Sarah Langan

Some believe Bedford, Maine, is cursed. Its bloody past, endless rain, and the decay of its downtown portend a hopeless future. With the death of its paper mill, Bedford's unemployed residents soon find themselves with far too much time to dwell on thoughts of Susan Marley. Once the local beauty, she's now the local whore. Silently prowling the muddy streets, she watches eerily from the shadows, waiting for . . . something. And haunting the sleep of everyone in town with monstrous visions of violence and horror. Those who are able will leave Bedford before the darkness fully ascends. But those who are trapped here—from Susan Marley's long-suffering mother and younger sister to her guilt-ridden, alcoholic ex-lover to the destitute and faithless with nowhere else to go—will soon know the fullest and most terrible meaning of nightmare.

The Keeper

Bryan Alexander

I read this novel as part of my quest for the best horror novels of the 21st century. Sarah Langan's name kept coming up. Each of her novels appeared, so I decided to start with her first, since there's some indication of a sequence. And I'm glad I did.

On the surface The Keeper looks like a familiar horror trope: a town to be destroyed by dark forces. (Think Peter Straub's Floating Dragon for one example) That kept my expectations down, especially as the book appeared in 2006. I was pleasantly surprised to see Langan offer a fresh take on this, offering a genuinely powerful horror novel.

Let me offer some observations before getting into spoiler territory.

The Keeper takes place in the Maine town of Bedford, a mill town having fallen on hard times. This is an important context for American horror. First, it's a form of rust belt Gothic in microcosm, especially as the mill's role becomes environmentally and historically vital. Second, it means working-class horror, still an unusual (and welcome) sub genre. The epigraph from Bruce Springsteen signals this class intent.

Langan populates the town with well-drawn characters. The horror staple of short-lived victim (the literary equivalent of gaming's NPC) is done nicely, but the main characters really shine. They are the Marley family, mother Mary plus daughters Susan and Liz. The Keeper is really their story.

That makes this a very gynocentric novel. It's mostly about women and their relationships, the latter often with each other.

At the same time all of the characters - yes, every one - are sad, sad people. Each person is heartbroken and/or defeated, ground down or self-deluded. The Keeper is mournful, almost elegiac in its tone and content. It is not cruel; Langan pays careful, indulgent, sometimes loving attention to these people. Some are tragic, while a few generate their fates on their own. One character redeems himself, but only though a futile death. There are only two villains, really, and neither receives much word count. Again, this is a novel about people in pain. 

There is a terrible, monstrous force, of course, that brings about Bedford's doom. This is somewhat original. Now we must raise the spoiler shields before proceeding. (view spoiler)[Langan creates a mixture of haunted house, Carrie-like vengeful teen woman, and cursed town. Susan Marley is the Carrie, a broken, cursed young woman with knowledge of the future and of the dead. She becomes the town freak/whore, then a destructive undead. Her family's house isn't built on an Indian graveyard, but its basement is the scene of Susan's rape by her father, which combines with Susan's nature to create a haunted house. And the town's mill, it turns out, is not only a toxic nightmare but was built on false premises, a miniature version of a Gothic robber baron's scheming. That's a rich mix and an unusual synthesis. The town itself is haunted and terrible. "Was it Bedford that did this? Had Bedford done this to all of them?" asks the novel's most intellectual character. (94) "What if Bedford is like one giant haunted house that Susan brought to life?" asks Liz, our most sympathetic character. (236) The Rust Belt as the new site of American Gothic.

Also noteworthy is the way the novel's end is total. "The paper mill burned to the ground... There was silence as the rain became a drizzle, and then a patter, and then nothing. All was silent." (382) There isn't a redemptive out. We don't learn of our young lovers' fate. Nobody escapes. There isn't an epilog. THE END. I admire that.... clarity. (hide spoiler)]

So this is terrific for a first novel. There are some weaknesses. Some of it is repetitive - too many scenes of Susan's blue eyes, Lisa ranting at her boyfriend, Paul wanting a drink. The plot at the hear of the Marleys' house is a bit oversold, especially in these post-Jerry Springer days (it's very well described, though).

That said, I recommend The Keeper to any horror reader, and look forward to reading Langan's next books.

The Keeper

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