When the darker days fall, the debt must be paid, . . . get ready for the chilling new folk horror from the Hugo Award-winning, bestselling author of HEX - from the publisher of The Exorcist and perfect for fans of Shirley Jackson and Stephen King.
In Lock Haven, a quiet little town in Washington State, there is a very special street.
Bird Street. The residents of Bird Street are all successful, wealthy, healthy and happy. And their children are all well-mannered and smart and high achievers.
At least they are for eleven months of the year.
In November, however, the ‘Darker Days’ begin. For November’s the month when things take a turn for the worse: accidents, bad luck, familial conflict and illness take hold. And it is in November that a stranger comes to Bird Street to collect the debt owed by the residents.
Because, you see, there is a price that must be paid for all the happiness and good fortune they enjoy for the other eleven months of year. And that price is one human life. Every November. Without fail.
And so it has been for over a hundred years. To ease their guilt, the residents of Bird Street seek out individuals – usually the elderly or the terminally ill – who wish to die with dignity and are content to be helped on their way.
But this year, things don’t go to plan. This year events take a terrifying turn . . .
Propulsive and haunting, Darker Days is a devastating modern take on the Faustian pact, and begs the question: how far would you go for your own happiness?
What did I think?
Darker Days is the perfect book for spooky season; it is dark by name and dark by nature so it's not a book for the faint-hearted and does contain some upsetting scenes of assisted suicide.
The residents of Bird Street have all made a deal with the devil, who they refer to as 'The Accountant', and he turns up every year during the 'Darker Days' to take repayment in the form of a human life. The residents don't just kill people at random; they seek out people who are ready to die and help them to commit suicide. It sounds like a simple plan, until the sacrifice changes their mind...
My heart was pounding as I was reading Darker Days and I'm not sure whether I was rooting for the victims to change their minds or the residents to finally pay their debt as time started to run out. It is very creepy when The Accountant turns up and the death scenes are incredibly upsetting and disturbing. I was shocked and devastated on occasion, which just goes to show the strength of the writing and Thomas Olde Heuvelt's amazing ability to paint haunting pictures in the reader's mind with his vivid words.
Dark (as the title suggests), disturbing and chilling, Darker Days is a fantastic horror novel that will stay with me long after I turned the final page. It left me wondering what I would do if I was in any of the characters' positions and I honestly can't answer that. Wrap up warm when you read Darker Days as it will chill you to the bone. Highly recommended.
I received an ARC to read and review for the blog tour and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.
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