The Folks

Folks #1

by Ray Garton

Welcome to Pinecrest, an isolated mountain village halfway up rural Mt. Crag. . . a place of natural beauty and solitude . . . a place where village life has remained unchanged for decades. . .but also a place where dead bodies have a strange way of showing up every couple of years. . .ravaged, mutilated bodies.

The Folks is a good old-fashioned horror novel from the master-mind of Ray Garton. The book opens on Halloween morning, at a rain-soaked cemetery, and the action doesn't stop until the final page is turned. Scary, suspenseful and a whole lotta fun, The Folks is available only from Cemetery Dance Publications!

Genres: Horror, Splatterpunk, Fiction

136 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2001

About the author

Ray Garton is the author of several books, including horror novels such as LIVE GIRLS (which has a movie in the works), CRUCIFAX, E4 AUTUMN, and THE FOLKS; thrillers like TRADE SECRETS and SHACKLED; and numerous short stories and novellas. He's also written a number of movie and television tie-ins for young readers. He lives with his wife, Dawn, in California.

Reviews

[Steve Stred · Rating 5 out of 5]

** Edited as review is now live on Kendall Reviews! **

4.5/5

“It had been quiet until then.”

I have a few Garton books in my TBR, but recently stumbled upon this book and was immediately drawn to the original limited-edition cover art.

Usually, I’m VERY diligent about staying to my written down TBR order, wanting to not miss anything or forget about anything, but something about this book kept calling out to me after I snagged it.

So, finally, I relented and dove in.

This was an outstanding read from beginning to end and Garton made sure to keep ramping up the dread, before throwing an entire circus train full of grotesque in my face.

Much like ‘Freaks’ was a movie that featured “side-show” characters with emotions, Garton does the same here.

We get thrown into a small town, near Mt. Crag. Andy Sayers has been horrifically scarred by a fire in his youth but has found a place he calls home. Above the town, the massive mansion of the secretive Bollinger’s keeps watch.

Then on Halloween night, Sayers finds out just what resides in the sprawling complex.

I absolutely loved the scenes set in the mansion and as Garton continued to introduce more and more of the Bollingers, I was giddy with joy.

The story flies along at a breakneck pace and other than a few spots I felt were a bit glossed over, I thoroughly enjoyed this super creepy backwoods story.

It looks like there is a part 2 out already and in the afterword, Garton mentions part 3 is in production, so I’ll be checking those out for sure.

Now I just need to get to Ray’s other work on my TBR.

[Wayne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't believe it took me this long to read this book. This could be Garton's best. Even though it was closer to a short story. This could of, and I wish it did, go on to a full-length novel. This was just out and out creepy. I can't say that there was a misplaced word in here.

A young man who survived a fire as a boy moves to the mountains with his grandma. He starts to attend the Christian college on an anonymous scholarship. He drops out and plans to move away soon. At a Halloween party, he meets a sexy woman who wants more than just his mind. They go to a graveyard to have some fun. That's when the craziness starts.

There are way too many highlights within to focus on all of them. My personal favorites are the graveyard sex scene and the remembrance of a story once told to our hero of a person's first time at love. That one had me laughing out loud. You can't go wrong with this.

[Lou · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ray's novels always incorporate a dose of weird and strange with horror and sex. I own this in a Limited Cemetery Dance edition and thought why not. The story unfolds on the day of Halloween, and one boys finds himself invited to a powerful and influential family lair in most unconventional way. He's offered a opportunity that if he refuses will meet with a devastating occurrence. That family, 'The Folks' are shall we say, in Ray sort of way, are not abstaining type from enjoyment of the flesh and like to keep it in the family. The strange thing is they speak of the soul and God and religious teachings but take a look in the mirror.The ride is dark short ride of horror not for kids. (130pages)

[Mikepottz · Rating 4 out of 5]

A face made up of mangled strips and scar tissue by a mothers mistake Andy has to live with people staring at him. The Bollingers owned most of the village, there name appears everywhere in history, they donate huge sums of money but the only member of the family seen in town is Amanda. A girl is gutted, bitten, slashed, not the first it happens quite a bit. Andy will be seduced by Amanda and will be balls deep in her on a grave which has heaps of babies buried. He will feel multiple hands on him and stops but Amanda runs away towards her house. The majestic house from the outside is full of mess, dust, cobwebs, unwashed dishes, putrid smells. Amanda introduces Andy to her father who has skin dripping down his face to his belly, leg stumps, grotesque looking. The father wants Andy to be part of the family, one of them. He is introduced to the family with children having lobster claws for hands, conjoined twins, dozens of carnival freaks. Andy escapes, and will have to live with the family after losing a limb and becoming embroiled in a crime. X files meets wrong turn. Inbreeding freaks. Signed copy.

[Aaron Lindsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reads like the novelization of Nothing But Trouble from 1991. You remember that weird movie? If you liked it, you'll probably like The Folks.

[Lou Canning · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fab read from one of the best horror writers (in my opinion) out there.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Ray Gaston original horror from 2001, and this is the first I’ve heard of him? I suppose I’ve led a silly closed-off life. I will have to regret that later when I’ve finished treating the nails I gnawed to the quick. It’s weird how much a story like this can make you consider who you are and how you would feel in the place of Ray’s characters - and I don’t mean just the poor schmuck who is our “hero”. Make sure you read Ray’s Afterward too so you can fulfill your reader destiny and keep reading horror for all the right reasons.

Ray Garton died in April 2024…may be rest in peace!
Give him some recognition and love. After all, “it’s only a horror story.”

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

this book is an easy read.coming in at 136 pages. garton style of writing on this book is very simple. if u like description of people who are inbred with weird deformities then this is for u. plus we will throw in a little sex. this crazy book was amusing to me a cross between the x-files and wrong turn. I give it 3 stars.

[Steven jb · Rating 3 out of 5]

A scarred young man meets an extraordinary woman from a bizarre family, and sparks fly, both romantic and non-romantic. A good story I enjoyed, but some of the views were both hackneyed, and prejudicial.

[DJMikeG · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good novella by Ray Garton. I thought it was kind of a 3 star affair for most of it but then the ending was deliciously twisted and nightmarish, so I gave it 4 stars. A fun, demented, fast read with a real kick to the pants of an ending.

[Jeff French · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nightmare inducing!

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good! Reminded me a little of an episode of the X Files....the one with the Peacock family. Fast read.

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review to come.. very fast read.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastically horrifying

I'll read anything Ray writes. His writing makes me uncomfortable and I like that. Folks had my heart racing a few times and made me question a few times - who was really the crazy one in this tale.

[Brayden Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my top 20 horror novellas. I absolutely ADORED this!

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the story I wanted from Geek Love—creepy, grotesque, and fast-paced!

[Dee Bonney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took me way too long to get around to reading this one. This story is bananas! I loved it! Reminded me of Laymon's wild tales. Can't wait to read the sequel. RIP, Ray.

[Cory Cline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ray Garton is a master of adding fresh blood to a cliched horror theme. Want vampires? How about "Live Girls". Werewolves? "Ravenous". End of the world, zombie things? Frankenstorm. Strange family of freaks living in a mansion looking for a chosen leader? "The Folks". Garton's novella, "The Folks", is one of those books that always got away from me. It was originally published by Cemetery Dance back in 2001 as a limited edition hardcover and I've never had any luck finding an affordable copy. I've found the sequel at decent prices, but who wants to read the sequel first? Sometimes fans just have to wait to read something by one of their favorite authors, and in this case, it was well worth the wait.

Andy is a young outcast who lives with his grandmother. He prefers the isolation and doesn't want to deal with the religious zealots in town who constantly remind him of his scarred face every time they look at him in horror. After a steamy and... strange encounter at a local graveyard on Halloween with Amanda- the beautiful daughter of the head of the Bollinger family, he is "seduced" into giving her a ride home to meet the folks.

The Folks are an eclectic group of freaks who do much more than just keep it in the family and Andy will find that some secrets should never be known. Garton pulls back the curtains on sideshow creations that would make Tod Browning blush and unleashes a full house of freaks with plenty of tricks up their sleeves. Imagine if V.C. Andrews went to a carnival and smoked meth with Rob Zombie and it's possible to guess where this story is going.

This graphic and perverse Gothic-thriller will give fans of Splatter-punk and Bizarro fiction plenty of bloodthirsty weirdness they crave. Garton has created colorful characters with unique desires and his words lead the reader through the dark hallways of this fun-house frenzy. Ray Garton amps up the sex and the gore while maintaining a slick pace that never feels boring and fans of Garton's previous work will not be disappointed.

[Chip · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little sick, and a little short. Read it in one sitting.

[dragynlady · Rating 4 out of 5]

this one made my skin crawl, but I don't mean that in a negative way. decent horror fare.