What do you think?
Rate this book
The Forever Children
Overprotected William begins to notice that the children in his town never seem to grow up, no matter how many birthday parties they have, and discovers that the town's well-meaning parents have devised a plan to keep their children young forever. Original.
- GenresHorror
320 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1992
3 people are currently reading
127 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
June 18, 2021
This was definitely in the upper echelon of Zebra horror novels I've read. While it's not exactly scary, it is pretty creepy, providing a unique twist on The Stepford Wives, only this time it's more like The Stepford Children. There's an entire community in Indiana where the children never seem to age, and there are no fathers to be seen anywhere, only mothers. One boy, William, is determined to find out why he doesn't grow up and why there are no adult men other than the few police officers in town, though it's hard when the citizens only have access to certain (mostly children's) programming on TV, and a very limited selection at the library. The mothers aren't talking either; they're sort of like zombies in a way. Oh and why is there a giant wall surrounding the town?
Good characterization for an early 90s paperback original, and I enjoyed the random infodumps by the author* on things like quantum physics and the nature of reality that come out of nowhere and have nothing really to do with the story. The mystery was intriguing, with little revelations scattered throughout, though it was pretty easy to figure out the general gist of what was going on relatively early. I was still hooked, probably due to the well-drawn characters, but I do wish it had went all out into straight batshit crazy outlandish territory in the end.
Not your typical trashy Zebra paperback from hell, and worth seeking out for horror fans. That amazing cover art by Richard Newton certainly doesn't hurt, either.
*actually James Kisner, under one of his pseudonyms.
Good characterization for an early 90s paperback original, and I enjoyed the random infodumps by the author* on things like quantum physics and the nature of reality that come out of nowhere and have nothing really to do with the story. The mystery was intriguing, with little revelations scattered throughout, though it was pretty easy to figure out the general gist of what was going on relatively early. I was still hooked, probably due to the well-drawn characters, but I do wish it had went all out into straight batshit crazy outlandish territory in the end.
Not your typical trashy Zebra paperback from hell, and worth seeking out for horror fans. That amazing cover art by Richard Newton certainly doesn't hurt, either.
*actually James Kisner, under one of his pseudonyms.
January 8, 2024
Amazing that Zebra published this little gem at it veers more toward literary horror than pulp; it even incorporates the Heisenberg uncertainty principle as a plot device! It is also difficult to review without spoilers, so I will not go beyond the cover blurbs in that regard. The basic premise revolves around a 'mad scientist/doctor' who cut his teeth working with battered and abused women; in this regard, he was puzzled why the poorest women continued to have babies when they obviously could not support them and which often led into abusive relationships.
So, flash forward and the doctor, Warren Berry, initiated a grand experiment after several profitable years working in drug research. He bought an old military academy in nowheresville Indiana, one that was walled, and made it into a town-- Jamay Lake-- and populated it with abused women and their kids. Jamay Lake is not on any map and old Berry hid the tracks so no abusive husbands and such could ever find it. Once he had enough 'volunteers', the experiment began. Berry invented several new drugs, one being a new 'happy pill' with few side effects the mothers ingested daily in candy form, the other was given to the kids and essentially retarded, if not completely ended, their growth hormones. Hence, the kids would always be kids of the same age as when they arrived.
Why would Berry want to do this? Well, if the women were all happy with their babies and kids at whatever age, they would hopefully no longer have the desire to have more kids; they would (ideally) be satisfied with their titular forever children! Besides 'freeing' the poor women from having baby after baby, it would also contribute to slowing down the population growth! What a win win! While the women were volunteers, and as such have all their basic needs met by the town, the kids were never given a choice and in fact did not even know what was going on.
Our lead, William, is one such kid, but he is a smart one and knows something hinky is going on, but what? Is Jamay Lake some new type of Leper colony or something? Are all the mothers sick? Why do all the kids have to get monthly shots ('its just vitamins!')? Perhaps most importantly for William, why are some people 'going missing'?
While (loosely) literary horror, do not expect any supernatural elements; here the monsters are all of the human variety. Also, Flanders utilizes some experimental prose styling on occasion, not just oscillating POVs, but having chapters dedicated to 'thoughts', e.g., what all the main characters are thinking about at any given moment. Nonetheless, Flanders does build up a nice creep factor as the novel progresses and the experiment starts to unravel. I cannot remember ever being as emotionally vested in a Zebra novel! 4 spooky stars!!
So, flash forward and the doctor, Warren Berry, initiated a grand experiment after several profitable years working in drug research. He bought an old military academy in nowheresville Indiana, one that was walled, and made it into a town-- Jamay Lake-- and populated it with abused women and their kids. Jamay Lake is not on any map and old Berry hid the tracks so no abusive husbands and such could ever find it. Once he had enough 'volunteers', the experiment began. Berry invented several new drugs, one being a new 'happy pill' with few side effects the mothers ingested daily in candy form, the other was given to the kids and essentially retarded, if not completely ended, their growth hormones. Hence, the kids would always be kids of the same age as when they arrived.
Why would Berry want to do this? Well, if the women were all happy with their babies and kids at whatever age, they would hopefully no longer have the desire to have more kids; they would (ideally) be satisfied with their titular forever children! Besides 'freeing' the poor women from having baby after baby, it would also contribute to slowing down the population growth! What a win win! While the women were volunteers, and as such have all their basic needs met by the town, the kids were never given a choice and in fact did not even know what was going on.
Our lead, William, is one such kid, but he is a smart one and knows something hinky is going on, but what? Is Jamay Lake some new type of Leper colony or something? Are all the mothers sick? Why do all the kids have to get monthly shots ('its just vitamins!')? Perhaps most importantly for William, why are some people 'going missing'?
While (loosely) literary horror, do not expect any supernatural elements; here the monsters are all of the human variety. Also, Flanders utilizes some experimental prose styling on occasion, not just oscillating POVs, but having chapters dedicated to 'thoughts', e.g., what all the main characters are thinking about at any given moment. Nonetheless, Flanders does build up a nice creep factor as the novel progresses and the experiment starts to unravel. I cannot remember ever being as emotionally vested in a Zebra novel! 4 spooky stars!!
March 23, 2020
Picked this odd little gem up on a whim, and I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised. While far from perfect, the story is plenty creepy. The novel moves along at a nice pace, and ends in a way I really didn't see coming. If you are looking for something with shades of The Stepford Wives, but with a heavier dose of Mad Scientist horror, give The Forever Children a try if you can find a copy.
November 25, 2020
Full Review
The Forever Children is not only an entertaining, often disturbing story that works as page-turning horror, but it’s also a look into what drives children and their parents. This is a book that very much deserves more attention and to be reprinted at some point. Even though it seems to have been lost to people’s memories, I can only hope that the renewed interest in horror books of the mass market boom will eventually bring this lost gem back.
The Forever Children is not only an entertaining, often disturbing story that works as page-turning horror, but it’s also a look into what drives children and their parents. This is a book that very much deserves more attention and to be reprinted at some point. Even though it seems to have been lost to people’s memories, I can only hope that the renewed interest in horror books of the mass market boom will eventually bring this lost gem back.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews