Every year, on Halloween night, a pumpkin growing in an evil patch of soil comes to eerie life. Each year, a man is chosen to carve a face and make a body for the pumpkin. After stuffing the hellish Frankenstein-creation with gobs of candy, it is unleashed as a participant in a game called the Run. It's goal: to reach the church in the center of town by midnight. Standing in its way: an army of teenage boys, each one determined to take Sawtooth Jack, or Ol' Hacksaw Face, the October Boy, down with whatever weapon he can. To the victor is promised a year of easy living and the guarantee of a bumper crop. But if the October Boy wins...well, the town will have a lot more than hell to contend with.
The above premise sounds absurd, and could easily be the makings for a yuk-a-minute horror spoof, but Norman Partridge takes it and delivers a no-nonsense, punch-to-the-gut. Dark Harvest is chilling, surely one of the most effective books I've read in the genre. I had been meaning to buy and read this for a year or so. I had seen it on the shelves at multiple book stores, picked it up a few times, but always put it down for some reason. It has a great cover, it is short, and more than a few times the blurbs on the inside mention the name of Joe R. Lansdale in comparison. Come to find out, Partridge and Lansdale are buddies, and so, without any further hesitation, I bought it and read it in a matter of hours.
The story practically unfolds in real time. It takes place from the hours of around 7 p.m. until midnight, and it only takes about that long to read. Partridge's terse, concise narrative creates a kind of immediacy I seldom encounter in a book. It actually reads like a well made horror film, and frankly, it's better than almost every horror flick I've seen. The horror genre is one that relies upon the immediacy of the moment. You want that tension; you want suspense that builds and erupts with energy. This is a book of literary jump-scares that is truly tense.
Partridge employs a second-person present-tense point of view, a POV I don't often come across, and it does wonders for the story. The reader is put right smack-dab in the middle of the action. And what action! What gobsmacking action! The plot is unrelenting, it grabbed me by the throat and pulled me through a series of incredible events and situations. Through his unique style, Partridge controls the narrative like a film director. He positions the camera and tells you what you are seeing and how it should make you feel. Yes it is a tad manipulative, but it is also effective. He invokes a commonality found in horror fans, and plays upon the knowledge of genre conventions and familiar settings. I felt more like a participant of the story rather than a passive reader.
Partridge also utilizes fluid transitions between the different characters and scenes. When Peter McCormick, the main character, is let lose for the Run, we slowly pull away from him while he is running down the street, and then turn to focus on a car blazing a trail towards the city's outskirts. We then follow the car and transition to a new set of characters and the harrowing situation they soon find themselves in. After this, we follow the car back into town and back to Peter. These kinds of transitions are littered throughout the novel, and I've never read anything like them. Pure literary brilliance if you ask me.
By the end of the short novel, I could barely believe the experience. Partridge just does so much right its damn near unbelievable. Some conventions - the good ones - are followed, while others get squashed and kicked to the curb. I found myself utterly despising certain characters, rooting for Peter, and, well, that's all I am going to say because I really don't want to give anything else away. Needless to say, I was rightfully shocked and surprised at a few twists and turns and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute I spent with this book. And the finale is one of the coolest freaking things I've ever read; it's bursting with vivid imagery and gritty violence: it's a climax to die for. It's simply a damn good book, and one that deserves to be read.
