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Heretics
Heretics is a 38,000 word novella originally published by Delirium Books in 2001. It remains a very hard to find edition, originally only produced as a 50-copy hardcover and 250-copy trade paperback run. Now the novella has been reprinted as a digital edition so that a wider audience can experience what many insiders state is classic Gifune!
Years ago, an unspeakably violent ritual murder took place in the quiet, seaside town of Virtue. Three teenage outcasts are suspected of the crime. But did they do it, and if so, why? A terrifying descent into unimaginable evil and the horrific price that must be paid to escape it, HERETICS is a coming home story of redemption, resolution, and facing the demons that tear you from the people and places you once loved.
From the original introduction (which has not been reprinted with this edition), Brian Hopkins "Heretics is a coming home story. It’s all about redemption and resolution, about facing the demons that took you from the people and places you once loved. It’s also about alienation, but whereas most writers would have overdone that element of the story, Greg is smart and talented enough to let it work on its own. We see—and more importantly we understand—how Harry, Rip, and Madeline are made the outcasts of Virtue. Ten thousand words telling us this would have failed, but a handful of careful observations and character reflections bring it home with stark clarity. Greg knows his characters and, in turn, so do we.”
Years ago, an unspeakably violent ritual murder took place in the quiet, seaside town of Virtue. Three teenage outcasts are suspected of the crime. But did they do it, and if so, why? A terrifying descent into unimaginable evil and the horrific price that must be paid to escape it, HERETICS is a coming home story of redemption, resolution, and facing the demons that tear you from the people and places you once loved.
From the original introduction (which has not been reprinted with this edition), Brian Hopkins "Heretics is a coming home story. It’s all about redemption and resolution, about facing the demons that took you from the people and places you once loved. It’s also about alienation, but whereas most writers would have overdone that element of the story, Greg is smart and talented enough to let it work on its own. We see—and more importantly we understand—how Harry, Rip, and Madeline are made the outcasts of Virtue. Ten thousand words telling us this would have failed, but a handful of careful observations and character reflections bring it home with stark clarity. Greg knows his characters and, in turn, so do we.”
216 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2001
2 people are currently reading
131 people want to read
About the author
Greg F. Gifune
79 books352 followersCalled "One of the best writers of his generation" by both the Roswell Literary Review and author Brian Keene, Greg F. Gifune is the author of numerous short stories, several novels and two short story collections. His work has been published in a wide range of magazines and anthologies all over the world, and has recently garnered interest from Hollywood. His novels include The Bleeding Season, Deep Night, Saying Uncle, A View From The Lake, Night Work, Drago Descending, Blood In Electric Blue and Dominion.
Along with his short story collections, Down To Sleep and Heretics, his work has been nominated for numerous awards and is consistently praised by readers and critics alike across the globe. For seven years he was Editor-in-Chief of Thievin' Kitty Publications, publishers of the acclaimed fiction magazines The Edge: Tales of Suspense (1998-2004) and Burning Sky: Adventures in Science Fiction Terror (1998-2003), and currently serves as Associate Editor at Delirium Books.
The son of teachers, Greg F. Gifune was educated in Boston and has lived in various places, including New York City and Peru. A trained actor and broadcaster, he has appeared in various stage productions and has worked in radio and television as both an on-air talent and a producer. Earlier in life he held a wide range of jobs, encompassing everything from journalism to promotions.
The author of numerous novels, screenplays and two short story collections, his work has been consistently praised by critics and readers alike, and has been translated into several languages and published all over the world. Greg and his wife Carol live in Massachusetts with a bevy of cats.
Discover more about his writing at GregFGifune.com and UninvitedBooks.com.
Along with his short story collections, Down To Sleep and Heretics, his work has been nominated for numerous awards and is consistently praised by readers and critics alike across the globe. For seven years he was Editor-in-Chief of Thievin' Kitty Publications, publishers of the acclaimed fiction magazines The Edge: Tales of Suspense (1998-2004) and Burning Sky: Adventures in Science Fiction Terror (1998-2003), and currently serves as Associate Editor at Delirium Books.
The son of teachers, Greg F. Gifune was educated in Boston and has lived in various places, including New York City and Peru. A trained actor and broadcaster, he has appeared in various stage productions and has worked in radio and television as both an on-air talent and a producer. Earlier in life he held a wide range of jobs, encompassing everything from journalism to promotions.
The author of numerous novels, screenplays and two short story collections, his work has been consistently praised by critics and readers alike, and has been translated into several languages and published all over the world. Greg and his wife Carol live in Massachusetts with a bevy of cats.
Discover more about his writing at GregFGifune.com and UninvitedBooks.com.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
April 17, 2013
5 Stars
Heretics is an awesome macabre love story by Greg F. Gifune. This novella is a dark tale told through a sequence of past flashbacks intertwined with the present day. Gifune is one of my favorite authors today and he really knows how to pen a horror novel that is atmospherically heavy and dark, and he fills them with characters that are three dimensional and memorable.
In Heretics, we are introduced to three friends that are the outcasts in high school but together are whole and complete.
“Looking back on it now, it seemed only natural—if not destined—that he and Madeline and Rip had become friends. Pariahs all, they found in one another an acceptance and camaraderie all three had lacked for most of their young lives. Separately they were Harry, the withdrawn bookworm, Madeline, the eccentric loner and Rip, the misunderstood delinquent, but together they were a circle, the beginning, middle and end forged into one continuous entity, three parts of the same person.
Heretics, Madeline had labeled them.”
“We’re your only friends, ya fucking loser,” Rip laughed. “We’re the dregs, remember? Nobody likes us…except us. And shit, most days we don’t even like us!”
They both laughed but Madeline remained silent, watching them like a mother hen. “Even heretics have power. In some ways, more power than anyone.”
“Heretics,” Rip said through a giggle. “You’re always using that word.””
There is a mystery and a life changing event that is explored through a series of flashbacks. Things are not as they first appear and there is something dark that is sure to come to light. This novella quickly moves you through time and layers on suspense as we get to learn about these three people.
I highly recommend Greg F. Gifune to all horror readers and also to those that enjoy good literature. His writing style and quality make him an author not to be missed and this is a fantastic novella that would make a great launching point for those not familiar with his works. Highest recommendations!!!
Heretics is an awesome macabre love story by Greg F. Gifune. This novella is a dark tale told through a sequence of past flashbacks intertwined with the present day. Gifune is one of my favorite authors today and he really knows how to pen a horror novel that is atmospherically heavy and dark, and he fills them with characters that are three dimensional and memorable.
In Heretics, we are introduced to three friends that are the outcasts in high school but together are whole and complete.
“Looking back on it now, it seemed only natural—if not destined—that he and Madeline and Rip had become friends. Pariahs all, they found in one another an acceptance and camaraderie all three had lacked for most of their young lives. Separately they were Harry, the withdrawn bookworm, Madeline, the eccentric loner and Rip, the misunderstood delinquent, but together they were a circle, the beginning, middle and end forged into one continuous entity, three parts of the same person.
Heretics, Madeline had labeled them.”
“We’re your only friends, ya fucking loser,” Rip laughed. “We’re the dregs, remember? Nobody likes us…except us. And shit, most days we don’t even like us!”
They both laughed but Madeline remained silent, watching them like a mother hen. “Even heretics have power. In some ways, more power than anyone.”
“Heretics,” Rip said through a giggle. “You’re always using that word.””
There is a mystery and a life changing event that is explored through a series of flashbacks. Things are not as they first appear and there is something dark that is sure to come to light. This novella quickly moves you through time and layers on suspense as we get to learn about these three people.
I highly recommend Greg F. Gifune to all horror readers and also to those that enjoy good literature. His writing style and quality make him an author not to be missed and this is a fantastic novella that would make a great launching point for those not familiar with his works. Highest recommendations!!!
July 16, 2018
Harry wondered if someone without eyes still produced tears.Told in alternating chapters detailing the events of the past and present, Gifune paints a picture of three outcast friends involved in a terrible tragedy in high school who must confront those events again as adults. The novella is told in Gifune's trademark atmospheric style and is exciting in the way it evolves. Not only does the book maintain a creepy but strangely romantic tone, but Gifune also skillfully doles out backstory slowly so that the feeling of dread grows and grows as we get closer to discovering what happened to these teenagers on that fateful night. I was worried about finding out the details but couldn't look away once it all started to go down. So far, Gifune's work has been pretty consistent in it's quality!
All single editions of this novella are unavailable now that DarkFuse has died a horrible death, but you can now read it as part of a new Gifune double novella release here: Oasis of the Damned & Heretics: A Novella Double-Shot
June 30, 2012
This was a good one!
There was a line in the story about the sea smelling like work and not like play. That's how it was in the small town of Virtue, MA.
Harry returns to town after a long absence and he is not exactly welcomed home. Since 'it' happened he hasn't been back and he doesn't want to be there now. Just a short visit to see if he can set things right. But as so often happens, he can't.
I enjoyed how the story was told...a kind of back and forth between the past and the present finally culminating and leaving you... just stunned. The characters were fascinating as well and I would have loved this to be a full novel because I wanted to learn more about them. I think Madeline (never call me Maddy), Harry and Rip will be running around in my head for a little while. Highly recommended!
There was a line in the story about the sea smelling like work and not like play. That's how it was in the small town of Virtue, MA.
Harry returns to town after a long absence and he is not exactly welcomed home. Since 'it' happened he hasn't been back and he doesn't want to be there now. Just a short visit to see if he can set things right. But as so often happens, he can't.
I enjoyed how the story was told...a kind of back and forth between the past and the present finally culminating and leaving you... just stunned. The characters were fascinating as well and I would have loved this to be a full novel because I wanted to learn more about them. I think Madeline (never call me Maddy), Harry and Rip will be running around in my head for a little while. Highly recommended!
February 23, 2014
Heretics tells the story of Madeline the eccentric loner, Harry the withdrawn bookworm & Rip the misunderstood delinquent, the three teenagers come together by Madeline’s doing, treated with disdain throughout their school days but their joining will be remembered forever in the town of Virtue’s idyllic history.
Our protagonist Harry, now in his late thirty’s is drawn back to the town of Virtue with the news that his friend Rip has also returned, both plagued by the events of a fateful night, a night that left an indelible mark on their souls and a night that forced them out of the town they grew up in.
Another completely absorbing novella by Greg Gifune tells a story in the present, entwined with the past, about three kids, Madeline calls them the Heretics but the true meaning is understood only by herself and only she will be free of the rules and the lies that everyone tries to place upon them.
More deep prose from Greg Gifune, an excellent story with three flawed characters and one of them the host of an ancient evil.
Our protagonist Harry, now in his late thirty’s is drawn back to the town of Virtue with the news that his friend Rip has also returned, both plagued by the events of a fateful night, a night that left an indelible mark on their souls and a night that forced them out of the town they grew up in.
Another completely absorbing novella by Greg Gifune tells a story in the present, entwined with the past, about three kids, Madeline calls them the Heretics but the true meaning is understood only by herself and only she will be free of the rules and the lies that everyone tries to place upon them.
More deep prose from Greg Gifune, an excellent story with three flawed characters and one of them the host of an ancient evil.
June 4, 2019
A delightful short. Dark and cool story that manages to make the characters alive in quite few pages (page count being just right for the tale).
January 12, 2012
Greg Gifune has quietly become one of the best horror writers in the business, and if you haven't had the pleasure to read any of his vast catalog of novels, novellas, or short stories, you're really missing out on a writer firing on all cylinders. While "Heretics" is one of Gifune's "older" pieces (released in 2001) it is nothing less than riveting.
"Heretics" is essentially proof of the old adage that you can never go home again, especially to the tiny town of Virtue. It's a story of devasting loss and the opportunity for redemption, small-town fears and facing down the people and forces that changed your life forever. The narrative is at times beautiful, at other times violent. The characters of Harry, Rip, and Madeline are so refreshingly real that you'll be forced into reliving parts of your own teenage years, reopening your memory to friends and events long since past.
Gifune packs a ton of vivid descriptions, intriguing dialogue, geniuinely frigtening moments, and well-crafted character development into a hundred and a half pages, with a shocking conclusion that will slap you in the face and walk away before you know what hit you.
"Heretics" is essentially proof of the old adage that you can never go home again, especially to the tiny town of Virtue. It's a story of devasting loss and the opportunity for redemption, small-town fears and facing down the people and forces that changed your life forever. The narrative is at times beautiful, at other times violent. The characters of Harry, Rip, and Madeline are so refreshingly real that you'll be forced into reliving parts of your own teenage years, reopening your memory to friends and events long since past.
Gifune packs a ton of vivid descriptions, intriguing dialogue, geniuinely frigtening moments, and well-crafted character development into a hundred and a half pages, with a shocking conclusion that will slap you in the face and walk away before you know what hit you.
April 28, 2013
For those unfamiliar with Gifune....you should be reading him! Quickly becoming one of my favorites in the relatively new crop of up and coming horror authors, Heretics weaves the tale of Harry, Rip, and the enchantly, darkly alluring Madeline, all outcasts of a sort in the upscale tourist seaside town of Virtue. One night, all three engage in an orgy of sex and violence that forever haunts them. Brutal and erotic, unrelenting and horrific, Gifune continues to show readers why he is at the top of his game....and a must read for horror fans!
April 14, 2013
I have to say, I have yet to read a story by Greg Gifune that I did not enjoy! This story was told by alternating the points in time, and it worked amazingly well! After each chapter I was left NEEDING to know more; yet the change-over to the next scene captivated me so intensely, that I don't remember pausing to take a breath throughout the last 80% of the novella!. The characters were rich in their complexity, and I got the feeling that there was so much MORE to them then what could be told. Another stunner from Gifune! This is the guy to go to if you want a guaranteed great read!
June 21, 2014
Harry is going home to the town of Virtue, a peaceful tourist destination on the shores of Cape Cod. Virtue is not likely to roll out the welcome mat for Harry since he fled the town years before after his involvement in what was no doubt the most tragic event in the town's history. There are ghosts from Harry's adolescence in Virtue that need to be sated.
Gifune put together a very strong story with this one. The line of the story seems clear and then Gifune bends that line a bit here and then a bit there until the story takes a route that has you needing to rethink where you started.
5 STARS
Gifune put together a very strong story with this one. The line of the story seems clear and then Gifune bends that line a bit here and then a bit there until the story takes a route that has you needing to rethink where you started.
5 STARS
December 4, 2018
Good, good stuff from Gifune. The story is dark, creepy, and also with some supernatural elements, and with a big secret behind it all, but also a story of three teens outcasts and their wrong actions that will mark their future for ever.
Complex, very well made, with a fast pacing, but with a lot of layer to the story also, this novella surely has hit it`s mark for me.
Complex, very well made, with a fast pacing, but with a lot of layer to the story also, this novella surely has hit it`s mark for me.
April 9, 2020
Well, I am going to total honest with this novella. Everything was super perfect and going smoothly until the sex part shown! Yeah I know what exactly I trying to say here...
Harry, Madeline, Rip. Alongside with them it's a coming home horror occult story to read. Madeline very unique girl with something very unusal habit that she conjure herself. In the process she made Harry and Rip as her best friend. But there's more to it than be friends. Madeline being not normal lead an unsocial life and not very close to normal people. When that final night did happen to all 3 of them well it was the night they will never forget...
& yes somehow Doreen could listened about this all from Harry...
I know exactly how I felt after finishing this novella and believe me when I say I do understand the depth meaning of this story but the thing is I just couldn't accept it. That sex part I want to point out exactly. I know it's not a big issue and just a part of the story. But in being honest I just couldn't accept it. Otherwise the whole story was perfectly written and apart from that part I didn't like; it was a very creepy, dark, occult horror short fiction to read. So, that is what I wanted to do about this review. Bye for now and again better luck for me next time...
May 31, 2021
The plot of Heretics is not particularly original, and if summarized, would seem rather simple. What really makes this book soar, however, are the writing style, the structure, and the characters. Gifune writes some beautiful passages, flipping from the present to the past with ease. There is a heavy sense of foreboding as we know something terrible has happened, but don't know what that event is. The author builds tension gradually by releasing these details slowly, like the steady drip of water from a leaky faucet, until the climax, when all hell breaks loose. As for the characters, they are vivid, three-dimensional, and very real. The dialogue is so convincing that at times, it feels like the reader is eavesdropping on actual conversations. What I admire most about Gifune's writing is his ability to create atmosphere, establish characters and advance the story with so few words and there is no better example of these talents than Heretics.
January 29, 2022
4.5 stars
April 16, 2023
Excellent collection of short stories. Also includes the novella "Heretics". This is good solid writing.
September 16, 2012
There's a saying that a story should only be as long as it takes to tell the story. This novella is the perfect length to tell a very entertaining story. It could easily be made into a full novel with some background and details but it isn't needed.
It goes between past and present following a trio of outcasts in a small Cape Cod town, and the evil that consumes one of them leading to a night of violence that rocks the tourist town.
It goes between past and present following a trio of outcasts in a small Cape Cod town, and the evil that consumes one of them leading to a night of violence that rocks the tourist town.
June 5, 2013
Not my favorite Gifune read to date. Not quite as atmospheric and much more concrete than most of his novels. Short, enjoyable read. The ending is fantastic and really knocked a 3 1/2 star read up to a 4.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews