Harvest Home

"Harvest Home" is a novel that has haunted me since I first had the pleasure of reading it two decades ago. Thomas Tryon is a wonderfully descriptive writer whose elegant turn of phrase makes this novel a memorable horror story told in a very light way. This is a horror story. What can be more horrible than what Ned Constantine, the narrator/protagonist of the story had to witness during the climax of the novel? There is a great element of greek tragedy present in this novel as each main character has a tragic flaw that determines his or her fate. With Ned, it is his insatiable curiosity, with his wife Beth, the fear of men due to her domineering father and the daughter Kate, her frailty as a result of living with constant stress, the result of the hustle of NYC life and the tensions between her parents. The Constantines move to Cornwall Coombe, a hamlet in Connecticut nominally under the rule of the benign yet forbidding Widow Fortune. The Constantines are initially amazed at the archaic lifestyle of the villagers but the women soon involve themselves and grow to love the rustic ways of the village. Ned, to his misfortune, rejects the charms of the villagers and their ways and moves to undermine the widow through his encouraging of the dissatisfied young Harvest Lord, Worthy Pettinger, escape to a better life and his obsessive quest to solve the msyery of what happened to the disgraced Gracie Everdeen, a young village woman who allegedly caused years of famine for the village by cursing the corn. There are tales of adultery, legend and subtle violence throughout the novel which works so well because the reader cannot fully empathize with any character. Tryon has fleshed out his characters so well, and his description of the village life and countryside is so lyrical that a reader cannot help but fall in love with this book and be haunted by the ingenious plot for years to come. A great novel by a great writer. A novel that transcends the horror field to rank with those of Faulkner and Dickey.

Thomas Tryon, an actor turned author, crafted one of the finest real horror novels of the latter half of the 20th century with The Other. With Harvest Home, he took us again into the realms of real horror - horror that doesn't involve monsters, but the people right next door. While Harvest Home borrows from historic horror authors such as H.P. Lovecraft and Stevenson, Tryon treads new ground for the modern novel. Harvest Home (1973) demonstrated to many modern authors (Stephen King and Peter Straub both acknowledge borrowing heavily from Tryon) how horror novels don't have to contain creatures or aliens to be scary. Harvest Home is the story of a young couple who move to a remote hamlet in New England, known as Harvest Home. The village has chosen to remain isolated over the years. While not Quaker or Amish, the feeling is similar. The residents are all either related to or married to other residents of the village. The residents are not too welcoming of outsiders. When the Widow Fortune takes a liking to the family, the town eases its defenses and also embraces them. The problem is that there is something sinister running amok in the village. There is something creepy going on during the corn harvest.... When you read this novel, you have to be able to imagine yourself in a time before Stephen King's novels (because he crafted several novels and stories based on material he gleaned from this book)...a time before modern horror cinema had bastardized all the really unique ideas that Tryon laid out in this book. The novel was another best seller for Tryon. It also spawned a film, albeit a made-for-TV film. It was a huge hit for the network, because almost everyone at the time had read the novel AND it starred the inimitable Bette Davis as the Widow Fortune. Get this novel through hook or crook and allow your mind to go back in time....and prepare to be scared. Not as good as "The Other," but certainly a worthy follow-up to it.

harvest home can still give me chills nearly 30 years after first reading it. living in connecticut, not far south of saxony, cornwall and kent (yes-- they're all real connecticut towns) i drag out my dog-eared copy every halloweentime and silently carp at ned constantine to stay out of the woods. does anyone else out there think, as i do, that sophie hooke did not hang herself but was also murdered quietly by the widow, so that beth could step in to the corn maiden role and have the opportunity to get pregnant according to the widow's "plan" (sophie claimed to be diseased in the conversation she'd had with justin. the widow would know that bit of medical info and wouldn't want to take a chance on a blighted corn maiden or pregancy.) just a thought. on the other hand, maybe i've just read the book too often!

This is an exceptionally well written chiller. It takes place in Cornwall Coombe, a seemingly bucolic little hamlet in New England. It is to this idyllic locale that Ned Constantine, his wife, Beth, and their teenage daughter, Kate, move. Ned had quit his job as an advertising executive in New York City and was now a professional artist, having established a studio in which to paint on his newly purchased property. In love with the three hundred year old house that they had unexpectedly been able to purchase, he and his family settled down to what he hoped would be a tranquil existence.Alas, this was not to be. The town's very being revolved around ancient rituals dictated by the corn crop, and the town's ways were old ways. Its bucolic setting was deceptive, as there existed a malignancy that was becoming all too apparent to Ned. It was a feeling, however, that neither his wife nor daughter shared. Cornwall Coombe was a town seemingly controlled by the Widow Fortune, an old woman with a knack for healing. The town had a secret, and its insular townspeople were all in on it. Ned was determined to discover what that secret was, even if it were to his detriment. He ultimately finds that some secrets are best left undiscovered.This is a beautifully written book, almost lyrical in the telling. The author has a distinct gift for storytelling, and the tale that he weaves is spellbinding, as well as chilling. It is a tale that is sure to keep the reader riveted.