Echo

Heuvelt returns with an epic tale of madness that, while less focused than Hex (2016), is just as frightening. Nick and Sam are young men, blissfully in love, until Nick is horribly disfigured in a climbing accident. From the moment Nick is rescued, it is clear that he has brought something dark back with him, a force whose power is spilling out of his wrecked face and infecting others. Opening with a masterfully terrifying scene, the stage is set for a high-anxiety, cinematic tale, and Heuvelt delivers with an intimate and disorienting storytelling style, told by alternating Sam's notes with Nick's diary entries and a confession, parsed out in five sections. The plot may be a slow burn, but the horror is immersive and the fear paralyzing, as readers experience mortal danger, freezing cold, and debilitating vertigo along with the characters. Clearly reminiscent of classic Stephen King tomes, but also for fans of more-recent coming-of-age horror like The Bright Lands by John Fram (2020) or highly suspenseful stories with a strong sense of place like Road of Bones by Christopher Golden (2022).

Olde Heuvelt (Hex) loads this smart tale of a young man's dehumanization with extravagant horror tropes while expertly avoiding cliché. By the time Swiss rescuers reach stranded mountaineer Nick Grevers, his face has been horrifically mutilated and his climbing partner, Augustin, has gone missing. Sam Avery, Nick's lover, struggles to cope with the suggestion that whatever happened on the mountain was no accident, while Nick wonders whether he's becoming a monster as he tries to understand why he and Augustin felt compelled to climb the innocent-looking little peak of Le Maudit in the first place. As Nick's violent impulses slowly overtake him post-rescue, he worries that he may now embody Le Maudit's "old and dangerous" soul. Sam, meanwhile, investigates what happened to Nick and to others who have strayed too close to Le Maudit--including the 32 people who died violently at the hospital where Nick recuperates and all those who've committed suicide since. Olde Heuvelt expertly contrasts Nick's somber desperation and Sam's desperate optimism to create a moving narrative that stops just short of going over the top. Horror fans will be thrilled. (Feb.)