The Folks: Ray Garton
Reviewed By Steve Stred
“It had been quiet until then.”
I have a few Garton books in my TBR, but recently stumbled upon this book and was immediately drawn to the original limited-edition cover art.
Usually, I’m VERY diligent about staying to my written down TBR order, wanting to not miss anything or forget about anything, but something about this book kept calling out to me after I snagged it.
So, finally, I relented and dove in.
This was an outstanding read from beginning to end and Garton made sure to keep ramping up the dread, before throwing an entire circus train full of grotesque in my face.
Much like ‘Freaks’ was a movie that featured “side-show” characters with emotions, Garton does the same here.
We get thrown into a small town, near Mt. Crag. Andy Sayers has been horrifically scarred by a fire in his youth but has found a place he calls home. Above the town, the massive mansion of the secretive Bollinger’s keeps watch.
Then on Halloween night, Sayers finds out just what resides in the sprawling complex.
I absolutely loved the scenes set in the mansion and as Garton continued to introduce more and more of the Bollingers, I was giddy with joy.
The story flies along at a breakneck pace and other than a few spots I felt were a bit glossed over, I thoroughly enjoyed this super creepy backwoods story.
It looks like there is a part 2 out already and in the afterword, Garton mentions part 3 is in production, so I’ll be checking those out for sure.
Now I just need to get to Ray’s other work on my TBR.
The Folks
Andy Sayer knows what it’s like to feel like a freak. Ever since he was badly burned in a fire started by his drunken mother, the horrible scars on his face have set him apart from others, isolated him.
Now, the patriarch of a prominent but mysterious family, Matthew Bollinger, has taken an interest in Andy. The Bollingers own the entire area and just about everything in it. They live in an enormous house built on the side of Mount Crag, but they are never seen. Matthew Bollinger wants Andy to come live with them.
In the Bollingers, Andy finds acceptance … and the deepest kind of corruption and evil.
Sometimes the worst disfigurements remain invisible … until it’s too late.
You can buy The Folks from Amazon UK & Amazon US
Steve Stred
Steve Stred writes dark, bleak horror fiction.
Steve is the author of the novels Invisible & The Stranger, the novellas The Girl Who Hid in the Trees, Wagon Buddy, Yuri and Jane: the 816 Chronicles and two collections of short stories; Frostbitten: 12 Hymns of Misery and Left Hand Path: 13 More Tales of Black Magick, and the dark poetry collection Dim the Sun.
On September 1st, 2019 his second collection of dark poetry and drabbles called The Night Crawls In will arrive. This release was specifically created to help fund the 1st Annual LOHF Writers Grant.
Steve is also a voracious reader, reviewing everything he reads and submitting the majority of his reviews to be featured on Kendall Reviews.
Steve Stred is based in Edmonton, AB, Canada and lives with his wife, his son and their dog OJ.
You can follow Steve on Twitter @stevestred
You can visit Steve’s Official website here
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