Dark Reunion

by Stephen R. George

Andrea Willson hoped that moving to Marissa, Minnesota would keep her family together. Perhaps the peace and quiet would heal her marriage and mend the rift between her husband and son. But from the moment she set foot in the quaint town square, she sensed a danger in the air, a strangeness in the people. And somehow she knew that fate had brought her family to Marissa for a reason...

For young, Peter Willson, coming to Marissa was like coming home to a place he'd never seen. The forest beckoned him to its secret places, the townspeople welcomed him with hidden smiles. But what Peter didn't know was that the ancient people of Marissa had very definite plans for him. For he would be the instrument of their awakening...and their terrible vengeance!

Genres: Horror

320 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1990

About the author

Stephen R. George is a Canadian author of horror fiction, suspense and dark fantasy. He writes under his own name and the pseudonyms Jack Ellis and Valerie Stephens. He has published 14 novels. His novels have been translated into Italian, Polish, Russian, and Norwegian. His short stories have appeared in a number of publications and anthologies including Cemetery Dance and the Hot Blood series. George was born in Scotland in 1959; he lives and works in Canada.

Reviews

[Jack Tripper · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a haunted house or creepy town novel to work, there needs to be a reason built into the story to account for why the family doesn’t simply leave. At least in order for me to suspend my disbelief. Here, there is nothing that I can think of for why this family of three — who almost immediately upon moving to the small, woodsy town of Marissa, Minnesota, is inundated with invasive supernatural shenanigans and warnings to get the hell away— would stay, especially when young Peter is showing signs of being under an unnatural, evil influence. They even ended up getting their home for free, and theoretically still have the money they were going to spend for a house, so they don’t have the “can’t afford to move” excuse. It’s almost as if the author purposefully removed any possible motivation for them to stay. And yet they do.

And that’s the main reason I can’t give this more than 3 stars, fun as it was. It’s definitely a notch above your typical Zebra paperback from the era, with a quick pace and some freaky moments — not to mention relatively well-drawn characters — but there are certain things that I can’t get past, even when reading a trashy paperback from hell. It takes me out of the story, since no real person would subject themselves to demonic sexual assault during the first or second week there as well as the seeming possession of their son just because a story needs to happen. So I had to make up a flimsy reason in my mind for why they stayed, and once I did it was a decent enough time.

It’s not a werewolf novel, despite the misleading cover, though it does feature a giant wolf. The terror in this town has to do with witches , which is even better, and an underutilized antagonist in horror boom era novels. This was my first Stephen R. George book, and despite my misgivings, there were enough good things about it that I’ll likely check out another, especially since I already own plenty (due in large part to their covers, which thankfully are better than this one).

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this novel could have been more fleshed out, George really nailed the small-town horror vibe. First published by Zebra in 1990, Dark Reunion revolves around Andrea. Andrea's parents fled the small Minnesota town of Marissa when she was a child because, as the prologue tells us, she was playing as a child with some kind of spirit she called the 'dark horsy' and her parents were terrified. Flash forward 25 years or so, and Andrea is now married to a cop in the Twin Cities, but after he kills a young boy in an alley, he is crushed by guilt and finds refuge in a bottle. After a few months of this, Andrea, looking in the want ads, find a position for him in Marissa.

Now, Matt (Andrea's husband) was born and raised in Marissa, and he joins the two man police force in the tiny town. The job even comes with a nice house. But after Andrea wraps things up in the city and arrives in Marissa, things start going down hill. The small town horror trope has been done to death, but George gives it a great spin. We know something is wrong, or at least perverse in the town pretty early. Matt's son (Andrea's step son) starts acting strangely, going for long walks in the woods alone. Matt immerses himself in his new job, but Andrea keeps picking up rocks and finding something ugly. I do not want to go into the plot as that is half the fun, but the small town of Marissa has quite a little secret, and it is a dark one.

George does a fine job with Andrea and her growing sense of unease and the pacing is super, building up to a surprising denouement. Dark Reunion is a quick read, and a creepy one to be sure. Looking for some horror this spooktober? You could do a lot worse! 4.5 evil stars!!

[Bandit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite the cheesy cover, and no author's info, this was a surprisingly decent read. The subject is fairly cliche as in "of course a small picturesque town is gonna have some deep dark secret", but the writing was good as was the pacing and I liked the ending. It was a 3.5 star read, but halves are not an option, so I rounded up to 4. I'd recommend this.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this one more, but Dark Reunion was the type of horror novel that just wasn’t for me. Because of the cover, I assumed I was heading into werewolf territory. Not exactly the case. There’s a wolf, a giant one, along with a succubus, some spells, and a vengeful spirit ready to claim his rightful place in the world by taking over the body of the main character’s stepson. There’s good atmosphere, decent characters, and plenty of action, but the cheesiness grew a bit overwhelming at times. Like I said, it just wasn’t for me.

[Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good atmosphere in upper Minnesota, where the trees do grow over the roads, making it darker than it should be. The fairly typical story of hoping to improve your marriage, moving to a small town. But, who lives in this town makes for a good quick read. Good cover art from the era, to add to my collection. 3.5 stars

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review to come.

[Elizabeth Bell]

I've always rather liked this book for the ending. It's different and doesn't end in a neat little they lived happily ever after packet. The writing is good and easy to read and lent itself to a very smooth ride from beginning to end. The writer put enough details in their I could see and imagine Marissa in my mind.

I'd recommend it for a lazy day.