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The Kill
Welcome to Deacons Kill.
Jack and Megan left the pleasures of New York success for the peaceful life of a small town in the Catskill Mountains. But Deacons Kill is not at peace. A thing born of the mountains - something ancient and angry - stares coldly at them from the woods. Tonight it will reach out of the darkness again. And it will touch...the kill.
Jack and Megan left the pleasures of New York success for the peaceful life of a small town in the Catskill Mountains. But Deacons Kill is not at peace. A thing born of the mountains - something ancient and angry - stares coldly at them from the woods. Tonight it will reach out of the darkness again. And it will touch...the kill.
- GenresHorrorScience Fiction
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1982
293 people want to read
About the author
Alan Ryan
94 books42 followersAlan Peter Ryan was an American author and editor, known for his work in the horror genre in the 1980s.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
October 5, 2018
I have owned this book since I was young! Me and mom have read it twice! It's good!
Happy Reading! 🎃
Mel 🖤🐺🐾
Happy Reading! 🎃
Mel 🖤🐺🐾
May 27, 2017
Very eerie story from the golden age of horror! I really liked to find out who the mysterious killer was. Well written story, an absolute page turner.
November 26, 2021
Jack and Megan are invited to attend a party at Megan's friend, Suzi's new home, up in the hills of Decon's Kill, NY. But the next morning, when a guest goes for a walk in the woods, she is murdered by an invisible entity.
Despite the terrible tragedy, Jack and Megan fall in love with the secluded, country property, and offer to stay at Suzi's home - should the police need more information - while the other guests depart. It isn't long before the couple make friends with their neighbors - who knew the previous owners of the home they are staying in.
Martin Ferrand and his family, the former occupants, up and sold the house - moving without telling even their closest friends, nor responding to any letters or calls from them. Jack's new friends are certain Martin knew something about what's going on in Decon's Kill - from the murder, to the little girl who disappeared without a trace, to the mutilated livestock.
Jack and Megan love the home, and won't be driven out. They must band together with their new friends to try and stop the evil in the woods - but how can they fight something they can't even see?
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This wasn't really what I was expecting. I feel like there wasn't a whole lot of action, really. It took a long time for anything at all to even happen. It wasn't a bad book, just could have been more exciting.
Despite the terrible tragedy, Jack and Megan fall in love with the secluded, country property, and offer to stay at Suzi's home - should the police need more information - while the other guests depart. It isn't long before the couple make friends with their neighbors - who knew the previous owners of the home they are staying in.
Martin Ferrand and his family, the former occupants, up and sold the house - moving without telling even their closest friends, nor responding to any letters or calls from them. Jack's new friends are certain Martin knew something about what's going on in Decon's Kill - from the murder, to the little girl who disappeared without a trace, to the mutilated livestock.
Jack and Megan love the home, and won't be driven out. They must band together with their new friends to try and stop the evil in the woods - but how can they fight something they can't even see?
---------------
This wasn't really what I was expecting. I feel like there wasn't a whole lot of action, really. It took a long time for anything at all to even happen. It wasn't a bad book, just could have been more exciting.
September 29, 2018
Can an ending ruin a book? Should it? This is what I debated as I finished reading Alan Ryan’s 1982 release The Kill, his first horror novel (and it shows!). What’s more important: the journey, or the destination? I suppose it is all objective, but for me . . . wow, this book’s final third is a bummer.
The first two parts, though, are good reading. Great, even. Ryan does an excellent job of creating interesting characters and writing them well enough. And he knows how to write small town life. It is obvious Ryan had read some Stephen King before writing The Kill, but this is an original enough work.
But, again, that final third. The reveal of the villain is a bummer, and the climax is a car on four flats. The ending is rushed, far too rushed, and what’s with all the head hopping Ryan does between characters reading up to the final showdown? It does not build suspense; it only annoyed this reader.
Ultimately, this is a horror novel that is not scary. Call this quiet horror if you like, but the horror here is so quiet it’s deaf and mute. This is a whole lotta buildup and no payoff.
The first two parts, though, are good reading. Great, even. Ryan does an excellent job of creating interesting characters and writing them well enough. And he knows how to write small town life. It is obvious Ryan had read some Stephen King before writing The Kill, but this is an original enough work.
But, again, that final third. The reveal of the villain is a bummer, and the climax is a car on four flats. The ending is rushed, far too rushed, and what’s with all the head hopping Ryan does between characters reading up to the final showdown? It does not build suspense; it only annoyed this reader.
Ultimately, this is a horror novel that is not scary. Call this quiet horror if you like, but the horror here is so quiet it’s deaf and mute. This is a whole lotta buildup and no payoff.
December 22, 2021
Ho sempre rimandato la lettura perché ero convinta ci fosse anche un film, e volevo farmi la combinazione libro+cinema, ma ho scoperto oggi che no, non ne è stato tratto un film. Strano, mi sembra una storia così perfettamente anni 80-90: giovane coppia felice che si trasferisce in campagna, fa amicizia con la coppia di vicini un po' più anziana, sorta di famiglia putativa.
Invece dei poltergeist in casa, del cimitero indiano nei boschi sul retro, di demoni, fantasmi, o assassini affetti da disturbi mentali qui c'è... una cosa.
Il resto è standard, ma si fa leggere con piacere: il vecchio proprietario della casa in cui ora vive la giovane coppia ammette di aver trovato "qualcosa". I suoi amici, che già sospettavano ci fosse qualcosa di soprannaturale, sono guarda caso lo sceriffo e il medico del paese.
Quindi via, si va: spedizione punitiva all'alba per cercare e ammazzare la cosa.
Che poi, povera cosa: è stata risvegliata suo malgrado, si trova in un mondo che non conosce e si limita a fare quello che l'istinto le dice di fare...
Insomma, a me è dispiaciuto per la cosa.
Invece dei poltergeist in casa, del cimitero indiano nei boschi sul retro, di demoni, fantasmi, o assassini affetti da disturbi mentali qui c'è... una cosa.
Il resto è standard, ma si fa leggere con piacere: il vecchio proprietario della casa in cui ora vive la giovane coppia ammette di aver trovato "qualcosa". I suoi amici, che già sospettavano ci fosse qualcosa di soprannaturale, sono guarda caso lo sceriffo e il medico del paese.
Quindi via, si va: spedizione punitiva all'alba per cercare e ammazzare la cosa.
Che poi, povera cosa: è stata risvegliata suo malgrado, si trova in un mondo che non conosce e si limita a fare quello che l'istinto le dice di fare...
Insomma, a me è dispiaciuto per la cosa.
May 9, 2016
Intense quiet horror. Full review: http://sleaze-factor.blogspot.ca/2011...
June 7, 2024
My first trip to Deacons Kill was nothing special. That one in Mr. Ryan's "Dead White." This one was much better. Still, there was not much mayhem and violence, but it had me really wanting to know what's going to happen to the characters. Expectation and suspense are the order of the day.
May 18, 2017
Well written, finely-crafted atmosphere and setting...the ending was a little convenient, but it's an interesting trend from The Kill, Dead White, and to Cast A Cold Eye - a novel in which it seemed like Alan Ryan had found his voice. A shame The Slave Tree - wonderfully disturbing - was his last.
June 25, 2022
Not a great story, but an enjoyable enough read.
October 1, 2015
Something is stalking the woods of Deacons Kill in the Catskills. The first victim is a young girl lost in the woods, but her death is soon followed by the death of a woman at a party…the attack secretly recorded. Escaping the bustle of New York City, Megan and Jack have just moved into a home at the edge of the woods and don’t realize how close to horror they really are. The thing in the woods is testing the boundaries of the forest and killing it could be impossible.
Written by Alan Ryan (May 17, 1943-June 3, 2011), The Kill is a supernatural horror story. The book has been in print for years and is available for download on Amazon.com.
I saw the cover for The Kill when I was young and the book was new. The image of a Raggedy Ann doll lying over a fence, bloody and abandoned, stuck with me and I always wanted to read the book. Years later when reminded of the cover, I sought it out…and the story in my imagination was much better than the actual book.
Ryan comes off a low-rent Stephen King in this novel. He writes in a similar style but he never quite gets the characters down like King who is one of the best character writers in my opinion (he always creates realistic, attainable characters regardless if his plots work). Here, Megan and Jack are paper thin and make strange decision about their future…like moving into a house where an unexplained murder occurred in the nearby woods. It also introduces too many character including the parent of the murdered girl, the guy who taped the murder of the woman, and Martin Ferrand who “knows” what the creature is that is killing things…and didn’t report it for reasons that make no sense.
This is the primary problem with The Kill. From the cover, you’d expect something like a bigfoot or sasquatch is responsible for the murders, but as it turns out, it is a fossilized invisible cave man who is missing a hand…which was an extreme disappointment. The creature’s perspective is very generic (like you are in the mind of a bear…which would have been a better killer). It just randomly comes out of the woods and kills someone every few chapters with little build up or even worse with little consequence or reaction from the characters.
The Kill isn’t a good book and ends with an anticlimactic fire and the “death” of the creature…I guess. It is hard to get into an invisible creature dying an invisible death. The creature needed to be given form and substance. It reminded me a bit of one of my favorite Johnny Quest episodes involving an invisible creature, but that episode was far more terrifying than the over three hundred pages of The Kill…just skip it.
Written by Alan Ryan (May 17, 1943-June 3, 2011), The Kill is a supernatural horror story. The book has been in print for years and is available for download on Amazon.com.
I saw the cover for The Kill when I was young and the book was new. The image of a Raggedy Ann doll lying over a fence, bloody and abandoned, stuck with me and I always wanted to read the book. Years later when reminded of the cover, I sought it out…and the story in my imagination was much better than the actual book.
Ryan comes off a low-rent Stephen King in this novel. He writes in a similar style but he never quite gets the characters down like King who is one of the best character writers in my opinion (he always creates realistic, attainable characters regardless if his plots work). Here, Megan and Jack are paper thin and make strange decision about their future…like moving into a house where an unexplained murder occurred in the nearby woods. It also introduces too many character including the parent of the murdered girl, the guy who taped the murder of the woman, and Martin Ferrand who “knows” what the creature is that is killing things…and didn’t report it for reasons that make no sense.
This is the primary problem with The Kill. From the cover, you’d expect something like a bigfoot or sasquatch is responsible for the murders, but as it turns out, it is a fossilized invisible cave man who is missing a hand…which was an extreme disappointment. The creature’s perspective is very generic (like you are in the mind of a bear…which would have been a better killer). It just randomly comes out of the woods and kills someone every few chapters with little build up or even worse with little consequence or reaction from the characters.
The Kill isn’t a good book and ends with an anticlimactic fire and the “death” of the creature…I guess. It is hard to get into an invisible creature dying an invisible death. The creature needed to be given form and substance. It reminded me a bit of one of my favorite Johnny Quest episodes involving an invisible creature, but that episode was far more terrifying than the over three hundred pages of The Kill…just skip it.
October 1, 2021
I really liked this book.
Gave me the spooks, some how the invisible rock monster with sandpaper skin seemed like a more real threat than say bears while hiking.
We live with forest all around our house and all I could think was what if there's some thing in our woods like that. 😆 I mean, unlikely but more spooky than not.
Gave me the spooks, some how the invisible rock monster with sandpaper skin seemed like a more real threat than say bears while hiking.
We live with forest all around our house and all I could think was what if there's some thing in our woods like that. 😆 I mean, unlikely but more spooky than not.
September 28, 2025
The cover artwork instantly drew me in—it’s bold, eerie, and perfectly sets the stage for what I thought would be a chilling read. The story itself is engaging, with a great setting and characters that feel alive and relatable. I really enjoyed following them and the way the small-town atmosphere was built up throughout the book. That said, while it’s billed as horror, it didn’t strike me as especially scary. The suspense and supernatural touches were there, but the overall tone leaned more toward dark mystery than true horror. Still, it’s a well-written novel with strong characters and atmosphere that makes it worth the read.
May 12, 2023
Giovane coppia di città va in campagna... fa amicizia con la gente del posto... ma c'è un orribile realtà... una "cosa"...
Cliché horror anni 80 ma si legge abbastanza piacevolmente anche se la trama è un po' debole.
Cliché horror anni 80 ma si legge abbastanza piacevolmente anche se la trama è un po' debole.
April 15, 2018
Romanzetto più horror che SF, con una fase costruttiva discreta anche se troppo dispersiva, ed un finale abbastanza deludente.
January 27, 2022
4/10
Too slow and uneventful to be engaging throughout. The setting was nice, and Ryan’s writing is strong, but this desperately wants to be anything other than a horror novel
Too slow and uneventful to be engaging throughout. The setting was nice, and Ryan’s writing is strong, but this desperately wants to be anything other than a horror novel
October 13, 2010
This was a surprisingly good read with an OK ending.What I liked about it was the lush descriptions of the environment and characters.I little long winded sometimes but still an enjoyable read all around.
August 17, 2013
Quick to start but the story slows down until the ending.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews