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Harvest Home
by
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
For Ned ...more
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Hardcover, 401 pages
Published
May 12th 1973
by Knopf
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Deb Pauley
Hell hath no fury....
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Start your review of Harvest Home

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

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
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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
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Oct 19, 2013
Carol
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Carol by:
Susan Woodson
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
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
I'm surprised Tom Tryon isn't a ...more

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

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

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

"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
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

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
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

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
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

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. :)
Re-read 9/2016; rating 5 stars. :) ...more
Re-read 11/2014; rating stands at 5 stars. :)
Re-read 9/2016; rating 5 stars. :) ...more

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 ...more
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 ...more

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

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
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

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

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

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

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

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

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
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

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

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

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

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

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,

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

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

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