Dark Harvest

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Norman Partridge's Bram Stoker Award-winning novel, Dark Harvest, is a powerhouse thrill-ride with all the resonance of Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery."

“A major talent.” —Stephen King

Halloween, 1963. They call him the October Boy, or Ol' Hacksaw Face, or Sawtooth Jack. Whatever the name, everybody in this small Midwestern town knows who he is. How he rises from the cornfields every Halloween, a butcher knife in his hand, and makes his way toward town, where gangs of teenage boys eagerly await their chance to confront the legendary nightmare. Both the hunter and the hunted, the October Boy is the prize in an annual rite of life and death.

Pete McCormick knows that killing the October Boy is his one chance to escape a dead-end future in this one-horse town. He's willing to risk everything, including his life, to be a winner for once. But before the night is over, Pete will look into the saw-toothed face of horror—and discover the terrifying true secret of the October Boy.

“This is contemporary American writing at its finest.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

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Published Sep 4, 2007

176 pages

Average rating: 6.64

50 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

Kristin Rose
Dec 10, 2025
6/10 stars
Read for book club, I liked the story just fine. A bit underdeveloped and I had to get used to the writing which I did end up liking, especially after reading the afterward. However, I needed just a bit more backstory.
Kristin Rose
Apr 01, 2025
6/10 stars
Read for book club, I liked the story just fine. A bit underdeveloped and I had to get used to the writing which I did end up liking, especially after reading the afterward. However, I needed just a bit more backstory.
BigmommaE
Mar 28, 2025
6/10 stars
Very interesting
Charlene
Jan 13, 2025
8/10 stars
I literally only gave this book 4 instead of 5 because it had to be explained to me. I couldn’t tell at parts if some things were serious or metaphors.
Codeliusthe2nd
Sep 04, 2024
8/10 stars
This was such a fun read! It gave me the perfect amount of Halloween vibes, while still being an entertaining read. I do wish that it were a bit longer, as the ending did feel a tad rushed, but overall, I had such a good time with this book. I know there’s a film adaptation coming out sometime in the near future, and I am very excited to see this story put onto the. If screen.

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