Inspired by serial killer Harry Powers, "The Bluebeard of Quiet Dell," who was hung in 1932 for his murders of two widows and three children. This ...
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Dec 23, 2011
Stephen
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Harry Powell, the widow-killing antagonist of Davis Grubb's West Virginia-set Night of the Hunter, was based on the real-life serial-killer Harry F. Powers who operated from his small home, Quiet Dell, near a West Virginia hamlet where he lived with his wife Luella, posing as a "wealthy widower" in lonely-hearts columns. In 1931 it would become known in the media as the "murder farm" when the bodies of Asta Eicher, 50, a Chicago widow and her three children (Greta, 14; Harry,
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Jul 13, 2011
Kenneth
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Simply awesome novel -- should be considered a masterpiece of 20th Century American literature. Most people are familiar with the movie -- which rightly enjoys its own iconic status -- but as good as the movie is, the novel is so much more than just a piece of cheap dimestore pulp (though I love that stuff too). Davis Grubb's novel offers the reader an infamously suspenseful plot in language so beautiful that I often found myself pausing to savor it. The author's bio says Grubb studied and worke
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Feb 20, 2010
Jennifer
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Despite reading this back in 2002 when the local large library system bought it--this very copy I hold, in fact--at my request, and despite seeing the faithfully-adapted movie version at least a half-dozen times, I once again devoured this book in the space of two days, and have stayed up until 2:30AM this morning to finish it.
Whatever you think this book will be about, you are probably mistaken. It is not about any one thing. The story rockets along and one is pulled irresistibly al More...
Whatever you think this book will be about, you are probably mistaken. It is not about any one thing. The story rockets along and one is pulled irresistibly al More...
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Jan 25, 2012
Scott
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[The listings for this title are all fouled up,especially in the dates.] This book ws published five or six decades ago. I read it when in my teens and now at 71 have a desire to read it again]
A wonderfully told tale of fear that has stayed with me all of my life. Also a quite brilliant movie [ Robert Mitchum, Shelly Winters, Lilian Gish] directed by Charles Laughton; his one and only film directing stint.
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A wonderfully told tale of fear that has stayed with me all of my life. Also a quite brilliant movie [ Robert Mitchum, Shelly Winters, Lilian Gish] directed by Charles Laughton; his one and only film directing stint.
Hardcover
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Jan 29, 2012
Alan
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I doubt that there are too many who will not have seen the classic film version. I urge everyone to check out Davis Grubb's book. Beautifully written, creepy, edge of the seat stuff. Couldn't put it down even though I knew what was coming next. Grubb deserves to be more widely known if his other work comes close to matching this.
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Aug 29, 2011
Brett
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I am often reminded when I read a book written before 1990, how TAUT writing used to be. This book is no exception. At only 270(ish) pages, it's a model of economy. It will also keep you on the edge of your seat. Harry Powell is one of literature's most frightening creations. A "Preacher" with LOVE tattooed on the knuckles of one hand and HATE on the knuckles of the other, he roams the Ohio River exacting his own idea of justice on the people, especially the women, he meets. Afte
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Jun 03, 2010
Marvin
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Davis Grubb's Night of The Hunter is usually described as a classic horror-thriller. However, it is really more in the line of the dark rural tales of Flannery O'Connor and Carson McCuller. Grubb's talent is in combining the dark reality of rural America of the Great Depression with the modern suspense of a Richard Matheson. Add the fact that Grubb eschews quotation marks and you could call him a precursor to the equally dark Cormac McCarthy. Yet any discussion of this novel will always end with
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Dec 19, 2009
Rachel
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"The golden June morning quivered like water in the new leaves of the grape arbor. Pearl squatted with the doll Jenny and the doll was Willa now and the tomato stake with the rag wrapped around it: that was Mister Powell. Pearl stood them side by side against the bricks at the bottom of the arbor and sang a song because Willa and Mr. Powell were married and they had returned from the honeycomb. Now the scissors from the pantry flashed in her fingers as she cut out the green paper faces. The
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Nov 13, 2011
Traci
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This is the source of one of my absolute favorite movies. I was unaware that it was a novel or I would have read it much sooner.
A husband and father due to be executed for murder and robbery takes the location of the stolen money with him. A self styled preacher in the same cell tries to get the information from him and when he fails he goes after the man's wife and two small children.
Both book and movie have great atmosphere. Creepy and stylish. A thriller with a slash of horror.
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A husband and father due to be executed for murder and robbery takes the location of the stolen money with him. A self styled preacher in the same cell tries to get the information from him and when he fails he goes after the man's wife and two small children.
Both book and movie have great atmosphere. Creepy and stylish. A thriller with a slash of horror.
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May 20, 2009
Brian
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Surprisingly good, as I bought it on a whim and wasn't expecting much. Well written, creepy-as-hell southern gothic. Unfortunately, this edition is the only one that seems to be available - the formatting is atrocious, full of typos, and the book feels like a really cheap self-published volume. It's too bad - it was apparently a bestseller back in the 'fifties, and I'm sure the rights can't cost very much - a major publisher should buy this and put out a decent edition. This book didn't deserve
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Sep 21, 2010
Robert
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Davis Grubb, The Night of the Hunter (Prion, 1953)
It took me three or four tries to get myself immersed in The Night of the Hunter, the only book Davis Grubb wrote that is still remembered (and that because the film based on it was the only one Charles Laughton ever directed). The first few times I attempted to read the book, I'd wrestle with the first few pages, which are truly mediocre and absent of the “astonishing verbal magic” (quote attributed to the New York Times) blurbed on More...
It took me three or four tries to get myself immersed in The Night of the Hunter, the only book Davis Grubb wrote that is still remembered (and that because the film based on it was the only one Charles Laughton ever directed). The first few times I attempted to read the book, I'd wrestle with the first few pages, which are truly mediocre and absent of the “astonishing verbal magic” (quote attributed to the New York Times) blurbed on More...
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Mar 24, 2011
Edmond
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I got excoriated in the press for my adaptation of this book for an ABC TVM, supposedly desecrating Charles Laughton very lyrical mounting of this story, starring Robert Mitchum, who I frankly thought spent most of the movie vamping and chewing the scenery. Anyway, I based my adaptation on Charles Grubb's foundational '30s book, so rooted in the Depression. I preferred Grubb's "thriller" take on the story, versus Laughton clearly more poetic take.
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Nov 09, 2009
Dan
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If Mr. Grubb had purposefully set-out to write in the mode of the fairy-tale, then this book would be fine. But, unfortunately, I'm pretty sure he thought he was writing "straight-up." The end result of his intellectual romanticism on topics like the innocence of childhood, the good simplicity of rural people, and the dangers of religious hypocrisy is a refusal to write of real people with real complexities. It's condescension.
Jan 20, 2010
Peacegal
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This excellent novel features just what may be the most quietly chilling bad guy I've ever encountered in a book. I can't recommend this title highly enough.
On a side note, NOTH also contains one of my favorite quotes from a book, when Rachel Cooper opines, "It's a hard world for little things."
I usually don't recommend movies that have been inspired by books, but the 1955 classic starring Robert Mitchum is a keeper. If you enjoyed the book, be sure to rent it.
On a side note, NOTH also contains one of my favorite quotes from a book, when Rachel Cooper opines, "It's a hard world for little things."
I usually don't recommend movies that have been inspired by books, but the 1955 classic starring Robert Mitchum is a keeper. If you enjoyed the book, be sure to rent it.
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Sep 20, 2010
R. Z.
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This is one of my favorite horror stories of all time especially the movie. Robert Mitchum is incredibly scary. The movie is the only film directed by Charles Laughton, and he did a smashing job!
Yet this published print version of the book has some formatting flaws and that was disconcerting. Try a version published by someone other than Blackmask.
Yet this published print version of the book has some formatting flaws and that was disconcerting. Try a version published by someone other than Blackmask.
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Feb 26, 2011
James
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Wow! I can not say enough beautiful things about this book.
I don't know why this is not a classic in the way that To Kill a Mocking Bird is a classic. Such a compelling story with beautifully realised characters. I have seen the movie, and I was still frightened by what happened. I was also very moved at the end of the book that I was in tears.
Everyone should read this book, it is brilliant!
I don't know why this is not a classic in the way that To Kill a Mocking Bird is a classic. Such a compelling story with beautifully realised characters. I have seen the movie, and I was still frightened by what happened. I was also very moved at the end of the book that I was in tears.
Everyone should read this book, it is brilliant!
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Mar 24, 2011
Stephen King says: "Top 10 villains in books:
6. Harry Powell The preacher who hounds two children through the pages of Davis Grubb's Night of the Hunter. Has LOVE tattooed on the fingers of one hand and HATE on the fingers of the other. In the film version, Robert Mitchum gave him the face that caused a thousand nightmares."
6. Harry Powell The preacher who hounds two children through the pages of Davis Grubb's Night of the Hunter. Has LOVE tattooed on the fingers of one hand and HATE on the fingers of the other. In the film version, Robert Mitchum gave him the face that caused a thousand nightmares."
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Jun 29, 2011
Lawrence
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This author deserves to be read widely. I came to this novel because of the movie with Lillian Gish and Robert Mitchum, and I was astonished at how beautifully it is written -- a truly Faulknerian attention to landscape and a deep understanding of local culture, all within a taut and suspenseful tale.
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Feb 20, 2012
Angelique
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Interesting although the way it's written is kind of strange. Not as scary as I thought it would be (the movie is supposed to be good)but I spent the whole book hoping someone would figure out what a bad man the Preacher really was.
Dec 17, 2009
Kay
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Wow, this one will really give you the willies. Two young children are hunted down by a psychopathic killer -- who also just so happens to be a posing as a preacher. Lots of dark, warped psychology at work here, and oodles of atmosphere in evoking the small West Virginia town setting. This one will haunt you -- the psychopath is one of the most terrifying characters in literature, but equally vivid is the portrayal of ten-year-old John, one of the two children.
Of course, a famou More...
Of course, a famou More...
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Apr 21, 2011
Eileen
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This book is very well written. I wish I could learn more about the author, Davis Grubb. So far, I haven't found very much information. Highly recommend reading this book
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Jul 31, 2011
Claudia
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Takes place in Moundsville, WV. Charles Manson spent some time in the prison at Moundsville.
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Oct 15, 2011
Brian
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A suspenseful and clever plot, with characters to stick in your memory.
Jan 21, 2009
Boyd
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A good book to read to small children while camping.
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Dec 16, 2010
Jack
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Movie aticks very close to the book.
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Jan 11, 2008
Meghan
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The descriptions of characters and places in this book are so vivid, you can really picture everyone so clearly (even if you haven't seen the film, which I did first). Watching the film I didn't even know it was a book. I think this book needs a renaissance, people seem to know the film somewhat, but not the book and it's a shame.
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