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Night Touch
HELPING HANDS
Rob, Andrea, and Adam had been best friends ever since they were children. Rob and Andrea didn't care that Adam was blind and ugly and the other kids made fun of him. They always stood by him. But that summer—the summer they turned fifteen—their friendship would be put to the test in ways beyond their darkest nightmares …
KILLING HANDS
The mysterious stranger had called the marking on Adam's left hand the Cross of Dark Fortune, and because of it he was able to give Adam the "night touch." Suddenly Adam could see without seeing—drawing pictures, typing, playing the guitar just like everyone else. But his gift demanded a horrifically high price—a price to be paid in evil, death, and blood!
Rob, Andrea, and Adam had been best friends ever since they were children. Rob and Andrea didn't care that Adam was blind and ugly and the other kids made fun of him. They always stood by him. But that summer—the summer they turned fifteen—their friendship would be put to the test in ways beyond their darkest nightmares …
KILLING HANDS
The mysterious stranger had called the marking on Adam's left hand the Cross of Dark Fortune, and because of it he was able to give Adam the "night touch." Suddenly Adam could see without seeing—drawing pictures, typing, playing the guitar just like everyone else. But his gift demanded a horrifically high price—a price to be paid in evil, death, and blood!
- GenresHorror
335 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 1, 1988
2 people are currently reading
84 people want to read
About the author
Stephen Gresham
33 books35 followersSuspense, supernatural, and young adult fiction writer Stephen Gresham (1947- ) has been intrigued by the gothic tradition of the South since moving to Auburn, Lee County, in 1975 to take a teaching position at Auburn University. This area of Alabama provides the backdrop for his novel The Fraternity (2004) and imbues works such as Rockabye Baby (1984) with the horror and fantasy elements of the southern magic genre that guide him as he writes of supernatural creatures and forces.
Gresham was born in Halstead, Kansas, on September 23, 1947, to Chester Gresham, a building contractor, and Helen Kennedy, housewife and wartime riveter. He was raised with five brothers. Gresham's literary passion was sparked by listening to his grandmother read him everything from comic books to Edgar Allan Poe and watching 1940s B movies by horror film producer Val Lewton. Gresham studied journalism for two years at Wichita State University, where he began his professional writing career as a freelance sports reporter at the Wichita Eagle. He then transferred to Kansas State Teachers College (present-day Emporia State University) to earn a bachelor's and a master's degree. In 1975, he completed a Ph.D. in English Renaissance literature at the University of Missouri. While in Missouri, Gresham married Linda Duffy in 1969, and the couple had their only child, Aaron, in 1974.
In 1975, Gresham joined the English Department at Auburn University as a professor of creative writing. By the later 1970s, he had published several pieces of short fiction with two small presses. Gresham is drawn to the mythical South and has described east Alabama as an inspirational place. Moon Lake, Gresham's first novel, uses such a backdrop to tell the tale of two honeymooners who encounter evil hidden in the water hyacinths on Moon Lake.
Gresham's novels have aimed to mesh the supernatural world of ghosts, magic, and witchcraft with the real horrors of places like his boyhood Kansas, with its tornados, polio scares, and threats of nuclear war. The most distinctive aspect of his writing is the centrality of unrequited love and the unexpected yet powerful bonds formed by his characters. When Teddy, the teenage hero of Haunted Ground, battles ghosts at a neighboring farm, he must also come to terms with his adolescence and the wrath of his dysfunctional family. This focus on the destructive innerworkings of families is balanced by a respect for what Gresham refers to as "soul" families, those united not necessarily by blood but by heart or circumstance. Even after Teddy is assaulted by his own brother and neglected by his psychologically unfit mother, he is able to find solace with his cousin Judith, the black sheep of his extended family.
Another characteristic of Gresham's books is his attention to research and historical settings. In the 1990 novel Blood Wings, Gresham researched the field of cryptozoology to create the massive batlike creature from which the novel gets its title. In The Fraternity (2004), two warring vampire fraternities battle against the backdrop of Depression-era America where the only threat greater than the crumbled economy of the Hoover years is the risk of being kidnapped by rival vampires.
In addition to the many novels he has published under his own name, Gresham has also written under two pennames to establish a distinct identity between his suspense thrillers and his young adult fiction. For the 1994 suspense/thriller Primal Instinct, he adopted the name John Newland from the 1950s television series "One Step Beyond." The next year, he paid homage to director Val Lewton when he published two novels, Just Pretend and Called to Darkness, under the name J. V. Lewton. Gresham's best selling novel to date has been Midnight Boy (1987), and Haunted Ground (2003) has garnered the most favorable response from readers. Reception from readers, especially young ones, has been largely favorable, and he continues to publish thrillers.
Gres
Gresham was born in Halstead, Kansas, on September 23, 1947, to Chester Gresham, a building contractor, and Helen Kennedy, housewife and wartime riveter. He was raised with five brothers. Gresham's literary passion was sparked by listening to his grandmother read him everything from comic books to Edgar Allan Poe and watching 1940s B movies by horror film producer Val Lewton. Gresham studied journalism for two years at Wichita State University, where he began his professional writing career as a freelance sports reporter at the Wichita Eagle. He then transferred to Kansas State Teachers College (present-day Emporia State University) to earn a bachelor's and a master's degree. In 1975, he completed a Ph.D. in English Renaissance literature at the University of Missouri. While in Missouri, Gresham married Linda Duffy in 1969, and the couple had their only child, Aaron, in 1974.
In 1975, Gresham joined the English Department at Auburn University as a professor of creative writing. By the later 1970s, he had published several pieces of short fiction with two small presses. Gresham is drawn to the mythical South and has described east Alabama as an inspirational place. Moon Lake, Gresham's first novel, uses such a backdrop to tell the tale of two honeymooners who encounter evil hidden in the water hyacinths on Moon Lake.
Gresham's novels have aimed to mesh the supernatural world of ghosts, magic, and witchcraft with the real horrors of places like his boyhood Kansas, with its tornados, polio scares, and threats of nuclear war. The most distinctive aspect of his writing is the centrality of unrequited love and the unexpected yet powerful bonds formed by his characters. When Teddy, the teenage hero of Haunted Ground, battles ghosts at a neighboring farm, he must also come to terms with his adolescence and the wrath of his dysfunctional family. This focus on the destructive innerworkings of families is balanced by a respect for what Gresham refers to as "soul" families, those united not necessarily by blood but by heart or circumstance. Even after Teddy is assaulted by his own brother and neglected by his psychologically unfit mother, he is able to find solace with his cousin Judith, the black sheep of his extended family.
Another characteristic of Gresham's books is his attention to research and historical settings. In the 1990 novel Blood Wings, Gresham researched the field of cryptozoology to create the massive batlike creature from which the novel gets its title. In The Fraternity (2004), two warring vampire fraternities battle against the backdrop of Depression-era America where the only threat greater than the crumbled economy of the Hoover years is the risk of being kidnapped by rival vampires.
In addition to the many novels he has published under his own name, Gresham has also written under two pennames to establish a distinct identity between his suspense thrillers and his young adult fiction. For the 1994 suspense/thriller Primal Instinct, he adopted the name John Newland from the 1950s television series "One Step Beyond." The next year, he paid homage to director Val Lewton when he published two novels, Just Pretend and Called to Darkness, under the name J. V. Lewton. Gresham's best selling novel to date has been Midnight Boy (1987), and Haunted Ground (2003) has garnered the most favorable response from readers. Reception from readers, especially young ones, has been largely favorable, and he continues to publish thrillers.
Gres
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 5, 2023
Solid outing from Gresham, and a remarkably tame cover from Zebra, albeit replete with misleading cover blurbs. Night Touch takes the form of a memoir as told by a 16 year old guy named Rob, who also is the main protagonist in the tale. In the opening paragraph, we learn that Rob, along with his BBFs Adam and Andrea, underwent some serious, otherworldy, trials and tribulations the previous year and this is his account of it all. Gresham did a fine job with the narrator, giving the prose a folksy, juvenile feel on par with the character.
The center of the story is Adam. Blind since the age of 6 or so, and looking a bit like a chimp, Adam is basically an outcast, living with his bible thumping mom and asshole dad. The town of Warrior Stand, Kansas, where they all reside, is dying, and it was never much to begin with. Adam, Andrea and Rob have known each other all their lives and are a definite clique; attending the same high school and all working at the town's truck stop, which is owned by Andrea's parents. One day, a guy passing through buys some peanuts from Adam (he has a vending booth at the stop), but when Adam gives him change, he grabs Adam's hand, holds it, and proclaims "God forbid me, but now you have the Night Touch."
S0, what is the Night Touch? At first, Adam has no clue, but he does find out that his touch can do things, like make a broken radio work, and if he concentrates, he can even see to a degree. Adam decides to test his abilities, and finds he can write, type, play the guitar-- amazing! But the first scene in the book also has him scratching an old dogs head when the dog goes ballistic, then crazy, then catatonic. WTF? Is the Night Touch some kind of miracle or a curse? Lets just say all good things come with a price... 3 solid stars!
The center of the story is Adam. Blind since the age of 6 or so, and looking a bit like a chimp, Adam is basically an outcast, living with his bible thumping mom and asshole dad. The town of Warrior Stand, Kansas, where they all reside, is dying, and it was never much to begin with. Adam, Andrea and Rob have known each other all their lives and are a definite clique; attending the same high school and all working at the town's truck stop, which is owned by Andrea's parents. One day, a guy passing through buys some peanuts from Adam (he has a vending booth at the stop), but when Adam gives him change, he grabs Adam's hand, holds it, and proclaims "God forbid me, but now you have the Night Touch."
S0, what is the Night Touch? At first, Adam has no clue, but he does find out that his touch can do things, like make a broken radio work, and if he concentrates, he can even see to a degree. Adam decides to test his abilities, and finds he can write, type, play the guitar-- amazing! But the first scene in the book also has him scratching an old dogs head when the dog goes ballistic, then crazy, then catatonic. WTF? Is the Night Touch some kind of miracle or a curse? Lets just say all good things come with a price... 3 solid stars!
December 27, 2019
4.4 stars rounded up to five stars because, "Damn it! Night Touch is criminally underrated."
Night Touch touched me on a deeper level than I suspect the author realized when he penned this melancholy horror novel. Night Touch is basically a coming age novel that stresses disappointment in promises broken, adult heroes unmasked, and the fragility of relationships as you approach your 20's. Therein lies the true horror of Night Touch.
Don't let the first few first person narrated pages put you off. After all the narrator is only old enough to have a driver's learning permit. The author understands the teenage mind and that viewpoint purveys the entire novel.
This is a grey novel. Every character possess both good and bad character traits. I found myself judging the main characters, only to turn around and forgive them and then judge them again. Yes, I discovered a bit about myself in Night Touch...Perhaps Stephen Gresham's Night Touch will unveil the inner you?
Excellent edition to any serious horror collection.
Night Touch touched me on a deeper level than I suspect the author realized when he penned this melancholy horror novel. Night Touch is basically a coming age novel that stresses disappointment in promises broken, adult heroes unmasked, and the fragility of relationships as you approach your 20's. Therein lies the true horror of Night Touch.
Don't let the first few first person narrated pages put you off. After all the narrator is only old enough to have a driver's learning permit. The author understands the teenage mind and that viewpoint purveys the entire novel.
This is a grey novel. Every character possess both good and bad character traits. I found myself judging the main characters, only to turn around and forgive them and then judge them again. Yes, I discovered a bit about myself in Night Touch...Perhaps Stephen Gresham's Night Touch will unveil the inner you?
Excellent edition to any serious horror collection.
July 9, 2015
I read this a long time ago and thought it was good, though I can't remember much. Rating subject to change if I ever can find it again or maybe get it from amazon and do a reread.
February 17, 2025
Review to come.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews