- Paperback: 308 pages
- Publisher: Dorchester Publishing; Reprint edition (2 May 2011)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1428511431
- ISBN-13: 978-1428511439
- Product Dimensions: 20.3 x 13.3 x 1.9 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 630,859 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
THE AUTHOR'S UNCUT, UNCENSORED VERSION! September. A beautiful New York editor retreats to a lonely cabin on a hill in the quiet Maine beach town of Dead River-off season-awaiting her sister and friends. Nearby, a savage human family with a taste for flesh lurks in the darkening woods, watching, waiting for the moon to rise and night to fall... And before too many hours pass, five civilized, sophisticated people and one tired old country sheriff will learn just how primitive we all are beneath the surface...and that there are no limits at all to the will to survive. Also includes a bonus short story!
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
First and foremost, it must be said that Off Season is not for the feint of heart; this is a visceral, brutal, unrestrained, exceedingly realistic novel that may sicken and disgust those unprepared for such extreme horror. The cover of my copy proclaims this "The Ultimate Horror Novel." I would not go that far in my assessment, but the suggestion doesn't fall very far from the mark. Ketchum held nothing back and pulled no punches in this, his first published novel. The story is rather simple but is far from simplistic. A group of six adults (three male, three female) retreat to a remote cabin in the woods of Maine for a week of relaxation. Unbeknownst to them, a family-group of utterly primitive, sadistic quasi-humans watch, wait, and eventually attack. Among this group are a number of wild children, and it is the children that have the most significant impact on the characters as well as the reader. The battle rages for some time, and many very bad things happen as the innocent victims do everything they can think of in order to survive. I found the conclusion to be spectacular; rest assured it is not the formulaic ending we see so often in novels of this sort.
I won't attempt to describe the horrible things the depraved attackers do--imagine the worst things you can think of, then imagine how much worse the unthinkable is, then imagine children taking part in it. This really is one of the goriest, most extreme horror novels I have read, but it rises far above any charges of shock value or gore for gore's sake. It would have been a disservice to the reader had Ketchum not made the awful individuals he described behave in such a fashion; in fact, I would suggest that these characters of Ketchum's creation committed such atrocities on their own and that Ketchum the writer had no choice but to tell their story truthfully and realistically. It is this utter, unimaginable realism that really sinks its claws into you and immerses you in this nightmare landscape of Ketchum's genius. Extreme horror used gratuitously accords the author little respect in my book, but extreme horror written as honestly and dare I say respectfully as that of Off Season deserves the utmost respect that I, as an epicure in the horrible, can possibly give to an author.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
This was my first Jack Ketchum. Picked it up for two reasons. 1. I'd heard Ketchum had a similar writing style to Richard Laymon who is my all time favourite auther and 2. Who can resist an uncut, previously banned book about a family of inbred cannibals??.
I almost gave up on this book at first as it was very slow to get started (about halfway through before the actions starts and even longer before it really gets going) but it's deffinatly worth the wait. The last 100 pages or so is brilliant and you really care about whether the characters who are left die or not because they are well developed during the first half of the book.
The plot is basically a group of friends stay in a house together in the woods and are attacked by an inbred cannibalistic family living in a cave nearby.
Once it get's going, fast-paced and exciting and very gorey. Scary and places and has nasty death scenes. The only Ketchum book I've read (so far) so I dont know if it's one of his better books or one of his worse books, but I'd certainly recomend it to horror fans.
I almost gave up on this book at first as it was very slow to get started (about halfway through before the actions starts and even longer before it really gets going) but it's deffinatly worth the wait. The last 100 pages or so is brilliant and you really care about whether the characters who are left die or not because they are well developed during the first half of the book.
The plot is basically a group of friends stay in a house together in the woods and are attacked by an inbred cannibalistic family living in a cave nearby.
Once it get's going, fast-paced and exciting and very gorey. Scary and places and has nasty death scenes. The only Ketchum book I've read (so far) so I dont know if it's one of his better books or one of his worse books, but I'd certainly recomend it to horror fans.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
This is so far the best Jack Ketchum novel I've read. It is quite short but very fast paced, giving a decent build up and then exploding with violence and brutality and never letting up until the ending. Some very unpleasant scenes abound with the 'family' of cannibals gutting and eating people and is ideal for people who like this gruelling sort of horror novel. Great stuff
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Stomach churning gore fest
Originally published 30 years ago, albeit highly edited and altered for the then market, I found this to be a highly addictive read. Gory, violent, disgusting and disturbing. Read more
Published 15 months ago by sam
Off Season, the most horrific book written.
I read this book when it first came out and recently read it again. Once you've read OFF SEASON there isn't another horror book on the shelves that can even compare. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Gerry Griffiths
The Clan of the Cave
I'm not going to repeat what has been said in other positive reviews here. But taken together, 'Off Season' and its sequel 'Offspring', represent a portal to a darker time. Read more
Published on 12 Feb 2010 by Dr. Robert A. Josey
Gore-Tastic
After trying to find a book that would terrify me, I came across this one as it was recommended on a horror movie based website. Read more
Published on 27 May 2009 by KMS
Well written horror fest, that unfortunately lacks originality.
When I read the reviews for off season, I thought to myself, "man, iv gotta check this novel out." It was written nearly 3 decades ago, and boasted such opinions as; "who's the... Read more
Published on 10 Mar 2009 by Paul Greatrix
Derivative ,but well written and exciting extreme horror.
The genesis of Off Season, or rather Jack Ketchum's struggle to get the book published as he wanted it, is interesting enough to warrant re-telling here. Read more
Published on 18 Jan 2009 by russell clarke
If this is the uncensored version I'd hate to see the censored one.
This is my first review ever on Amazon, though I have been buying books here for years. I bought this book because of the reviews, and I hope no one else makes that mistake. Read more
Published on 5 Sep 2008 by Charlotte Kaas Hansen
Savagely Good!
I was looking around for some new horror writer after exhausting King, Herbert and Christopher Fowler. Got this book through Amazon and nailed it in 2 days. Read more
Published on 18 Jan 2007 by Bladder Monkey
Puts a different angle on renting that isolated holiday cottage...
Brilliant! A group of townies rent an empty cottage, not realising a large family of feral cannibals are living in a cave down the lane. Read more
Published on 11 Nov 2006 by The Owler
This is what horror books are all about.
I read this version of Offseason recently and I was very impressed. The book starts off right in the action and has an extremley gripping story. Read more
Published on 18 July 2006 by Smokey
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