Black River Orchard

January 9, 2024 2:40 PM

Bucks County, Pa.: Home to new money and old evil. Amid the McMansions, a small farmer struggles to keep his homestead along the Delaware River. Dan Paxson has started a small orchard in hopes that his new crop--a formerly-lost apple he calls Ruby Slipper--will save him and his daughter, Calla. But despite its heavenly taste, this is a very bad apple indeed, as the townspeople will soon discover. Chuck Wendig's Black River Orchard is fast-moving horror that, well, grows on you. Do not eat apples while reading!

The Ruby Slipper has skin so red, it's almost black, and a taste that makes its eaters moan with pleasure. But it does other things, too. It makes people stronger. Spryer. More agile. Younger. It makes them obsessed with eating more; an apple a day just isn't enough, and soon Dan's apple is in high demand. Everything's great!

Except...

Emily, a new resident of the town, discovers the skeleton of a heritage apple-seeker. John, another lost-apple hunter, arrives looking for answers to the death of his friend. Calla, who won't eat the apple, is scared of the changes she sees in her dad. And Joanie, a longtime resident launched into the McMansion life, knows that things--and people--aren't what they used to be. Something's rotten in the orchard. And it's spreading.

Read an excerpt here. Goodreads. Tor.com. Kirkus.

posted by MonkeyToes (5 comments total)

I really enjoyed this one. Very reminiscent of Stephen King and a lot of fun. It made apples creepy!
posted by Lord_Pall at 2:54 PM on January 9 [1 favorite]

Horror, and especially body horror, is very much not my thing, and I still liked this book! Anyone who knows this part of the world will recognize how much it influenced Wendig, from the references to crossed keys, to local roads, to the tile-laden Goldenrod Estate, aka as the Mercer Museum and Fonthill Castle. The book's up-to-the-minute observations about local politics may eventually date the book, but Wendig is really good about developing the apple's long and poisonous history too. The supernatural element is present throughout--I really liked the barn cat's worries about its house cat pal gone wrong--but the scenes with Edward Naberius, "the restorer of lost dignities," are particularly disturbing. The body horror..did not like, but that's me. I visited the Mercer Museum/Fonthill as a kid and was suitably creeped out then, so I had no trouble envisioning Wendig's scenario. It's a fast read and a good one, and I'm glad I took a chance on it.
posted by MonkeyToes at 3:00 PM on January 9

Ooh, I grew up in Bucks County (the lower part, not the people with polo horses part), I will check this out!
posted by Literaryhero at 7:45 PM on January 9 [1 favorite]

Oh, I loved this one! Deliciously creepy and twisted, excellent story -- I kept remarking to my husband that Stephen King only wishes he could write horror like this. And it left me both craving apples and afraid of ever eating one again.
posted by maryellenreads at 8:02 AM on January 10 [1 favorite]

I sure learned a lot about apples in this book! I enjoyed this, tighter and scarier than A Book of Accidents, not as long and heartbreaking as Wayward and Wanderers. I also enjoyed the house cat farm cat story and call backs.
posted by Gyre,Gimble,Wabe, Esq. at 3:42 PM on January 15 [1 favorite]