Halloween, 1963. They call him the October Boy, or Ol' Hacksaw Face, or Sawtooth Jack. Whatever the name, everybody in this small Midwestern town knows who he is. How he rises from the cornfields every Halloween, a butcher knife in his hand, and makes his way toward town, where gangs of teenage boys eagerly await their chance to confront the legendary nightmare. Both the hunter and the hunted, the October Boy is the prize in an annual rite of life and death.Pete McCormick knows that killing the October Boy is his one chance to escape a dead-end future in this one-horse town. He's willing to risk everything, including his life, to be a winner for once. But before the night is over, Pete will look into the saw-toothed face of horror-and discover the terrifying true secret of the October Boy. .Winner of the Stoker Award and named one of the 100 Best Novels of 2006 by is a powerhouse thrill-ride with all the resonance of Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery."
In a suburban American ghost town, a frightened boy armed with a BB gun stands alone against a soul-stealing stranger.In the Old West, a legendary gunslinger follows a trail of severed heads as he delivers a mail-order bride to a madman.Hard-boiled thrillers. Gonzo suspense. Grisly horror. Tough yet tender character studies. Norman Partridge gives readers all this and more in his biggest and best collection of short fiction.Known for a vivid, exuberant writing style that goes straight for the throat, Partridge's resolutely eccentric fiction is powered by an obvious affinity--and affection--for the ...
