Jeffrey Ford

"Poignant and punchy." —The New York Times Three friends go looking for treasure and find horror in Jeffrey Ford's The Twilight Pariah. All Maggie, Russell, and Henry wanted out of their last college vacation was to get drunk and play archaeologist in an old house in the woods outside of town. When they excavate the mansion's outhouse they find way more than they bargained for: a sealed bottle filled with a red liquid, along with the bizarre skeleton of a horned child Disturbing the skeleton throws each of their lives into a living hell. They feel followed wherever they go, their homes are ransacked by unknown intruders, and people they care about are brutally, horribly dismembered. The three friends awakened something, a creature that will stop at nothing to retrieve its child. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

The Twilight Pariah

"Poignant and punchy." —The New York Times Three friends go looking for treasure and find horror in Jeffrey Ford's The Twilight Pariah. All Maggie, Russell, and Henry wanted out of their last college vacation was to get drunk and play archaeologist in an old house in the woods outside of town. When they excavate the mansion's outhouse they find way more than they bargained for: a sealed bottle filled with a red liquid, along with the bizarre skeleton of a horned child Disturbing the skeleton throws each of their lives into a living hell. They feel followed wherever they go, their homes are ransacked by unknown intruders, and people they care about are brutally, horribly dismembered. The three friends awakened something, a creature that will stop at nothing to retrieve its child.

Ryan LaFerney

Summer vacation has come to an end in Arbenville. Soon friends Henry, Maggie, and Russell will return to their prospective colleges as seniors. Currently, Henry is working as caretaker for the historical Humboldt House, a job as exciting as watching grass grow. When Maggie, now into archaeology, enlists his aid in an amateur dig, his reluctance is only half-hearted.

Maggie wants to hone her budding skills by excavating the outhouse of the Prewitt mansion, a deserted home on the outskirts of town. Since they don’t have a permit, this has to be done at night.

With Russell in tow, the three find nothing of value, until Maggie digs up an ornamental apothecary bottle and eventually the intact skeleton of a baby – but with tiny horns. Meanwhile, strange noises seem to emanate from the empty house, Henry’s dad tells him of being chased away from the mansion decades earlier by “something,” and their research – aided by a part-time college professor of dubious authority – begins to turn up connections between the Prewitt family, that patent medicine, the house museum where Henry works, and possibly an unsolved series of violent 1920s murders ascribed to a killer dubbed the Twilight Pariah. 

Disturbing the skeleton throws each of their lives into a living hell. Can Henry, Maggie, Russell & the rest of their crew put the past to rest before the Twilight Pariah kills again? Well, you must read to find out...

The Twilight Pariah is a wonderful horror novella that is creepy, funny, and poignant. A great mix of Indiana Jones, Grady Hendrix, and Stephen King and would easily make a wonderful film.

The Twilight Pariah

Reviews