There is a lot to like in this new novel from Kristopher Rufty. Mainly a well constructed story in the slasher sub-genre. Sex-crazed young adults being picked off one by one, but not by a single psychopath, instead by hundreds of mean little humanoid creatures called Haunchies.
One thing that bothered me though was the marketing for The Lurking Season. (Not the author's fault), but nowhere in the promotional material did I see that this was a sequel to The Lurkers. Had I known that going in, I may have been reluctant to read this particular book. I'm not a big fan of reading sequels when I haven't read the original, but once I started I decided to keep going. I did find that The Lurking Season can stand on it's own, but at the same time, I felt I was missing something.
The other thing that caused me not to give this book top marks was the way the sexual content was handled. Don't get me wrong. I'm not a prude, I love sex, but there is a base story here about a group of idealistic young people who are on their way to the, out of the way, town of Doverton essentially to refurbish a property to be used as a safe-haven for victims of sexual abuse. I got the feeling that somewhere along the way someone thought we can put anything of a horrible sexual nature in the book, because the principal characters are there to do something positive to combat sexual abuse. Like that would cancel out any other content. That thought aside, there is plenty of sex, rape situations, and one character in particular that the Haunchies use for breeding purposes that is flat out disgusting. If you are put off by this type of stuff, steer clear of the Lurking Season.
The negatives aside, The Lurking Season succeeds within the framework of a good old fashioned slice 'em up horror story.
From Samhain publishing's horror division, The Lurking Season is available in paperback and ebook formats.
Recommended with the above warning for abusive sexual content.
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