Grove Of Night

by Sara G. Harrell

Book by Harrell, Sara Gordon

Genres: Horror

192 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1985

Reviews

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent genre horror fiction by Harrell, but marred by trying a little too much, especially toward the end. Our lead, Dabney, is the sole daughter/offspring of a college professor in the South; her only relatives are her father and her great aunt Nan. Both her father and Nan die about the same time and Dabney finds out she is the heir to a plantation estate in Georgia named 'Rosemary' that was Nans. Leaving her lousy job she took to be close to her father after he had his first stroke, Dabney and her friends Leslie and Margaret drive out to check it out and what a place! Situated on 1400 acres, the actual mansion is full of antiques and does not take much to make it livable. So, Dabney moves in with her dog, hires some locals for help, and starts up a new business selling herbs and such she can grow at the estate.

Something is not quite right with Rosemary, however. The first night she hears a fluttering in the room and other strange noises, but puts it off as just old house noises. She also finds a local history buff who fills her in on the history and tragedy of the place. So you start to think this is a simple haunted house story, and if that, it may have been a decent one, albeit a bit cliche. But then Harrell pulls out the stops and seems to throw every horror trope against the wall to see what sticks and Grove of Night gets more then a little messy...

I would call this in the end Catholic horror as it seems Satan has a state in Rosemary; this is made apparent via a priest Dabney consults to build a new stained glass window at a local church and stays at the estate. The plot seems to revolve around a Mandrake root they find in the barn that seems to have a life of its own and a connection to devil spawn...

This was still an interesting book and you can learn a little bit about herbs and their uses, but over all, I can see why this book has not gotten a lot of love. Published in 1981 by Avon, this one really rode the tide of cheap 80s horror. 2.5 stars rounding up.

[Anthony · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this one it was kind of a southern folk horror tale. Tightly paced

[Angie and the Daily Book Dose · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dabney inherits an antebellum plantation from her great aunt. The earth is rich and overly fertile. Something has dwelt on the land longer than human memory, and obviously whatever it is wants Dabney!

Another little known gem of 80's paperback horror. The writing was lush and very descriptive. I was not necessarily disappointed in the outcome but I felt the resolution was unclear.