, young Peter lives in a Catholic all-boys orphanage; years ago his father killed his mother and himself. Life there is tough, but it's the only home Peter and the boys know. Father Poole and his (basically) lapdog Brother Johnson, the latter a former criminal who chose service to the church as punishment instead of imprisonment, keep a very tight leash and punish the boys quite harshly. Peter, often called Saint Peter by the other boys, is one of the two lights at the orphanage. He cares for the other boys and treats them kindly, all while preparing for priesthood under the second light, Father Andrew. But Peter is conflicted about his path to the priesthood, for he has long had feelings for Grace Hill, a farm girl whose father helps supply the orphanage.
All of this is upended when the sheriff brings his brother the orphanage. The man is covered in occult symbols after being pulled from a ritual in the forest where men and women killed a three-year-old girl. Just before the sheriff's brother's death he utters the words, "We are many. We are Legion."
And then, slowly, some of the boys start to turn and a dark shadow falls over the orphanage. And then the first deaths begin.
This is my first read ever by Philip Fracassi and I'm delighted to say that I am an immediate fan. This was a great horror read to end in October! It gave me everything I wanted: characters I cared for, actual scares and a menacing threat, and an actually good and in-depth discussion of faith. This book has been, rightly, marketed as Netflix's Midnight Mass meets
Lord of the Flies, though I think it is much stronger than either one of those. It was frankly better than my previous read,
Goddess of Filth, another, different kind of possession story that fell flat due to being too short, rushed discussion of its themes, and just not being that scary.
Boys in the Valley follows four perspectives: the first person of Peter, partially navigating his conflicting thoughts on being a man of God versus being a man of the world; the second being Father Andrew, Peter's mentor--HEY, look at the significance of those names!--, as he tries to stop the cruel Poole and Johnson from mistreating the boys and guide Peter, but sometimes fails at it; the third being David, Peter's friend, who does not enjoy his life at the orphanage, mostly from the physical abuse he received at Poole's hands as a child; and finally, Johnson, a cruel man who might have a softer side beneath all that grit and anger.
Peter's was the most fleshed-out perspective, and it makes since because he's the central character who drives the story. We can see Peter's kindness, fear, and conflicting thoughts on his path in life and how they color his decisions. The conflict of Peter's path made me genuinely interested, wondering if he would be the next priest at the orphanage and be a better "father" to the boys than the other priests or if he would fall in love with Grace. I loved Peter so much and when he showed his bravery to defend the other boys I was so proud of him, but I will say upfront that he is not able to save every boy. At first, at least. And...I'm also in tears about Peter's fate. A part of me suspected that it would be his fate, but another part of me thought (hoped) that maybe it wouldn't. The strange thing is, despite my feelings about it, I don't think I could've seen another outcome. Oh, Peter...
Andrew, David, and Johnson are reasonably fleshed out, but it wouldn't have hurt to get more from them. Of the three of them, I think Andrew is the most complete of them. Andrew genuinely wants to defend the boys from Poole and Johnson's law and order, but sometimes he's so ineffectual you just want to scream. I do think there is a point to this though. Boys in the Valley deals with the theme of fatherhood, both literal and spiritual. Peter's real father killed himself before Peter's eyes leaving him alone in the world for a time, but, one could argue, the reason for Peter's protectiveness of the other boys is to pick up where his father failed. Andrew, Peter's spiritual father, teaches him important things about faith and growing up into a man, but he too lacks strength in certain areas to defend others. Poole, the head priest, is basically a tyrant, showing that a man with so much power at the top will care little for others. And Johnson, who is a brother and not a priest, there's a difference in Catholicism, is a man who wants nothing more to enact his misery upon others. Andrew is the best "father" Peter has right now, but not even he is perfect. Andrew did frustrate me sometimes, but he was a compelling character.
David's perspective was necessary. Although Peter was definitely not blind to the cruelty of Poole and Johnson, we don't get too much about how utterly evil it is until the demons take over and the killings begin. The abuse David received from Poole as a child hangs over him and thus informs how he navigates his daily life at the orphanage and how he thinks about the eventual demonic threat. David can be selfish at times and while I think Fracassi could've gone into a bit more detail about this, it does spring from his feelings of growing up in the orphanage and the desperation from escaping the threat. He even goes so far as to deny the main threat as demonic--interestingly Father Andrew does too at first, perhaps out of guilt for being unable to defend the boys properly--and says that the boys who allied with demons are doing this in retaliation for the life they've lived. Still, every main character needs a foil who views the world differently, and I think David was good for Peter in that regard. David does grow though. Like Peter, he becomes a man and a "father" in his own way.
Johnson was the least fleshed out and we could've seen more. He's a genuinely cruel and terrible man, sublimating his childhood trauma and life as a criminal into his thoughts and actions. This causes him to be easily influenced by the demons who poke and play at his weaknesses. And in spite of all of that, there is a softer side to him that is deeply buried underneath all that. When the first body is found, Johnson is actually grief-stricken and aghast at Father Poole's insensitivity. There's even smaller moments as he tries and fails to resist possession. I won't spoil his fate, but let's jsut say he's able to turn to this better side; albeit it feels forgotten by the other characters.
All of these perspective develop the plot well, especially Peter and Andrew, and the pacing is topnotch. Every scene carries the plot or some sort of emotional development forward and I cherished every moment of it. And even though the pacing is at the correct speed, not too quick and not too slow, nothing of value is lost from the text. Some books can be too quick and you forget certain things. Others can be too slow and your interest starts to wane. Boys in the Valley avoids all of this.
However, what I think I enjoyed most about this book is the discussion of faith and priesthood. I mentioned earlier that this book is sometimes compared to Midnight Mass on Netflix, but I think it's better than Midnight Mass in its discussions. I have no idea what Fracassi believes in or doesn't believe in, nor is it any of my business, but while Boys in the Valley does show how abuse can and has happened in Catholic orphanages, it never disparages the religion itself or belief. I also want to clarify that the abuse in this book never goes to the sexual level, thankfully. The abuse here is at the hands of power-hungry, uncaring men who want things their way. This ties a little back into the whole fatherhood theme. No idea if Fracassi was intending some sort of commentary on toxic masculinity, but if so I applaud him for not beating us over the head with it. In fact, I think it's Poole and Johnson's cruelty, along with the demons' ability to seduce the broken boys who hate being in the orphanage, that make Peter want to focus on his faith and consider the path of priesthood. He wants to be a good father/priest for those who don't have it.
But anyway, back to the Midnight Mass comparison.
Midnight Mass brought up a lot of great points about asking where God's mercy is (if it is even anywhere, especially among other people), can one be forgiven and redeemed for what they've done, and asking just who or what God is. However, in the last episode of the miniseries one the characters gives her thoughts on what God is and, to be honest, I felt that the director Mike Flanagan was trying to placate both the religious and the non-religious viewers of it. The speech was very "Let's come together and God is just kind of (insert what the character said here)." And frankly, to me, that weakened the horror the show was trying to portray. Boys in the Valley never argues about God's existence, but asks what God demands of us for others. This isn't a book that I'd call Christian fiction, but I'd put it on the same level as Jo Walton's
Lent or Mary Doria Russell's
The Sparrow--it takes its subject matter seriously, something I find refreshing in the wasteland of shit that currently exists in the many fields of media storytelling that has limp-wristed discussions of faith and religion. Fracassi never tries to convert or de-convert anybody. He tells us a compelling story and fleshes out its themes and characters to tackle the subject matter.
One thing worth pointing out when concerning the religious themes of this book is that one needs to remember that this takes place in America shortly after the turn of the century, especially in Pennsylvania. Historically, Catholicism was not openly welcomed in early America by the earlier Protestant settlers, though Pennsylvania was somewhat of a safe haven, though not without prejudice. Having the orphanage being remote in a valley, though at a much later date, feels like that Fracassi is reminding of us how truly alone Peter and the others are. Additionally, the story is set only nine years before the First World War. The First World War, heralded by the shot heard around the world, would be the seedling that would cause the rest of the world to start questioning the powers that be, politically, socially, economically, and religiously. It's almost as if the events of Boys in the Valley is a lament that good people like Peter started to fade or become unseen before the world plunge into disquietude. But that is merely my own ramblings/theory.
And that ending...That fucking ending. I am...I am just filled with joy and sorrow. Bittersweet endings. How I love you.
Thank you for this, Fracassi. -
Boys in the Valley is the first book I have read by Philip Fracassi. Gosh it's so well written. A slow burn novel dripping with tension and mystery.
Set in an orphanage run by Priests from the Catholic Church we meet various young boys and teenager orphans. We learn their history, friendships and hardships. One late night they are awoken by the police who have a man suffering injuries and request the help of Father Poole who was a medic during the war. There is something wrong with this man more than the injury he suffers. This man will leave a mark on the orphanage and something behind which will infect everything with a violent darkness.
The setting of the orphanage in a freezing snow bitten area was haunting in itself. The descriptions of the landscape and is harsh elements add to the pending doom that resonates as you read it. The Priests are superbly written from the caring Father Andrew to the hateful and cruel Father Poole. It's a slow burn setting its mood, taking its time with amazing character development and surrounding mystery. We are left with a terror filled final quarter of the book as what has infected the walls of the establishment takes over and has control of its inhabitants.
A story of love, wonder, tests of character, childhood dreams and absolute horror which oozes from the page. It will leave you shocked and depressed. A beautiful novel.
