At this point, if you've followed my reviews at all, you probably know that one of my favorite sub-genres of horror is the Old Dark House. Many consider this also as the Chiller genre. Something I haven't touched on as much yet is my close second favorite sub-genre of horror. That's right, the backwoods. There is something so thrilling about the isolation and natural darkness of the wilderness. It gives a new perspective on feeling trapped. When you are in the middle of nowhere and the horror could be in the shadows behind any tree, that's when things begin to get scary. So naturally when I found this leisure horror novel entitled The Backwoods I instantly picked it up and wanted to read it. I got this little book home and popped it open . . . and was ultimately and utterly disappointing from beginning to end.
The story revolves around this little backwoods crabbing town and its strange inhabitants. The main protagonist of the story is Patricia. When her brother-in-law is killed by unusual beheading she goes to the town to attend the funeral and comfort her sister in her loss. After she arrives in the small town of her childhood, a place she loathes and fears, the place where she was raped as a teenager, the carnage begins to heighten. From that point the plot of the story becomes disjointed, poorly constructed, and completely flat.
There are a bunch of different murders throughout the book that all seem pointless. We don't know who these people are or simply could care less about them. On top of that the violence is peppered with a heavy layer of sex and rape scenes. Usually if a book or movie has a rape scene (particularly if it's graphic in any way) I'm instantly done. I close the book or turn off the T.V. and walk away. Rape is never done tactfully and is almost always degrading in the media. Until authors and writers can learn to address a sensitive topic such as rape in a realistic and constructive manner they need to simply not even try. when they do it usually ends up being a misogynistic mess instead. This book is no exception. In fact, this is the most misogynistic and depraved book I have ever read. Thank you Edward Lee.
However, I continued reading this book simply because I was somewhat interested in Patricia. She had a little bit of a flare to her and seemed to be the only decent person in the entirety of the story. I was impressed initially because she seemed to be a somewhat strong female lead. This almost never happened in the media let alone in the horror genre. However, when her story becomes more about her sexual awakening than her relationship with her sister I was done. She goes from being a mildly interesting and strong willed character to a sex object for the reader in a matter of a few chapters. It was a disappointing turn of events . I was waiting for some supernatural explanation for why this character was undergoing such a deep sexual change. Unfortunately, there never was such an explanation therefore marking every sex scene in this novel stuffing to fill the empty gaps between what little pointless story actually existed.
Obviously I dislike this novel. There was pointless sex that didn't drive the plot, violent murders that seemed to mean nothing, and flat characters and story that had no nature of good in them whatsoever. However, I think the thing that bothered me most of all about this book is that it was ultimately NOT a horror novel.
The story revolves around this little backwoods crabbing town and its strange inhabitants. The main protagonist of the story is Patricia. When her brother-in-law is killed by unusual beheading she goes to the town to attend the funeral and comfort her sister in her loss. After she arrives in the small town of her childhood, a place she loathes and fears, the place where she was raped as a teenager, the carnage begins to heighten. From that point the plot of the story becomes disjointed, poorly constructed, and completely flat.
There are a bunch of different murders throughout the book that all seem pointless. We don't know who these people are or simply could care less about them. On top of that the violence is peppered with a heavy layer of sex and rape scenes. Usually if a book or movie has a rape scene (particularly if it's graphic in any way) I'm instantly done. I close the book or turn off the T.V. and walk away. Rape is never done tactfully and is almost always degrading in the media. Until authors and writers can learn to address a sensitive topic such as rape in a realistic and constructive manner they need to simply not even try. when they do it usually ends up being a misogynistic mess instead. This book is no exception. In fact, this is the most misogynistic and depraved book I have ever read. Thank you Edward Lee.
However, I continued reading this book simply because I was somewhat interested in Patricia. She had a little bit of a flare to her and seemed to be the only decent person in the entirety of the story. I was impressed initially because she seemed to be a somewhat strong female lead. This almost never happened in the media let alone in the horror genre. However, when her story becomes more about her sexual awakening than her relationship with her sister I was done. She goes from being a mildly interesting and strong willed character to a sex object for the reader in a matter of a few chapters. It was a disappointing turn of events . I was waiting for some supernatural explanation for why this character was undergoing such a deep sexual change. Unfortunately, there never was such an explanation therefore marking every sex scene in this novel stuffing to fill the empty gaps between what little pointless story actually existed.
Obviously I dislike this novel. There was pointless sex that didn't drive the plot, violent murders that seemed to mean nothing, and flat characters and story that had no nature of good in them whatsoever. However, I think the thing that bothered me most of all about this book is that it was ultimately NOT a horror novel.
The Backwoods had no element of the horror structure to it. Yes there were brutal murders and a somewhat supernatural townspeople, but overall this was nothing more than an exploitation story with the purpose of making its reader feel utterly gross. Every character in this book was horrible and had no moral reasoning. Everyone was willing to rape and kill one another, not necessarily for gain, but just for the hell of it. So when they all end up getting slaughtered in one way or the other I didn't even care as a reader. This is not how a horror story should work. There was no feeling of dread, we didn't feel lost being alone in the woods, and there was no "monster" character that frightened and stalked us. No backwoods serial killer, no demon from the deep, just a bunch of rotten people being . . . rotten. I may have been disgusted but I was never intrigued, chilled, or frightened. This piece of misogynistic garbage is a product of our modern horror movements, similar to things like Saw, Hostile, and I Spit on Your Grave. These stories claim to be horror but are nothing more than torture porn.
Summing it Up
I hated this book. It has been the worst experience in reading I have ever had. The story was boring and flat with characters I could care less about. It was riddled with graphic rape, sex, and violence that had no purpose or driving force to the plot. I'm not a prude by any means and enjoy a decent splatter novel, but this was simply too much. I may give Edward Lee another try (You can't judge an author by one book alone.) at some point but it won't be for a long time. He's obviously a competent writer and I hope in the future he can prove it.
Deaths: The Town
Language: 5
Gore Factor: 5
Sex Factor: 5
Scare Factor: 0
Fun Factor: 0
Overall Rating: 0
Deaths: The Town
Language: 5
Gore Factor: 5
Sex Factor: 5
Scare Factor: 0
Fun Factor: 0
Overall Rating: 0
To learn more about my rating system click here.