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From the author of the internationally acclaimed bestseller Hex comes a modern horror story with echoes of Paul Tremblay, Joe Hill, and Shirley Jackson''s "The Lottery," about a gilded street in a small Pacific Northwest town where the charmed residents have made a frightening bargain . . . with devastating consequences. Sometimes you think you can see things behind the fence. Bad things. So it''s better not to look . . . In Lock Haven, a quiet little town in Washington State, Bird Street is a very special place. The residents of this pretty cul-de-sac are all successful, wealthy, healthy, and happy. Their children are high achievers, well-mannered and smart. But when November arrives the "Darker Days" descend, bringing accidents, bad luck, familial conflict, and illness. It is in November when a stranger appears to collect on a longstanding debt. A price must be paid for the good fortune the residents of Bird Street enjoy the other eleven months of the year. The devil is due. A sacrifice must be made. So it has been for over a hundred years. To assuage their guilt, the denizens of Bird Street choose carefully who will be sent into the woods. Usually, it is an elderly or terminally ill individual who wishes to die with dignity and is content to be helped on their way. Until one year, things don''t go to plan and events take a terrifying turn . . . Darker Days is a propulsive, haunting novel that begs the question. "how far will we go for our own happiness and what sacrifices we are willing to make?"
About the author
Thomas Olde Heuvelt is an international bestselling author from The Netherlands and the first translated author to win a Hugo Award. His novels include the acclaimed HEX, Echo, and Oracle, and are published in over twenty-five countries around the world. TV rights to Darker Days have already been sold to a major US studio. Olde Heuvelt, whose last name means “Old Hill” in Dutch dialect, is also an avid guitar player and mountaineer. He lives in the south of France with his partner and pet lizard.
Summary
"Darker Days is a meticulous work of terror, a harrowing drop into a moral nightmare. If you can imagine the philosophical oomph of Bergman's The Seventh Seal joined to the rustic shocks of Midsommer, and all of it transported to America's suburbia, you'd have something like Darker Days. It's a scream." — Joe Hill, #1 New York Times bestselling author of King Sorrow
"Darker Days reinforces that Olde Heuvelt is one of the most vital and exciting voices in modern horror”— Mike Flanagan, director of The Haunting of Hill House, The Fall of the House of Usher, and Dr. Sleep
From the author of the internationally acclaimed bestseller HEX comes a modern twist on the Faustian tale about a gilded street in a Pacific Northwest town where the charmed residents have made a frightening deal . . . resulting in devastating consequences.
Sometimes you think you can see things behind the fence. Bad things. So it’s better not to look . . .
In Lock Haven, a quiet little town in Washington State, Bird Street is a special place. The residents of this pretty cul-de-sac on the edge of the woods are all successful, healthy, and happy. Their children are prodigies; well-mannered and… unnaturally smart.
But come November, the “Darker Days” descend, bringing accidents, bad luck, conflict, and illness. Luana and Ralph Lewis-da Silva prepare for this, and so do their children Kaila and Django. It is in November when a stranger appears to collect on a longstanding debt. A price must be paid for the good fortune they enjoy the rest of the year. A sacrifice must be made.
So it has been for over a century. To assuage their guilt, the residents of Bird Street choose carefully who will be sent into the woods. Usually, it is an elderly or terminally ill individual who wishes to die with dignity and is content to be helped on their way.
But this year, things don’t go to plan, and events take a terrifying turn . . .
Darker Days is a propulsive, haunting novel that begs the questions: “How far will we go for our own happiness and what sacrifices are we willing to make?”
