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Catching Hell
Chasing Hell can be harmless. Unless you catch it.
Summer, 1983. As fall approaches and the summer stock theaters on Cape Cod close for the season, three promising young actors and a stagehand pile into an old Ford Fairlane and head for a vacation resort in Maine. Hoping for a relaxing getaway before pursuing their dreams, they instead encounter a bizarre storm while on a lonely stretch of highway and soon find themselves stranded in the strange rural community of Boxer Hills. At first glance it seems a harmless little backwoods town, but Boxer Hills has a horrible secret and a deadly history. It's a place of horrific age-old rituals and a legendary evil that will let no one escape without paying a terrible price. Before the sun rises on a new day, they will have to fight their way through the night and out of town, or risk falling prey to a demonic creature so profane few will even speak its name. They were young, reckless and chasing Hell. What they hadn't counted on was actually catching it.
Summer, 1983. As fall approaches and the summer stock theaters on Cape Cod close for the season, three promising young actors and a stagehand pile into an old Ford Fairlane and head for a vacation resort in Maine. Hoping for a relaxing getaway before pursuing their dreams, they instead encounter a bizarre storm while on a lonely stretch of highway and soon find themselves stranded in the strange rural community of Boxer Hills. At first glance it seems a harmless little backwoods town, but Boxer Hills has a horrible secret and a deadly history. It's a place of horrific age-old rituals and a legendary evil that will let no one escape without paying a terrible price. Before the sun rises on a new day, they will have to fight their way through the night and out of town, or risk falling prey to a demonic creature so profane few will even speak its name. They were young, reckless and chasing Hell. What they hadn't counted on was actually catching it.
125 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 2010
8 people are currently reading
104 people want to read
About the author
Greg F. Gifune
79 books352 followersCalled "One of the best writers of his generation" by both the Roswell Literary Review and author Brian Keene, Greg F. Gifune is the author of numerous short stories, several novels and two short story collections. His work has been published in a wide range of magazines and anthologies all over the world, and has recently garnered interest from Hollywood. His novels include The Bleeding Season, Deep Night, Saying Uncle, A View From The Lake, Night Work, Drago Descending, Blood In Electric Blue and Dominion.
Along with his short story collections, Down To Sleep and Heretics, his work has been nominated for numerous awards and is consistently praised by readers and critics alike across the globe. For seven years he was Editor-in-Chief of Thievin' Kitty Publications, publishers of the acclaimed fiction magazines The Edge: Tales of Suspense (1998-2004) and Burning Sky: Adventures in Science Fiction Terror (1998-2003), and currently serves as Associate Editor at Delirium Books.
The son of teachers, Greg F. Gifune was educated in Boston and has lived in various places, including New York City and Peru. A trained actor and broadcaster, he has appeared in various stage productions and has worked in radio and television as both an on-air talent and a producer. Earlier in life he held a wide range of jobs, encompassing everything from journalism to promotions.
The author of numerous novels, screenplays and two short story collections, his work has been consistently praised by critics and readers alike, and has been translated into several languages and published all over the world. Greg and his wife Carol live in Massachusetts with a bevy of cats.
Discover more about his writing at GregFGifune.com and UninvitedBooks.com.
Along with his short story collections, Down To Sleep and Heretics, his work has been nominated for numerous awards and is consistently praised by readers and critics alike across the globe. For seven years he was Editor-in-Chief of Thievin' Kitty Publications, publishers of the acclaimed fiction magazines The Edge: Tales of Suspense (1998-2004) and Burning Sky: Adventures in Science Fiction Terror (1998-2003), and currently serves as Associate Editor at Delirium Books.
The son of teachers, Greg F. Gifune was educated in Boston and has lived in various places, including New York City and Peru. A trained actor and broadcaster, he has appeared in various stage productions and has worked in radio and television as both an on-air talent and a producer. Earlier in life he held a wide range of jobs, encompassing everything from journalism to promotions.
The author of numerous novels, screenplays and two short story collections, his work has been consistently praised by critics and readers alike, and has been translated into several languages and published all over the world. Greg and his wife Carol live in Massachusetts with a bevy of cats.
Discover more about his writing at GregFGifune.com and UninvitedBooks.com.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
January 18, 2022
This guy is good. Thanks guys if it wasn't for horror afisionads I would have never found this author.
January 23, 2021
I won't say I didn't like it actually I did but I was looking for more. Specially the ending I find somewhat so sudden that I had to double check the chapter to confirm that the story indeed reached its final column. Apart from this like all Greg F. Gifune read this was too a great book in horror genre...
Stefan, Alex, Tory and Billy heading in to a vacation resort in Maine. But soon because of a bizarre storm they lose the path and found themselves in strange, rural Boxer Hills. The chaos, worshipping of something else rather than God, lonely community or say bizarre circumstances all didn't make any sense to them. No matter how hard they try to abandon the place the more they dig in to the deep of that colony from nowhere. Until they found a hotel to fill their empty belly with foods before making the situation reasonable; the game changed exactly from there and what awaits ahead of them they could have never imagine in their minds. Soon they finds the place a horrific age-old rituals and a demonic creature who won't let you escape before making a terrible price...
Was total chaos, the more you read the more detailing incident of bizarre horror would appear in to your view. The writing, the characters all been work out very well. No unnecessary details but the direct link to the core of the story made it enjoyable enough to read. So yeah the final moment for me it was so sudden, I expected more! Maybe the ending of that demonic thing or so so. But there's none of them. Have to remind myself it was a novella but even though I was hoping for more...
Rating : 5...
Stefan, Alex, Tory and Billy heading in to a vacation resort in Maine. But soon because of a bizarre storm they lose the path and found themselves in strange, rural Boxer Hills. The chaos, worshipping of something else rather than God, lonely community or say bizarre circumstances all didn't make any sense to them. No matter how hard they try to abandon the place the more they dig in to the deep of that colony from nowhere. Until they found a hotel to fill their empty belly with foods before making the situation reasonable; the game changed exactly from there and what awaits ahead of them they could have never imagine in their minds. Soon they finds the place a horrific age-old rituals and a demonic creature who won't let you escape before making a terrible price...
Was total chaos, the more you read the more detailing incident of bizarre horror would appear in to your view. The writing, the characters all been work out very well. No unnecessary details but the direct link to the core of the story made it enjoyable enough to read. So yeah the final moment for me it was so sudden, I expected more! Maybe the ending of that demonic thing or so so. But there's none of them. Have to remind myself it was a novella but even though I was hoping for more...
Rating : 5...
October 22, 2024
Good novella with a horror story like so many others, but, at least, the ending was quite nice.
February 10, 2017
Fast and merciless, 'Catching Hell' takes you on a journey to hell...but not back. I loved that the story took no tension-breaking detours and did not linger with unnecessary details, while at the same time telling just enough to reasonably explain the background history and flesh out the characters. This is what makes writing outstanding, and Mr. Gifune definitely knows how to do it.
May 26, 2019
Plot has been done before, kinda to death really. That being in the short amount of pages the author made the characters likable for the most part. The writing style was good enough to keep me interested where it not so I might not have wanted to finish the book. I honestly didn't see the ending coming until it was on top of me, and I kinda liked it. I wouldn't mind perhaps seeing another story set in this world but perhaps a more original plot to go with it. No offense but the story was straight from the film 2000 maniacs...that being said I had some fun with this and will look at more work from this author.
August 12, 2015
Fast moving, well written little novella. Gifune is one of my favorite authors working today, its been way too long since I read his work. I'll need to catch up, which will be a challenge considering how prolific he is.
January 2, 2022
Stranded in a strange and deserted little town. Something is amiss. Queer townsfolk. Splatterpunk Dean Koontz. BASED ON A TRUE STORY. Very curious about that one. Personal nostalgia; a New Year's read. Limited, signed, and lettered. 3/5.
June 4, 2012
Man, this is a good one. "Children of the Corn" but richer and scarier.
April 7, 2019
Four students are on their way to Maine to relax, smoke, and do whatever it is that young adults did back in 1983. But one wrong turn takes them to a terrifying place...
This is an 80s throwback novella that suited me just fine. Gifune perfected the creepiness of Boxer Hills township and its inhabitants. The beginning has more of a ‘quiet horror’ approach to build up the rest of the story. I felt the ending was a bit rushed, but still highly recommend.
This is an 80s throwback novella that suited me just fine. Gifune perfected the creepiness of Boxer Hills township and its inhabitants. The beginning has more of a ‘quiet horror’ approach to build up the rest of the story. I felt the ending was a bit rushed, but still highly recommend.
January 16, 2019
If silent hill were a well writtwn book
Basically silent hill in book form. Its a great story, entertained me, and i didnt feel it was a chore to get through.
Basically silent hill in book form. Its a great story, entertained me, and i didnt feel it was a chore to get through.
October 2, 2013
Catching Hell by Greg F. Gifune is one of those books that have been on my “Must Read” list for quite some time. When I finally got an opportunity to pick up a Signed, Limited Edition published as part of Cemetery Dance’s Novella Series, I wasted little time in getting down to it during the last week of the regular baseball season.
I couldn’t put this short novel down, and read it over the course of several evenings while ensconced in oaken confines of a massive Stickley rocking chair, occasionally looking up at the real horror on my television screen--- the predictable death spiral of another hapless Chicago Cubs baseball season—but, I digress.
First, the writing is succinct and at the same time descriptive enough to pull you in with germane details. The storyline itself is imaginative and original; lacking the deadly tropes that burden many horror novels. The pacing is brisk and engaging, and the characterization encourages empathy and plot buy-in. Finally, the story keeps you guessing to the very end; which is taught with suspense and satisfying in the breadth of its visceral horror.
In 1983, four theater geeks leave Cape Cod at the conclusion of their final summer season and embark on a road trip to Bar Harbor, Maine in a 1967 Ford Fairlane at a divergent point in their young lives, and finding much more than they bargained for along the way. Fate and a freak storm directs them to the inconsequential but elusive town of Boxer Hill, which proves to be an especially difficult place to leave. The horror at the center of this story churns at you guts and is reminiscent of Finney’s The Body Snatchers—as Gifune spins a yarn that could seemingly happen to anyone, it’s the mundane way in which people lose their humanity that’s at the nexus of this dark novel.
Gifune is a very good writer, and his endings are always tight and entertaining. Sentence and paragraph structure, along with tight dialog, make reading his novels a rich and rewarding experience. These results, like the play of Greg’s beloved Boston Red Sox require years of painstaking practice and sometimes a little luck—something bereft in Chicago: last World Series win? October 14, 1908—now that’s truly a dark tale of unimaginable horror.
I couldn’t put this short novel down, and read it over the course of several evenings while ensconced in oaken confines of a massive Stickley rocking chair, occasionally looking up at the real horror on my television screen--- the predictable death spiral of another hapless Chicago Cubs baseball season—but, I digress.
First, the writing is succinct and at the same time descriptive enough to pull you in with germane details. The storyline itself is imaginative and original; lacking the deadly tropes that burden many horror novels. The pacing is brisk and engaging, and the characterization encourages empathy and plot buy-in. Finally, the story keeps you guessing to the very end; which is taught with suspense and satisfying in the breadth of its visceral horror.
In 1983, four theater geeks leave Cape Cod at the conclusion of their final summer season and embark on a road trip to Bar Harbor, Maine in a 1967 Ford Fairlane at a divergent point in their young lives, and finding much more than they bargained for along the way. Fate and a freak storm directs them to the inconsequential but elusive town of Boxer Hill, which proves to be an especially difficult place to leave. The horror at the center of this story churns at you guts and is reminiscent of Finney’s The Body Snatchers—as Gifune spins a yarn that could seemingly happen to anyone, it’s the mundane way in which people lose their humanity that’s at the nexus of this dark novel.
Gifune is a very good writer, and his endings are always tight and entertaining. Sentence and paragraph structure, along with tight dialog, make reading his novels a rich and rewarding experience. These results, like the play of Greg’s beloved Boston Red Sox require years of painstaking practice and sometimes a little luck—something bereft in Chicago: last World Series win? October 14, 1908—now that’s truly a dark tale of unimaginable horror.
June 10, 2010
This one is the second selection of the Cememtery Dance Publications book club 3.0; it is a signed limited edition novella (569 of 750).
I like Greg's style of writing, it reads like something that could happen. He peppers the story with odd occurances (like the crow depicted on the dust jacket) that add a certain mystique to the tale without resorting to the cheapery sometimes seen in today's writing. This is not bizzaro fiction.
Catching Hell begins on Cape Cod in Massachusetts and journeys north through New Hampshire and into Maine. For me, that's local geography. When they finally drive off the main road for eats and gas, they run into a town frozen in 1947.
Their journey becomes a chase to dawn as the town folk make a bid to free their own souls by way of a trade. It is a story that can be considered fairly predictable, yet it is still engagingly written.
The artwork on several pages is pretty good as well, but the portrait on page 81 is verrrry cool. Jill Bauman is the artist.
I like Greg's style of writing, it reads like something that could happen. He peppers the story with odd occurances (like the crow depicted on the dust jacket) that add a certain mystique to the tale without resorting to the cheapery sometimes seen in today's writing. This is not bizzaro fiction.
Catching Hell begins on Cape Cod in Massachusetts and journeys north through New Hampshire and into Maine. For me, that's local geography. When they finally drive off the main road for eats and gas, they run into a town frozen in 1947.
Their journey becomes a chase to dawn as the town folk make a bid to free their own souls by way of a trade. It is a story that can be considered fairly predictable, yet it is still engagingly written.
The artwork on several pages is pretty good as well, but the portrait on page 81 is verrrry cool. Jill Bauman is the artist.
June 15, 2012
I'd recently read the Samhain ebook version of this novella and needless to say, I became a Greg Gifune fan after doing so. Having heard of Gifune for years, I'd finally had the pleasure of reading his work and very glad I did. Catching Hell is a tautly written, suspenseful horror novella that centers around a group of local theatre actors, who decided to spend a summer weekend at an idyllic Maine cabin before they part ways. But before they even make their destination, they exit off the highway to stop for gas and food in a small town that seems trapped in the 1950's. And the townspeople aren't too friendly. This chilling story reminded me a bit of King's Children of the Corn (minus the corn...and the psychotic Malachai) but stands all on its own as the four friends realized they are trapped, unable to leave...but ill-prepared to deal with the true horror of what they're happened upon. Highly recommended!
November 21, 2012
In the summer of 83, 4 friends embark on a journey that could be there last. The four are heading to Bar Harbor, Maine for a little R&R. The first stop is Boxer Hill, Maine. There is something very strange about this town. There are some deep dark secret keep in this town of Boxer Hill. The town has very few people in it. The few people that the 4 run into are not very friendly. So the 4 jump back into the 1967 Ford Fairlane and head back to the highway. They followed the same road that they came in on but of course there is no highway to be found. All roads lead to one place and that is Boxer Hill, Maine. Can the 4 break away from this cursed town or will they be stuck there for the rest of their life?
December 10, 2013
This a good story that follows a classic theme, the town stuck in time. If I remember correctly a Twilight Zone episode followed this idea. Gifune's addition to this tale is gore and the devil.
The characters are all likable and the story is well written. I enjoyed it.
The characters are all likable and the story is well written. I enjoyed it.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews