Author: S.J. Bolton
ISBN: 978-0312-600-518
Original Publication: 2010
My rating: 4/5 on a Goodreads scale, but really more of a 4.5
One thing I loved about it was that you were never sure if the lurking threat to the boys, Tom and Joe, and their sister, Millie, was supernatural or not (until the end, of course). Personally, I never had any idea of what the "thing" was and what its true nature was. That made it even scarier than a ghost or a vampire. Ghosts and vampires aren't real, and you can tell yourself that while you're reading through an especially creepy part of a story. Ghosts and vampires are great to read about in fiction, but there's no such thing, right?
(Right?)
The thing about Bolton's threatening presence was that I didn't know what it was, so I couldn't tell myself, even on a subconscious level, that nothing like that really existed. Maybe it was supernatural, but maybe it was a very real human threat. Human threats exist in the real world; that's what makes them even scarier than vampires and werewolves. The semi-supernatural presence lurking around the boys' house was worse than human; it was unnameable. Fear of the unknown combined with fear of things that appear bent on frightening and hurting people. Excellent creep factor.
Another good thing about Blood Harvest is that it is, as one reviewer called it on Goodreads, a slow burn. This isn't a grab-you-by-the-hand-and-whip-you-through-the-plot kind of story. This is a big-cast-iron-pot-full-of-ickiness-and-creep-simmering-on-the-stove kind of story, giving you lots of time to build up suspicions about different characters, about the nature of the aforementioned lurking dark presence, about what's going to happen next, and just about everything else. This makes it feel very realistic. I like stories in which there isn't one big ghastly spree of murders or deaths. Blood-and-gore frenzies are nice sometimes, but I find it much scarier, much more disturbing on a deep level, to read about something that happens slowly but surely, the way a series of unfortunate events might unfold in one's own town.
Speaking of towns, I loved the setting of Heptonclough. I'm a sucker for Englishness, moors, old churches, old rituals, Halloween, small towns, and graveyards, so this kind of pushed all the right buttons.
One thing I didn't love was the romantic subplot. I can see the usefulness of it at some points in the story, but I can also see ways in which the story could have come to the same ending without the romance. I suppose it adds a layer of interest for those who really need some romantic intrigue in their stories, but it left me feeling unsatisfied and not really sure why Bolton put it there in the first place.
Overall, though, an excellent, excellent read. I would highly recommend it as a Halloween read, not only because Halloween is featured in the story, but just because it is one of the most deliciously creepy stories I have read in a long time.
