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When Darkness Falls
Unconcerned by the series of wolf attacks that have terrorized the community, a teacher takes a job in Petittville and meets Charlie, a shy misfit who believes the wolf attacks are part of an ancient legend. Original.
- GenresHorror
369 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 1992
8 people are currently reading
48 people want to read
About the author
Sidney Williams
69 books138 followersSidney Williams is the author of thrillers including Dark Hours, Midnight Eyes and Disciples of the Serpent. Early horror novels include Azarius, Blood Hunter, Gnelfs and When Darkness Falls. He also penned three young adult horror novels under the name Michael August. Sidney worked for years as a newspaper reporter with varied beats that included crime and entertainment news. He holds an MFA in creative writing from Goddard College and currently teaches creative writing.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 7, 2013
Charlie Black is 14 years old, into comic books and wants to be a filmmaker – a regular geeky kid. He has two friends, meathead Budd, and Nell, the college kid working at the local comic book store. Things become weird and very bloody in this small Louisiana town when kids start getting attacked by a pack of large black dogs with glowing red eyes. The dogs seem focussed and well-organised – is the pack being controlled by someone in town?
The appearance of the dogs coincides with the arrival of a new teacher at Charlie’s school, the beautiful Miss Barbara Nielsen. Charlie is drawn to Miss Nielsen, is it lust or something else? As the school bullies get picked off one-by-one in gruesome, tightly-written detail, Nell becomes suspicious about the captivating Miss Nielson. Is Nell jealous of Charlie’s interest in another woman, or is there a basis for the weird vibe she claims to get from the gorgeous teacher? Through the effective use of multiple points of view, the reader is allowed illuminating glimpses into the characters’ heads, but still the suspense slowly builds, as does the pile of dismembered bodies.
Violence and sexual energy drive When Darkness Falls. The dog attacks are described with full flesh-tearing force while the all-consuming sex drives of the school kids are lasciviously explored. The themes of horror mysticism – premonition dreams, hellhounds, Satanic cults – never overwhelm the coming of age story at its heart, and the authentic depiction of what it is to be a teenager. This novel has an honest approach to adolescence, and the violence and sexual urges that come with it. As the tension mounts, the sexual tension heightens – the two elements matching each other and barrelling toward the climax.
There is a terrific level of detail in the characters’ daily life and Sidney Williams is clearly drawing heavily (and effectively) from an 80s childhood. This focus on the minutiae of teenage life ups the fear factor: John Teesman (threw volleyballs at Charlie’s head) unlacing his shoe to ease his sprained ankle, looks up to see dogs approaching … Lewis Laborde (whipped Charlie with a belt) waiting to hook up with his girlfriend in the pavilion of the town park, sees the slavering dogs, tries to climb the pavilion … The strong action scenes evoke dread, fear and a gruesome satisfaction. When Charlie’s mother is attacked, the stakes get even higher.
Particularly in the first half of the book, building the tension is taken too far, becoming repetition and over-emphasis, dulling the pace somewhat. As Nell says, ‘Sometimes I restate the obvious for effect.’ A little more editing and tightening would have made for a slightly better story and eliminated some typos. But the energy and well-developed concept make up for lapses into cliché or pedestrian writing.
When Darkness Falls surges forward, powered by male adolescent sexuality, gory violence, a superb horror concept and engaging characters. It wasn’t too hard to guess the twist, but I the accelerating pace was rolling along and I didn’t care. And I did not expect the ending. The last few paragraphs left me wondering, which I think is a good thing. When Darkness Falls is a fun read with some depth, using the horror genre to highlight timeless adolescent issues.
Recommended for 14 and up – especially boys.
The appearance of the dogs coincides with the arrival of a new teacher at Charlie’s school, the beautiful Miss Barbara Nielsen. Charlie is drawn to Miss Nielsen, is it lust or something else? As the school bullies get picked off one-by-one in gruesome, tightly-written detail, Nell becomes suspicious about the captivating Miss Nielson. Is Nell jealous of Charlie’s interest in another woman, or is there a basis for the weird vibe she claims to get from the gorgeous teacher? Through the effective use of multiple points of view, the reader is allowed illuminating glimpses into the characters’ heads, but still the suspense slowly builds, as does the pile of dismembered bodies.
Violence and sexual energy drive When Darkness Falls. The dog attacks are described with full flesh-tearing force while the all-consuming sex drives of the school kids are lasciviously explored. The themes of horror mysticism – premonition dreams, hellhounds, Satanic cults – never overwhelm the coming of age story at its heart, and the authentic depiction of what it is to be a teenager. This novel has an honest approach to adolescence, and the violence and sexual urges that come with it. As the tension mounts, the sexual tension heightens – the two elements matching each other and barrelling toward the climax.
There is a terrific level of detail in the characters’ daily life and Sidney Williams is clearly drawing heavily (and effectively) from an 80s childhood. This focus on the minutiae of teenage life ups the fear factor: John Teesman (threw volleyballs at Charlie’s head) unlacing his shoe to ease his sprained ankle, looks up to see dogs approaching … Lewis Laborde (whipped Charlie with a belt) waiting to hook up with his girlfriend in the pavilion of the town park, sees the slavering dogs, tries to climb the pavilion … The strong action scenes evoke dread, fear and a gruesome satisfaction. When Charlie’s mother is attacked, the stakes get even higher.
Particularly in the first half of the book, building the tension is taken too far, becoming repetition and over-emphasis, dulling the pace somewhat. As Nell says, ‘Sometimes I restate the obvious for effect.’ A little more editing and tightening would have made for a slightly better story and eliminated some typos. But the energy and well-developed concept make up for lapses into cliché or pedestrian writing.
When Darkness Falls surges forward, powered by male adolescent sexuality, gory violence, a superb horror concept and engaging characters. It wasn’t too hard to guess the twist, but I the accelerating pace was rolling along and I didn’t care. And I did not expect the ending. The last few paragraphs left me wondering, which I think is a good thing. When Darkness Falls is a fun read with some depth, using the horror genre to highlight timeless adolescent issues.
Recommended for 14 and up – especially boys.
July 25, 2008
Sidney Williams has written a number of horror novels but I haven't been able to find them all on Goodreads. This one was listed and is a very good one.
August 5, 2024
While a good story, the syntax is abysmal. A bit expected, contrite dialogue/responses.
Difficult to get a feel of the time period. Maybe early 80’s? Charlie’s dad has a PC, but no mention of the internet, smart phones, etc.
A young lad is enamored by a teacher new to town…. a teacher with a shady past, and a bizarre attraction to young Charlie. Charlie’s bullies begin to die, and the teacher seems to be the likely cause.
I was expecting cryptid horror, but rather found this one to be more cultish/dark magic-centric. Not my area of interest so I may be a bit more disappointed than other reviewers. And my disappointment may be with the copy I read, as there were multiple spelling and spacing errors, misuse/absent quotations, even incorrect homonyms in the text. These glitches were frustrating, really took the reader out of the story. I was surprised to learn this is a prolific author, as this felt more like a newbies first effort.
Cannot recommend.
Difficult to get a feel of the time period. Maybe early 80’s? Charlie’s dad has a PC, but no mention of the internet, smart phones, etc.
A young lad is enamored by a teacher new to town…. a teacher with a shady past, and a bizarre attraction to young Charlie. Charlie’s bullies begin to die, and the teacher seems to be the likely cause.
I was expecting cryptid horror, but rather found this one to be more cultish/dark magic-centric. Not my area of interest so I may be a bit more disappointed than other reviewers. And my disappointment may be with the copy I read, as there were multiple spelling and spacing errors, misuse/absent quotations, even incorrect homonyms in the text. These glitches were frustrating, really took the reader out of the story. I was surprised to learn this is a prolific author, as this felt more like a newbies first effort.
Cannot recommend.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews