Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Now in Book Stores: Scott Nicholson's The Farm

Horror readers, look out! Scott Nicholson's latest genre novel is now haunting bookstores.

Scott is not only a good friend and a fellow North Carolina author, he's one of the select horror novelists working today who's actually merits all those breathless comparisons to Stephen King. The blurb from Bentley Little says it all: Nicholson boasts a "true talent for terror." I couldn't agree more...

Scott serves as a guest reviewer on my upcoming Horror Films of the 1980s from McFarland, and certainly many readers recognize the author from his chilling previous novels, including The Red Church, The Harvest, The Manor and The Home.

The New York Times raves that The Farm is a "smoothly engineered supernatural entertainment," and here's another blurb on The Farm, and Scott's earlier work that will whet your appetite:

"For his latest thriller, "The Farm," he fictionalized the community history of Todd, NC, a once-booming forestry and railroad center that had declined, and threw in some small-sect Baptist religions that were sprinkled among the mountains. A 200-year-old circuit-riding preacher, a ghostly ex-wife, a pot-growing Libertarian, and a blood-thirsty scarecrow are among the characters in the book, but the story is built on the relationship between Katy Logan and her daughter Jett.

"Katy has married so she can move out of the big city and keep Jett away from bad influences," Nicholson said. "Except bad influences come in many forms. When a herd of carnivorous goats are watching you from the dark throat of the barn, you're probably better off taking your chances with drugs, gangs, and pollution."

Nicholson has written four other novels based in the North Carolina mountains. His first, The Red Church, was a finalist for the Bram Stoker Award and an alternate selection of the Mystery Guild. It was inspired by a haunted church near his home. His novel The Harvest is a B-movie allegory about encroaching development in the rural mountains, and in The Manor, Nicholson used real ghost stories about the Cone Manor on the Blue Ridge Parkway to invent a tale about a haunted artists' retreat..."

I expect The Farm is going to be a real creepfest, and here in the Muir house, the real contest will be who gets to read the book first, husband or wife, since we're both fans. Anyway, check it out at Scott's web site here for more info, or click on over to Amazon.com.

1 comment:

  1. Anonymous12:27 PM

    And if people would like to hear an actual interview with Scott Nicholson, in which he discusses his previous novel, "The Home," as well as "The Farm," they can go to www.captphilonline.com/Destinies.html(or just click on my name), and scroll down to the April 21, 2006 episode.

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