What kind of demons await you tonight?
For Richie, life's constant cheap shots are adding up. When he finds something is watching him, he never dreamed that it would show him everything that he ever wanted.
When his son, James, comes to stay for the last month of summer, the changes in his father's behavior come to the forefront. What is his father doing staring into the window in the middle of the night?
Was the fiery spark in the dark real? Or is James' imagination getting the best of him?
Summer's almost over.
And life is about to change.
Will the son be able to save the father? Or is it already too late?
The Window holds the answers...and the key.
The new and terrifying novel from Glenn Rolfe, author of LAND OF BONES and BECOMING
I'm quickly finding that what other people find terrifying in horror, I just don't. It's probably not so far off from my love of horror movies. While I find them enjoyable, I just don't find that they scare me, which is unfortunate because I love to be scared. The Window falls into that category. While it had some creepy tones to it, I don't love it the way others seem to be.
Essentially a coming of age horror, The Window follows Richie and his son, James. Richie's life hasn't always been easy. Divorced with an unsuccessful job, he's depressed and drinking heavily. Instead of accepting responsibility for his own actions, he falls into the trap of blame. It's everyone's fault but his own. All of this sets him up as a prime target for demonic possession. Richie didn't make a very likable character, but the good thing is he's not supposed to be, though I imagine that the author does mean for you to feel somewhat sympathetic towards him. Instead, I just felt sorry for James.
James is a fairly typical teenager. When his mom moves him away from his hometown after the divorce, James is a bit lost. He misses his friends. He misses his dad. When his mom sends him to summer with his dad, he's thrilled. He quickly discovers that something isn't quite right with his dad.
It's not the usual possession story, although the demons easily seduce the weakest links. There is quite a bit of horror and gore to the story. While it wasn't gore for the sake of gore, it still didn't quite resonate with me. I actually enjoyed the build-up to the horror more: the subtleness of the reflections leering back at Richie, the inner dialogue of the demons tempting and corrupting, and the girlfriend caught in the middle, knowing the changes were occurring but unable to resist. I think the best part of this book has nothing to do with the possession at all but is instead the growth and advancement of James' maturity.
I wanted to love this book more. I've always loved in horror when the reflection is acting independently of the person. It's always been a good bit to further the horror but in this one, it just fell short for me.
Glenn Rolfe is an author, singer, songwriter from the haunted woods of New England. He studied Creative Writing at Southern New Hampshire University, and continues his education in the world of horror by devouring the novels of Stephen King, Jack Ketchum, Richard Laymon, and many others. He and his wife, Meghan, have three children, Ruby, Ramona, and Axl. He is grateful to be loved despite his weirdness.
He is the author of Becoming, Blood and Rain, The Haunted Halls, Chasing Ghosts, Boom Town, Abram's Bridge, Things We Fear, Land of Bones, The Window, Out of Range, and Slush.
He is hard at work on many more. Stay tuned!
He is the author of Becoming, Blood and Rain, The Haunted Halls, Chasing Ghosts, Boom Town, Abram's Bridge, Things We Fear, Land of Bones, The Window, Out of Range, and Slush.
He is hard at work on many more. Stay tuned!