I love the way horror novels are often tied to a specific, vividly rendered place: a scary house, a sinister hospital, a remote stretch of woods. Today I’m drilling down on that last one, with a few horror novels where characters bring something unexpected back from their wilderness adventures. These novels also share a focus on close friendships and the ties that bind.
Echo by Thomas Olde Heuvelt
“Nature is calling—but they shouldn’t have answered” – that’s the publisher’s hook, and wow did it hook me. Nick and Augustin, mountaineers and friends, decided to tackle a remote peak in the Swiss Alps called Le Maudit (meaning cursed, in French), but got the weird feeling they weren’t alone on the slopes. Only Nick came back from the mountain, but he brought something home within him. Sam, Nick’s boyfriend, delves into the history of Le Maudit, even as people begin to die strange, violent deaths at the hospital where Nick is recuperating. Sam’s notes alternate with Nick’s diary entries in this atmospheric, creepy novel.
Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo
Andrew and Eddie have been inseparable, best friends since they were kids in small town Tennessee, a bond made even tighter by a harrowing three days stuck in an underground cave. They spent their teen and college years in Illinois, but Eddie returned to Tennessee for grad school at Vanderbilt, only to die by suicide in his first semester. Convinced something else must have happened, Andrew moves to Nashville, makes friends with Eddie’s friends, interviews Eddie’s thesis advisor, and slowly realizes it might all trace back to their time in the cave, and what was down there with them. This is a slow burn mix of Southern Gothic and horror, full of sultry nights, drag racing, and family curses.
The Return by Rachel Harrison
Two years ago, Elise’s best friend Julie went hiking alone in Acadia Nation park and never came back. The rest of their friend group moved on, but Elise never quite believed Julie was dead. And then – Julie’s back, seemingly with no memory of where she’s been for two years. The four friends head to an eccentric, largely empty hotel in the Catskills to celebrate, but it increasingly seems like Julie came back … a little wrong. Previously a vegetarian, now she craves raw meat, she’s emaciated – and her teeth are falling out. As the four close friends try to renew their bond, they must reckon with the changes in Julie and the odd happenings at the hotel. A novel full of dread and body horror.
~ posted by Andrea G.
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