The Mountain

by William Ollie

To Eddie Marshall, the idea seemed ridiculous: hitchhike to the mountains of North Carolina to help his lifelong pal haul a truck load of Christmas trees out to Louisiana.
But Mark Rockley had a way of making the ridiculous seem perfectly reasonable. And what did Eddie have to lose anyway? At least up here he could take his mind off crooked managers and bickering band-mates, and the conniving woman he'd left behind.
Had he known what happened to Harold and Maggie on the mountain this morning, he would never have agreed to go up there tonight. Even if there was a patch of trees free for the taking.
If Mark and Eddie had known what waited in the shadow of Rickert's Peak, they would have stayed far, far away from that place.
Tonight, reason turns to madness, madness gives way to terror.
And bad things happen on… The Mountain.

Black Voltage Series #13
This edition contains 3 bonus stories (one new and two reprints) not included in the Hard Rain edition.

Genres: Horror

255 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2012

Reviews

[Kaisersoze · Rating 4 out of 5]

In what has been an extremely sub-par year for my reading (both in terms of quantity consumed and quality chosen), The Mountain is one of those little surprises which keeps you coming back to the well for more.

Inbred hillbillies, drug use, murders, sexual assaults and corrupt cops have all been done before, it's true. But I'm not sure they've been combined in such a way as William Ollie here manages. Ollie's great strength is his characterisations, as each of the main characters is detailed enough to be discernible and elicit something of a care factor. And though that might only be true of his main four or five characters - honestly, the women in this book are given very short thrift - it's still far better than what normally happens in this type of pulpy horror novel.

So if you haven't had enough of the Wrong Turn film franchise by way of the late Richard Laymon, then give The Mountain a shot. You won't be disappointed that you did.

3.5 Bad Money-Making Ideas for The Mountain.

[Justin · Rating 3 out of 5]

this was a decent book with good characters that was well written, I'm just kind of bored with the whole inbred cannibals on a mountain thing. I would say this is better than most of those types of books that I have read but I just couldn't really get fully into because of that, and then a less than satisfactory ending that had a couple major flaws prevented it from getting a better rating. It was more of a 3.5 star but I rounded down.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fastpaced, bloody, sick, and depraved. Awesome! Of all the backwoods, inbred redneck stories I have read this one kept me turning the pages. Makes you wonder if this kind of shit could really happen...

A must read!

[Karl]

The Black Voltage edition contains:

11 - "The Mountain" (2012)
235 - "Torment" (2012)
245 - "Serial Kiddie" (2003)
249 - "Ike Brenneman's Perfect Day" (2006)

This is copy 47 of 60 signed numbered copies. Signed by William Ollie.

[Uptown Horror Reviews · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was entertaining enough, but it took way too long to get to the action and once we got there it was generic and bland.

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun and easy read with good characters. Quite brutal. Some descriptive passages were unclear. I didn't like how the book ended with Eddie and Mark just driving away and laughing as if nothing had happened. One minute they were feeling so bad for the girls who got killed and the next they were like "F it, lets drive."

Also, with a body count like that, there would definitely be witnesses connecting them to the events that night.

[Oskar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic novel!! To me is flawless.Good characters,good story with a fast rhythm.
Never boring.Maybe this kind of story is not everyone´s cup of tea but I think this
novel is first class fiction.And if you enjoy these stories sure you´ll like it!

[Timothy Youngs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very Richard Laymon like, loved it.

[Joshua · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-paced, competently written. Characters were relatively believable and realistic, which is a bit of a standout for this sub-genre. The splat was good and seemed to fit the story rather than pile on superfluously for effect. No complaints, really. If this is your genre of choice, The Mountain is worth checking out as a solid entry.

If inbred cannibal rape and slaughter with intense violence and gore isn't in your wheelhouse? Well...you probably aren't checking out this book in the first place.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

This felt like a mashup between Edward Lee and Richard Laymon.

[Jason Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Mountain is a backwoods thriller in the vein of Richard Laymon's Midnight's Lair and Bryan Smith's Depraved. The pace moves along quickly due to several antagonistic groups, but the characters are often indistinguishable and reside in a murky pot cloud of personality and morality. Character development stops at "he is a good guitarist, he is a considerate lover, or she has pretty blonde hair." I found myself cheering neither for the protagonists or their inbred pursuers. Over all The Mountain is a fun ride, but not memorable.