Off Season

Oct 07, 2011 Stephen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ebooks, 1980-1989, horror, freak-families, the-creeps

CANNIBALISM: A MORE BALANCED PERSPECTIVE

While I really liked this book, I feel compelled to make a few introductory remarks before I discuss the specific merits of the story. I will give Mr. Ketchum the benefit of the doubt and say that I do not believe it was his intention in writing this book to come across as a snobby, elitist, “anti” cannibal bigot. However, the fact remains that this novel is yet another example of popular media perpetrating the negative stereotype of cannibalism. I feel i...more

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Mar 30, 2011 Gavin rated it 4 of 5 stars

This may be one of the most disturbing novels I have ever read. Enough said. (Although, I cannot agree with the previous establishment of rating this novel as "violent pornography". In my estimation, if more horror writers took half the amount of chances in thier work as Ketchum does in his, this genre might be more respected.)

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

(This recommendation must be clarified: I do not condone cannibalism in any form.)

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Oct 08, 2012 Paul rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: novels, verysleazyfun

Ten ways to review Off Season, a book about cannibals!!

1. Let's go to the movies with Jack Ketchum

Some Like them Hot
Stir the Right One In
The Incr Edibles
Bringing Up Baby
Brainspotting
The Best Ears of Our Lives
Rashermum
The Green Bile
No Recipe for Old Men

(this could go on)

2. Off Season, the Musical

He Will Tear us Apart (sung by Laura)
Everybody Hurts (sung by the chief cannibal)
Stir it Up (sung by his female companion)
Oops! I Did it Again! (sung by the chief cannibal)
All I have to Eat is Spleen (an...more

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Oct 14, 2012 Alex Gherzo rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Stephen King once said: "“I recognize terror as the finest emotion and so I will try to terrorize the reader. But if I find that I cannot terrify, I will try to horrify, and if I find that I cannot horrify, I'll go for the gross-out. I'm not proud." In Off Season, Jack Ketchum does all three and does them extremely well (no wonder King is a big fan and supporter). I don't think I've ever read a book as unsettling as this.

Carla, a book editor from New York City, rents a house in the rural Maine...more Stephen King once said: "“I recognize terror as the finest emotion and so I will try to terrorize the reader. But if I find that I cannot terrify, I will try to horrify, and if I find that I cannot horrify, I'll go for the gross-out. I'm not proud." In Off Season, Jack Ketchum does all three and does them extremely well (no wonder King is a big fan and supporter). I don't think I've ever read a book as unsettling as this.

Carla, a book editor from New York City, rents a house in the rural Maine town of Dead River for an extended vacation. She's in the middle of the woods, two miles away from the nearest neighbor. She invites her boyfriend, her sister and her sister's boyfriend, and her ex and his girlfriend to spend a few days with her. But the peace and quiet doesn't even last a whole evening and suddenly Carla and her friends are under siege from a pack of feral, cave-dwelling cannibals who want to murder and eat them one by one (the lucky ones in that order). With no way of calling for help, the city slickers must do things of which they never thought themselves capable in order to survive. Meanwhile, the bored town sheriff and his deputies investigate an attack that may be linked to the savages.

Off Season is about savagery, whether learned over a lifetime of living in the wild or during one night of facing down a monstrous evil that promises a fate worse than death. The savages are human genetically only. They live like animals (despite being able to talk), but to classify them as such does a disservice to fauna; there is a true sadism to these things, a glee at inflicting pain on their victims. They seem to feed off of fear as much as flesh. The protagonists aren't just dealing with poor, unfortunate souls but true monsters, something they would never have even conceived of existing. Eventually, it's made clear to them that the only way they can survive is if they become just as barbaric as their tormentors. And it takes its toll. They not only strike back with deadly (though, considering the circumstances, hardly excessive) force, but they enjoy it. The violence they wreak becomes fun, and although they're disturbed by it, they know they must embrace it. Parallels can be drawn to real world situations, such as fighting wars or dealing with terrorists or even a school child getting down and dirty with a bully. Ketchum illuminates something primal within us: the will to survive.

As I said, Off Season has elements that terrify, horrify and gross out. As defined by Stephen King:

"The 3 types of terror: The Gross-out: the sight of a severed head tumbling down a flight of stairs, it's when the lights go out and something green and slimy splatters against your arm. The Horror: the unnatural, spiders the size of bears, the dead waking up and walking around, it's when the lights go out and something with claws grabs you by the arm. And the last and worse one: Terror, when you come home and notice everything you own had been taken away and replaced by an exact substitute. It's when the lights go out and you feel something behind you, you hear it, you feel its breath against your ear, but when you turn around, there's nothing there..."

Ketchum has plenty of imagery to satisfy the gross-out criteria: severed heads and limbs, blood gushing, organs removed and cooked, and the filthy appearance of the savages: covered in dirt and muck, beleaguered by lice, and, you know, eating parts of people. The horror comes, again, from the savages. As I said, they've reached a point where they don't even qualify as human, even the children. They're monsters through and through, as grotesque as any creature that goes bump in the night. One of them is a giant of a man, a hulking specimen that the heroes don't even want to think about facing. Another is very think and wiry, described almost as a walking corpse, but with strong muscles from working outside so much (as one does when living in the wild). These beasts, while technically homo sapiens, are more than qualifying of the adjective "horrifying." The terror is found in the fact that, while obviously very unlikely, these things could exist. This situation could happen. And, while reading it, you really start to know what it would feel like to face a situation like this, to have your home besieged by people who want to eat you and those you love, cut off from any hope of rescue. And then, the idea that you could become sadistic enough to survive, to battle these things on their own terms. It's a bit terrifying to think we've got that in us.

Ketchum has written the best advertisement for city living ever produced. Read Off Season in your penthouse apartment overlooking a busy avenue, but don't go near it in the country.
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Jun 08, 2011 Joe Stamber rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: paper, read-2011

As Off Season begins, we are immediately introduced to a gang of ferals as they subject a woman to a terrifying chase through the woods after tricking her from her car. Then we meet Carla, an editor who has found the ideal secluded retreat to finish her latest book. Before she gets down to work, her boyfriend, sister, and a few other friends are paying her a visit to check out her hideaway. Hmm, city folk, secluded woods and a feral gang... oh-oh, sounds like a recipe for trouble! JK pulls no pu...more

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Mar 25, 2012 Maciek rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: horror, read-in-2012

The biggest flaw of Off Season is its publishing date - 1980. As it was a debut novel, the publishing house had quite a lot of power over the author, and made him cut and edit the book the way they wanted. Upon publication the book raised extreme controversy, due to its violent and graphic nature. It got so bad that Ballantine, who initially published the novel, decided to stop supporting it and withtdrew it from circulation after the first printings.

In 1999 a small publishing house specialisin...more The biggest flaw of Off Season is its publishing date - 1980. As it was a debut novel, the publishing house had quite a lot of power over the author, and made him cut and edit the book the way they wanted. Upon publication the book raised extreme controversy, due to its violent and graphic nature. It got so bad that Ballantine, who initially published the novel, decided to stop supporting it and withtdrew it from circulation after the first printings.

In 1999 a small publishing house specialising in horror fiction - Cemetery Dance - picked it up for an reissue; this time including the author's original version, including the text which has been cut from or edited in the first publication. The result got a glowing blurb from Stephen King who called the author "probably the scariest guy in America". After 19 years, readers can finally read the work as the author intended it.

And it turns out that there's not much to swoon over, if anything. The storyline is absolutely basic - a group of friends go to a small coastline town in Maine for a vacation, where they are targeted by a group of inbred, cannibalistic savages, who live in a small cave and go out hunting at night. Such plot might have been original or groundbreaking in 1980, but since then it has been done to death (get it?) in horror movies and novels. The characters are cardboard and boring, the most interesting being the savages. The novel is driven almost entirely by the horrific acts of violence, described in gruesome detail. The violence is extreme and the author pulls absolutely no punches, but that's pretty much all the is to it.

The second biggest flaw of Off Season is that it's an one trick pony; there's no meat to it, if you'll pardon the pun. It has little re-read value, and aims more at the gross out and shock factors than anything else. Not that it's neccesarily bad; it's just that it's not what I would expect from a novel praised so highly. The copy I was reading had an extra short story at the end, "Winter Child", which I thought was much more atmospheric and climatic than the whole novel.
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Aug 01, 2007 Mark R. rated it 4 of 5 stars

I read this based on a recommendation from a friend, and found out soon after that apparently Stephen King's been talking this author up ever since this book, his first, came out in 1980. This version, published last year, is "the author's uncut, uncensored version." I guess the original publisher wasn't happy about some of the dark tones and graphic violence.

And god DAMN, it's graphic. Some of the most disturbing things I've ever read are in this book. But it's not only violent--it's also extre...more

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Feb 14, 2009 William rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: horror, bookmooch, read-in-2009

Easily one of the most brutal books I have read. I did read the version that was unbutchered by the editors. The pace was fast and easily read in a day. I do not cringe at gore and in some books I feel gore is placed just for the shock value and does not add to the pleasure of the story. I do not feel that was the case here. I feel that the brutality envisioned was necessary to explain the intense circumstances these people were placed in. The story does place doubt in my mind to whether I will...more

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Oct 21, 2010 Michelle rated it 1 of 5 stars

This is what happens when you forget your library card and you have to buy something off the 25 cent discard shelf. Having happy reminicent memories of reading Stephen King when I was 13 yrs old (and Mr. King had a glowing quote of praise on the cover of this book), I decided to take a risk and choose a horror. I can't believe this chop-'em-up, poorly written and depressing book ever made it to it's first edition, much lest an eighth! Of course, I skipped a ton of pages and read the whole thing,...more

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Nov 16, 2012 Kristopher Kelly rated it 3 of 5 stars

The legend of Sawney Bean, the mythical Scottish cannibal who fathered a clan of 48 insane children who chomped their way through a thousand corpses, relocates to rural, coastal Maine, where six New Yorkers are terrorized by some inbred lunatics over the course of a rather harrowing night.

Oh, if only they knew ... the truth is so much worse! You should see what things are like inland!

I kid. I kid my homeland.

This book was an engaging read, even if I didn't feel like I had a real solid grasp o...more The legend of Sawney Bean, the mythical Scottish cannibal who fathered a clan of 48 insane children who chomped their way through a thousand corpses, relocates to rural, coastal Maine, where six New Yorkers are terrorized by some inbred lunatics over the course of a rather harrowing night.

Oh, if only they knew ... the truth is so much worse! You should see what things are like inland!

I kid. I kid my homeland.

This book was an engaging read, even if I didn't feel like I had a real solid grasp on the characters. I continually got the cops confused (who was the young one? who the older one? their dialogue often sounded exactly the same, and they both seemed equally competent). I eventually memorized everything and got it straight, but in the beginning it was a bit of a nightmare to keep things sorted.

Also, I feel like the story itself echoes too many other things. For starters, it's based on the whole Sawney Bean stuff, which has been done a lot over the years (notably as Wes Craven's The Hills Have Eyes; I was talking about the plot of this to a friend over lunch, and she smiled and called it, The Coastal Cliffs Have Eyes, which is pretty appropriate). I do like this version much better than Wes Craven's, but the story suffers for the familiarity.

There's also a moment toward the end of the story that recalls another scene from a Wes Craven film, this time from The Last House on the Left. And a climactic moment is a nigh-on direct rip-off of a scene in George Romero's The Night of the Living Dead. I think Ketchum is aware of these grafts, but even so, once again, it saps the story of some of its luster to have so many echoes of other stories.

After reading the afterword to this revised version, I am so freaking glad I read this one and not the version that came out in 1988. I agree with the changes Ketchum made.

But all that doesn't and shouldn't take away from the simple fact that this is another Ketchum novel I couldn't stop reading. I'm looking forward to diving straight into the first of the two sequels and seeing where he takes this next (and if someone is going to end up swinging from the Hairy Tree). (less)

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Aug 24, 2012 Kelly Thurman rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: horror fans, people who don't mind lots of gore

Original review here: http://thesnarkyspinster.blogspot.com...

One quick note: The Dorchester ebook version I'm reviewing is the uncut/unexpurgated edition. This Off Season is gorier and has a different ending, which Jack Ketchum explains in an afterword.

In a sleepy, Maine town, a tribe of cannibals has preyed on victims for years. For a few minutes, I wonder why the hell no would-be victim has interrupted the flesh feast with a hunting rifle, but Ketchum switches points of view on an astonishin...more Original review here: http://thesnarkyspinster.blogspot.com...

One quick note: The Dorchester ebook version I'm reviewing is the uncut/unexpurgated edition. This Off Season is gorier and has a different ending, which Jack Ketchum explains in an afterword.

In a sleepy, Maine town, a tribe of cannibals has preyed on victims for years. For a few minutes, I wonder why the hell no would-be victim has interrupted the flesh feast with a hunting rifle, but Ketchum switches points of view on an astonishingly regular basis throughout this novel. Soon enough, I find out that the meat munching psychos aren't total idiots. They might not know how the hell to open a car's trunk, and they have exactly as much fashion sense as the homeless guy living under that train trestle in town, but they're careful to avoid victims who're likely to fight back.

When the cannibals are stalking their prey, Ketchum uses short sentences full of rough language. That sets a nice, quick pace, which is just right for the tribe because they're not deep thinkers or, for that matter, truly human—not in the philosophical sense, that is.

Using these bad guys' points of view, the writer shows a little more about their savage nature each time. They live in a filthy cave (piss, crap, lice, you name it) that's full of stuff they've scavenged from the town dump. So, really, the victims aren't dealing with humans. HOLY CRAP. THEY'RE CANNIBALS WITH HORDING DISORDERS. WHO TORTURE THEIR PREY. AND HAVE STINKY, SUBHUMAN SEX WITH EACH OTHER. Honestly, finding a single thing to like (or, at the very least, not hate, about these sub-humans is impossible, at least for me).

Three men and three women are in a rented house near the cannibal cave. (Did you ever watch "Charlie the Unicorn" on YouTube? "So just head right on up to the ca-a-nibal cave" is running through my head now. Dammit!)

Anyway, the cannibals see that the typically empty house is occupied and decide that, hey, it's time for dinner. Ketchum ratchets up the tension in just the right places, including this recon mission. Hey, one of the soon-to-be victims might have heard something. Was that a noise outside? Maybe. It was probably just a raccoon, right? Right.

Ketchum doesn't have much time (or many pages) for character development before the bad guys start their assault on the house. However, his frequent POV jumps reveal lots of interesting things about each character. Typically, the insane number of head hops would piss me off, but Ketchum makes the technique, however ill advised it normally is, work. I'm not only horrified by the creepy people eaters…I'm also familiar enough with the characters to genuinely want them to live.

Because this novel explores humanity (and the lack of it), each of the people in the house respond differently. Some are all, "Let's slaughter their asses." Others mentally and physically shut down. There are leaders and followers, quick and slow thinkers, and plenty of conflict to keep things interesting.

Overall, I like Ketchum's writing style. The man goes into graphic detail about some things—cannibal recipes, severed genitals, gunshot wounds—but this is a horror story. If I don't walk into a savages-versus-humans tale expecting lots of gross things, I haven't been paying attention.

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Jul 30, 2012 Tim Mayer rated it 4 of 5 stars

I ran across Jack Ketchum's name years ago in the way of an interview. I was a little perturbed there existed a modern horror writer with a substantial output whom I knew nothing about. It took me years to find a book by him- The Lost-but afterwards I was hooked. I managed to see most of the film versions of his books (did think The Lost for screen was a little on the weak side, but you can't have everything). I avoided the first published novel, Off-Season, because I felt the subject matter (Ba...more I ran across Jack Ketchum's name years ago in the way of an interview. I was a little perturbed there existed a modern horror writer with a substantial output whom I knew nothing about. It took me years to find a book by him- The Lost-but afterwards I was hooked. I managed to see most of the film versions of his books (did think The Lost for screen was a little on the weak side, but you can't have everything). I avoided the first published novel, Off-Season, because I felt the subject matter (Backwoods Cannibals On The Rampage) had been done death. Even by 1980 when the book was first published.

Until now.

Considered part of his "Dead River" trilogy (the other two novels being The Offspring and The Woman), this is the book which launched his career. I feel it also kicked started the whole "splatterpunk" horror phenomena which ran amok in the late 80's to early 90's. Crazed cannibal movies for the drive-in movie circuit have been around every since Jack Hill unleashed Spider Baby in 1964. But this was the first time a novel had taken the gore level to 11.

Off-season is loosely based on the legend of Sawney Bean, a 16th century legend about a clan of murders and thieves who hid-out in the caves of Scotland near Galloway. The clan also had a tendency to dine on their victims, which made for a lot of chapbooks. Unfortunately, there is little evidence to suggest they ever existed. The tales told about them still made for chilling tales along the northumberland border country.

In Ketchum's novel, the crazed cannibals are the survivors of a family who were in charge of a lighthouse off the coast of Maine. When a hurricane struck in the 19th century, one of the daughters ran off from the family, insane from lack of food. She managed to survive long enough to kidnap a child of the next family. Soon, an entire tribe of these creatures had populated the island in secret. Until "men with guns" forced them onto the mainland, where the hunting was much better.

The novel begins with a woman being chased by the cannibal children. She's made the mistake of stopping to check on an innocent girl who was crying by the road. The feral kids chase her over a cliff and into the sea.

At the same time, a group of innocent 30something New Yorkers are about to arrive at a cabin in the Maine woods, near the town of Dead River. What they don't know is the location of the cannibal tribe's hidden cave, in close proximity to the cabin. The tribe soon becomes aware of the latest opportunity and heads out on a raid.

Parrell to the action is a sheriff named Peters who's about to retire. Dead River doesn't see much activity except in tourist season. His biggest problem are Gothamites who can't understand why the plumber won't show up when summoned. But when the woman who went over the cliff at the beginning is fished out of the ocean, he starts to add isolated incidents up. She swears it was a pack of kids who chased her. The sheriff remembers a drunk rambling about a group of kids beating a dog to death down by the ocean. And there have been more disappearances around town than the population would warrant.

When the cannibals do attack the cabin, it's quick and viscous. But one man has had military training. Plus there's a pistol floating around..somewhere. The gore flies fast, but Ketchum has done all he could do to make us feel sympathy for the victims. The original book had plenty of the violence toned-down by the publisher. The unabridged version restores it.

The cannibal tribe is the reverse of all the "noble savage" stories so many of us read as kids. Imagine Tarzan butchering Jane's family and you will have some idea of the brutality of this book. It's not a novel to be read if you dislike violence in your fiction. The tribe is viscous beyond description, but Ketchum has done a little research and tried to imagine how such a group might survive. They don't even have names; the clan leader is simply refereed to as "The Man".

The ending is nihilistic. Ketchum was trying to make a point about the random senselessness of the universe, but his publishers made him put a positive spin on a few characters. The unabridged version removes the positive.

An important horror novel, but not the sort of thing to read for brightening your day.(less)

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Jul 22, 2012 Wendy rated it 1 of 5 stars

Judging from the description of the story I thought I was in for something spooky. I've never enjoyed large amounts of gore in horror films or books. I prefer suspense and haunted houses, haunted people or even monsters to buckets of blood. That is why I didn't enjoy reading, Off Season. I kept looking for the story parts that might redeem some of the depraved violence, but all I got was intense gore and truly horrendous scenes that made me feel kind of sick to my stomach. This is not a feeling...more

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Apr 18, 2012 Dracolibris rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, horror

Visceral. Gory. Gutsy. Splattered. Terrifying. Shocking.
Campers. Cannibals. Dark woods. Stormy coast.

These are the ingredients for a horror story that you may THINK sounds familiar, or even stereotypical, but taking into consideration when this book was written, it is ONLY because of this book and other ground breakers like it in film and literature that today we find ourselves thinking "Ho Hum, we've seen THAT before." But when this book came out? No, no you hadn't. Nobody had. And that is fa...more

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Feb 02, 2011 Christie rated it 3 of 5 stars

There’s no way to describe Jack Ketchum’s book, Off Season other than to call it torture porn. I was called out for this label, but I stand by it. It’s so gruesome, so over-the-top, it’s impossible to call it straight up horror.

This book caused quite a sensation way back in 1980 when it was first published. It was Ketchum’s debut novel and the editorial team at Ballantine wanted to make substantial changes to the book’s vivid (for lack of a better word) writing and pretty damn depressing denouem...more

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May 05, 2013 Rasmus Skovdal rated it 1 of 5 stars

I guess this book was supposed to be shocking, but in the end it just felt silly. Over the top, but not in a good way. There was no mystery, the language is uninspired (if I'm being kind), the characters are dull and the plot points are obvious.

This is not a scary book, nor an interesting one. It is a pointless book. There is nothing here of any worth. Unless poorly written torture of women is your thing, I guess? It's not really mine.

I'm not sure if I was meant to be disgusted, or feel shocked,...more

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Sep 24, 2012 Adam Light rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: fans of extreme horror

Recommended to Adam by: Evans Light

Shelves: horror, ketchum

So I had high expectations going when I opened this book up and began to read. I have read only one other Ketchum book entitled The Crossings. That one was a western that would have been great as a Sam Peckinpah movie. I can't believe I never got wind of Ketchum until recently, as he has been writing since the early eighties if not longer.

I'm happy I discovered Ketchum. He is a writer with no apologies regarding the extreme and often stomach turning violence within his novels. This was his first...more

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Jun 28, 2011 William M. rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: horror

Off Season is one of the most savage and brutally graphic novels I've ever read -- right up there with Edward Lee's TERATOLOGIST and Richard Laymon's IN THE DARK. This book is right up there with Ketchum's other masterpiece, THE GIRL NEXT DOOR.

I loved the slow build up and the introduction of each character. By putting them on the same playing field, I never knew who the story would follow and who our protagonist would be. This made for a more suspenseful read because I didn't know who the next...more

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Mar 02, 2012 Ryan Bradford rated it 3 of 5 stars

I picked this up after watching Lucky McGee's The Woman, based on a book by him Jack Ketchum. The movie was certainly flawed, but one of those left-field kind of movies that you have to see to believe. Very ambitious and deranged, but there was obviously more intelligence behind it than, say, a Hollywood "torture porn" (which, in itself, is a reductive phrase, but an easy point of reference).

Anyway, the movie intrigued me and I went to Ketchum's bibliography. Off Season seemed like his most cont...more

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Nov 03, 2011 Gor93ous rated it 2 of 5 stars

Almost 2.5 stars, but not quite.

I couldn’t express just how much this book disappointed me. After hearing all the raging raves about Ketchum’s first book, Off Season, I eagerly devoured the book with such an indisputable whetted appetite. I don’t hate this book; I just think it’s not a great work, either.

I really want to state this differently, but I couldn't find other words than it’s so ‘First Book’-Material, which in all truthfulness IT IS, and why of course it’s allowed to be that way. We ju...more

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Apr 25, 2011 Kenny Murphy rated it 5 of 5 stars

After watching the films "The Girl Next Door", and "Offspring", both film adaptions based on novels by Jack Ketchum, I decided to buy a couple of his books. This is horror fiction is on a totally different level than the more mainstream Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Ann Rice stuff people are used to reading. Back in 1980 when this book was first published, it was condemned for being "violent pornography", Ketchum was even forced to edit a few of the more graphic parts of the story. I recommend get...more

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Apr 17, 2013 Bryan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Ketchum does a great job with the build-up to the terror, subtly revealing aspects of character and setting that later resurface in the bloodbath that is the bulk of the novel. As mentioned by other reviewers, the violence and gore is absolutely cranked to 11 - it didn't bother me much, but I can't say that it added to my enjoyment of the novel. The afterword in which Ketchum describes the content he originally edited to smooth things over with his publishers is interesting. He mentions that his...more

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Jul 11, 2012 Keith Chawgo rated it 5 of 5 stars

Jack Ketchum's Off Season is one of those books that will stick with you due to the sear violence, character development and complete shock plot and story ending.

The story starts with a startling chase sequence involving feral children chasing and abusing a woman as she tries to rush to safety. The descriptions of the characters lifts off the page to provoke unforgettable imagery.

The main story starts off and builds to a nerve wrecking crescendo. This is where Ketchum really comes into his own....more Jack Ketchum's Off Season is one of those books that will stick with you due to the sear violence, character development and complete shock plot and story ending.

The story starts with a startling chase sequence involving feral children chasing and abusing a woman as she tries to rush to safety. The descriptions of the characters lifts off the page to provoke unforgettable imagery.

The main story starts off and builds to a nerve wrecking crescendo. This is where Ketchum really comes into his own. Once the action hits, he hits the ground running and never stops. He also does not give into convention and is able to handle the gruesome action from all three sides of the fence. The horrific nature of the story could have been told from an idealistic point of view, but Ketchum goes against the grain and successfully tells a story that is very hard to digest but still intriguing.

After finishing 'Off Season', I have to say that I am now truly haunted by what I read. It is going to haunt me for many of days to come. It raises questions about humanity and what is humane and what is down right vicious.

In short, if you like your story telling gritty with well drawn characters and able to deal with extreme violence, then I would highly recommend this book. It also provides an incredible political viewpoint about violence. When this book first came out, it was almost banned and provided the publishers with a fear of marketing which almost killed the book.

The current version currently available through Kindle and Kobo is an uncut author version which is a lot more grittier and does not cop out on the horrific ending.

The download version does include an interview with Ketchum as he breaks down 'Off Season'. It also includes a fascinating short story which is an almost prequel to 'Off Season'.

This is also the first of a trilogy. The second is 'Offspring' and the third is 'The Woman', which both have been made into critically applauded films.

Overall, not an easy read but an excellent one.
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Mar 27, 2011 William Thomas rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: horror

I am a horror movie fanatic. I love horror movies- from cinematic masterpieces like Halloween to ultra B-rate movies like Dreamaniac and Terror Firmer. It doesn't matter. I love horror.

But I'm starting to think I only really love horror when it is on my TV. I think that I only like it when I am watching it. Because lately I have been on a horror book kick (a genre I avoided mostly out of some silly snobbishness) and I just do not love any of them in the same way that I love horror movies.

And I...more I am a horror movie fanatic. I love horror movies- from cinematic masterpieces like Halloween to ultra B-rate movies like Dreamaniac and Terror Firmer. It doesn't matter. I love horror.

But I'm starting to think I only really love horror when it is on my TV. I think that I only like it when I am watching it. Because lately I have been on a horror book kick (a genre I avoided mostly out of some silly snobbishness) and I just do not love any of them in the same way that I love horror movies.

And I'm not sure why this is. I can't really put my finger on it. The last and probably only horror novel I will revere as literature and as a perfect piece of writing was Richard Matheson's I am Legend. And it was gorgeous on so many levels- personal, socio-political, allegorical, metaphysical. It wasn't just another horror novel, another genre novel, filled with gore and scare tactics. It was much more than that, raising itself up by the boot straps to a higher form of art.

But now, I just cannot seem to find another book that takes this genre as seriously. That takes it as a vehicle for metaphor and allegory and social commentary in the same way that science fiction always has and always will (ever since War of the Worlds).

I guess right there I am back to being a snob. That's not right. That came out wrong. I don't need a horror novel or genre novel to explore great ideas in order to enjoy it. I don't need to be lured into it with a personal connection either, really. But there is something missing from all these novels that I am reading in this genre that translates much better to the screen. And I don't know if it's the acting and the actors, or if it is the visuals, or the direction. But there is definitely something lacking in these novels that I cannot quite put my finger on and wish that I could.

In this, the first novel I have read by Jack Ketchum, there are all the makings of a great horror movie. A small town sheriff, 5 friends, a deserted town, crazy locals, wilderness. Sounds like the perfect set-up for some Dark Castle production or for the Weinstein's to produce without much money. The pace is set excellently. It is competent in the writing and even draws us in with emotional connections to the characters before casting them into horrific situations, just as any good horror movie would. But something here just wasn't right. Something here bugged me. And if I could tell you what it was I would. But I can't, so I won't.

Off Season, overall, was a cut above the rest of many of the novels I have been reading in the same genre. Some call it torture porn. I call it typical horror. And I think anyone who is in to horror would find it to be typical horror and not pornographic torture. Its not like its the Cannibal Holocaust of literature. But it is pretty good as far as my recent experiences go, and it took me all of a few hours to blow through it. (less)

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Feb 27, 2009 Dawn rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone who is interested in: good horror, blood n' guts, cannibal hillbillies

Plot: City folk travel to rural Maine for a relaxing weekend at a cabin in the woods. Cannibal hillbillies invade and do just what you'd imagine cannibal hillbillies would do.

More tidbits about the book: The story is told in real-time and takes place over the course of about 12 hours. WARNING: it is extremely graphic in terms of violence and gore. Jack Ketchum writes in a very minimalist style, which in my opinion adds to the frightful story. His bare bones, straightforward approach to storytel...more

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Jul 13, 2012 Kip rated it 3 of 5 stars

After reading Ketchum's The Girl Next Door, I wanted to try another one of his books. I read Off Season and it's the last Jack Ketchum book I will read. This book is brutal, violent, depressing, and pointless. The Girl Next Door at least raised some interesting discussion points about the escalation of abuse, the reticence of some to report a wrong, the bad influence of a corrupt authority figure - but I found no redeeming factors in Off Season. I felt like Ketchum was dragging me through some...more

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May 23, 2011 Slayermel rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone who enjoys gruesome horror

Shelves: 2011, 20th-century, american, fiction, horror, library, male-authors, series, suspense, thriller

This is one of the few books that I have read where I actually preferred the sequel to the original, and after reading the after word I think I understand why now. It seems the editors had some issues with the amount of violence and gore in the images that Jack Ketchum created for us and basically re-edited the majority of his story which is a real shame.

Is the book graphic, yes! However when you’re getting into a story about wild cannibalistic psychos living in caves of the coast would you exp...more

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Nov 29, 2009 Dave Moore rated it 1 of 5 stars

Reviews of anything are, by definition, mostly opinion and highly subjective. That having been said, I wonder about the artistic merit of books like this and movies like "Hostel". What do they contribute, other than to establish a nadir for their respective genres? If you're going to try to shock me, 'great'! But do it effectively within the parameters of the medium you're using, and without being so sophomoric and gratuitous. At least try to bring a modicum of talent to work your contrivances i...more

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Apr 21, 2013 Billy Wells rated it 5 of 5 stars

One of the covers of Jack Ketchum's novel Off Season claims it is “the ultimate horror novel” and after reading it, I agree. This no holds barred, take no prisoners, gruesome tale is definitely the most horrific one I've ever read. In fact, I can't think of another novel even approaching it in terms of blatant, in your face, buzzard gagging horror.

I had to laugh out loud several times as my eyes fell in disbelief at the level Ketchum went to shock me into a limp, jelly like vessel of projectile...more One of the covers of Jack Ketchum's novel Off Season claims it is “the ultimate horror novel” and after reading it, I agree. This no holds barred, take no prisoners, gruesome tale is definitely the most horrific one I've ever read. In fact, I can't think of another novel even approaching it in terms of blatant, in your face, buzzard gagging horror.

I had to laugh out loud several times as my eyes fell in disbelief at the level Ketchum went to shock me into a limp, jelly like vessel of projectile vomiting. Jack didn’t exactly scare me with the book since he left so little to the imagination, and he didn’t succeed in making me violently ill, but he did entertain me to the maximum on the horror meter.

I write scary stories myself, and I have written some pretty sick stuff, but I must admit Jack has surpassed me by leaps and bounds since I would have reservations putting such atrocities on the printed page that could lead to my being committed to an asylum.

The story is about three men and three women who meet for a weekend of rest and relaxation in a secluded cabin (much like The Evil Dead) who are attacked by a pack of subhuman, degenerate cannibals. The pack of about 20 to 30 squalid, stinking, black gummed human ghouls both male and female are half children between the ages of seven and ten, and the rest are a mixture of teenagers and adults. To add an additional disgusting detail to turn your stomach, two of the women are in the later stages of pregnancy when they are chowing down on their human flesh.

Unlike sensible members of the human race, this unhealthy clan fights tooth and nail literally to rip and tear flesh from their victims with a maniacal frenzy even with a gun as big as Dirty Harry’s pointed in their faces. They are fearlessly driven by blood lust and totally insane.

In my estimation, Ketchum ripped and ravaged, then splayed every part of the human male and female body before the readers eyes and spilled enough blood to quench the thirst of any horror fan's blood lust several times over. If you have reservations about my estimations of the bloodletting in this ghastly journey into the depths of depravity, lay your money down and become a believer.

In addition to the blood and gore, Jack Ketchum has written a well crafted story, with well-developed characters that keep you on the edge of your chair from beginning to end. The end, I might add, is particularly memorable, but I won't go into that.

If I had read this story around a campfire on a camping trip in the middle of nowhere, I would surely have torn down my tent and possibly backed into a tree in my haste to see civilization once again.

Some authors warn their book is not for the faint of heart, but with Open Season this warning has teeth. I would turn all the lights on and check all the windows and doors before sitting down for a good read with this book in hand. Also, check the fine print in your life insurance policy. Suicide caused by cardiac arrest from reading Jack's book may not be covered.

You think I'm joking, don't you?(less)

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Jan 10, 2013 Emily Stites rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I must say that this book was unlike any other book I've read for awhile. The second I started this book, all my priorities (cooking, cleaning, taking care of my boyfriend, etc) flew out the window. This book became my priority.

Now normally I am a dialogue person. I like conversations and connecting with the characters in the books I read. Page after page of details tend to bore me to tears. BUT, with this book, I found myself not really caring about the dialogue that went on between the charac...more

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