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The Narrows by Malfi, Ronald
The town of Stillwater has a very unwelcome resident.
The town of Stillwater has been dying—the long and painful death of a town ravaged by floods and haunted by the ghosts of all who had lived there. Yet this most recent flood has brought something with it—a creature that nests among the good folks of Stillwater... and feeds off them. The children who haven't disappeared whisper the same word—“vampire.” But they’re wrong. What has come to Stillwater is something much more horrific.
The town of Stillwater has been dying—the long and painful death of a town ravaged by floods and haunted by the ghosts of all who had lived there. Yet this most recent flood has brought something with it—a creature that nests among the good folks of Stillwater... and feeds off them. The children who haven't disappeared whisper the same word—“vampire.” But they’re wrong. What has come to Stillwater is something much more horrific.
Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 2012
216 people are currently reading
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About the author
Ronald Malfi
74 books3,766 followersRonald Malfi is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling, award-winning author of many novels and novellas in the horror, mystery, and thriller genres. In 2011, his novel, Floating Staircase, was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award for best novel by the Horror Writers Association, and also won a gold IPPY award. In 2024, he was presented with the prestigious William G. Wilson Award for Adult Fiction by the Maryland Library Association. Perhaps his most well-received novel, Come with Me (2021), about a man who learns a dark secret about his wife after she's killed, has received stellar reviews, including a starred review from BookPage, and Publishers Weekly has said, "Malfi impresses in this taut, supernaturally tinged mystery... and sticks the landing with a powerful denouement. There’s plenty here to enjoy."
His most recent novels include Senseless (2025) and Small Town Horror (2024), both of which received favorable reviews and saw Malfi stretch his authorial voice.
Come with Me (2021) and Black Mouth (2022), tackle themes of grief and loss, and of the effects of childhood trauma and alcoholism, respectively. Both books have been critically praised, with Publishers Weekly calling Black Mouth a "standout" book of the year. These novels were followed by Ghostwritten (2022), a collection of four subtly-linked novellas about haunted books and the power of the written word. Ghostwritten received a starred review from Publishers Weekly, which called the book a "wonderfully meta collection...vibrantly imagined," and that "Malfi makes reading about the perils of reading a terrifying delight."
Among his most popular works is December Park, a coming-of-age thriller set in the '90s, wherein five teenage boys take up the hunt for a child murderer in their hometown of Harting Farms, Maryland. In interviews, Malfi has expressed that this is his most autobiographical book to date. In 2015, this novel was awarded the Beverly Hills International Book Award for best suspense novel. It has been optioned several times for film.
Bone White (2017), about a man searching for his lost twin brother in a haunted Alaskan mining town, was touted as "an elegant, twisted, gripping slow-burn of a novel that burrows under the skin and nestles deep," by RT Book Reviews, and has also been optioned for television by Fox21/Disney and Amazon Studios.
His novels Little Girls (2015) and The Night Parade (2016) explore broken families forced to endure horrific and extraordinary circumstances, which has become the hallmark for Malfi's brand of intimate, lyrical horror fiction.
His earlier works, such as Via Dolorosa (2007) and Passenger (2008) explored characters with lost or confused identities, wherein Malfi experimented with the ultimate unreliable narrators. He maintained this trend in his award-winning novel, Floating Staircase (2011), which the author has suggested contains "multiple endings for the astute reader."
His more "monstery" novels, such as Snow (2010) and The Narrows (2012) still resonate with his inimitable brand of literary cadence and focus on character and story over plot. Both books were highly regarded by fans and reviewers in the genre.
A bit of a departure, Malfi published the crime drama Shamrock Alley in 2009, based on the true exploits of his own father, a former Secret Service agent. The book was optioned several times for film.
Ronald Malfi was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1977, the eldest of four children, and eventually relocated to Maryland, where he currently resides along the Chesapeake Bay.
When he's not writing, he's performing with the rock band VEER, who can be found at veerband.net and wherever you stream your music.
Visit
His most recent novels include Senseless (2025) and Small Town Horror (2024), both of which received favorable reviews and saw Malfi stretch his authorial voice.
Come with Me (2021) and Black Mouth (2022), tackle themes of grief and loss, and of the effects of childhood trauma and alcoholism, respectively. Both books have been critically praised, with Publishers Weekly calling Black Mouth a "standout" book of the year. These novels were followed by Ghostwritten (2022), a collection of four subtly-linked novellas about haunted books and the power of the written word. Ghostwritten received a starred review from Publishers Weekly, which called the book a "wonderfully meta collection...vibrantly imagined," and that "Malfi makes reading about the perils of reading a terrifying delight."
Among his most popular works is December Park, a coming-of-age thriller set in the '90s, wherein five teenage boys take up the hunt for a child murderer in their hometown of Harting Farms, Maryland. In interviews, Malfi has expressed that this is his most autobiographical book to date. In 2015, this novel was awarded the Beverly Hills International Book Award for best suspense novel. It has been optioned several times for film.
Bone White (2017), about a man searching for his lost twin brother in a haunted Alaskan mining town, was touted as "an elegant, twisted, gripping slow-burn of a novel that burrows under the skin and nestles deep," by RT Book Reviews, and has also been optioned for television by Fox21/Disney and Amazon Studios.
His novels Little Girls (2015) and The Night Parade (2016) explore broken families forced to endure horrific and extraordinary circumstances, which has become the hallmark for Malfi's brand of intimate, lyrical horror fiction.
His earlier works, such as Via Dolorosa (2007) and Passenger (2008) explored characters with lost or confused identities, wherein Malfi experimented with the ultimate unreliable narrators. He maintained this trend in his award-winning novel, Floating Staircase (2011), which the author has suggested contains "multiple endings for the astute reader."
His more "monstery" novels, such as Snow (2010) and The Narrows (2012) still resonate with his inimitable brand of literary cadence and focus on character and story over plot. Both books were highly regarded by fans and reviewers in the genre.
A bit of a departure, Malfi published the crime drama Shamrock Alley in 2009, based on the true exploits of his own father, a former Secret Service agent. The book was optioned several times for film.
Ronald Malfi was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1977, the eldest of four children, and eventually relocated to Maryland, where he currently resides along the Chesapeake Bay.
When he's not writing, he's performing with the rock band VEER, who can be found at veerband.net and wherever you stream your music.
Visit
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 399 reviews
October 2, 2019
spooooky!
i am still trying to find a horror novel that scares me, because my fatal flaw is an inability to be scared by books. if you are sick of hearing me say this, we must have been friends for a while, so instead of being bored by my repetition, you should be grateful we are so close.
as far as scary books go, this one was one of the better ones. some horror novels are all about the payoff, the splatter, the quicktime monster jump-out. this one is more about building atmosphere to better get you when your guard is let down. and the writing is really solid. this is set in maryland, in a small town in a valley prone to devastating floods situated between mountains that cause the sunrise to appear later, and the sunset earlier. it is one of those small towns that traps you, even when you think you have left it for good. and it is slowly dying - there are boarded-up buildings and factories, the farmland isn't what it used to be, the river has been poisoned by run-off and three-eyed toads are not uncommon. and now something very odd is happening.
it begins with an infestation of bats.
nothing to see here, just us innocent bats. just a strange blip in nature's bounty...
but then the livestock-mutilations begin. and that's never a good thing. either you have satanists, or vampires, or chupacabra.and we are all sick of vampires, right?? (although i do think there are still some good ones being written, like Burden Kansas) but i promise you, and the book-synopsis promises you, this is not a vampire story.
and you know how it goes, "first they came for the cattle..." and then the young boys start going missing. and then the adults. and people start to catch glimpses of both their newly-, and their long-deceased loved ones. das unheimliche, indeed.
i appreciated the build in this one. he really took his time with the suspense-elements, escalating the tension ever so slowly, and creating the perfect trap.
my only complaint is a problem that is entirely my own, in my reading and visualization abilities.
and while i slept just fine last night (sigh), it was definitely a creepy book, and people who are more susceptible to horror novels (sigh) will probably have to leave the lights on.
do it.
come to my blog!
i am still trying to find a horror novel that scares me, because my fatal flaw is an inability to be scared by books. if you are sick of hearing me say this, we must have been friends for a while, so instead of being bored by my repetition, you should be grateful we are so close.
as far as scary books go, this one was one of the better ones. some horror novels are all about the payoff, the splatter, the quicktime monster jump-out. this one is more about building atmosphere to better get you when your guard is let down. and the writing is really solid. this is set in maryland, in a small town in a valley prone to devastating floods situated between mountains that cause the sunrise to appear later, and the sunset earlier. it is one of those small towns that traps you, even when you think you have left it for good. and it is slowly dying - there are boarded-up buildings and factories, the farmland isn't what it used to be, the river has been poisoned by run-off and three-eyed toads are not uncommon. and now something very odd is happening.
it begins with an infestation of bats.
nothing to see here, just us innocent bats. just a strange blip in nature's bounty...
but then the livestock-mutilations begin. and that's never a good thing. either you have satanists, or vampires, or chupacabra.and we are all sick of vampires, right?? (although i do think there are still some good ones being written, like Burden Kansas) but i promise you, and the book-synopsis promises you, this is not a vampire story.
and you know how it goes, "first they came for the cattle..." and then the young boys start going missing. and then the adults. and people start to catch glimpses of both their newly-, and their long-deceased loved ones. das unheimliche, indeed.
i appreciated the build in this one. he really took his time with the suspense-elements, escalating the tension ever so slowly, and creating the perfect trap.
my only complaint is a problem that is entirely my own, in my reading and visualization abilities.
and while i slept just fine last night (sigh), it was definitely a creepy book, and people who are more susceptible to horror novels (sigh) will probably have to leave the lights on.
do it.
come to my blog!
October 26, 2017
I read this book with my Shelfari group. I've read a few of Mr. Malfi's works before and enjoyed them, so I was looking forward to immersing myself in this novel. My excitement was not unwarranted.
The thing that stands out the most for me with this author is his style of writing. It's literary and almost lyrical at times. The descriptions are excellent and the style allows Mr. Malfi to take his time building this town and its people, without becoming boring. I can't help but make comparisons to another novel I recently read, Harvest Home, by Thomas Tryon. Tryon is another author skilled at "evil in a small town" story building. This book stood up to the comparison.
The second thing that stood out about this book is that it's actually scary, and I don't scare easy. The true horrors weren't quite visible at first, but as this tale gained momentum, the terrors became almost too visible. Like that X-Files episode with the thing in the pipes...you finally saw it-and immediately wished you hadn't. Because the scares were only half glimpsed at first, my imagination worked overtime filling in the blanks.
The third and last thing that made this read special for me was the imagination and the originality of it.
So overall, we have fantastic writing, with outstanding atmosphere and set building, real scares and originality. I ask you, what more could you ask for in a horror story? My highest recommendation!
The thing that stands out the most for me with this author is his style of writing. It's literary and almost lyrical at times. The descriptions are excellent and the style allows Mr. Malfi to take his time building this town and its people, without becoming boring. I can't help but make comparisons to another novel I recently read, Harvest Home, by Thomas Tryon. Tryon is another author skilled at "evil in a small town" story building. This book stood up to the comparison.
The second thing that stood out about this book is that it's actually scary, and I don't scare easy. The true horrors weren't quite visible at first, but as this tale gained momentum, the terrors became almost too visible. Like that X-Files episode with the thing in the pipes...you finally saw it-and immediately wished you hadn't. Because the scares were only half glimpsed at first, my imagination worked overtime filling in the blanks.
The third and last thing that made this read special for me was the imagination and the originality of it.
So overall, we have fantastic writing, with outstanding atmosphere and set building, real scares and originality. I ask you, what more could you ask for in a horror story? My highest recommendation!
January 25, 2022
The town of Stillwater was dying long before the creature came. Businesses closing their doors due to the damage from the frequent flooding from the Narrows. The recent flood has brought something else into town. Something old and deadly. Children are disappearing, and the ones who haven't whispered the tales of a vampire roaming the shadows. Little do they know it isn't a vampire, it is something much worse.
Didn't love it. Didn't hate it. There weren't a lot of action or things going on. I got bored halfway through. I felt Malfi spent too much time trying to be descriptive instead of bringing in the horror factor
Didn't love it. Didn't hate it. There weren't a lot of action or things going on. I got bored halfway through. I felt Malfi spent too much time trying to be descriptive instead of bringing in the horror factor
April 14, 2025
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 1/2
Only 3 of the ~1,450 bat species are known to drink blood. How many eat brains and vomit green goo? Well, the world may never know.
Malfi delivers again. Singing his praises is almost becoming perfunctory at this point. The man is a horror writing dynamo who has elevated himself to a different echelon of authors in my mind.
This was a unique take of the vampire, which isn’t something that can often be said. The vampire sub-genre has become so flooded that it has completely watered-down its impact (you see what I did there?). This somehow managed to not only be innovative in approach, but terrifying in its execution. I was genuinely scared during some parts of this novel, which never happens anymore because I’m a desensitized, broken human being. This was one of the scariest books I’ve read. Period.
Other than a certain other author, whose name rhymes with Even Ring, Malfi stands unfettered, atop of the horror genre.
Only 3 of the ~1,450 bat species are known to drink blood. How many eat brains and vomit green goo? Well, the world may never know.
Malfi delivers again. Singing his praises is almost becoming perfunctory at this point. The man is a horror writing dynamo who has elevated himself to a different echelon of authors in my mind.
This was a unique take of the vampire, which isn’t something that can often be said. The vampire sub-genre has become so flooded that it has completely watered-down its impact (you see what I did there?). This somehow managed to not only be innovative in approach, but terrifying in its execution. I was genuinely scared during some parts of this novel, which never happens anymore because I’m a desensitized, broken human being. This was one of the scariest books I’ve read. Period.
Other than a certain other author, whose name rhymes with Even Ring, Malfi stands unfettered, atop of the horror genre.
March 31, 2025
"Maybe a plague seeks out a town that is already on the verge of collapse - that is already very much near death - and it grabs hold and takes root and plants it's virtulent claws into the soil. Maybe when a town dies, it becomes this rotting, festering corpse that attracts the sort of things that feed off corpses."
3.75 ⭐'s
Initial Thoughts
I recently finished my first book by Ronald Malfi, Bone White, and couldn't get enough. So much so, that when the best book group on Goodreads, Horror or Heaven , suggested another of his novels, for a joint read, I just couldn't turn it down. It's something I don't normally do. I like to keep things fresh by mixing up genres and authors. It's a rule I swear by. But rules were made to be broken.
So that leads me on to this book, The Narrows. This one hit the stands in 2012, five years before Bone White, so it'll be like going back in time for me. I do normally like to work my way through an authors work chronically, to see how they've developed as a writer and look out for any Easter eggs. But what the hell. I'm going to give it a whirl and see what happens. Like that time my cousin came on to me after we'd had a few drinks. Eh...the less said about that the better though.
So without further ado, let's go!
The Story
This one is set in the run down town of Stillwater, Maryland, a dying place that's on life support. But it's about to have its lights switched right off.
A series of events, that look to be unrelated, kick off with a corpse washing up in the floodwaters that have been battering the locals. The pale, dead body of a local kid is bloated, hairless and pretty unrecognisable. So this gives local police sergeant Ben Journell a tough task in identifying who it is. Then there's the strange holes down the young boys back.
Then there's a strange bat infestation and a spate of cattle mutilations, before two local boys see what looks like a ghost. That's before one of them goes missing and the local police have really got their hands full.
But there's something a lot worse out there lurking in the darkness that's beyond the realms of human understanding. Something awful and hungry, that can't wait to get it's hands on the inhabitants of the dying town. And it won't matter one little bit if they understand it or not. It's coming and it can't wait to get intametly acquainted with them. Oh the horror!
The Writing
First off, I've got to say that, in the five years between this book and Bone White, Malfi has evolved as a writer. The way he develops the plot, dialogue and overall prose weren't quite the same quality in the Narrows. At least from where I'm standing.
That's not to say it's badly written. Not at all. It's simply that Malfi has grown as an author in those five years. Which is exactly what you would want to see.
The Narrows is more like old school scares akin to what Stephen King was like in the 80s. Or as I like to call it, the glory days of horror. He can certainly spin a sentences that sends a chill straight down your spine.
Malfi loves a metaphor like I love Megan Fox, and it's clearly evident here. He uses this literary device to great effect to set the scene and clearly created some vivid and scary images in my mind. That's not to say I was scared though. I'm too much of a man for that.
Something that Malfi did to great effect in Bone White (sorry to keep banging on about that book but it's the only one by him that I've read) was the execution of a slow burn horror. And he does it again here. He looks to be a master of building dread and paranoia up to a climatic finish. Things begin slowly, but the suspense builds steadily throughout and doesn't let up. And once that horror starts it's nasty and brutal. Just how I like it.
The Characters
Malfi looks to be one of the best authors of small town horror. He paints the inhabitants with real skill and nuance so that each one feels pretty real. And The Narrows uses multiple character points of view in order to get the story across.
Most important is local cop, Ben Journell, who leads the initial investigation and the following confrontation with those evil fiends. I found him easy to identify with although he was a touch clean cut for my liking. A little bit too perfect but apart from that he was well done.
Wendy Crawley and daughter Brandy were excellent and put to good use to explore the the grief of a missing child. The emotional impact was realistic and well portrayed. Was it Pet Semetary level? Not quite. But it did add an extra dimension to the story.
Then there were the monsters themselves. And they were throughly unique. I've not seen vampires done quite like this before and I did enjoy this interesting take. Malfi holds off on revealing the secret with them and I'm going to do the same...and not tell you anything. Because I'm evil like that.
Final Thoughts
Look, I'm going to shut the hell up about the last book I read by Ronald Malfi and how I enjoyed that more. Because The Narrows was an effective, old fashioned horror novel that I did enjoy. In fact, I enjoyed it quite a bit.
Its definitely maintained my interest and next up for me is another book by him. Yes, I've got another group read on the go and it's a collection of novellas called Ghostwritten. Then I'm definitely going to read something different. Like, for sure. Unless someone talks me into another Malfi book. I'm easily swayed, particularly if there's alcohol involved. So there you go...get me drunk and I'm anybody's.
What's left to say other than, if you like horror and suspense, give this guy a try. You can't go wrong. The new Stephen King indeed.
Thanks for reading and...cheers!
November 3, 2024
My review of The Narrows is published at Grimdark Magazine.
Ronald Malfi delivers vampiric horror without vampires in The Narrows, an Appalachian Gothic thriller originally published in 2012. The novel has just been re-released as an Author’s Preferred Edition, including a brand-new introduction from the author and a prologue that had never been included in any print version of the book until now. I had the pleasure of reading the signed Broken Binding version of the novel, which features a blood-red sprayed edge that only enhances the gruesome nature of the story.
Ronald Malfi takes inspiration from classic vampire fiction, paying special homage to Bram Stoker’s Dracula, while taking The Narrows in a completely unconventional direction for this subgenre of horror. The author’s creativity is on full display as he imagines something even more horrific that could prove foundational for vampiric legends.
The Narrows takes place in a small fictional town of Stillwater located in the mountains of western Maryland. Rural Appalachia proves to be the perfect setting for creating a feeling of isolation while showing the impact of an unknown horror on ordinary small-town families.
The suspense builds steadily throughout The Narrows, starting with a strange bat infestation and escalating to a mysterious automobile accident and cattle mutilation. The plot ultimately builds to some genuinely horrifying scenes, which increase in intensity in the latter part of the book. There is a healthy dose of body horror, so readers should be forewarned if that type of content makes you feel squeamish. For me personally, all I will say is that the book’s climax did nothing to alleviate my borderline case of chiroptophobia.
Altogether, The Narrows succeeds in bringing an entirely new spin on the classic vampire trope. Ronald Malfi’s prose burns with the same intensity as the story he tells. Although the ending of The Narrows made my stomach churn, I was also left with an ineffable desire to dive directly into the rest of Malfi’s back catalog.
Ronald Malfi delivers vampiric horror without vampires in The Narrows, an Appalachian Gothic thriller originally published in 2012. The novel has just been re-released as an Author’s Preferred Edition, including a brand-new introduction from the author and a prologue that had never been included in any print version of the book until now. I had the pleasure of reading the signed Broken Binding version of the novel, which features a blood-red sprayed edge that only enhances the gruesome nature of the story.
Ronald Malfi takes inspiration from classic vampire fiction, paying special homage to Bram Stoker’s Dracula, while taking The Narrows in a completely unconventional direction for this subgenre of horror. The author’s creativity is on full display as he imagines something even more horrific that could prove foundational for vampiric legends.
The Narrows takes place in a small fictional town of Stillwater located in the mountains of western Maryland. Rural Appalachia proves to be the perfect setting for creating a feeling of isolation while showing the impact of an unknown horror on ordinary small-town families.
The suspense builds steadily throughout The Narrows, starting with a strange bat infestation and escalating to a mysterious automobile accident and cattle mutilation. The plot ultimately builds to some genuinely horrifying scenes, which increase in intensity in the latter part of the book. There is a healthy dose of body horror, so readers should be forewarned if that type of content makes you feel squeamish. For me personally, all I will say is that the book’s climax did nothing to alleviate my borderline case of chiroptophobia.
Altogether, The Narrows succeeds in bringing an entirely new spin on the classic vampire trope. Ronald Malfi’s prose burns with the same intensity as the story he tells. Although the ending of The Narrows made my stomach churn, I was also left with an ineffable desire to dive directly into the rest of Malfi’s back catalog.
June 12, 2022
There are few perfect books in this world. Everyone has their own idea of what that is, which “ingredients” are absolutely necessary for a story to move the needle past the really good on the ratings meter and inch ever closer to that perfect score. For many of us, it’s a combination of characters and their development, pacing, plot, suspension of disbelief, and so on. But where we all differ is in the intangibles, those pieces of criteria that we love in our stories. For me, it’s a small town setting, where it feels like I’ve been there before. It’s using realistic children characters that I can empathize with in a coming-of-age arc. Throw them in horrific situation where they balance well with the realistic adults behaving… well, realistically to what’s in front of them. Sprinkle in some interesting backstories to round out the characters and make me care about them before we spread the red stuff and you’d be whipping up a story that’s right down my alley. Salem’s Lot. Boy’s Life. These are all examples of what I would classify as “perfect.” And guess what two stories Malfi’s The Narrows reminded me of as I was reading it? Exactly.
Stillwater, MD is trying to hold it’s head above water as torrential downpours have been flooding the area. The body of a hairless boy is washed up in the local culvert called The Narrows. No one knows who he is, nor is anyone from the neighboring towns have a missing child that would fit the description. Two pre-teen boys, Matthew and Dwight, decide to hike out to The Narrows to check out the dead body of a deer that was seen by a classmate, Matthew thinks he sees the figure of his father, who left his mother, sister and him a couple of years ago, in an abandoned plastic factory that resides by the bank of The Narrows. After a reluctant search of the spooky building doesn’t yield anything, the boys head for home. The next day, Matthew is missing and no one knows where he is. At first, Stillwater Deputy Ben Journell chalks it up as another case of a runaway kid that’ll come home after a day or two. But when Ben is called out on the middle of the night to the scene of an accident where Maggie Quedentock claims she hit a pale, hairless boy on the desolate road, he’s not so sure anymore. Strange things keep happening and small town isn’t the only thing that feels like it’s dying.
Malfi combines that pulpy 80’s storytelling and small town charm without suffering from any copycat syndrome. The Narrows is its own monster, and I’d hold it up against any other paperback out there. This is one of those stories that would make a fantastic movie with those wonderful tidbits of Salem’s Lot, The Fly, Fright Night, and Stranger Things all rolled into one. If it ever were, I’d be sitting right there on opening night.
5 De-brained cows out of 5
Stillwater, MD is trying to hold it’s head above water as torrential downpours have been flooding the area. The body of a hairless boy is washed up in the local culvert called The Narrows. No one knows who he is, nor is anyone from the neighboring towns have a missing child that would fit the description. Two pre-teen boys, Matthew and Dwight, decide to hike out to The Narrows to check out the dead body of a deer that was seen by a classmate, Matthew thinks he sees the figure of his father, who left his mother, sister and him a couple of years ago, in an abandoned plastic factory that resides by the bank of The Narrows. After a reluctant search of the spooky building doesn’t yield anything, the boys head for home. The next day, Matthew is missing and no one knows where he is. At first, Stillwater Deputy Ben Journell chalks it up as another case of a runaway kid that’ll come home after a day or two. But when Ben is called out on the middle of the night to the scene of an accident where Maggie Quedentock claims she hit a pale, hairless boy on the desolate road, he’s not so sure anymore. Strange things keep happening and small town isn’t the only thing that feels like it’s dying.
Malfi combines that pulpy 80’s storytelling and small town charm without suffering from any copycat syndrome. The Narrows is its own monster, and I’d hold it up against any other paperback out there. This is one of those stories that would make a fantastic movie with those wonderful tidbits of Salem’s Lot, The Fly, Fright Night, and Stranger Things all rolled into one. If it ever were, I’d be sitting right there on opening night.
5 De-brained cows out of 5
September 14, 2024
3.5 Stars
I always appreciate releases of older titles that were previously unavailable to me. As a long time fan of Ronald Malfi, I never had the opportunity to read this one before.
This one has all the hallmarks of the author. We have a character driven small town story with usual creepy horror plot elements. I liked this one, but I feel that the author has written stronger novels. This is representative of the author's style and could be a starting place. I think I would have judge this one easier if I wasn't comparing it to my favourites by the author.
Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.
I always appreciate releases of older titles that were previously unavailable to me. As a long time fan of Ronald Malfi, I never had the opportunity to read this one before.
This one has all the hallmarks of the author. We have a character driven small town story with usual creepy horror plot elements. I liked this one, but I feel that the author has written stronger novels. This is representative of the author's style and could be a starting place. I think I would have judge this one easier if I wasn't comparing it to my favourites by the author.
Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.
April 1, 2025
The Narrows is a decent book but a bit of a disappointment.
As my second read by Ronald Malfi, that's what you get for reading the most excellent Bone White first, which I rated five stars.
The Narrows isn't in the same league.
It's not as skillfully planned or written, suffers from superfluous filler in the middle of important action through mundane details, uses questionable editing/punctuation, and has occasional incongruous and sticky grammar such as 'had had' and 'on them then ate them' snippets of wisdom.
Published in 2012, the writing feels loose and amateurish and the difference between this and Bone White, 2017, is vast.
On the positive side it has an easy writing style with lots of accessibility, sets a suitably bleak scene and has - yippee - vampires in it. However, character development is lacking with barely any of the personalities being essential or likeable, with the exception the cop, Ben Journell. The town itself is dull, dead and dreary and not worth worrying about.
By establishing bleak and depressing hopelessness all the way through, what's the point of victory? What are we fighting for? If you suffer from depression or loneliness in real life - many of us do - this book won't terrorize you if you're scared shitless anyway, but repulse you because of the lack of joy or juxtaposition at how good life can be on the other side. It's necessary to shift from the light into the gloom, or from the doom into sunshine for horror to effectively work, and if it's nothing but darkness, what's the point besides a creepy and rather unsatisfactory read?
Being unlikeable and rarely scary are major negatives with The Narrows.
And what about the vampires?
Isn't there soft-wired lore about what vampires can and cannot do?
> What's with the guttural spitting of disinfectant-type green gloop?
> And the eating brains thing?
> And small, regular spinal incisions?
It's fiction and you can do what you want but these are strange deviations.
Vampires hide away during daylight to later maraud at night - correct - with references to inviting them in before they can attack you, wooden stakes, rosary beads and traditional concepts, but as a vampire story it's way off.
It's like saying werewolves can't be slayed by silver bullets, or they chomp on tins of special Pedigree Chum to jump over mountains and howl at the moon.
Maybe Ronald Malfi is better at cosmic horror without the graphic descriptions?
And this book goes to show how much he's developed as an author since 2012.
It's only three stars from me because it rarely thrills or scares and sometimes feels a bit silly and amateurish, weirdly reminding me of Carrie by Stephen King as a great first attempt at unhinged action, but that's where comparisons end because Carrie is ace.
Fortunately, Ronald Malfi gets it right in later books and I recommend you explore beyond The Narrows.
I'm a big fan of his work regardless of this one being a bit of a duffer.
Onto the next...
As my second read by Ronald Malfi, that's what you get for reading the most excellent Bone White first, which I rated five stars.
The Narrows isn't in the same league.
It's not as skillfully planned or written, suffers from superfluous filler in the middle of important action through mundane details, uses questionable editing/punctuation, and has occasional incongruous and sticky grammar such as 'had had' and 'on them then ate them' snippets of wisdom.
Published in 2012, the writing feels loose and amateurish and the difference between this and Bone White, 2017, is vast.
On the positive side it has an easy writing style with lots of accessibility, sets a suitably bleak scene and has - yippee - vampires in it. However, character development is lacking with barely any of the personalities being essential or likeable, with the exception the cop, Ben Journell. The town itself is dull, dead and dreary and not worth worrying about.
By establishing bleak and depressing hopelessness all the way through, what's the point of victory? What are we fighting for? If you suffer from depression or loneliness in real life - many of us do - this book won't terrorize you if you're scared shitless anyway, but repulse you because of the lack of joy or juxtaposition at how good life can be on the other side. It's necessary to shift from the light into the gloom, or from the doom into sunshine for horror to effectively work, and if it's nothing but darkness, what's the point besides a creepy and rather unsatisfactory read?
Being unlikeable and rarely scary are major negatives with The Narrows.
And what about the vampires?
Isn't there soft-wired lore about what vampires can and cannot do?
> What's with the guttural spitting of disinfectant-type green gloop?
> And the eating brains thing?
> And small, regular spinal incisions?
It's fiction and you can do what you want but these are strange deviations.
Vampires hide away during daylight to later maraud at night - correct - with references to inviting them in before they can attack you, wooden stakes, rosary beads and traditional concepts, but as a vampire story it's way off.
It's like saying werewolves can't be slayed by silver bullets, or they chomp on tins of special Pedigree Chum to jump over mountains and howl at the moon.
Maybe Ronald Malfi is better at cosmic horror without the graphic descriptions?
And this book goes to show how much he's developed as an author since 2012.
It's only three stars from me because it rarely thrills or scares and sometimes feels a bit silly and amateurish, weirdly reminding me of Carrie by Stephen King as a great first attempt at unhinged action, but that's where comparisons end because Carrie is ace.
Fortunately, Ronald Malfi gets it right in later books and I recommend you explore beyond The Narrows.
I'm a big fan of his work regardless of this one being a bit of a duffer.
Onto the next...
March 29, 2016
FIVE STAR HORROR. Perhaps the best horror novel I've read since I was 14 years old (nearly 30 years ago!) sitting in a recliner one snowy day completely absorbed in Stephen King's Salem's Lot. Malfi is, in my opinion, right up there with the greats: King, Simmons, McCammon. This audio book kept me company on my drive from Phoenix to Los Angeles, on a five mile hike, and two work commutes. There was never a dull moment in The Narrows; I was never bored. Every character came alive, the suspense built layer by layer, the plot never faded into obscurity. I plan to read everything that is Ronald Malfi. Highly recommended.
February 9, 2025
Reading a Malfi book is like having a spiritual experience. You enter into small town hell. No one writes small town horror stories the way Ronald Malfi does! His prose and eerie atmosphere hold you hostage until the very last word!
Children begin to come up missing in the small dark town of Stillwater, Maryland. The residents are hearing and seeing things lurking around outside of their homes. Something or someone is attacking the livestock.
PEOPLE, I finished this in about 28 hours! When I say the story is GRIPPING… I held on as if holding on for dear life!! A creepy tale that will leave shivers down your spine. Once again this author has shown his ability to write horror like no other. ALL HORROR LOVERS MUST READ THIS!!! Don’t miss out!!
5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Children begin to come up missing in the small dark town of Stillwater, Maryland. The residents are hearing and seeing things lurking around outside of their homes. Something or someone is attacking the livestock.
PEOPLE, I finished this in about 28 hours! When I say the story is GRIPPING… I held on as if holding on for dear life!! A creepy tale that will leave shivers down your spine. Once again this author has shown his ability to write horror like no other. ALL HORROR LOVERS MUST READ THIS!!! Don’t miss out!!
5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Read
December 24, 2021I don’t write reviews.
And I don’t like Stephen King-esque rambles about horrible characters. I thought this writer’s amount of Ray Bradbury would work in his favour, alas no. I suppose a few characters were alright, but one of the main female characters is, in an abusive relationship and accepts it, cheats on her awful husband and then is terrified about being found out and getting beaten again, uses the man she cheats with (she hates him too) as monster bait and remorselessly gets him killed and finally, in a looooongggg scene remembering her abusive dad and complacent mom, whose complacency made her smack her mom around as well and then thinking about her guilt over killing her baby as a teen…. I said no fucking more dude! Not even for a mildly interesting vampire payoff.
So did I like this book? No. I don’t think I did. Hence why I won’t rate it.
And I don’t like Stephen King-esque rambles about horrible characters. I thought this writer’s amount of Ray Bradbury would work in his favour, alas no. I suppose a few characters were alright, but one of the main female characters is, in an abusive relationship and accepts it, cheats on her awful husband and then is terrified about being found out and getting beaten again, uses the man she cheats with (she hates him too) as monster bait and remorselessly gets him killed and finally, in a looooongggg scene remembering her abusive dad and complacent mom, whose complacency made her smack her mom around as well and then thinking about her guilt over killing her baby as a teen…. I said no fucking more dude! Not even for a mildly interesting vampire payoff.
So did I like this book? No. I don’t think I did. Hence why I won’t rate it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 6, 2025
I love a small town story, and I loved this different take on a vampire tale.
I was immediately hooked and completely immersed in the people and strange goings on of the isolated, slowly dying little town of Stillwater. Rich characters had me rooting for them, and some genuinely scary moments had me glancing over my shoulder into the shadows.
I think this is my fourth Malfi and my favourite so far, plenty more to go though, 5 stars.
I was immediately hooked and completely immersed in the people and strange goings on of the isolated, slowly dying little town of Stillwater. Rich characters had me rooting for them, and some genuinely scary moments had me glancing over my shoulder into the shadows.
I think this is my fourth Malfi and my favourite so far, plenty more to go though, 5 stars.
September 3, 2016
Something sinister is afoot in the small town of Stillwater. Down by the Narrows, kids are disappearing, livestock is being slaughtered and the entire town is in danger of dying out.
Very well written. Atmospheric and appropriately spooky.
Very well written. Atmospheric and appropriately spooky.
July 17, 2025
The prologue was amazing! I was hooked from page one. Stillwater, Maryland is a town that’s hanging on by a thread due to the closing of the local factory. It also has a small problem of flooding. The setting was perfect. Suddenly, bats start appearing, livestock are murdered in a very obscure way and then people start missing. All of this absolutely caught my attention and I was all in.
So why the three star rating which by the way it pains me to give? We are introduced to a bunch of people and besides the sheriff and the sister of one of the missing boys everyone else is just a one dimensional plot filler. At one point it gave me a coming of age type of feel to then abandon that storyline completely to flutter over to a different storyline with different characters. It’s like all the dots between the characters never really formed a cohesive setting for me. For example, one character was heavily prominent early on to then only pop back up at the very end that I actually completely forgot about him.
The pacing of it also was very up-and-down and the action was very repetitive. This already was a longer book and it definitely felt like it could be cut back a bit or if there was more attention given to each town’s member that may have helped to build a connection with me as the reader. There were so many stones left unturned such as why the town was being affected by these monsters and while we get an idea of who there’s not much backstory to it. In my opinion, this was just too drawn out and definitely had the potential to be a great novel but it just fell flat for me.
This is probably my least favorite Malfi book to date, but while it fell low on the list, I will say it held my attention.
3.5 rounded down
So why the three star rating which by the way it pains me to give? We are introduced to a bunch of people and besides the sheriff and the sister of one of the missing boys everyone else is just a one dimensional plot filler. At one point it gave me a coming of age type of feel to then abandon that storyline completely to flutter over to a different storyline with different characters. It’s like all the dots between the characters never really formed a cohesive setting for me. For example, one character was heavily prominent early on to then only pop back up at the very end that I actually completely forgot about him.
The pacing of it also was very up-and-down and the action was very repetitive. This already was a longer book and it definitely felt like it could be cut back a bit or if there was more attention given to each town’s member that may have helped to build a connection with me as the reader. There were so many stones left unturned such as why the town was being affected by these monsters and while we get an idea of who there’s not much backstory to it. In my opinion, this was just too drawn out and definitely had the potential to be a great novel but it just fell flat for me.
This is probably my least favorite Malfi book to date, but while it fell low on the list, I will say it held my attention.
3.5 rounded down
April 8, 2025
The Narrows is probably my least favorite book I've read by Ronald Malfi to date. But that's like saying Hershey's is my least favorite kind of chocolate. It's still chocolate, and I won't turn it down!
The Narrows takes place in the depressed small Appalachian town of Stillwater, Maryland. Nestled in the mountains along the Potomac River, Stillwater is prone to flooding. Strange things turn up in town with the floods. The latest floods bring something terrifying.
I found myself hooked on the story and the characters with the first couple of chapters. But then I felt like the story started to drag. I'm not sure if it was because it jumped perspectives between townspeople too often before I could get a feel for the characters. Or maybe it took a while for the activity to pick up rather than hints about what was going on. I felt a bit detached from the characters and the story.
Once things got moving, the gore was elevated. The horror and creepiness levels were high as well. The Narrows wasn't lacking there. I may have just chosen to read it too close to a couple of amazing vampire novels, Let the Right One In and Salem's Lot. My expectations could have been set way too high. I'm going to be generous with four stars. Three stars seems too low. Five stars is too high. I'm hoping my next Malfi read is back to the five star level I've come to expect from his books!
The Narrows takes place in the depressed small Appalachian town of Stillwater, Maryland. Nestled in the mountains along the Potomac River, Stillwater is prone to flooding. Strange things turn up in town with the floods. The latest floods bring something terrifying.
I found myself hooked on the story and the characters with the first couple of chapters. But then I felt like the story started to drag. I'm not sure if it was because it jumped perspectives between townspeople too often before I could get a feel for the characters. Or maybe it took a while for the activity to pick up rather than hints about what was going on. I felt a bit detached from the characters and the story.
Once things got moving, the gore was elevated. The horror and creepiness levels were high as well. The Narrows wasn't lacking there. I may have just chosen to read it too close to a couple of amazing vampire novels, Let the Right One In and Salem's Lot. My expectations could have been set way too high. I'm going to be generous with four stars. Three stars seems too low. Five stars is too high. I'm hoping my next Malfi read is back to the five star level I've come to expect from his books!
December 11, 2024
I feel like this book would be 5 ⭐️s for me if I hadn’t read it immediately following major spinal surgery and while on plenty of pain meds. I loved everything about it. But I know I missed some amazing Malfi plot twists and descriptions. So 4.5⭐️s from me with a promise to re-read it another time so it gets my full attention.
Loved it!!
Loved it!!
May 26, 2025
Meh. Malfi has been on my radar for some time and The Narrows my first read of his; perhaps my last. While this possessed some fun elements and creative foo, the overall plot and structure rehash old tropes and cliches without really adding anything new. Maybe this could have been salvaged if Malfi wrapped the story around some interesting characters, but alas, the characters, especially the females, are either walking tropes or just plain unlikeable and/or stupid.
Think small town horror and you get this tale. The little town of Stillwater in far west Maryland has been sliding into rust-belt status for years. Our protagonist, the head cop named Ben, starts having a very bad week. Someone or thing has been mutilating the local livestock, either taking their heads or sucking their brains and just leaving the carcasses. WTF? Then some local kids start disappearing without any clue. Plus, there seems to be an awful lot of bats hanging around! A little like ’Salem’s Lot and about 1000 other tales.
The plot moves around in fits and starts as Malfi rotates the POVs around the cast. Besides Ben, we have the elder sister (Brandy) of one of the missing boys and a trove of deeply abused women; lets just say female characters are not really Malfi's bag. Of course we also have the other local cops and the typical townies that tend to populate this type of tale. As I stated above, the something causing havoc in town was interesting, but Malfi takes his sweet time in getting there. The denouement. Been there done that. I was hoping for something new, fresh and spooky, especially given all the plaudits received by his work, but got a rehash of 80s tropes done in a mediocre way. 2 tired stars.
Think small town horror and you get this tale. The little town of Stillwater in far west Maryland has been sliding into rust-belt status for years. Our protagonist, the head cop named Ben, starts having a very bad week. Someone or thing has been mutilating the local livestock, either taking their heads or sucking their brains and just leaving the carcasses. WTF? Then some local kids start disappearing without any clue. Plus, there seems to be an awful lot of bats hanging around! A little like ’Salem’s Lot and about 1000 other tales.
The plot moves around in fits and starts as Malfi rotates the POVs around the cast. Besides Ben, we have the elder sister (Brandy) of one of the missing boys and a trove of deeply abused women; lets just say female characters are not really Malfi's bag. Of course we also have the other local cops and the typical townies that tend to populate this type of tale. As I stated above, the something causing havoc in town was interesting, but Malfi takes his sweet time in getting there. The denouement. Been there done that. I was hoping for something new, fresh and spooky, especially given all the plaudits received by his work, but got a rehash of 80s tropes done in a mediocre way. 2 tired stars.
March 22, 2025
"Maybe when a town dies, it becomes this rotting, festering corpse that attracts the sorts of things that feed off corpses." - Ronald Malfi - "The Narrows"
“The Narrows” by Ronald Malfi completely lived up to my expectations after thoroughly enjoying “Bone White” and “Black Mouth." Malfi’s style of horror is refreshing; it's not just about "jump scares." Instead, he creates a slow-burn experience that builds tension and keeps you on the edge, making you want to flip to the next page. It reminded me a bit of “Salem’s Lot,” with both stories focusing on a small town going through a transformation after the arrival of something mysterious. However, Malfi creates his own path, crafting a vividly detailed world that draws you in almost instantly.
Set in the small town of Stillwater, Maryland, the story begins with the discovery of a young boy's body as recent floodwaters recede. What I love about Malfi is how he portrays the town as a character in its own right.
Who proudly plants a flag at the center of decimation?.....the farms with their pig shit and chicken coops and tractor fumes, mingled with the brackish stink of the Narrows
“Every small town has power,” Hogarth said. “The people are aware of it in the way we’re aware of electricity humming through the walls of our homes or that our water is delivered through a network of pipes underground.
Stillwater is struggling; the closure of a plastics factory has polluted the waters and led to job loss, which feels like it's chipping away at the community's spirit. As the town deteriorates, some of the residents start experiencing haunting visions of loved ones they've lost.
Malfi is recognized for his deliberate slow-burn pacing in storytelling, and "The Narrows" exemplifies this approach. He carefully presents the characters, providing sufficient information for readers to develop a genuine investment in their fates while gradually revealing the story's peculiar aspects. Initially, the appearance of a stray bat in a classroom might appear harmless, but it actually hints at the chaos that is about to unfold. Malfi skillfully escalates the tension as we are introduced to each character.
Characters like Maggie Quedentock, who accidentally hits what she thinks is a young boy on her way home from a "complicated meeting". The subsequent appearance of a mysterious figure near her house at night brings terror.
After a mysterious meeting with the apparition of his estranged father at the deserted plastics factory, Matthew Crawley disappears, leaving his sister, Brandy, filled with unease throughout the night. Meanwhile, Sheriff Ben Journell, who remains in Stillwater out of respect for his deceased father, begins to confront the terrifying truths that are occurring.
As the story unfolds, Malfi slowly unravels these threads, leading us to a horror that is truly disturbing. He delivers an unexpected twist involving a vampire that’s not quite what you’d expect, presenting a primal form of vampirism that feeds off the community.
The typical image of a brooding, velvet-clad vampire or a seductive, eternal bloodsucker is what most of us would expect in a vampire novel.
Malfi offers a fresh take on vampirism, reminiscent of the idea presented in “Chupacabras, The Vampiric Cryptids Of The Southwest,” and I’d argue it’s way more unsettling.
Malfi vividly portrays a town caught in a state of liminality. He does an excellent job of immersing us in this despair-filled town, showcasing human grief and loss of security.
With tension and suspense, Malfi’s descriptive writing, though some may criticize as being overkill, does contribute to the story’s haunting atmosphere. “The Narrows” is a captivating read that beautifully mixes psychological depth with supernatural horror, making it a must-read for anyone who loves a good scare!
July 25, 2013
I'm not a huge fan of vampire stories, but if I do read them, I can only hope they should all be as good and as original as The Narrows. As a matter of fact, vampires or not, I hope to read more genre books as good and original as this one was. I remember reading The Boy in the Lot a while back on kindle, it was a free short story, sort of a teaser for The Narrows and it was pretty good, it intrigued me, but it didn't really prepare me for how awesome this book was going to be. The thing with The Narrows is just the quality, the writing is exceptional...Malfi does a phenomenal job of describing a small dying town and its hopeless complacent inhabitants and then he plunges them all into a deeply claustrophobic terror. It starts off as a coming of age story and ends up as a creature feature, never once losing its momentum, the slowly mounting dread, the sensation of the ground giving way (figuratively and literally in this case), the gradual slip into the blood sucking brain eating madness of it all. There is plenty of gore and suspense, but the strength of the book is really its strong narrative and sympathetic characters. Good to the last page, I enjoyed the epilogue as well, although I thought that the second part of it was a tad out of sync with the rest of the book. I can see how it worked, though. This was exactly the kind of can't put it down have to see what happens oh wow scary story that a genre fan hopes to find when opening a new book. Highly recommended.
October 8, 2024
4.25 stars - thank you titan books for a copy of this book in exchange for my thoughts!
Malfi is a master at crafting characters. All of his characters feel authentic and uniquely different from each other. On top of his ability to write characters this book is riddled with suspense and gave me that overwhelming sense of dread throughout. It has that perfect blend of action, horror, gore, character connection, and intrigue.
If you’re looking for a vampire-esque book for spooky season, definitely add this one to your list.
Video thoughts: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTFPYbNYy/
Malfi is a master at crafting characters. All of his characters feel authentic and uniquely different from each other. On top of his ability to write characters this book is riddled with suspense and gave me that overwhelming sense of dread throughout. It has that perfect blend of action, horror, gore, character connection, and intrigue.
If you’re looking for a vampire-esque book for spooky season, definitely add this one to your list.
Video thoughts: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTFPYbNYy/
November 3, 2019
This was a buddy read with a couple of the sans-pantsed: 2.0 and Delee. As per the usual, I didn't really know much going into this except that it was horror and about a town called Stillwater that seems to be having a bad run of luck.
This book didn't get off to the best start for me. The first chapter was supposed to set the tone and feel of the book, yet it just felt overwrought and overly-dramatic to describe a scene where a bat gets into a classroom and startles a girl, leading to the general panic of the whole class. It was a lot of misdirection and averted gaze description, a general feeling of "OOOOOOH WHAT IS THE SCARY THING??" whereas a more direct approach would have worked better than circling around it for pages before the big reveal.
That being said, it did grow on me pretty quickly after that first chapter. It had a general feel of Stephen King's work, the old good stuff, where he'd narratively flit around the town describing the area, the inhabitants, the lore, and generally giving an overall fullness and realness of feel to the fictional town and people. I liked that aspect quite a lot.
Incidentally, reading this at times felt like what reading The Outsider could and should have been, had The Outsider not completely sucked. I mean, there's a... something... that's taking children. Something that everyone sees a little bit differently and mayhap could be what the horror stories tell of. But where The Outsider flops, The Narrows shines.
The Narrows never lost focus on what it was - a horror story. A story of missing boys, grieving families, a dying town, and a fight against a monster. The Narrows had moments of drag, yes, but it always managed to get back to where it needed to be. The Narrows had editing and typo issues ("tremble" when "treble" was meant, or "damn" when "dam" was meant, for example), and the ebook version that I read had some formatting issues where it seemed that sentences were out of order, but these were few and far between, and only gummed up the works momentarily.
The story itself was really good. I loved the descriptiveness of it, the way that the feel of the dread and fear just kept ratcheting up more and more. I enjoyed that quite a lot. I do think that it did drag on a bit longer than it should have in the last quarter of the book, but the end was worth it, so I can't be too mad.
I think I'll likely check out more of Malfi's work at some point. This was a good intro, I think.
This book didn't get off to the best start for me. The first chapter was supposed to set the tone and feel of the book, yet it just felt overwrought and overly-dramatic to describe a scene where a bat gets into a classroom and startles a girl, leading to the general panic of the whole class. It was a lot of misdirection and averted gaze description, a general feeling of "OOOOOOH WHAT IS THE SCARY THING??" whereas a more direct approach would have worked better than circling around it for pages before the big reveal.
That being said, it did grow on me pretty quickly after that first chapter. It had a general feel of Stephen King's work, the old good stuff, where he'd narratively flit around the town describing the area, the inhabitants, the lore, and generally giving an overall fullness and realness of feel to the fictional town and people. I liked that aspect quite a lot.
Incidentally, reading this at times felt like what reading The Outsider could and should have been, had The Outsider not completely sucked. I mean, there's a... something... that's taking children. Something that everyone sees a little bit differently and mayhap could be what the horror stories tell of. But where The Outsider flops, The Narrows shines.
The Narrows never lost focus on what it was - a horror story. A story of missing boys, grieving families, a dying town, and a fight against a monster. The Narrows had moments of drag, yes, but it always managed to get back to where it needed to be. The Narrows had editing and typo issues ("tremble" when "treble" was meant, or "damn" when "dam" was meant, for example), and the ebook version that I read had some formatting issues where it seemed that sentences were out of order, but these were few and far between, and only gummed up the works momentarily.
The story itself was really good. I loved the descriptiveness of it, the way that the feel of the dread and fear just kept ratcheting up more and more. I enjoyed that quite a lot. I do think that it did drag on a bit longer than it should have in the last quarter of the book, but the end was worth it, so I can't be too mad.
I think I'll likely check out more of Malfi's work at some point. This was a good intro, I think.
October 1, 2019
Supremely atmospheric + well-written. So glad I discovered Ronald Malfi's brand of horror through Goodreads last year. Would absolutely recommend to anyone looking for an eerie Halloween read :)
September 23, 2015
How did this book get such a high rating? No, wait, I've got one better: how is the same author that wrote Little Girls. I totally didn't like that book but the writing is SO much better. What little plot there is shines in comparison.
This book is filled with horrible, stupid people. Not horrible in the sense that they get up to mischief, though. Sorry to break that to you. It's just... I have no words.
This is a small town and children are going missing left and right, while cattle is being mutilated. You'd think that would motivate SOMEONE into panicking, but nope. NOT EVEN THE CHILDREN'S PARENTS. I shit you not. Was there even one missing poster posted? So you have that.
And on the other side of things, you have utterly stupid and incompetent police officers. The police were written so badly that it made me wonder if the author knew even the bare bones minimum of police procedural. I truly mean this. This is so not the case of an author watching a ton of CSI.
Like, for example, they go to this woman's house because she basically said monsters killed her hubby. They get there, see a shotgun, see spent bullets, see what they thing is blood and other stuff. What does this police guy do? Oh, he picks up the shell with his bare hands. He scrapes his nails along what looks like it could be evidence. He asks the other officer to see if it looks the same as at the animal killings, and when the guy just shrugs, he's totally cool with ignoring it.
He doesn't call crime scene people in. He has his officer put on plastic gloves when handling the gun and he has to explain why he needs to do that. Like finger prints are things this officer has never heard of because.
It's going to rain but whatever. No pictures. No securing the scene. Nope. Let's just move along.
Oh, or like how he thinks he's found a dead kid so he orders his men to transport the body to the police station. What? No photos. No nothing. We'll just ruin the entire crime scene and send the body to a place that isn't equipt to deal with them.
God, I need some alcohol.
This book is filled with horrible, stupid people. Not horrible in the sense that they get up to mischief, though. Sorry to break that to you. It's just... I have no words.
This is a small town and children are going missing left and right, while cattle is being mutilated. You'd think that would motivate SOMEONE into panicking, but nope. NOT EVEN THE CHILDREN'S PARENTS. I shit you not. Was there even one missing poster posted? So you have that.
And on the other side of things, you have utterly stupid and incompetent police officers. The police were written so badly that it made me wonder if the author knew even the bare bones minimum of police procedural. I truly mean this. This is so not the case of an author watching a ton of CSI.
Like, for example, they go to this woman's house because she basically said monsters killed her hubby. They get there, see a shotgun, see spent bullets, see what they thing is blood and other stuff. What does this police guy do? Oh, he picks up the shell with his bare hands. He scrapes his nails along what looks like it could be evidence. He asks the other officer to see if it looks the same as at the animal killings, and when the guy just shrugs, he's totally cool with ignoring it.
He doesn't call crime scene people in. He has his officer put on plastic gloves when handling the gun and he has to explain why he needs to do that. Like finger prints are things this officer has never heard of because.
It's going to rain but whatever. No pictures. No securing the scene. Nope. Let's just move along.
Oh, or like how he thinks he's found a dead kid so he orders his men to transport the body to the police station. What? No photos. No nothing. We'll just ruin the entire crime scene and send the body to a place that isn't equipt to deal with them.
God, I need some alcohol.
January 1, 2018
Solid Malfi but not his best IMO, that belongs to Bone White. The first third really hit me personally emotionally which also added to my fright later because as the tension was being elevated I actually felt something for the characters as to who they were and not just what was happening to them. I always get my money's worth with this author and would recommend anything I've read by him so far, of which this is the fifth piece of fiction. 4.3 overall from me.
September 4, 2015
The opening scene was a strong start but after that the story lost momentum. Too much filler masquerading as unneeded background on the various characters. Generally had a creepy feel. A big deal was made in the very beginning about Halloween being just two weeks away but not enough was done with it. Good but still kinda missed the mark.
November 10, 2018
it was ok. the "vampires" were new and creative. the characters were ok but I didn't get attached to any of them.
dnf
May 22, 2025Oh no I’ve got to do it, DNF @ pg 86. This is slow, so slow, too slow, it is making me sleepy, it doesn’t have the oomph of Small Town Horror or Come With Me and I am ever so disappointed ☹️ Have I simply read the best two books from this author already and it’s a bit downhill from here?! I didn’t enjoy the graphic description of so I’ll leave this one here I think. Damn.
October 30, 2024
“The people of the Narrows keep watch”
I have made a personal goal to introduce myself to 'new' (to me) authors in 2024. Five of my 'horror month marathon' books fit this critera... this is not one of them. I had read Malfi last year with my first by him being 'Black Mouth'. For whatever reason – and although I liked the story – I rated that one 3 stars. I'm pretty sure I was swayed by just reading 'The Witching Hour' by Anne Rice. That book so impressed me it was hard not to be underwhelmed by whatever I read next. Nevertheless, I made a comment in my review that I planned to give Malfi another try. Several GR friends encouraged the same.
One horror season later I thought I would try out The Narrows to see if my experience was better the second time around. Boy – was I rewarded. I found this one a lot more interesting and I liked the characters. It started out and made me think it was another of many 'coming of age' stories. It was much more than that.
Books generally don't scare me. Scary movies do.. with jump-scare scenes, spooky imagery, and suspenseful music. Books can put such ideas in my head... which sometimes popup in weird dreams but generally don't cause me to look over my shoulder the next time I go out in the dark or anything. This book was quite scary though. The imagery and descriptive writing was very well done. It took a little while to get going, but once it did the chaos was almost non-stop. Malfi had an imaginative take on a very old tried-and-true theme.
There were lots of minor characters that filled in gaps in the story – many of which had interesting backstories... which added to the fun. Maggie was one of my favorites Ben was a great character.
In addition to the characters there was all kinds of fun imagery. Things like the mysterious 'hairless boy', The Witch Tree, the bat at the school , the Halloween mask, the puncture marks.. and on and on. I listened to this on audiobook (a very well done production). There was a section where Ben went into a local drugstore and the kindly druggist asked him “You want a float?” … of course on audiobook it sounds like “You wanna float?” Of which my reaction of course is “BEN – GET OUT OF THERE NOW – DON'T LOOK BACK!” I always have a Kindle or paper version of everything I listen to on audiobook... so I knew better. I'm just weird that way. 😀
The story had a nice touch of mystery throughout with the horror ramping up. It kept me interested all the way through and I will definitely partake of more Malfi in my upcoming reads. I’m on quite a roll this time around picking selections for my horror month. Another good one here full of suspense and lots of old school horror- very well done. 5 stars for me. 🧛♂️
I have made a personal goal to introduce myself to 'new' (to me) authors in 2024. Five of my 'horror month marathon' books fit this critera... this is not one of them. I had read Malfi last year with my first by him being 'Black Mouth'. For whatever reason – and although I liked the story – I rated that one 3 stars. I'm pretty sure I was swayed by just reading 'The Witching Hour' by Anne Rice. That book so impressed me it was hard not to be underwhelmed by whatever I read next. Nevertheless, I made a comment in my review that I planned to give Malfi another try. Several GR friends encouraged the same.
One horror season later I thought I would try out The Narrows to see if my experience was better the second time around. Boy – was I rewarded. I found this one a lot more interesting and I liked the characters. It started out and made me think it was another of many 'coming of age' stories. It was much more than that.
Books generally don't scare me. Scary movies do.. with jump-scare scenes, spooky imagery, and suspenseful music. Books can put such ideas in my head... which sometimes popup in weird dreams but generally don't cause me to look over my shoulder the next time I go out in the dark or anything. This book was quite scary though. The imagery and descriptive writing was very well done. It took a little while to get going, but once it did the chaos was almost non-stop. Malfi had an imaginative take on a very old tried-and-true theme.
There were lots of minor characters that filled in gaps in the story – many of which had interesting backstories... which added to the fun. Maggie was one of my favorites Ben was a great character.
In addition to the characters there was all kinds of fun imagery. Things like the mysterious 'hairless boy', The Witch Tree, the bat at the school , the Halloween mask, the puncture marks.. and on and on. I listened to this on audiobook (a very well done production). There was a section where Ben went into a local drugstore and the kindly druggist asked him “You want a float?” … of course on audiobook it sounds like “You wanna float?” Of which my reaction of course is “BEN – GET OUT OF THERE NOW – DON'T LOOK BACK!” I always have a Kindle or paper version of everything I listen to on audiobook... so I knew better. I'm just weird that way. 😀
The story had a nice touch of mystery throughout with the horror ramping up. It kept me interested all the way through and I will definitely partake of more Malfi in my upcoming reads. I’m on quite a roll this time around picking selections for my horror month. Another good one here full of suspense and lots of old school horror- very well done. 5 stars for me. 🧛♂️
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