I bumped this book up the list as I was looking for a change of tone, and I thought a schlocky horror would do it. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.

I was a bit put off that the translation, from Dutch, moved the location of the novel from the town of Beek in the Netherlands to a town outside of New York. I guess this is a commercial decision, especially as the book has had its rights sold for a movie or TV series. Disappointing, as I feel it would have had a vastly different feel.

So, these may be spoilers, but I’ll try to keep them low-key, but you do find out in the first chapter or so that the town of Black Spring, aka Beek has a witch, a five hundred or so year old witch. This witch, Katherine, has her mouth and eyes sewn shut. She appears and disappears around the town. Appearing in the town square. Gone. Appearing in someone’s wardrobe. Gone. Next to you in the queue for some meat loaf. Gone.

Back in the 17th century, Katherine was accused of being a witch and told to choose which of her children must live or die, before she herself was put to death.

In return, Katherine has cursed the whole town. Can you blame her? You can’t leave; if you do, she will induce you to commit suicide. If you move here, you can never leave. Also, you must never, ever remove her stitches, or everyone will die. Someone tried in the 1960s, just loosened them, they’re never doing that again.

The town has its own app to track Katherine’s movements, HEX App. It also has its own security and laws to deal with the witch-specific transgressions, including Doodletown, a solitary confinement outside of Black Spring, which means anyone incarcerated is constantly trying to commit suicide and fighting feelings of depression. They end their stay psychologically damaged and traumatised.

Not all the townsfolk agree with these draconian measures, but anyone who speaks out is likely to suffer at the hands of the town elders.

The book centres on Tyler Grant and his friends, who decide to perform some experiments on Katherine. Of course, these don’t go well, and the town begins to unravel in all sorts of “interesting” and horrific ways.

I found this a difficult read. Its unrelenting bleakness can be exhausting; at times, it feels like picking at a wound, then deliberately driving a finger into it. There is a big focus on depression, anxiety and suicide, mirroring many societal problems of the modern age, making it more real and less fantastic. Especially as it dealt with young people and family relationships, this was painful.

That said, there are things to recommend; it’s a unique setting, with a very ambiguous villain. Characters and how they interact with each other are well drawn, and there are several unpleasant and memorable scenes. I’ve since read that the Dutch version had an entirely personal and more open-ended finale than the translated version, and I so wish the author had stuck with that approach, as it all becomes a little bit apocalyptic and typical of too many horror novel final acts.

I gave the book 6.5 out of 10.

TTRPG Thoughts:

I think there is a great use of modern technology with cameras and the App tracing the location of the witch and the various rules of what you may or may not do in her presence. I can see Fear Itself being a perfect fit to explore and slowly discover the secret behind this town and why people are acting so strangely.

It’s also a great example of a horror figure that doesn’t actually do a lot, but you have warnings and concerns from everyone that they are deadly; don’t look at them, don’t listen to them, if you touch them… you die. But they are not actively pursuing you; they are just there, so “why” becomes the mystery. Of course, when they DO become active, things escalate quickly, and you could see how that could be a wonderful conclusion to a slow-burning scenario.