Ancient Horror History Unearthed: The Nightrunners by Joe R. Lansdale REVIEWED

I'm gonna just come out and say it. The Nightrunners has a reputation for being a classic piece of Horror fiction.

I'm proud to say, It meets all of those expectations. It is a perfect book in every sense of the word. Fantastically written, paced, designed (for lack of a better word)... I am disappointed that I didn't read this years ago.

There's not much to say about the book that hasn't already been said and I am sure a significant portion of the readership of the blog has read the book before. BUT, let me say something anyway.

It's books like The Nightrunners that make this blog exist. The impetus of the blog itself is the wonderful community of horror readers who recommend it...had I not engaged with said community, I may not had ever known of the book.

Originally published in 1987, with it's mass market debut in 89, there's nary a reason the common reader in 2017, 30 years later to bat an eye at a book like this. Without the communication within the horror community, the average horror reader probably wouldn't know it exists.

And they should.

The purpose of the blog is to inform the reader of great books. This is a great book. Possibly one of the best I've ever read.

So here's my two cents: if you haven't read this, go read it now. Now. Get it. Do whatever you have to do and scarf it down.

A relatively simple plot dealing with a married couple traumatized by a vicious sexual assault, attempting to decompress in a lakeside cabin. Adding to the decompression factor, is that the key perpetrator has recently hung himself. This should be a solid way to begin to repair their lives and relationship...

Welp, it's not. By way of a cult of personality, of sorts, and possession, the evil bunch is tracking them down, leaving a trail of brain matter and guts in their wake.

That really boils down the stew, but please don't let that stew be what you consume. You'll be missing out on all that The Nightrunners has to offer. The human aspects of horror, of trauma, of who it is that commits heinous evil acts...it's what is most important here and impossible to illustrate in a brief review.

Do yourself a favor and read this now if you haven't. It's all that I could want from a book and I'd be hard pressed to believe that a reader of the blog wouldn't agree.

An obvious 5/5.