“This is totally, brilliantly original.” —Stephen King

“HEX is creepy and gripping and original, sure to be one of the top horror novels of 2016.” —George R.R. Martin


The English language debut of the bestselling Dutch novel, Hex, from Thomas Olde Heuvelt--a Hugo and World Fantasy award nominated talent to watch

Whoever is born here, is doomed to stay 'til death. Whoever settles, never leaves.

Welcome to Black Spring, the seemingly picturesque Hudson Valley town haunted by the Black Rock Witch, a seventeenth century woman whose eyes and mouth are sewn shut. Muzzled, she walks the streets and enters homes at will. She stands next to children's bed for nights on end. Everybody knows that her eyes may never be opened or the consequences will be too terrible to bear.

The elders of Black Spring have virtually quarantined the town by using high-tech surveillance to prevent their curse from spreading. Frustrated with being kept in lockdown, the town's teenagers decide to break their strict regulations and go viral with the haunting. But, in so doing, they send the town spiraling into dark, medieval practices of the distant past.

This chilling novel heralds the arrival of an exciting new voice in mainstream horror and dark fantasy.

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Published Sep 21, 2021

384 pages

Average rating: 7.4

75 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

Kris!
May 31, 2025
8/10 stars
I loved this book. I have read this book in Dutch, so some things might be different. But at times i couldn't but also had to put it away, because I got scared. Vivid imagination. It is not jut a ghost story, it's a psychological pressure cooker!
oh_let3
May 16, 2023
10/10 stars
Creative narrative about a cursed town with some serious Pet Semetary vibes
Mercedes Yardley
Apr 24, 2023
6/10 stars
Hex managed to mix a period piece with a contemporary story, and I loved that. I enjoyed that the old witch, who acts like a ghost, has a physical, corporal body that reacts to outside stimuli. I give Hex extra points for bringing such a fresh take on the witch trope, but I removed a star because none of the characters were likable. It's difficult to care when there's nobody to root for. Still, it's a lovely atmospheric read that explores the evils of mankind.
ChrisCarne
Jan 02, 2023
4/10 stars
And it started so well. The premise is intriguing and for the first couple of hundred pages the build-up of tension is well enough handled. The real problem is we're in that familiar small town that is Horrorsville, USA with the nice middle class family straight out of central casting and when everything does kick off it's hello generic grand guignol time. Ultimately, I didn't care about the characters enough to be scared for them or feel much when they met their predictably grisly fates.

Prose is a bit clunky too but that can be laid at the feet of the translator
tialouise
Nov 06, 2022
9/10 stars
A favourite! Still trying to find books similar because I enjoyed it so much

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