This past year (2010) has not been a great year for horror writers. The book as we know it is on the verge of being replaced by technology. The Nook, Kindle and whatever other reading device is available have turned the printed page into a soon to be thing of the past. Honestly, I rather read from a book, than a screen. I turn down any writer who wants to send me a digital file for that reason. I know I’ll soon have to succumb to buying a digital device, but for now I’ll hold onto the hope that the printed page will prevail. The biggest hit I took this year because of the rise of the digital book was Leisure fiction and Dorchester Publishing’s transition to e-book. Gord Rollo’s Valley of the Scarecrow was a book that didn’t make that cut to be one of their last published in paper back. I was looking forward to the book all year, and was crushed by Dorchester’s decision. However, the light at the end of the tunnel came from Gord himself when he made a request on my behalf to a small publishing company, Dark Regions Press. They not only made my Christmas with an advance copy of Valley of the Scarecrow, but also sent me ten other books to review.
Valley of the Scarecrow is a simple book. It is what Gord Rollo calls a good classic horror book that reminds him of a eighties horror flick. The book is about a reverend that during the great depression sold his soul to the devil so that the local village he helped build with prosper while the country was suffering. However, the local town folk know that evil is responsible for the prosperity of the town, and together they march upon the church in the cornfield and crucifer the revered on a cross and use a charm to keep the evil at rest. They board up the church, and leave the village. Seventy four years later, the last remaining resident of the village lets his secret be known to his granddaughter. He tells her about what happened and that the reverend was said to have a hidden treasure somewhere in the town. However, he warns her not to go looking for the place. Thinking of how the treasure would help her boy friend’s business and her friend out. She puts aside what here old grandfather said and tells her friends about the place. Together they go looking for the small village of Miller’s Grove, find it and begin their hunt for the gold. However, what they will find will change their lives forever, as one simple act of greed brings Reverend Joshua Miller back from the dead, to take revenge on those who sin on his lands.
I have praised Gord Rollo endless times both in my reviews of his books and on message boards and in public. The Jigsaw Man was the first book of his that I read, and I still think it’s his best, but right behind it is Valley of the Scarecrow. Now, you might say to yourself, not another Scarecrow story. How good can it be? The thing is that the scarecrow value of the story really is just a prop that Reverend Miller decides to use when a bunch of redneck locals try to create a hoax using a scare crow. The book is clearly a story that has more of a demonic feel than it does anything else. Before reading the book Gord Rollo said to me that this is just a fun horror story with no real meaning. I have to disagree with him. I think there is a moral to the story here, that greed gets you no where.
Out of all of Gord books this is one that I can see being made into a film. It feel like a film and the story is scary, fun and most of all, suspenseful. Dark Regions Press just released this book thought their website where it is available to purchase. This is a book that just proves Gord Rollo is a horror master that is flying under the radar. Gord’s work needs to be exploited as much as possible. He is a top notch talent in the horror genre. Valley of the Scarecrow is a great book and well worth reading. I give Gord credit once again for bringing us into another nightmare and taking us on one hell of a wild ride.
– Horror Bob
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
