Product Description

Castle House Lodge. A century ago it was an exclusive resort hotel. But for years it's stood empty, a haunting shadow of its former glories. Now, after twenty-five years of rumors and ghost stories, the overgrown grounds are showing signs of being tended. The building itself has been repaired. Castle House has new occupants.

What was once a haven for the elite is now a madhouse, a private asylum for pregnant women. But are all the patients really insane? And is it just a coincidence that people have begun to disappear from the nearby town? David Shale's girlfriend is one of the missing, and he's determined to find the truth behind the mysterious Dr. Rockford and his house of secrets.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #180903 in Books
• Published on: 2009-10-27
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 323 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780843962673
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review
The 13th is John Everson's third novel and, I think, his best so far. He has written some of his most gruesome prose in this book. His writing is crisp and clean. He fleshes out a wide variety of characters from the population of Castle Rock. If you like a frightening and bloody (very bloody!) supernatural mystery, pick up The 13th. --Monster Librarian, October 2009

The 13th will keep you turning from the first blood soaked page until the very last. This is Rosemary's Baby times 13!! --HorrorYearbook.com

Those who dare to venture past the first page should not be surprised to find hardcore horror within....The 13th is not for the faint of heart. --Dark Scribe Magazine, August 2009

From the Back Cover
A double-barreled shotgun blast of macabre entertainment. The 13th is an expert amalgamation of grotesquerie, eroticism, mystery, and pitch-black occult horror that no fan of the genre can miss.
-Edward Lee, author of Brides of the Impaler and The Golem

Reading The 13th is like taking the fast lane straight to hell. One frighteningly wicked trip.
-JA Konrath, author of Whiskey Sour

From its subtly metaphoric opening line to its shattering final sequence (I'm talking the kind of ending that only the best horror/dark fantasy writers can pull off, the kind of ending that makes the finale of Pet Sematary look almost like a Bugs Bunny cartoon), John Everson's The 13th is the first out-and-out horror novel in a long while to actually scare the **** out of me while reading it. It's stylish, extremely well-written, filled with richly-drawn characterizations, and boasts a labyrinthine plot worthy of Umberto Eco. Trust me -- this one will fry your nerves and break your heart.
- 5-time Bram Stoker Award-winner Gary A. Braunbeck, author of Coffin County and Far Dark Fields

Dark, warped and twisted in all the right ways, The 13th is a Laymon-esque caper that combines demonic worship, sadistic rites, terrifying sex magick, and a frightening glimpse of ultimate evil. All this, and John Everson also manages to squeeze in a creepy old hotel, wicked bad guys, and a heaping helping of black humor. It's a potent mix that's sure to please horror fans of all stripes.
-W.D. Gagliani, Author of Wolf's Trap and Wolf's Gambit

John Everson's The 13th is one of the creepiest and most compelling novels I've read in years. It's a brand new genre: 21st Century Gothic that has smarts and scares in equal measures.
-Jonathan Maberry, multiple Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Patient Zero and The Wolfman.

John Everson paves a smooth, swift road to Satanic horror in The 13th. Pages keep flipping as the darkness growing at the heart of Castle Point consumes both characters and the reader, leading to a thrilling climax in which both doom and salvation depend on sacrifice. The 13th is a terrifying drop into the mouth of hell that will leave you wanting more from this hot writer.
-Gerard Houarner, Author of Blood of Killers and Road From Hell

About the Author
John Everson is the Bram Stoker Award-winning author of the novels Covenant, Sacrifice and The 13th. He shares a deep purple den in Naperville, Illinois with a cockatoo and cockatiel, a disparate collection of skulls, twisted skeletal fairies, and a large stuffed Eeyore. There's also a mounted Chinese fowling spider named Stoker, an ever-growing shelf of custom mix CDs and an acoustic guitar that he can't really play but that his son likes to hear him beat on anyway. Sometimes his wife is surprised to find him shuffling through more public areas of the house, but it's usually only to brew another cup of coffee or restock a pint of Newcastle.

Customer Reviews

Everson has carved out yet another twisted tale of lust-spiced, bloody mayhem
With perhaps his most intense offering yet, Stoker Award winning author John Everson has carved out yet another twisted tale of lust-spiced, bloody mayhem. In a narrative that pays homage to eighties slasher flicks but is also reminiscent of an Edward Lee gore-fest, Everson lays down a gruesome adventure. Bloody horror is about to be unleashed upon an unsuspecting town, driven by two masterminds whose desire for power is only eclipsed by the ancient evil they've conjured.

After failing to make the Olympic biking team, David Shale's not interested in a "normal" summer. Training is his focus, and the twisting, mountainous forest trails surrounding the small town of Castle Point is all he wants to follow. However, when David goes out one night, he encounters a bold, invigorating young woman named Brenda. Chemistry sparks between them and the beer flows, but tired from his training, David passes out at the bar. When he wakes, Brenda has gone, in David's mind just another "one that got away".

David's future isn't Olympic bound, however, as something insidious spreads through town. Women in the area are disappearing, and coincidentally, Castle House Lodge - a previously abandoned resort with a dark history - has reopened for business as a "private asylum for pregnant women." Christy Sorensen is one of the newest faces in the Castle Point police department, but even so, she's certain something's terrible wrong at the asylum.

Eventually she and David join forces, as David becomes convinced that Brenda, a woman he could've loved, is trapped with other doomed women in the resort. Can they rescue her and any others in time? Or, will they be drowned in a bloody flood of truly "biblical" proportions?

Though there isn't just one character that's perhaps as strongly written as reporter Joe Kieran, ("Covenant", "Sacrifice"), the overall cast of "The 13th" is balanced, perhaps Everson's strongest assembly of entertaining characters yet. Also, in a tale of blood sacrifice and demonic lust, Everson hits buried, quieter fears: that of hidden darkness in those thought closest. Hitting consistently on subtle terrors such as this is what will continue to carry Everson's career forward.

"Tonight We Will be Born Again."
This book is Rosemary's Baby on acid and delivers enough violence, kinky sex, ritual sacrifice, and blood to keep any fan of over-the-top horror thoroughly satisfied. (Those with more delicate sensibilities are advised to seek something else to read.) As brutal and offensive as most of this novel is, I have to say I could NOT put it down. Perhaps a visit to my shrink is in order.

Pleasantly surprised, very engaging read.

I received a copy of John Everson's latest novel (guess which one...) via random selection through the Leisure horror book club. At first I wasn't going to read it because it seemed as though it would end up being a pretty generic read. That is, it wouldn't have much substance to it and would therefore fall apart by page 100. As a result, I would have spent precious hours of my precious life only to end up an empty man... hollow... saddened. And maybe even a bit livid.

Then one night boredom set in. I began reading. Much to my surprise, it was quite delectable! Everson is extremely successful in holding the reader's attention, which is a craft in itself. While this may not be the most original plot ever created, Everson does have a quaint skill for creating characters whom you ACTUALLY CARE ABOUT! I think this is where so many novels, movies... whatever... go wrong. In order to care about a story, you have to like (or at least feel something for) the characters who are driving the storyline. Otherwise, its doomed. It's crap. In the end, "The 13th" left me thinking... and some of the events that took place in its conclusion actually stuck with me for a couple days afterward. That's when you know a book is good!

I am not going to warn anyone about the book's content, because if you are here... more than likely you already know that this is "hardcore horror" and what that entails. Everson isn't quite as grotesque as Lee, but he does a good job. Having read "The 13th", I am now looking to check out some of Everson's other works and am anticipating new releases by this author. Also, I have become a bit more open to checking out the work of author's whom I have never heard of before.

I highly recommend this book. Enjoy :) - D Man -