Welcome Back to the Night

by Elizabeth Massie

A family reunion should be a happy event, a time to see familiar faces, meet new relatives, and reconnect with people you haven't seen in a while. But the Lynch family reunion wasn't a happy event at all. It was the beginning of a terrifying connection between three cousins and a deranged woman who, for a brief time, had been a part of the family.

When these four are reunited, a bond is formed a bond that fuses their souls and reveals dark, chilling visions of a tortured past, a tormented presently and a deadly future - not only for them, but for their entire hometown. But will these warning be enough to enable them to change the horrible fate they have glimpsed?

Genres: Horror, Fiction

393 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1999

About the author

Elizabeth (Beth) Massie is a 2-time Bram Stoker Award and Scribe Award-winning author of horror/suspense, historical fiction, media tie-ins, nonfiction, and short fiction for adults. She also writes novels for teens and middle grade readers. Her series, Ameri-Scares, is currently in development for television by Warner Horizon (Warner Brothers), LuckyChap, and Assemble Media. Stay tuned! She lives in the Shenandoah Valley with her husband, illustrator Cortney Skinner.

Reviews

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cross-posted at Outlaw Reviews and at Shelf Inflicted

It all starts during the Lynch family reunion. Lindsay Hollin is wife to Hank, and mother of two girls, one of whom is mentally slow and was born without eyes. Norris Lynch has worked a variety of dead-end jobs before becoming a school teacher at an institution for society’s misfits and troublemakers. After an error of judgment involving a young man, Norris finds himself in a bit of trouble. Bernie Lynch abandoned her earthly possessions to find God.

The three cousins reconnect with relatives they haven’t seen in a while, including an “odd and smelly” girl who was once a part of their family. When Lena collapses at the reunion and Bernie comes to her aid along with her two cousins, a mysterious connection occurs between the four of them. All three have terrible visions of the past, present, and future that involve the odd Lena, themselves, and their hometown.

This story explores family relationships and secrets, small-town bigotry, and the deeds of a malignant group of people that hate anyone who is different. Elizabeth Massie is a master at creating unforgettable, twisted, and evil characters and a gripping, fast-paced story. The buildup of tension and atmosphere is intense right from the first page. I was gripped by a terrible sense of foreboding and had a very difficult time putting the story down even though it made me sick to my stomach.

Thankfully, this very dark story ended with some hope.

Sensitive readers, beware! There are some very graphic scenes of torture and murder.

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nasty book by Massie, featuring a despicable group of white bigots calling themselves the White Eagles who have a mission to rid the world of 'aliens', e.g., anyone not white. The leader of this 'group', Rex, hails from a small town in Virginia, and has lots of backers in town, including among the cops, politicians and such.

Then we have the Lynch family. The Lynches are among the pillars of the town (Henford) and are quite prolific as well. The story starts with Grandma and Grandpa Lynch celebrating their 65th anniversary with a big family reunion. Three cousins among the family who used to pal around as kids meet there for the first time in years. Massie builds the story alternating among the POVs of these three cousins and Rex the racist, developing each in some detail. Bernie, now living with some 'hippies' in the country. Lindsay, married with two little girls, one blind from birth. Norris, the black sheep of the family after he came out of the closet. At the reunion, Bernie espies a strange gal named Lena, who once was the foster daughter of one of the Lynches. Lena, hanging around the outskirts of the reunion (it is at a big hotel in town), starts having a fit and Bernie rushes over to her, along with Norris and Lindsay. When Bernie touches Lena, she gets some kind of shock, that also gets Norris and Lindsay. WTF?

Well, Lena we soon find out has joined the White Eagles and the story really centers upon her, but we only get her story in dribs and drabs. Her foster Lynch mother abused her horribly as did her foster father (sexually). After the 'touch' at the reunion, Bernie, Lindsay and Norris all start having strange dreams/trances at odd times. We quickly learn that all three cousins are seeing the world through Lena's eyes, one in the past, one now, and one in the future. Odd premise, but Massie pulls it off well.

Welcome revolves around the characters with the plot only serving to move the story along. The racism is really ugly. The White Eagles start kidnapping 'aliens' and holding them as captives, abusing them on a regular basis. Massie takes us deep into the minds of the racists and for me this was the most scary part. Expect barbaric crimes against 'aliens' and animals and this is not for the squeamish. I thought the ending was a massive let down, hence the 3 stars, but so be it. Jeez!

[Maicie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book made the little hairs on the back of my neck stand straight up…a few even fell out. The things Rex does to the cat! He does really awful things to people, too, but the cat really got to me.

As often happens with my horror picks, I liked the characters more than the story. So the best way to describe the book is to introduce some of the key players:

Norris, Lindsay and Bernie: Cousins. In town for the Lynch family reunion. One is a being blackmailed for having a sexual encounter with a minor. One has a daughter born without eyes. One belongs to a religious commune.

Rex: Lethal combination of psychopath and racist. Does not like cats. Founder of the White Eagles, a white supremacy group.

Lena: Spent four months with Marla Lynch as a foster child. She’s an unbalanced and tortured soul.

Part supernatural, completely sick. Recommend for the strong of heart…and stomach.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good, uncompromising horror story. There's a somewhat supernatural twist, but it's secondary to the character studies, some of whom are quite unpleasent. Some of the observations of family relationships and how they work in an extended fashion are especially poignant.

[Becky Ippolito · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book got one star for the bravery of it's topic- racism and bigotry. Nothing in real life can be as horrifying as White Supremecy. Otherwise, I just couldn't wait for this book to end- the character development was poor- I could give 2 sh--- for the main characters- like card-board cut-outs they gave rise to only superficial emotion. I didn't LIKE the characters, so it was hard to actually care what happened to them. The real victims in the story had no voice, some of them didn't even have a name- and the main characters were more concerned about their own lives to even think of the bigger picture. "Torturing people of other races are you? Oh shame on you!" Where was the outrage? Missing- like my enjoyment in this book.

[Paula Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very brutal horror story about three cousins caught up with white supremacists. Nasty violence and stomach-turning suspense. Downbeat. But utterly gripping and unputdownable!

[Hugo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Showed promise - the three protagonists were quickly and neatly delineated, but the rest of the characterisation (especially the antagonists) was scrappy and lacking, and there's a distinct sense of the plot spinning its wheels at the two-thirds mark. I'd have liked some explanation for the supernatural goings on, and the finale seemed rushed, with many plot threads left dangling, and with a rather sappy ending.

[Laura C · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, this is a crazy story but actually somewhat believable. The "N" word in the first page almost made me put it down but context and reality made me keep going; there are people that talk that way, unfortunate as it may be but then you have to see what happens to those nasty people....

[Reiyah]

I've read this book 5 years ago and still can remember how creepy it was. Wanna read it again.

[Bandit · Rating 5 out of 5]

This gets under your skin. Barbed wire style.

[Matt Kight · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about this. The antagonists in the story are southern white supremacists which just make me sick to my stomach having grown up in the south and remembering witnessing snippets of that attitude on occasion. So yeah, it was difficult to read certain scenes for the disturbing torture and abuse on minorities. However, I found Massie's writing to be excellent and really appreciated her ability at keeping me engaged on every page and every chapter and I was never bored with too much description, unnecessary tangent storylines, or wasteful prose. I also found the protagonist characters to feel like real, flawed people and the ending was very satisfying without being too Hollywood. I'm glad I was turned on to her and plan to read more from her - at least her horror stuff.

[Reggie Virus · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn't finish and had no desire too. I read the end but wasn't about this book.

[Janette Williams · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hated this book. The characters were one dimensional, and fake. I didn't buy it. Not at all. It was poorly done, poorly executed. I felt nothing. And being that it was a race issue, it still didn't evoke any emotion out of me. I hated how the author tried to give Peaches this 'Rambo' personality in the end. It was a stupid plot as well. The burning, Grace with no eyeballs. In one scene, she wrote that Grace was crying. HOW? She has no eyes!!!

STUPID, STUPID....A waste of time

[Velvetink · Rating 2 out of 5]

made me feel sick,

[Kevin Gallan · Rating 4 out of 5]

i enjoyed reading this book

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Decent writing, unsavory subject matter (white supremacists), weird premise. I'm not sure where I heard about this, or why I was so anxious to read it.....