First Edition (1984)
Cemetery Dance Rerelease
First published back in May of 1984, US author Jack Ketchum’s ‘Hide And Seek’ was the author’s second published novel, following on from his hard-hitting debut ‘Off Season’ (1981).
In October 2000, the novel was rereleased by Cemetery Dance as a limited edition signed hardback, of which there were just 1,000 copies and a further 52 traycased lettered editions.
Twenty-year-old Dan Thomas had lived in Dead River all his young life. The dying town was all Dan knew. For most of the year the town was quiet. The locals keeping to themselves. However, when in season, holidaymakers would swarm to the seaside town, bringing with them the prospect of attractive young women.
Which was how Dan Thomas met Casey White. Her family had come to Dead River for a summer holiday from their home in Boston. With them they also had friends of their families who were staying in two further summer homes. Kim Palmer and Steven Lynch had known Casey for years. They came as a trio. Steve and Kim were a couple, although deep down they knew Casey was really the one holding them all together.
Dan wasn’t expecting to speak to Casey, let alone forge an intimate relationship with her. He saw Casey as someone special. Someone who didn’t play by the rules. Someone to whom the rules simply did not apply.
She was wild and spontaneous. But there was something else about Casey which drew Dan in. He was captivated by the girl. Enough for him to put his life on hold so he could spend as much time with her and her friends as possible.
Their time at Dead River however was finite. Once the summer was over, Dan knew they’d all be heading back to their respective homes in Boston. So, the four of them were making the most of their time. Doing some crazy stuff together. Living life.
Which led them to what might be seen as a childish game of hide and seek. The legend of the Crouch place was something that was still talked about in Dead River. What was real and what was a mere figment of over-imaginative urban folklore, seemed open to debate. What Dan knew though, was that the place still scared him to this day.
There was something not right about the Crouch place. The old inhabitants – the supposed imbecilic Ben and Mary – were long gone. Their numerous dogs, left to starve in the deserted house, long since rescued by the locals. But for some reason the property still lay empty. Despite its desirable position along the picturesque seafront, no one wanted to live there. Maybe there was something in the rumours?
The stories of the Crouch place were spooky enough to convince Casey and her friends to play a midnight game of hide and seek there. To break in, and see just how terrifying the old house can really be…
How do you follow up from a novel like ‘Off Season’ (1981)? Well, here’s a good fucking way to do it! A novel that’s confident to spend a hefty proportion of its time investing the reader into its characters. Drawing you into their young-adult lives and the almost coming-of-age story of our protagonist and narrator – Dan Thomas.
However, after Ketchum’s previous offering, we know this isn’t likely to be a quaint tale of tender love and lasting happiness. Not by a long shot. Nevertheless, a big part of the novel is given over to setting the scene and really establishing the flesh and blood of these four key characters. Then, once we’re utterly invested in them, when we’re perhaps at ease with the setting and the flow of the tale, Ketchum comes at us, doing what he does best. With something akin to sadistic glee, everything changes, and we’re thrown headfirst into a world of terrifying horror and brutal violence.
That’s very much the crux of the novel. Essentially, it’s written in two clearly defined parts, with ‘Part One’ being focused on the characters, with Dan and Casey’s relationship at the forefront of this. ‘Part Two’ is something else. This is set within the abandoned old Crouch place, where Casey’s midnight game of Hide and Seek punctuates the beginning of the sudden, uncompromised horror to follow.
Although the tale is set within the seaside town of Dead River, as Ketchum’s ‘Dead River’ trilogy – ‘Off Season’ (1981), ‘Offspring’ (1991) and ‘The Woman’ (2010) – had also been, this novel doesn’t form part of the series. It’s very much a separate, standalone story, simply set in the same fictional town, without any further links to the books.
That said, there’s more than a few underlying connections to the ‘Dead River’ series. Admittedly we’ve not got a tribe of cannibals stalking the town, although honestly, without wanting to give the ending away, it’s not far off! The grand finale of the tale certainly shares more than a few themes and plot ideas with ‘Off Season’ (1981). Interestingly, there’s also some similarities to Richard Laymon’s ‘The Cellar’ (1980) and indeed its later instalments. In fact, the climatic ending to ‘Hide And Seek’ is pretty much a cross breeding between Ketchum’s own ‘Off Season’ (1981) and Laymon’s ‘Beast House’ novels.
Sounds good, doesn’t it? Well, it really fucking is. Even getting to know the characters, the establishing the foundations of the story and the history of the Crouch place, is utterly engaging. Ketchum has a way with words, a way of coercing you down pathways where you’re already beginning to feel more than a little on edge. It’s all about that connection he’s built with the characters. That feeling that the characters are more than just words on a page, but real living breathing young people with their own real hopes and ambitions.
The second half of the novel though! Jeez! Ketchum has his own ‘Beast House’. He has the history, the backdrop, and our hearts thumping away in our mouths. What follows is pure unadulterated Ketchum savagery through-and-through.
It’s an exceptionally compelling and ultimately terrifying read.
The novel runs for a total of 190 pages.
© DLS Reviews
