Darkside

by Dennis Etchison

Don't go near the Darkside.

The anonymous warning appears in your mailbox. A stone, marked with an ancient symbol, is hurled at your door. And your daughter creeps out of the house in the dead of night.

The horror has begun.

You have stepped into a terrifying nightmare. You are walking the razor's edge of death. But it is too late to turn back.

You have entered the Darkside -- and there is no escape.

Genres: Horror

246 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

aka Jack Martin.

Dennis William Etchison was an American writer and editor of fantasy and horror fiction. He is a multi-award winner, having won the British Fantasy Award three times for fiction, and the World Fantasy Award for anthologies he edited.

Reviews

[Jack Tripper · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm having a hard time figuring out why readers are so split on this one, as it had pretty much everything I look for in an 80s horror novel: strange, ominous atmosphere and eerie vibes throughout; well-drawn and sympathetic characters; a mysterious threat that remains nebulous and intriguing throughout; etc. The story does take its sweet time, but I was kept entirely absorbed by this story of a family, newly moved to Beverly Hills, who are tormented by an ambiguous, deadly evil in town known as "the Darkside," as well as the creepy cult-like activity that’s apparently connected to it. It could destroy their lives, or take their lives.

A couple scenes seemingly exist only for Etchison to rail for pages against various modern -- in 1986 -- issues (i.e. cartoons being nothing but 30-minute commercials for toys), and there were a few too many "fake-outs" and literary versions of jump scares, but overall I felt this was an upper tier "quiet horror" novel from the boom era. The terrors may be subtle at times, but to me they were effective, even reminding me of David Lynch on occasion, though perhaps I was subconsciously affected by the Mulholland Drive environs. As is often the case for me when reading Etchison, I was unnerved even when nothing particularly scary was going on. And at only 240-some pages, it doesn't overstay it's welcome compared to many books in the genre from this period.

Recommended for those looking for a slow burn where the creepiness factor steadily builds and builds.

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

A strange, creepy little read by Etchison, who was primarily known for his short stories. The story centers on Doug and his family who just moved to Beverly Hills. Doug is a (hopefully) up-and-coming composer of movie scores (although only low-budget horror thus far) and recently married his wife, who has three girls from her previous marriage (14, 11, and 7 or so). After a strange prologue featuring a young dude who ends up dead, Darkside kicks off with 14 y.o. Erin sneaking out of her new house to hang out with some pals; besides getting drunk, something happened that night and she just can't seem to remember what...

Shortly after moving in (and following Erin's escapade), someone lobs with gusto a rock at the house and decorates their driveway with a strange symbol that looks kinda like a peace symbol; the rock also has the symbol on it. WTF? Etchison eases us in slowly, however, after the frenetic prologue, and we get to know Doug and company, but about midway through the brakes come off and he takes us on a wild ride for sure.

I do have some mixed feelings about this one. The prose is lovely-- far above your typical 80s horror genre-- and Etchison really weaves a spell with his descriptive alliterations. The pacing is a little too much stop and go and the tale drags a bit in the middle, but once he hits his stride the story really takes off. The mystery behind the Darkside is unique and unusual enough to be sure; never encountered anything like it before. Definitely worth a read if you can find this little gem. 3.5 weird stars, rounding up for the denouement.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Darkside is undoubtedly one of the most disturbing, moving and emotionally devastating horror novels I have ever read. Etchison masterfully orchestrates a mounting sense of dread as the tale unfolds. The characters are complex and well-drawn, and the wonderfully evocative LA setting both grounds the story and lends an additional aura of menace to proceedings. Amazing – I can’t wait to read some more of his novels and short-stories.

[D. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dennis Etchison has written some amazing horror fiction in his time. I would rank some of his short stories as among the best of his generation. With that said, this novel was very disappointing. I kept waiting for something horrific, or even INTERESTING to happen, but just when I thought something was coming, I was let down.

Without spoilers, here's the plot: A decent beginning leads to a plodding middle section and an overly-metaphysical ending. The End.

Etchison is better than this. Grab one of his short story collections to get familiar with his work and read this later as a curiosity.

[Wayne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sort of disjointed story about the "Darkside" or in other words the other side. A musician moves his family to Beverly Hills to a new life. Things take a turn for the worse when the oldest daughter dies. It's called a suicide, but her sister and step-dad look into it. What comes next is a mishmash of a tale. A ex-hippie telephone man and a bunch of kids in white. Tunnels, don't forget the tunnels.

I never read anything by Dennis Etchison so I don't know if this is his norm or things got a bit better. I kind of got lost from time to time in his story telling. It did have it's good points though. The first chapter for example. I just wished it continued in that direction.

[Marvin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was Etchison's first original novel and it is a major disappointment. While Etchison is a master of the dark short story, he does not seem to be able to go past 100 pages without petering out. Nothing much happens and it gets boring really fast. If you are new to Etchison, avoid this and go for a short story collection like The Dark Country.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another excellent work from Etchison, who can chill you to the bone with seemingly a minimal amount of effort. If you like your horror quiet and intelligent and terrifying, you really should read this!

[Pam Baddeley · Rating 1 out of 5]

Normally a short story writer and it shows. The book is a mess. starts out intriguingly but there are too many loose ends that go nowhere and things that appear significant but turn out to be his soapboxes such as a continuing diatribe against commercialism and sexualisation aimed at young children, that would have been a much more successful theme for this novel than how it eventually develops. Some good characterisation of girls of different ages can't save a kludge that might have worked better as a few short stories.

[David Stephens · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are moments in Darkside, Dennis Etchison's first legitimate novel, that play out like the cheesiest of B-movies. Bad dialogue. Poorly developed characters. Sections of the plot that don't seem to go anywhere (especially the prologue, which is so detached from the rest of the book I thought it was a separate short story until much later on). And in terms of writing, Etchison plunks down too many similes that seem as out of place as a linebacker at a tea party (yes, just like that).

But this world of quotidian reality quickly gives way to one of hallucinogenic nightmares and conversations that clarify little and only raise more questions. Never have I read a book that felt so much like Twin Peaks or Jacob's Ladder with its different realities that slowly, seamlessly shift from one plane to another, from family squabbles to teenage melodramas to hazy, secret town rituals. And just like with Lynch's films, the characters are unstable and serve more as ideas and emotions made flesh than they do as real people. They play different parts based on whichever stage of the nightmare they're currently in.

The ending ties things together more than I would have thought for such an obscure little tale. Many—though, certainly not all—of the inexplicable details doled out earlier come back to have some meaning. And the story seems to deal with self-destructive habits in their various forms and guises.

You may have noticed that I skipped over the plot. The back of the book (as well as the top of this Goodreads page) give such a vague description that's it's almost nonsensical. While this is frustrating, it also left me to read a book I knew almost nothing about, and I much prefer an unpredictable and flawed story to a formulaic and well rounded one. So I'll let it be the same for you.

[Dale Nixon · Rating 3 out of 5]

It looks like there are two versions of this book. The synopsis says here says the setting is "small town California" while I read a version set in Los Angeles.

The family has just moved to Beverly Hills, although their neighbourhood, as depicted in Darkside, feels closer to the San Fernando Valley of E.T. or a dozen other 1980s movies. More middle class than rich.

I loved this book until I didn't. The first two thirds are tense and claustrophobic. And the horror, for the most part, is off the page. This kept me gripped. When the novel broke out of the house and into action, and the threads came together, I lost interest. The horror was more intense when unexplained.

It felt like Etchison was writing for a future movie adaption and that this ambition ruined the story. For me at least.

[Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

well written but it kind of peters out at the end

[Alex Budris · Rating 3 out of 5]

O geez, Dennis, you got me with this one. Trigger alert: Soul tearing grief and loss. A novel about the other side of being alive, told in Etchison's creeping paranoiac, phantasmagoric style.