Off Season by Jack Ketchum - Horror Novel for Camping & Travel

Jack Ketchum's OFF SEASON is a classic horror novel for fans of the grotesque. There's no doubt the novel is horrific - it's about a family of inbred cannibalistic lunatics living in a cave on the coast of Maine, and Ketchum holds no punches in describing the brutality of their violence. But beyond that, OFF SEASON is a well-written and gripping novel that has a lot to say about both humanity's propensity for violence and the sheer absurdity of our ongoing struggle to survive. There's more to this book than blood and body parts, and that's what makes it worth reading.The story focuses on Carla, a young editor from the big city who has rented a remote cabin in Maine for a month of relaxation and work on her latest project. When she invites sister Marjie and four of their friends to join her for a week in the woods, she has no idea it will be the start of a nightmare for all of them. Within hours of the guests' arrival, the six friends are attacked by human monsters intent on murder . . . and worse.Some reviewers here have described OFF SEASON as a novel that lacks characterization, while others have complained about the slow start to the violence. Neither assessment has merit. Ketchum does an excellent job differentiating his characters: Carla is self-assured and confident, younger sister Marjie has always seen herself as weak and suffers from depression, Nick loves both of them but is trying to put the past behind him, and police chief Peters is middle-aged and tired but determined to do the right thing. These are identifiable characters that are likable and easy to root for. Carla's other three guests (her current boyfriend Jim, Marjie's boyfriend Dan, and Nick's new girlfriend Laura) are less fleshed out, but Ketchum is able get his readers to understand all three in very short order.As for the slow start to the violence, the only readers who will complain about that are those who are only picking this up for the gore-fest. It's true that the first 130 pages are a set-up for what's to come, but that set-up is full of foreboding, hints of brutality, and glimpses of depravity. Ketchum shifts perspective from Carla to her sister and friends to Peters to members of the cannibalistic family, and in so doing he is able to build suspense over those first 130 pages, so that when the attack actually occurs it's impossible not to be blown away. The "slow start" is the roller coaster's creaky rise up to the first big drop, and the rest of the book is pure free-fall.Just how gross is this book? It's pretty gross. Ketchum's villains are cannibals, after all, and they really love the hunt . . . and the kill and the butchering and the cooking. There's enough blood and gore for any shock-horror fan. At the same time, what makes this novel worth reading is Ketchum's portrayal of these fiends as human - as horrible as they are, they are not monsters. And as Marjie and the others are sucked deeper and deeper into depravity, Ketchum forces us to see how far they themselves will go to survive. This is not an easy book to read, and it's not an easy book to forget.The original version of OFF SEASON, published in 1981, was edited to remove things the publisher felt were too over-the-top for mainstream readers. The paperback edition released in 2006 (as well as the pricier hardcover edition) restores the uncut version of the manuscript. Does it make a huge difference? I read the original version in 1981, and the only thing that stood out to me as obviously different in this new version is the ending and the fate of one particular character - this change is important, and it makes a big difference in terms of the overall message of the novel. The other changes involve the inclusion of some additional bits of grotesque description during the many scenes of brutality. I can't say I would have noticed most of the changes without Ketchum's afterward - well, one particularly horrific moment with a fish hook did stand out!Overall, if you're a horror fan, this is a novel that is definitely worth reading. It's more than just a collection of gross-out moments, though, so if it's just the gore you're looking for, OFF SEASON might disappoint (the sequel, OFFSPRING, actually has more non-stop violence than OFF SEASON, although it is less successful). Horror fans who appreciate well-written prose with a challenging message will enjoy this. It remains one of my favorites.