Off Season - A Book You Can't Look Away From
Holy fucking shit…
Off Season is a horror/thriller novel written by infamous author Jack Ketchum and…is one of the sickest books I’ve ever read in my entire life. A young New York City editor heads to the countryside of Maine to work on her latest project and get away from the big city for a while. She’s joined by her friends and sister, who are just there to have a good time. But in the darkness of the woods, they are stalked by a family of savage cannibals who look to put this group of friends on the menu…
So, how can I describe this book? It’s sick and twisted, that’s how I can fucking describe this book! Alright alright…I’ll be serious for a moment. The book itself is downright terrifying. Sick and twisted is also a good way to describe it. There are great moments that are overshadowed by the violence…moments that actually made me squirm and made me feel uncomfortable. Ketchum is definitely a great writer and he has the skills that can terrify readers, but here’s the thing…his brand of violence can be downright offensive at times, particularly the violence against women (but I’ll get to that more in a second…).
The scenes he crafted that were, indeed, nerve-shredding and filled me with anxiety, were definitely my favorite parts of this book. They scared me; I even had a couple of nightmares after reading it before bed. But when the violence finally starts happening, a lot of it was very reminiscent to me of The Hills Have Eyes remake…but not the theatrical edition where the ultra-violence was implied…more like the unrated cut where they just straight up show you what’s happening and are trying to shock you. This book felt like Ketchum really wanted to just shock and destroy your mind with his story, to screw with your morals and to show you that human beings are just the worst creatures imaginable.
The thing is, at first, I wasn’t sure I was going to write this little review on this book. I thought for sure it wouldn’t pass my scoring. But the more I read, the more I realized I couldn’t put it down. Ketchum crafts this story using a theme (in my opinion) that basically just shows human beings at their most primal. They’re all acting on one basic instinct: survival. Whether it’s the crazy cannibal family hunting and butchering and *gulp* raping people in brutal fashion…or it’s one of the heroes breaking a child’s skull against a cave wall because that same kid is trying to rip his throat out…it’s a horror survival tale using the most extreme imagery and violence. Everything about it is meant to offend and screw with you.
Once I got to the end, I felt my heart beating wildly and my hands were shaking. It really did what it was meant to do. I’ll say this, this book isn’t for everyone. It’s offensive, it’s gross, there’s some really messed up scenes of violence and behavior that I’d call problematic, but there’s this strange sort of fascination that kept me glued to the page. I really can’t recommend it to everyone, but if you love your horror gory and ultra-violent, give it a go. I got my copy on Amazon for 3.99 via my Kindle, so check it out there.
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