 2007 edition, published by Tor Books | |
| Author | Norman Partridge |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Fiction |
| Published | 2006 |
| Publisher | Cemetery Dance Publications |
| Publication place | United States |
| Pages | 176 |
Dark Harvest is a 2006 horror novel by Norman Partridge. The book is set in a hamlet where its young men must confront a creature each year in the hopes that they will win a desirable prize. [1]
A film adaptation of the novel was released in 2023.
The novel is set in an unnamed Midwestern hamlet, where each year, all of the young men take part in a yearly ritual in which they hunt a giant pumpkin-headed creature that arises from the corn, known as both "Sawtooth Jack" and the "October Boy". They are tasked with catching the creature before it makes it to the hamlet's church, which it must do before midnight, in order to win the ordeal. Girls are forbidden from participating or being outside during the hunt. The winner of the hunt receives the ability to leave the hamlet – something not otherwise possible – and his family is given a new home, car, and a year free from bills. Winners are frequently idolized, and last year's winner, Jim Shepard, is no exception.
Unbeknownst to the participants, the truth behind the ritual is far darker than what they would expect. While the winner's family does receive their prizes, the winning boy is killed, so he may become the new creature, the following year, when he is resurrected, as a gnarled monster with a pumpkin head. His father, this year Jim's father Dan, is forced to carve a face for the creature and then later, persuade the creature to let itself be caught, if it does happen to make it to the church by midnight. Many of the town's fathers are aware of the truth of the ritual but still allow their sons to take part. This year, the October Boy is determined that it will be the last year for the ritual.
Ultimately, the October Boy manages to make it to the church, with the help of some of the local teens, where he finds that his father has died by suicide. He also comes face-to-face with the hamlet's lawman, Jerry Ricks, who is determined that the ritual continue. Ricks's attempts are for naught, as he is shot and killed. The church and surrounding buildings are then set ablaze by the October Boy as the townspeople flee, now able to freely leave the hamlet.
Dark Harvest was first released in a limited edition, signed hardback in October 2006. [2] [3] The following year Tor Books issued the novel in e-book and paperback format. [4] [5]
Publishers Weekly named it one of the 100 best books of the year. [6] A reviewer for Dread Central was critical, writing that "the author forgot to tie up a lot of loose ends, for example why the entire town is in lock-down in the first place and dependent on the massacre of its perennial monster." [7] The reviewer for the Austin Chronicle was more favorable, as they felt that "The only weakness is Partridge's insistence at times to intentionally use a distracting second-person narrative. That is but a small complaint." [8]
New Regency optioned the film rights, with Matt Tolmach to produce but was sold to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in April 2020 after New Regency dropped the film into turnaround. The film stars newcomers Casey Likes and E’myri Crutchfield in the lead roles, and was released by MGM in 2023, with a screenplay by Michael Gilio. [10] [11]
Glenn Chadbourne is an American artist. He lives in Newcastle, Maine. He is best known for his work in the horror and fantasy genres, having created covers and illustrated books and magazines for publishers such as Cemetery Dance Publications, Subterranean Press, and Earthling Publications. Mr. Chadbourne is known for his sense of humour and down to earth manner, as well as the stark honesty of his work.
Cemetery Dance Publications is an American specialty press publisher of horror and dark suspense. Cemetery Dance was founded by Richard Chizmar, a horror author, while he was in college. It is associated with Cemetery Dance magazine, which was founded in 1988. They began to publish books in 1992. They later expanded to encompass a magazine and website featuring news, interviews, and reviews related to horror literature.
Norman Partridge is an American writer of horror and mystery fiction. He has written two detective novels about retired boxer Jack Baddalach, Saguaro Riptide and The Ten Ounce Siesta. He is also the author of a Crow novel, The Crow: Wicked Prayer, which was adapted in 2005 into the fourth Crow movie, bearing the same name.
Night of the Demons 2 is a 1994 American horror film directed by Brian Trenchard-Smith and starring Amelia Kinkade, Cristi Harris, Rick Peters, Jennifer Rhodes and Christine Taylor. It is the sequel to Night of the Demons and was released on home video in 1994 by Republic Pictures Home Video. Lionsgate released it on DVD in 2007; Olive Films released a widescreen DVD and a first time Blu-ray release on February 19, 2013. The film was followed by the 1997 sequel Night of the Demons 3.
Jonathan Maberry is an American suspense author, anthology editor, comic book writer, magazine feature writer, playwright, content creator and writing teacher/lecturer. He was named one of the Today's Top Ten Horror Writers.
Al Sarrantonio is an American horror and science fiction writer, editor and publisher who has authored more than 50 books and 90 short stories. He has also edited numerous anthologies.
Mojo Press was a small press which primarily published science fiction, horror, and western books and graphic novels between 1994 and 1999.
It Waits is a 2005 American horror film directed by Steven R. Monroe and starring Cerina Vincent, Dominic Zamprogna, and Greg Kean. Written by Richard Christian Matheson, Thomas E. Szollosi, and Stephen J. Cannell, the film is about a forest ranger who encounters a terrible creature who has been killing people in the remote national forest where she works. When the creature attacks her isolated ranger station and kills her forest ranger boyfriend, she goes after the creature. Filmed on location in British Columbia, Canada, It Waits was a direct-to-DVD release in the United States and worldwide.
James Arthur Moore was an American horror novelist and short story writer, and role-playing game author.
This is a bibliography of works about Halloween or in which Halloween is a prominent theme.
Rick Hautala was an American speculative fiction and horror writer. He graduated from the University of Maine in 1974, where he received a Master of Art in English Literature. Rick arrived on the horror scene in 1980 with many of his early novels published by Zebra books. He wrote and published over 90 novels and short stories since the early 1980s. Many of his books have been translated to other languages and sold internationally. Cold Whisper, published in October, 1991 by Zebra Books, Inc. was also published in Finnish as Haamu by Werner Söderström, Helsinki, Finland, in August, 1994. Toward the end of his life, many of his works were published with specialty press and small press publishers like Cemetery Dance Publications and Dark Harvest. His novel The Wildman (2008), was chosen to be Full Moon Press' debut limited edition title.
Pan, the Greek deity, is often portrayed in cinema, literature, music, and stage productions, as a symbolic or cultural reference.
John Everson is an American author of contemporary horror, dark fantasy, science fiction and fantasy fiction. He is the author of thirteen novels and four short fiction collections, as well as three mini-collections, all focusing on horror and the supernatural. His novel Covenant, was originally released in a limited edition hardcover by Delirium Books in 2004 and won the Bram Stoker Award for a First Novel the following year from the Horror Writers Association. His sixth novel, NightWhere, was a finalist for the Bram Stoker Award in 2012.
Brian Hodge is a writer of horror & crime, as well as an avid connoisseur of music. He lives in Boulder, Colorado, where he is working on his latest novel.
The Curse of the Wendigo is a 2010 young adult horror novel by Rick Yancey. It was first published on October 12, 2010 through Simon & Schuster and is the second book in Yancey's Monstrumologist series.
Adam Cesare is an American author of horror novels and short stories. He attended Boston University, where he studied English and film.
Dark Harvest may refer to:
Epic Pictures Group is an independent film and television studio engaged in the development, financing, production and distribution of film and television. Epic Pictures produces, finances, and distributes approximately twenty-thirty independent genre films a year. In 2013, the company established Epic Pictures Releasing which is its US focused distribution division. In 2017, Epic Pictures acquired the horror website, Dread Central, and launched its unique horror label, Dread, followed by its AVOD channel, DreadTV. In 2019, Epic Pictures started the horror gaming site, DreadXP, with a focus on editorial, reviews, podcasts, and original streaming content. In 2020, DreadXP began a video game publishing division with the launch of The Dread X Collection, an anthology of horror games in collaboration with some developers in the independent gaming space.
Dark Harvest is a 2023 American fantasy horror film directed by David Slade and written by Michael Gilio, loosely based on the 2006 novel of the same name by Norman Partridge. It stars Casey Likes, E'myri Crutchfield, Dustin Ceithamer, Elizabeth Reaser, and Jeremy Davies.
Casey Likes is an American actor and singer. He is known for playing Marty McFly in the 2023 Broadway production of Back to the Future: The Musical at the Winter Garden Theatre and originating the role of William Miller in the musical theatre adaptation, in 2019 in San Diego and then on Broadway in 2022, of the film Almost Famous.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)