Une petite ville tranquille

The X-Files: Young Adult #4

by Eric Elfman

When Mulder and Scully visit Dudley,Arkansas,home of the famous Chaco Chicken factory,they find a small town with a big secret- no one in Dudley ever seems to age. Scully's determined to find out why,but if she's not careful,she might lose her head trying to uncover Mr. Chaco's grisly recipe for youth.

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Science Fiction, Mystery, Fantasy, Horror, Supernatural

124 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Eric Elfman is the author of fourteen books for kids and adults, including Tesla’s Attic, Edison’s Alley and Hawking’s Hallway (all co-written with Neal Shusterman), an award-winning Middle Grade series from Disney-Hyperion Books. Eric and Neal are now developing a TV series based on Tesla’s Attic Eric’s Almanac of the Gross, Disgusting & Totally Repulsive, from Random House (now in its 6th printing), was named an ALA Recommended Book for Reluctant Readers. As a screenwriter, Eric has sold projects to Dreamworks, Universal, Walden Media and Interscope. Eric is also a private writing coach, with a number of award-winning and New York Times bestselling authors among his clients.

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mit den Akte X-Folgen ist es wie mit einem Blues Song: Beide laufen nach einem Schema ab und der Reiz liegt in den Variationen, die innerhalb der Vorgaben möglich sind. Darin sehe ich nicht nur eine Einengung, sondern auch einen Reiz; offenbar gehöre ich zu den Kleingeistern, die es gerne verlässlich haben.
So gesehen enttäuscht UNSERE KLEINE STADT nicht. Und das die Charaktere keinen Tiefgang haben, kann man Elfman nicht zum Vorwurf machen, denn das haben sie in der Fernseh-Serie auch nicht. Allerdings entschädigen dort Duchovny und vor allem Anderson durch Präsenz und Schalk.
Spannung kommt in diesem kurzen Roman erst im letzten Fünftel auf, trotzdem habe ich ihn ganz gerne gelesen, wohl auch, weil der aufgrund seiner Kürze einfach eine nette Zwischendruch-Unterhaltung ist.

[Stephen the Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Scully, I think that the good people of Dudley have been eating…a lot more than chicken” – Mulder (p.100).

Our Town, which is a young-adult novelization of The X-Files episode of same name, is set in Dudley Arkansas—home of the far-famed Chaco Chicken processing plant—where FBI Agents Mulder and Scully have arrived to investigate the disappearance of a federal poultry inspector. The case takes a dark turn when another poultry worker is shot dead after becoming violently psychotic, giving Mulder a hunch that the good townsfolk of Dudley really are what they eat.

Despite being written for a juvenile audience, Our Town is surprisingly creepy and very entertaining. The story possesses some Twin Peaks-esque undercurrents as the FBI explores the dark secrets of a small town. Both the local sheriff and the chicken magnate are fascinating characters that help shape the reader’s impressions of this small hamlet and its traditional (or rotisserie-style) values. Given the dark nature of the story’s local populace, Our Town could be read as a subversive twist on the nostalgia of the American small town. After all, most Americans live in larger cities or suburbs and they observe small towns only in passing; this makes it easy to flirt with the idea of small-town life and turn the assumption of small-town community on its head. Our Town isn’t the only X-Files installment to do such a thing (see “Red Museum,” “Humbug,” and “Roadrunners”), but it’s definitely the best example of this theme.

The plot combines a multitude of interesting strands—a rare degenerative brain disease (“Paging Dr. House!”), some very real chicken processing methods, some less than real ones, beheadings, cannibalism, and eternal youth. The story clever extends these ideas to illustrate the consequences of meddling with nature—in typical X-Files fashion, of course—by having the sinister townsfolk contract the same fatal hereditary disease as a direct result of their cannibalistic practices.

Despite some noticeable plot-holes, Our Town is nevertheless a wonderfully stomach-churning romp.

[Puspa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Misteri sebuah kota yang jauh dari bayangan Mulder dan Scully. Melibatkan ayam dan rahasia awet muda. Kisah ini terjadi di Dudley, Arkansas, tempat beroperasinya sebuah pabrik pengolahan ayam menjadi makanan fast food. Seorang petugas di sana, George, merasa ada sesuatu yang tidak wajar pada pabrik tersebut. Namun sebelum dapat mengemukakan rasa was-wasnya ke publik, ia dinyatakan hilang.

Kasus hilangnya seseorang bagi Scully hal biasa yang tidak termasuk kasus X-Files. Sebaliknya, Mulder tertarik dengan kasus ini karena pada malam hilangnya George ada api yang aneh di ladang yang lazim disebut foxfire, ruh orang Indian yang menuntut balas.

Namun, ternyata kasus ini bukan hanya tentang ruh. Sejumlah pegawai telah hilang pada tiga dasawarsa terakhir. Uniknya ada keterkaitan antara kasus orang hilang dan rahasia awet muda pendiri dan cucu pabrik ayam tersebut. Mulder juga menemukan ada suatu benang merah antara kejadian-kejadian eneh ini dengan masa lalu Chaco, pemilik pabrik, saat berdiam dengan suku Jale, Papua Nugini. Rahasia yang menakutkan, menarik, sekaligus mendebarkan.

[Flosse07 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unverhofft kommt oft. Das Buch war als kleiner Lückenfüller gedacht, bis ich meine Vormerkung bei der Onleihe abrufen kann.

Die Basis für diese Story bildet der Mythos um ewiges Leben durch Kanibalismus (Jalestamm Neuguinea 1944). Beim Lesen habe ich mich zusätzlich im Internet zu diesem (krassen und auch abstossenden) Thema eingelesen und viel neues gelernt. Ich hätte nie gedacht, dass ein Akte X Roman das mal auslösen kann.

Dennoch nur 3 von 5 Sterne dafür, da das Buch selbst mich nicht zu 100% abgeholt hat.

[Vorik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Das kleine Büchlein ist die gelungene Romanfassung einer Episode aus der zweiten Staffel der Fernsehserie. Die Geschichte steigert sich von Kapitel zu Kapitel und fängt auf unterhaltsame Weise den Kern der Mystery-Serie wirklich gut ein. Als Ablenkung vom Alltag oder kurze Zerstreuung für Zwischendurch sehr empfehlenswert, auch wenn ein recht heftiges Thema präsentiert wird.

[Jennifer Mangler · Rating 2 out of 5]

A friend loaned this book to me when they discovered I'm an X-Files fan and had no idea there were YA books. This would be a good introduction to the X-Files world for any young adult. If you like your YA a bit freaky, you may want to check this out.

[Khara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a seriously gross case!
Gross but a good story.
A small town with a dirty secret. How far would they go to stay young?
If you're squeamish or easily grossed out skip this one.

[B · Rating 2 out of 5]

Easy no brain afternoon read. :)

[Malcolm Cox · Rating 3 out of 5]

A direct novelisation of the TV episode of the same name, this book competently chronicles the events from the show. Nothing more, nothing less.

[Shayla Morgansen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This YA chapter book is an adaptation of the Chaco Chicken episode in season 2. While it only took me about an hour to read (it's very short, and aimed at a young audience) I found myself thinking while I read that this novelisation was better than the novelisation I read of the film. There was a likeableness to the style of this book that came from insight into motive and action; descriptions of Mulder and Scully's reactions to occurrences throughout the chicken episode were funny and apt, assisting a reader in envisioning the scenes. The plot and most of the dialogue and action was from the episode, but some of the dialogue from the opening scene was unfamiliar to me (perhaps I just need a rewatch) and the visual evidence of Creutzfeldt-Jakob's disease in the townsfolk that Scully noticed in the book, I don't recall noticing in the show. Rather than detract from the quality of the book, I felt these little deviations gave it something extra. When you read the book of something, you expect more, not less, so I think this helped this very short little book get a little helping of shine. The other highlight for me was Scully's inner monologue, especially in her introduction. I enjoyed her reflecting on the way people pigeonholed her as the weirdo agent from the basement, Mulder's partner, and her resigned acceptance of this; and I enjoyed her private comments on Mulder, about how he either never learns or doesn't care that his theories are always rejected. It didn't take much longer to read this than it would have to watch the episode itself, so if you don't have the DVD, by all means read the book... but if you do have the DVD, chuck that in instead, because then you get to watch Mulder fawning over Scully at the end.

[Karschtl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hab's beim sortieren meiner Regale mal in die Hand genommen, drin geblättert und an einer interessanten Stelle hängen geblieben. Ich konnte mich auch noch einigermaßen an die entsprechende TV-Episode erinnern, aber nicht mehr genau daran wie es ausgegangen ist. Meine Neugier war also geweckt, und ich las das Buch zu Ende. Ist bei den wenigen Seiten auch schnell getan.

[Indah Threez Lestari · Rating 3 out of 5]

4 - 2014

Lupa episode ini ada di season berapa.

Tapi jadi diingatkan kalau demi pengiritan, sapi dan ayam di peternakan pabrik AS sering dikasih makan sisa-sisa sapi dan ayam lainnya... so very cannibalistic!

Tentu saja, fokus utama kisah peternakan ayam ini ada di para pengelolanya yang... juga kanibal

Nyam, nyam... #eh?

[Jessie Radford · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is something strange about a town willing to ......well you have to find out. It was a very quick read but worth the time. I enjoyed it, and the writing didn't stray away from the characters personalities on the show. I know this book was based on an episode and found the book gave deeper feeling. I still couldn't look at chicken the same way after, finishing this.

[Geri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Straight from the series....

[Kris Russel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect for a quick read if you're an X-Files fan or a fan of the mysterious.