For readers who would like to break away from the typical horror novel, The Girls of October is definitely the way to go. Written by Josh Hancock, the novel is as realistic as they come in terms of fiction. Instead of chapters, Hancock makes the story very believable by taking readers through a collection of newspaper articles, essays, stories, eyewitness accounts, police reports and even a screenplay in order to get to the bottom of the tragedy. Expect a combination of crime and horror, presented in this effective unorthodox manner.
Since the day she was born Beverly Dreger has been surrounded with mystery. An unexpected fire burnt down the ward where she was kept and her mother, Susan, wasn’t exactly a beacon of stability either. According to co-workers and nurses, Beverly’s parents were quite strange, especially her mother. She gave the impression that she was a witch. As it turns out, Susan went through a series of violent spells until she was finally locked away in a mental hospital.
But the story doesn’t end with Susan. Beverly grows up with constant reports of domestic violence inside her home and every now and then another newspaper article about a murder comes to the forefront. Beverly’s love, or rather obsession with horror films and the bogey man, sees her writing horror stories of her own and none of them have a hero that survives in the end. She ultimately becomes the focus point of a man-hunt after three college students are stabbed to death.
This has got to be one of the most interesting ways to read a crime/horror novel. Even though it’s not the first time this kind of tactic has been used, it’s not something that is seen very often. In all honesty, it brings a whole other dimension to fictional books. After the first few reports the reader will most likely start to feel like an investigator.
The author’s ability to completely switch from a formal report to a story supposedly written by an eleven year old girl is superb. However, Beverly’s stories would have sounded a little more authentic if there had been a few mistakes regarding the grammar and spelling. Nevertheless, her fictional world is dark, dreary and not something the faint at heart should read.
Readers should also note that this novel does not fall under the “easy reading” section. Jumping between all the different source material requires paying attention. More specifically, the reader constantly has to connect the dots, which might not be fun for everyone. However, really getting into the story makes this a welcome challenge.
Personally, I loved every second of reading the novel, simply because it remained interesting. Apart from the brilliant title, there is no telling what is going to come next and what it will entail. Thanks to the way Hancock approached the project I had to keep reminding myself that it wasn’t real. But even with this fictional truth in mind, the novel still left the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
Traditional readers might not have the appreciation for this non traditional style, but for those in search of something out of this world, The Girls of October is a must read.
Reviewed by Damnetha Jules
Damnetha is a staff writer, horror book and movie critic.
