The Association

by Bentley Little

Congratulations, Barry and Maureen: You've been approved by the Association and are encouraged to move into your exclusive gated community as soon as possible. Please be aware that we reserve the right to approve your decor, your landscaping, your friends, and your job. All relationships with neighbors should be avoided. Any interference from the outside will not be tolerated. Any attempt to leave will be stopped. Any infraction of the rules could result in severe fines, physical punishment, or death. Please send all other inquiries to the house on the hill. Preferably before dark. P.S. You're being watched. Sincerely, THE ASSOCIATION

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Thriller, Mystery, Paranormal, Fantasy, Suspense

438 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published September 1, 2001

About the author

Bentley Little is an American author of horror fiction. Publishing an average of a novel a year since 1990, Little avoids publicity and rarely does promotional work or interviews for his writing.

Reviews

[Tracy P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now I am certain I never want to live anywhere with a Home Owners Association. This novel sealed the deal. 😱

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know if it is me or the book, but I just wasn't feeling this one as much as I wanted to. The writing was awesome and there is lots us fantastic visuals, but it felt too dragged out. Too much of something terrible happening, then the main characters go home to think on it only to get up the next morning and something terrible happens... Rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat.

I'm sure I'll have better luck with the next Little novel.

[Misty Marie Harms · Rating 3 out of 5]

Barry and Maureen have found their dream home behind the gated community of Bonita Vista. They love the neighborhood and didn't mind having to join a HOA. After they move in they start finding notices in their mailbox accusing them of violating the Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions. As the couple fix one issue they are bombarded with more CCR's, mostly bordering on the ridiculous. The CCR penalties are adding up daily and soon the couple owes thousands of dollars to the Association. Facing losing the house they worked so hard for, Barry challenges the Association to a showdown the community will never forget.

🐱🐱🐱

[Rachel the Page-Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having lived in a few HOAs over the years, all of them varying in degrees of insanity, I saw the synopsis for this book and knew I wanted to read it. Literally on my last day of reading this, I got a notice on my door from my HOA to trim the shrubs behind my fence. (I don’t have shrubs behind my fence.) This book did not disappoint, and if you’ve lived in a strict community, you’ll commiserate... but hopefully only to a point...

Barry and Maureen (haha) were tired of California city living and decided to move to the small town of Corban, Utah. They found a house that needed some TLC, but it had spectacular views and they were able to get a great deal on it. They weren’t thrilled that the house was in a gated community with a homeowner’s association, but their realtor assured them it was just for safety and maintenance, and dues were only a couple hundred bucks a year. They gave in and without realizing it, signed away their freedom, their privacy and their lives.

Shortly after moving in, the new landscaping they’d put in was ripped out overnight, and a stray cat they’d started feeding was found dead. They realize they were never given the Bonita Vista “CCR” manual for covenants and rules, but the HOA soon remedied that and let them off with a warning. This time. Sorry, though. We don’t know anything about your kitty!

Barry and Maureen meet some neighbors, Ray and Liz, who assure them that the HOA’s requirement that all landscaping changes are to be approved by the board is part of a standard community system. Weird about that cat, though! They become friends with the couple and several others, but they’ve also begun a new homeowner’s nightmare: A fight with the strict and seemingly never-ending list of infractions.

Barry is a horror writer, and as time goes on, he starts feeling like he’s living in one of his books. But his books are fiction - surely things aren’t as strange as they seem? Maybe he’s just being paranoid. Being a writer can lead to having a big imagination, and his wife seems happy...at first. Eventually though, they both reach a point where they don’t know who they can trust, how to escape their situation financially unscathed and how to get the hell out of their perfect gated community on the hill.

This book is a solid five stars ... it has great writing, interesting characters and a very original plot. Overall, it was a page-turner, a horror/thriller with a subtle sense of humor and a thoroughly entertaining read. It didn’t take itself too seriously, yet it was seriously spine-tingling. This was my first Bentley Little book, and I’m looking forward to more!

[Adam Light · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bentley Little's The Association is one wild and crazy book. I read this really fast. It was almost impossible to put down actually. This is one I would recommend to any horror fan. I really enjoyed it.
Barry and Maureen are tired of California. They get a great deal on an ideal home in the mountains of Utah. Hell, they even get the seller to come down 15 thousand on the price. They have to join join a homeowner's association, but that's no big deal. They figure it can't be all that bad.
Turns out it pretty bad. And it just keeps getting worse.
This book is well written all around, one of Little's best.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is, and I don't want to mince words here, a profoundly dumb book.

Some plot points include indentured servitude, an armless, legless character named "Stumpy," and the hero is at one point saved by virture of another character wearing a bathrobe. There are times while I was reading this book that I simply had to laugh out loud at the implausability of the damn thing.

The Association isn't going to take home any literary honors... and yet... it's a damn fine horror novel.

Horror as a genre works best when it seizes on a fear that we have, be it consciously or not, and milks it for all its worth. Think of Bram Stoker's Dracula which, at various times, uses sexual iconography to intensify the Count's dread. Uptight Victorians were really freaked out about sex, and Stoker used that in his story.

Bentley Little does the same thing in The Association to great effect. The idea that the novel pivots on, gated communities- people have such mixed feeings about them. On the one hand, they want the safety, the luxury, the decadance. On the other hand, what are they giving up to have those things? A guard at the gate may keep out burglers, but what else is it keeping out? And what's it keeping in? Great, rich material for horror.

It helps that Little is such an able writer- clearly the progeny of Stephen King, his prose is light and unforced and his characters are engaging... even when they're doing things that are just absolutely nonsensical.

...so no, this isn't a great book in the sense that it would be put on the shelf next to your Phillip Roths and your Gore Vidals. At times, it's downright trashy and you might feel a bit embarrassed that you're turnin' the pages on something like The Association.

That doesn't mean it isn't a lot of fun to read.

[Danger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Frustration is an emotion I identify with more than fear, and once you blend that with the neo-fascist and semi-supernatural elements, along with the story's willingness to go really big and really weird with all the ideas it's presenting, then yeah, this book really worked for me.

[Lizz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t write reviews.

And I’m not addicted to reading Bentley Little…. No need for an intervention…yet.

I love how slow his characters can be. They accept the craziest, most evil scenarios and justify why they can wait it out or how it’s not THAT evil or crazy. Of course, if the protagonists left, like any rational person would, there would be no story, so it’s a Catch-22. Let’s just say that all the signs of creepy, oppressive villainy were obvious from the start of The Association.

I still don’t like how Little always has his characters watching CNN, CNBC, Bill Maher, etc. I think, I find that even more distasteful than the evil home owners association. (Before you think I’d like it if they were watching FOX, stop right there. I support neither wing of that demented vulture).

So what’s next? The Store, The Town, The House or The Resort? Recommendations welcome!

Book 8 - Just a Little Bit More: Reading Through the Bentley Little Catalog

[Rachel (TheShadesofOrange) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars
This was another satirical horror from Bentley Little. I have come to enjoy his work for being consistently entertaining to read. This one was definitely more silly than scary. Despite some serious events I'll admit that I wanted the homeowner's association to be crazier. Overall, this was a fun read that pulled me out of a reading slump. 
Small content warnings for harm to animals.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Association is my first Bentley Little. I don’t know what took me so long to get to him. I have stockpiling his stuff for a while.

Welcome to the Bonita Vista Homeowners Association. The dues are killer. This is one HOA that you do not want to cross. This was a pretty good tongue-in-cheek horror romp thru your everyday, quiet, upscale gated community. A quaint 3 bedroom / 2 bath, complete with an evil organization that landscapes your yard and paints your house for you. Nice.

Hey, No pets! Believe me, you do not want to pay the fine. Well written, evenly paced with well drawn characters. If you take this one too seriously you probably won’t like it. 3.5 rounded up to 4 Stars.

[Bren fall in love with the sea. · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not care for it. I know this is a highly rated book..but it just wasn't for me.

This was my first book ever by Bentley Little and I really have decided pretty quickly that he is not for me. The issue is that I prefer a different type of thriller then he offers up.

So this book..has a great premise. A young couple moves into a new home and are terrorized by their Home Owners Association . What a wildly imaginative premise. And personally..I mean I don't know about you, but Home Owners Associations scare the heck out of me. There is a foreboding quality about them. They can be quite imposing. So I was hoping against hope I'd adore this.

At first I did. Creepy creepy plot. This particular association seems quite sociopathic. You can tell at once the hapless couple are not going to have a good time in their new home.

But then it just gets strange. To strange. And delves exactly into the type of thing I hate.

I am a child of old school horror..no gore..no blood..eeriness and creepiness is what I like. You get that in large doses here. but then..along comes the gore. And the blood. It just descends into a mess. And I got rather queasy.

Not every book is for every person. But I felt kind of cheated that this book starts so GOOD..eerie, creepy, just oodles of fun..and then turns into a run of the mill gore fest with severed heads, missing friends, attempted..well I am not even going to say it. It almost made me a bit sick.

Bentley Little sure can write. But I guess he just does not write the type of books I would want to read. I do not know if all his books are like this but at this point I'd be afraid to find out so..no more Bentley for me.

This reminded me of every awful horror I ever red or saw at the movies. And I could not take all the animal violence and severed limbs. I am surprised I got through this.

So..in closing..sadly..my review is one star. It was two but I deduct a point for animal violence. Started with promise, ended with me just joyful I got through the bloody thing.

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very gratifying escapist horror.
I really enjoy Little because he has perfected the art of slow-build, get-under-your-skin horror, so that even the most outlandish premise is arrived at with you absolutely believing in the story.
The gated community of Bonita Vista and the surrounding town of Corban are so wonderfully described they felt utterly real to me, which is what makes the ensuing horror all the more effective.
Characterisations were good, and I could imagine only too easily how our main man Barry was feeling - trapped, powerless, frustrated and terrified!
There's not an enormous amount of gore, but the little body-horror there is used sparingly and to maximum effect. 'The Association' is one of those novels that will linger in your subconscious for a while and will have you viewing your neighbours with deep, deep suspicion for at least a few days ...

[Derrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an entertaining book to read! At times I felt like it was cheesey and campy but that didn't take away from the fun of reading. The writing and story telling were satisfactory. The two main characters were upstanding. I would have liked to have seen a little more character development but at the same time, I realize this story's not really about that. It's about the homeowner's association and all the disgusting, dreadful, and vile things they do. By the end I did feel like the association as a whole was a well developed character of its own. The climax at the end was remarkably cheesy but as long as one knows not to take this book too seriously, a lot of fun can still be had while reading this. This was my first ever Bentley Little read and I do look forward to reading more of his books in the future!

[Gary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book. This was my first Bentley Little read. The plotting and dialogue was tightly woven- this reads like a mild cross between Laymon and King. It felt a bit like a mystery as the plot unraveled. This is largely why it worked for me. Yes, this story requires a healthy suspension of disbelief at times. But that was part of the fun.
I liked the characters and felt a bit trapped along with them. They is a general tension and creepiness that the author skillfully maintains throughout.
I found the ending satisfying. Little has a genuine talent for this genre and it shows here. I have moved onto to another book by this author. Fortunately for me he has been prolific.
4.5 stars

[Jeremy Bates · Rating 5 out of 5]

Barry and Maureen have just been approved as tenants by the Association. Pity they never read the fine print on the lease. It could be the death of them...

That's the blurb of The Association, and if you live in a gated community and hate your local homeowners association, this is the book for you!

I read the novel about ten years ago and enjoyed it a lot. I found it at my parent's place while visiting for Christmas and decided to give it another go--and I still found it an engrossing, fun read. Bentley Little is very good at the slow build: he begins his story slowly, with innocuous events, and gradually ups the suspense and gets under your skin. He's also well-known for taking the mundane--such as a nosy homeowner's association or whathaveyou--and turning it into something dark and terrifying.

Both Stephen King and Dead Koontz have praised Little, so if you like horror, you should check this book out. Be warned: the plots often lead to the bizarre and can be rather graphic at times.

[Anita · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another stellar, creep-me-right-the-fuck-out tale by a horror master. His slow build, scared-to-turn-the-page style is breathtaking. I read this book in record time, just couldn't put it down. If you've never read Little before, this is a great intro to his work.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

My kind of horror! Very well done. My first Bentley Little and with plenty more to choose from!

[Tom A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

A gripping, engaging and infuriating horror tale that mishandles some of its absurd elements.

Bentley Little has a gift. Mundane and innocuous parts of modern human life – including its institutions - take on a sinister and perverse form under his hands. Novels such as The Mailman, The Store, The Policy and short stories like The Wheel (2010) have cemented Little’s status as the horror genre’s George Orwell; a satirist who uses horror tropes, surrealism, extreme violence, and sexuality to criticize his targets and to make his point. Although there have been novels in the past that don’t have satire as the driving engine (The Summoning, Dominion), Little takes some time among the many instances of bloodletting to throw some jabs at organized religion, moral hypocrisy, etc.

Little’s The Association (2001) has an institution to target, and that is the homeowner’s association. Little is upfront about his hatred, even declaring in the book’s dedication that he hopes that his son would “never have to deal with the petty stupidity of a homeowner’s association.” But reading the book, it is clear that “petty” is perhaps not the right word to describe its version of a homeowner’s association.

The book follows the trials and tribulations of Barry and Maureen Welch, a yuppie couple who have decided to move out of the city into a secluded gated community in Utah. Thinking that they have managed to hoodwink the real estate agent into a relatively low price for their new opulent house, they are immediately ecstatic and excited for their new and supposedly quieter life. But their newfound residence has an interesting caveat: they have to join the Bonita Vista Homeowner’s Association, the resident association that manages the community.

The real estate agent explains:

“Because it’s unincorporated. You’re outside the town limits, and since the county maintains only dirt roads, the association is responsible for paving the streets, and all improvements like ditches, abutments what have you. It’s the association that put in the streetlights, that maintains all ditches and storm drains, that will put on any sidewalk or sign.”

The narrative starts when they are reprimanded by a clipboard-wielding representative of the Association named Campbell. It turns out that their hosting of a yard sale was in violation of the Association’s C, R, and Rs (Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions). After meeting fellow Bonita Vista resident (and fly-in-the-Association’s ointment) Ray Dyson, Barry learns more about their meticulous and dictatorial enforcement of their C, R, and Rs. The Welches then discovers a letter supposedly left by the previous homeowners stating that they are being forced out of their home and that they should take note of dates, names, and witnesses as a means of survival. From there, it escalates into a slow-building nightmare, as new and absurd rules are slapped into the Welches’ faces, trapping them and isolating them from friends and introducing them to an ominous and over-the-top cache of villains including the mysterious president of the Association. How could they hope to survive?

A commendable trait of Little’s work is that they are always engaging. The narrative may veer from realistic to total nonsense but still, he manages to draw your attention to the story at hand. In the case of this book, Little keeps the narrative realistic and this helps to instill fear in the reader that this scenario is possible. For the most part, there are no supernatural monsters to warrant the suspension of your disbelief. There are those annoying C, R, and Rs provisions though with each one more mind-numbingly absurd than the previous one cited. These provisions range from the reasonably restrictive (the yard sale ban) to the downright inhumane and outrageous. (it’s a surprise, so read it)

What dampens the power of the book is the absurdity that is (I think) misplaced by Little. I could do with absurd situations, and characters reacting to such instances are always a joy to read. But when relatively sane characters do absurd things or react stupidly to a given situation, it’s taxing on one’s nerves. I won’t mention the scene, but if it happens too you, I’m quite sure you’ll forget your character arc and just run away as fast as possible without looking back.

Overall, a great book that is worth your time. If the absurd elements were handled with a more careful touch, Little’s tale of suburban dictatorship might have been more memorable and effective. As is, it is a well-written and engaging book and would make you think twice before purchasing a house ruled by some innocent-sounding association.

[Kev Ruiz · Rating 4 out of 5]

★★★½
THE ASSOCIATION

I enjoyed this one and tore through it in two sittings. It is very much a page turner, with the sense of unease building chapter by chapter until it tips into a completely mad finale that leaves you blinking at the page. It even reminded me a little of the Spanish TV horror series 30 Monedas (30 Coins), where the story suddenly blows up into total chaos and embraces the crazy.

The pacing works well and the premise is a strong one, taking the bland idea of a homeowners’ association and pushing it into something far darker.

Little again uses his trademark formula and by this point it is predictable, but I did not mind. I have read five or six of his novels now and the repetition in new settings is maybe the best thing about it, at least for me. Here he blends satire with horror, poking at themes of conformity, surveillance and control, and turning the small rules and rituals of suburban life into something genuinely sinister.

The characterisation is not the sharpest and there were times when I wanted more depth, but the dark satire and the steady drip of subtle horror made up for it. It is escapist horror that knows exactly what it is doing. Not flawless, but very entertaining, and a reminder of why I keep coming back to Bentley Little.

[Maya Ivers · Rating 5 out of 5]

I worship at the altar of Bentley Little's twisted mind. In my opinion, he defines the horror genre. His ability to twist the most mundane, "normal" things into terrifying circumstances is genius. Reading his books leave you disturbed long after turning the last page, and that is what I look for in a good horror author. This book, in particular, is a social commentary that is very relevant right now. Home owner's associations are definitely pushing the boundaries these days, and every time I see a news story about a HOA that has banned a child with cerebral palsy from having his therapeutic playhouse, simply on the grounds that it is not in a tree, I hearken back to this book. It doesn't seem so far fetched anymore...

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scary, addictive, and a great read. The story is over the top, and the ending was ridiculous, but it does examine the dangers of a society becoming too complacent and allowing its freedoms to be eroded.

[Jennifer Lucey · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

I really liked this book in part because I really dislike society.
This was a really interesting and realistically-scary idea.
I only deduct some because there were some questions that it would have been nice to have more specific answers to.

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review soon

[The Behrg · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a fan of Bentley Little's prose and dark stories and have read quite a few of his works. I consider him one of the great 'old-school' horror novelists. While "The Association" was a fascinating read, it didn't provide what I was hoping for. The premise is easy to understand from the title, a home-owners association which is evil. Yet I felt this novel followed the dotted lines a little too carefully, hitting everything you suspect it will hit but never coming out with a full swing or surprise. For me, it stretched the realm of disbelief a little too far past its breaking point. I kept reading, hoping the end would bring it to a brilliant close, but it was a consistent 'more of the same.'

This could have made for an amazing short story, or even novella, but coming in at 450+ pages it just dragged. The main character, Barry, a horror novelist himself, sums it up best in the book with these thoughts:

"He was living in a horror novel. His life had become his work -- only he wasn't sure he could actually sell such oddball shit to readers and have them buy it. Psychotic friends, yes. Ghosts and ageless demons, sure. But a malevolent homeowners' association that dismembered members for being late with their dues? It was too close to reality to be truly fantastic and thus allow readers to suspend disbelief, yet not realistic enough to be taken seriously on any sort of naturalistic level."

Barry, I couldn't agree more. 2 1/2 stars.

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book started out good enough, successful couple buys into a gated community not realizing how insanely strict the home owners association is. Start getting fined for seemingly ridiculous but credible things (at least to anyone who's been a HOA member). Creepy things, inexplicable things start happening, tension builds... and things start to get dumb, like how the couple ignores all the fines that are levied until they owe more in fines than the house is worth. (despite the wife being a financial adviser and accountant)
Then it starts to get stupid... invite all your best friends over (a'la the Scooby gang) to help with all the weirdness that's going on. Despite the fact that people have died and been maimed around this place, don't express any concern when one of the Scooby's decides to go off on his own to investigate. Bye-bye, not going see you ever again.
Move on to really stupid, when over half the friends who've come to visit disappear and everyone's all "These things happen, what can you do about it?" and then fail to follow-up when the FBI briefly looks into it and says "Nothing wrong here".
The story at this point jumps into the completely absurd, when after successfully escaping from near death experience in the community, the formerly not-especially-macho husband suddenly decides that he's not going to let these psychopathic murdering bastards drive him from his new home (that he tecnhically no longer owns anyway) and he returns to the house (unarmed and unprepared) to face down the board of directors.
More absurd stuff follows, and then the story comes to a really lame ending where the homeowner defeats the super-evil chairman of the board in a combat to the death by essentially quoting violations of the CC&R's at him. So LAME.

[Summer · Rating 3 out of 5]

In all honestly, more like a 2.5 but I'm rounding up because I sincerely did enjoy reading it. I don't think it is Little's best though which is unfortunate because it has such and interesting premise and elements to it. This book suffers from just being too long with too many unimportant elements. The middle of the book REALLY drags; most of which are just supposed to add to the atmosphere but instead, it made me want to yell 'Get on with it already!' - I think the fact that it does drag for so long detracts from the horror, so it really wasn't as scary as it could have been. I also wish the ending was a little longer because when we finally get to see the inner workings of the mysterious Homeowners Association, the action speeds up a lot, but it just doesn't last.

It was mildly entertaining all in all.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short take:

Wow, this book is ridiculous! It is also fun, propelled by breezy prose and peppered with bizarre anecdotes. It may be classified as horror, but its contents are so wacky as to elude any one genre. I was certainly entertained.

More thoughts:

The premise here is ludicrous, and I give Little kudos for keeping it all together and interesting for over 400 pages. I also appreciate that the protagonists questioned both events and their own decisions. "Why am I putting up with this craziness?" Little never actually reveals what compels everyone to kow-tow to an insane organization with a boundless appetite for homicide, and, honestly, no answer is needed. Let shit be crazy and watch it all unfold!

[Tee Jay · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well I'm done. With about 80% of this novel finished, I just can't stomach it any longer. I've thrown in the towel and I'm putting it away for good. It's that bad.
The premise, from beginning to end, is ridiculous and totally unbelievable. More, the characters are flat, two-dimensional, and void of any redeeming qualities whatsoever. What a dud! The dialogue is also forced, contrived, and overly used as a plot advancement technique. Way too much.
In the end, I'm equally disappointed with myself for sticking with this dud novel so long. I kept wanting it to get better, but it never did. Thankfully I did not spend any hard earned money on this book.

[Matt (TeamRedmon) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my first Bentley Little book and boy, was I not disappointed. Barry and Maureen are moving from California to Utah and they find a lovely little home in the neighborhood of Bonita Vista. The house is a bit of a fixer-upper but its a good price and a nice area. They're told that the neighborhood has a homeowners association but they just tend the public lands and keep up the pool. Stuff like that. Nothing evil. Definitely no evil stuff. However, when the couple moves in the quickly find themselves being harassed by an HOA that's bent on enforcing its Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions. As the CCRs are slowly revealed and the true power of the HOA comes to light. Barry and Maureen quickly regret their decision to move to Bonita Vista but by the time they realize this, there may not be a way out.

This is billed as a horror novel but seems to be a true to life representation of Homeowners' Associations in the way the characters often say "There's no way they can do that! It can't be legal!". If you've ever lived under an HOA you know what I mean.

[Robert Reiner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This may be the first horror novel I’ve read that I can relate to. I lived in a townhouse with an Association back in the day and this book brought back horrific memories of getting the awful notice letters in reference to rules I’d violated or repairs I was being ordered to make based on their regulations. Of course Little takes it to a whole different and terrifying level but man did I connect with this book. Five stars for scaring the heck out of me and reminding me of why I’ll never live in an area regulated by an Association ever again. Easily my favorite Little novel thus far.