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Harvest Home

Thomas Tryon

3.86 · Rating details · 7,266 ratings · 708 reviews

It was almost as if time had not touched the village of Cornwall Coombe. The quiet, peaceful place was straight out of a bygone era, with well-cared-for Colonial houses, a white-steepled church fronting a broad Common. Ned and Beth Constantine chanced upon the hamlet and immediately fell in love with it. This was exactly the haven they dream of. Or so they thought.

For Ned ...more

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Hardcover, 401 pages

Published May 12th 1973 by Knopf

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· 7,266 ratings · 708 reviews

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Oct 13, 2013 Jeffrey Keeten rated it it was amazing

Shelves: horror

”Again I heard the cry, and I approached, circling the tree until I was looking at it from the opposite side. From gnarled roots to blasted top, the large trunk was split open, a dark wound where a bolt of lightning had rent it apart and fire had burned its center out, leaving it hollow. A mesh of thick vines grew upward from the base, crawling along the withered trunk, sutures trying to close the gaping wound where the sides lay back like flaps of charred flesh. The wind streamed through the ga ...more

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Dec 20, 2013 Char rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 70s-horror, evil-in-a-small-town, favorites, quiet-horror

This book was incredible! It was beautifully written and paced. The story successfully blends mankind's (or perhaps womankind's ) oldest themes with small town New England life- in the most creepy atmosphere possible. A slow burning tale involving a move from the city to a simple country life ruled by the land. These characters, the locals, were multi-layered and fascinating.

This is an example of why horror literature (that's right, I called it literature!), became so popular in America in the ...more

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Jun 03, 2017 mark monday rated it really liked it

Shelves: inquiétude, horror-60s-70s-80s

Harvest Home is an immersive experience above all things. A small family moves to the small village of Cornwall Coombe; strange things eventually occur. Eventually. Although marketed and designed as a slow-burning horror novel, the pleasures I took from this book were almost totally unconnected to the horror. When the horror comes - after hundreds of pages - it is wrenching and brutal. But before that, Tryon really gets inside this village, inside of its people and traditions and all of the inte Harvest Home is an immersive experience above all things. A small family moves to the small village of Cornwall Coombe; strange things eventually occur. Eventually. Although marketed and designed as a slow-burning horror novel, the pleasures I took from this book were almost totally unconnected to the horror. When the horror comes - after hundreds of pages - it is wrenching and brutal. But before that, Tryon really gets inside this village, inside of its people and traditions and all of the interactions and day-to-day minutia of life in this cozily endearing, intriguing, eventually very real place. His writing style is decidedly literary, and so resists the standard mechanics of many horror narratives. Expect contemplation and rumination, lovely descriptions of nature, characterization that has surprising depth, and many admirable turns of phrase. Interesting mysteries rather than night terrors. His prose is more than technically proficient; it is genuinely impressive, particularly its lyrical qualities. I lived in this village alongside Harvest Home's narrator, and much like him, I was at first fascinated and then came to love the experience. And then, like him, I became slowly agitated and finally, horrified. (And also thrilled, but hey I'm not the narrator.)

Here's an excerpt from an entertaining review that describes the horror and the style perfectly (click on the link to get to the full review):

...while there’s plenty of gasping and breast-clutching over nature’s beauty, it feels less jarring in a book that’s all about nature’s beauty being a dangerous deception. It takes a while, but by the time nature starts to show its teeth, Cornwall Coombe is such a quaint idyllic paradise that you’re in as deep a denial as the characters. Surely it can’t be as bad as all that? Let’s all just take a breath and be reasonable. Please?

Who is Thomas Tryon?

photo Diana_Dors_and_Tom_Tryon_in_The_Unholy_Wife_trailer_zps2vd40upn.jpg

A Hollywood actor cast as a stalwart leading man type, sort of a faintly cheesier version of John Gavin or a more stiff and saturnine Rock Hudson. He never achieved the popularity his handlers clearly intended for him, and so turned to writing instead. For that, I'm glad! Although I did enjoy his histrionics in Otto Preminger's The Cardinal. Angsty Hollywood hunks trying to be very, very serious are always entertaining and I have pleasant memories of a scene where he's whipped just cause he's trying to do the right thing. Poor Cardinal!

photo The_Cardinal-254261462-large_zpsjmsjwwce.jpg

...more

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Oct 22, 2017 J.K. Grice rated it it was amazing

Shelves: horror

A small agrarian town in New England was the setting for my second novel by Thomas Tryon. The citizens of Cornwall Coombe plant corn, but also worship the planting and harvest times, as did the ancients in the time of the goddess Demeter. HARVEST HOME is set in 1970, and even though there are cars and televisions in the village, you might imagine that you have been transported back to the 19th century. Farming without tractors and folks traveling by horse and buggy are still commonplace in Cornw ...more

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Oct 19, 2013 Carol rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommended to Carol by: Susan Woodson

Shelves: classics, horror, read-2014, buddy-read-susan

While rehabbing his "new" three hundred year old house and adjusting to country life from The Big Apple, Ned feels there is something not quite right in the small town of Cornwall Coombe and is determined to get to the bottom of it......at all costs!

Together with mysterious deaths and the screaming skull apparition in the cornfield, Ned begins to question his own sanity as well as the Old Widow Fortune's medicinal elixirs. When the whole town turns against him and his modern ways, he unfortunate

...more

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Feb 13, 2011 Stephanie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: sicksicksick, mycuppa, scaredthebejeezusouttame, roughstuff

I wasn't sure if I'd be able to write this review, because after I finished Harvest Home, I curled into a fetal position and stayed there for three days. Ordinarily, I would have welcomed the chance to rest, but there is no rest for readers of this book. Just delicious, unrelenting insomnia. I don't scare easily, but when I do, it's thrilling. There's no cure for 21st century malaise like sheer terror. And Harvest Home is terrifying in its tone, imagery, and plot.

I'm surprised Tom Tryon isn't a ...more

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Jul 22, 2012 Bracken rated it liked it · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I'd give it three and a half stars if I could. The book is very good and has a timelessness that I don't often find in novels as old as this one (1973), but ultimately it suffers from two problems that prevent me from giving it four or five stars. First, it just takes too long to get to the real meat of the narrative. The narrator doesn't begin to suspect the town is more sinister than it appears until almost three quarters of the book (300 pages) have passed. Tryon's prose is engaging, but his I'd give it three and a half stars if I could. The book is very good and has a timelessness that I don't often find in novels as old as this one (1973), but ultimately it suffers from two problems that prevent me from giving it four or five stars. First, it just takes too long to get to the real meat of the narrative. The narrator doesn't begin to suspect the town is more sinister than it appears until almost three quarters of the book (300 pages) have passed. Tryon's prose is engaging, but his pacing isn't as good as his description. Second, the narrator does some very weird things toward the end that both seem contrary to his character and considerably reduce the reader's sympathy for him. [MAJOR SPOILERS] I can't say that if I'd just uncovered a twenty-year-old plot to murder a girl and fake her suicide, my first reaction would be to go skinny dipping and then violently rape* the woman trying to ruin my marriage. Perhaps the knowledge of the murder deranged him, but they both seem like strange choices to make when what he really ought to be doing is convincing his wife and daughter to help him pack the car.

EDIT: I should add that there is one other big character issue that is frustrating me a little. To me, the real source of threat throughout the entire story is the danger to young people--especially girls--represented by A) what really happened to Grace Everdeen and B) the presence and well-established frailty of Ned's daughter. It seems completely out of character, given his concern for Kate at the beginning of the book, that Ned is not more concerned about her well-being in the middle and at the end. Instead of trying to locate and extricate his daughter from the danger represented by the upcoming Harvet Home ritual (he does this in a shallow way during the dance scene, but it is never more urgently revisited as things go from bad to worse), he seems more interested in simply understanding the secret ritual being kept from him.

Ultimately, the end works well and it is clear how many modern horror writers and film makers Tryon has inspired with this book. I really enjoyed it, but it's not without its warts.

*Also, the character's internal monologue during the rape where he imagines killing his (willing) victim with his dick was perfectly ridiculous. ...more

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Oct 22, 2014 11811 (Eleven) rated it did not like it

Dude has some talent as a writer but dear god this was a slow moving story. I had to DNF halfway through. If it were any slower I could have accidentally traveled back in time. I can't risk that right now. ...more

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Oct 30, 2014 Kimberly rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: classics

This book remains one of the most unsettling ones I've read, due to the way the 'horror" creeps up on you. When you consider the year this book was written, it shows that Tryon really captured something unique for his time.

Re-read 11/2014; rating stands at 5 stars. :) ...more

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Oct 31, 2020 Melki rated it really liked it

Shelves: small-towns-are-evil, horror

"When you hear that bell, you make sure you're to home." He touched his fingers to my arm. "And son," he added, almost an afterthought, "make sure you stay there."

Well . . . he can't say he wasn't warned!

For a while there, things seem pretty idyllic when a new family moves to a quaint little New England town that time seems to have forgotten.

" . . . there's a sort of timelessness about Cornwall Coombe that often strikes outsiders - or even newcomers - as unusual."

Despite the fact that it is 19 ...more

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Oct 07, 2016 Poonam rated it liked it

Shelves: mystery-thriller-suspense, horror, group-reads

This is my Book Of the Month- September 2016 with GR group- Horror Aficionados

A very reluctant 3 stars as I can say I did like it, kind of.....

There were many times while reading this when I felt I just don't want to go on but I had heard that there is a great twist at the end which is worth reading.

So was this worth reading? Well, the ending is definitely weird and had me creeped out. Even when I finished this and few days had passed by, thinking about the ending and what all happened made me ...more

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Sep 22, 2016 Tom Mathews rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-before-2010, video-adaptation, read-in-2016, horror

I first read this about forty years ago and really loved it. I have long wanted to reread it to see if it could withstand the test of time of if my memory was playing tricks on me. Fortunately, the GR Horror Aficionados group chose it as their selection for September. It was an excellent way to usher in autumn.

Ned and Beth Constantine decide to quit the rat race and retire to the country but have trouble finding just the right place for them until they stumble upon Cornwall Coombe, a picturesqu ...more

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Sep 09, 2016 Kimberly rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: psychological-horror, group-read, re-read

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Sep 25, 2016 Obsidian rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: horror-2016, halloween-bingo-2016

Please note that I gave this book 4.5 stars and rounded it up to 5 stars on Goodreads.

I read this for Halloween Bingo 2016 and for September's group read for the Horror Aficionados on Goodreads as well as for the Fall Fear Challenge.

Taking place in the early 1970s, a couple (Ned and Beth Constantine) and their young daughter (Kate) move to the small village of Cornwall Coombe in New England.

Told in the first person by Ned, we have him at first charmed and then dismayed by the village of Cornwa Please note that I gave this book 4.5 stars and rounded it up to 5 stars on Goodreads.

I read this for Halloween Bingo 2016 and for September's group read for the Horror Aficionados on Goodreads as well as for the Fall Fear Challenge.

Taking place in the early 1970s, a couple (Ned and Beth Constantine) and their young daughter (Kate) move to the small village of Cornwall Coombe in New England.

Told in the first person by Ned, we have him at first charmed and then dismayed by the village of Cornwall Coombe. Ned starts to ask questions about people who have come before, what in the world happened to a young girl that made her kill herself, and why is Harvest Home (a celebration that occurs) so essential to the village.

Ned is an aspiring painter, and his artistic bent is seen as setting him apart and a little above from the village full of farmers and farmers wives. However, after a while, Ned is seen as being a busy body who wants to meddle in things best left alone.

I did love the character of Ned, though after a while even I was like, dude, come on, stop. He kept pushing and pushing and digging into things because in his mind, even though he was a new comer, he saw the village and inhabitants as backwards except for a few friends he made (the Widow, his next door neighbors, and a young man who helps him out around his new home) and I think in his mind, if he could pry the mystery off of the village, then things would be better. That he could make the village more align with what he wanted for it. Ned gets spooked early on in the book by a young girl that the village claims can see into the future and from then on he seems to be running from a fate that he ends up bringing about.

What made me laugh, and ultimately what made the ending so satisfying, is that Ned really didn't think things through. He seemed to think that people didn't know what was going on and why. And though he was a man and was used to being in charge and decisive, it made him uncomfortable to see his wife and daughter growing apart from him, and women being in charge of this village.

I was fascinated by so many characters, and could have read about this village for hours. To see how Tyron tied a village in America, back to England, and even then back to something else I thought was pretty smart.

The writing was top notch throughout. The main reason why I didn't give this five stars though is that the book starts off slow (I mean really slow) and it takes a good long while before things start going. I think most readers would not even see this as a horror book at first because you start to feel after a while you are just reading about the day to day happenings in a small New England village and that's for a good 80 percent of the book before things take a turn.

The setting of Cornwall Coombe was perfectly done. I like how Tyron showed a town that was content to stay in the past and not change and how he throughout the story showed that change was going to come one way or another (he brings up a nearby commune, more and more young people wanting to move to New York and get away, one of the younger people in the village buying a tractor) to the village, and now my mind wonders about this fictional town and did it survive after the conclusion to the story. Could they go on with what they were doing or would they eventually have to move on from the old ways.

The ending answered so many questions and you know realize why one man in the town was reluctant to do much to help Ned. It would have been great to read a sequel and see how the town had gone on 7 years from the ending of this novel.

I can definitely see why it is a horror classic, and I really did enjoy this one a lot. ...more

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Oct 28, 2014 Grady Hendrix rated it really liked it

It’s hard to understand why Tryon’s second book still isn’t in print today. Harvest Home was his only other horror novel besides The Other, and it’s a doozy. Set in a sleepy Connecticut village, it kicks off with artist Ned, his wife, and their daughter ditching dirty old New York City for the rural paradise of Cornwall Coombe, which appears to be the town that time forgot. In a trope that readers will by now be all-too-familiar with, it turns out that the town takes its corn harvest a little to ...more

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Oct 23, 2009 Mike (the Paladin) rated it it was ok

Shelves: horror

I'll give this 2 stars as it is very well written but I (only) give it 2 stars as I don't care for this type of book. If you want a creeping belly drop horror with no redeeming qualities or anything uplifting in the ending to relieve the stress, only one that leaves the horror intact...this is your book.

It's not mine.

I read this at a time of what might be called "undue stress" anyway and it effected me very badly. I've got to say that due to the combination of the book's story and the situation ...more

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Oct 13, 2016 El rated it really liked it

Shelves: horror, 20th-centurylit-late

About 10 years ago, we were driving to a small town in western PA to visit a friend's brother's glass-blowing studio. At some point we made a wrong turn and wound up on a rather neat looking street with perfectly mowed lawns, historic houses with large, comfortable-appearing front porches, and even an occasional picket fence or so. While beautiful and charming, it struck me that this was the sort of neighborhood that was its own community, and that they may not be so friendly towards outsiders. ...more

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Oct 15, 2018 Craig rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Tryon's The Other and Harvest Home are two high-water-marks of twentieth century horror before Stephen King and after Psycho. Highly recommended... perfect reading for a cool, dark night! ...more

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Aug 07, 2013 Addy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: books-i-own-paperback

Man this book was awesome. It had that magical feel in the beginning that was just beautiful and mysterious. Though slow with the scares, when it finally came it hit you like a ton of bricks! The mystery of Grace Everdeen had me guessing throughout and the ending is sure to blow your mind, even though it was predictable. Thomas Tryon was a great treasure to find within the horror genre. I continue to be entertained with his books and I certainly won't look at corn the same way nor will I envy si ...more

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Jun 27, 2007 Andrea Petrullo rated it it was ok

Shelves: summer-books

I was pretty dissapointed with Harvest Home. It wasn't bad, but I had hoped for better. I read it because I'd heard the original Wicker Man movie was loosley based on it. The story itself moved pretty slowly, which I can deal with, but Tryon's long tangents about painting and scenery had me bored to tears, and I found myself skipping over paragraphs at a time. Beyone that, the main character was really dumb. It really bothered me. The scene towards the end where he witnesses the secret ritual in ...more

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Aug 29, 2018 Victor *True Unagi Master* rated it really liked it

Shelves: mystery, horror

I already want to re-read this it was that good. I developed a migraine, put the book down and didn't pick it back up for 7 days. So a re-read is definitely in order.

This creepy story has me seriously reconsidering my move to a small town :O ...more

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Dec 06, 2011 Sheila rated it it was amazing

Shelves: read-in-2018, vintage-horror, the-old-ways

5 stars--yes! Ahh! Incredible! Trigger warnings for sexual violence and a slight dash of misogyny (a product of the time it was written, likely).

My favorite genre--small-town villagers doing spooky, culty things. This is a mild and slow-paced horror novel--there's not a lot of scary stuff at first--but the ending is utterly perfect and terrifying.

This book is basically a novelization of The Golden Bough, which I love. If you like folk horror, such as The Wicker Man or Children of the Corn, you'l ...more

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Sep 29, 2016 Rachel Bea rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: horror-i-read-in-2016, favorite-books-of-2016, fall-into-reading, books-of-2016, wishlist, folk-horror, horror

WOW at this book. it did not let me down. I'll write more later (on my phone at the moment.) ...more

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May 24, 2010 Jen rated it did not like it

Can I give this book negative stars? My mom gave me book to read, she read it forty years ago and remembered loving it. Upon rereading we both agreed that it was very sad (and shocking) that it was ever a best seller. Page upon page of useless detail chronicling the passage of time that did not need to be chronicled. Ned, the main character, was a narcissist (not intentionally), none of the teenagers acted anything like teenagers, especially Ned's daughter. At first I chalked up the sexism in th ...more

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Jun 09, 2012 Steve rated it it was amazing

Alright all you nay-Sayers and "can I give this negative star" idiots...Put yourself in the shoes of readers 40 years ago. This was what city-folk were doing in droves back then...they were tired of the hustle and bustle and wanted to experience "country living" so they moved out to, what we now call, the suburbs. Eventually there were so many city folk moving to the country that the characters in this book died or assimilated. This was an excellent portrait of country folk beating back ( and ...more

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Nov 06, 2019 Helen rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Ugh, I tried, I really did. I was supposed to like this; it sounded like just my cup of tea. And so many glowing reviews! But damn, it wasn't just slow-burn, the embers were barely lit. I'm all for a gradual build-up of unease and dread, but I about half-way in I decided I didn't care if every single character dropped dead. So I read the synopsis and decided the pay-off wasn't worth it. Sure, the writing is pretty good and there are one or two tasty turns of phrase in there, but what's the point ...more

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Oct 02, 2017 Marian rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I still might change this to a 5 star.This is one of the best books I have read and its all because of a recommendation by my Friend Skye..Thank you Dear Lady:)Tryon seduces readers into a sense of contentment, then slaps them in the face with unspeakable horror. As we readers, along with the main character, slowly unravel a mystery, we become totally immersed in this page-turner written in 1973,

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Oct 28, 2017 Cphe rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2017, obsession, horror, mystery, rural

Well written although it took quite a while to get into the story itself. Artist Ned Constantine his wife and daughter settle in the picturesque village of Cornwall Coombe. Unfortunately appearances are deceptive and life in Cornwall Coombe proves to be anything but idyllic.

Didn't feel this was quite up to the standard of The Other also written by Tryon. ...more

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Mar 27, 2020 Paquita Maria Sanchez marked it as to-read

Shelves: literature

My first attempt at finding a literary equivalent to Midsommar, a movie I freaking loved. I do love freak folk and horror, so why wouldn't I love freaky folk horror? I am taking film, television, and book recommendations, by the way, ya freak! ...more

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Apr 18, 2017 Randolph rated it really liked it

Shelves: horror, fiction, owned, ghost

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

flag 8 likes · Like · see review

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topics	posts	views	last activity
Folk Horror Revival: Harvest Home by Thomas Tryon	6	129	Jan 26, 2020 05:00PM
What's the Name o...: SOLVED. Horror. Couple moves to pastoral New England village but the villagers are strange. [s]	3	47	Oct 22, 2019 11:34AM
Reddit RVA Book Club: Harvest Home - horror and corn	3	8	Nov 01, 2016 07:02AM
Horror Aficionados : September 2016 Group Read winner - Harvest Home by Thomas Tryon	55	146	Sep 29, 2016 06:17PM
2015 Reading Chal...: Harvest Home by Thomas Tryon	1	5	May 26, 2015 04:24PM
Horror Aficionados : Harvest Home by Thomas Tryon (spoilers)	126	169	Jan 19, 2015 12:15PM

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About Thomas Tryon

Thomas Tryon

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It was Noel Coward’s partner, Gertrude Lawrence, who encouraged Tom to try acting. He made his Broadway debut in 1952 in the chorus of the musical Wish You Were Here. He also worked in television at the time, but as a production assistant. In 1955, he moved to California to try his hand at the movies, and the next year made his film debut in The Scarlet Hour (1956). Tom was cast in the title role ...more