“The finest writer of paperback originals in America.” – Stephen King “Surely one of the most terrifying novels ever written.” – Poppy Z. Brite “Beyond any trace of doubt, one of the best writers of horror in this or any other country.” – Peter Straub “Readers of weak constitution should beware!” – Publishers Weekly “McDowell has a flair for the gruesome.” – Washington Post After a bizarre and … gruesome.” – Washington Post
After a bizarre and disturbing incident at the funeral of matriarch Marian Savage, the McCray and Savage families look forward to a restful and relaxing summer at Beldame, on Alabama’s Gulf Coast, where three Victorian houses loom over the shimmering beach. Two of the houses are habitable, while the third is slowly and mysteriously being buried beneath an enormous dune of blindingly white sand. But though long uninhabited, the third house is not empty. Inside, something deadly lies in wait. Something that has terrified Dauphin Savage and Luker McCray since they were boys and which still haunts their nightmares. Something horrific that may be responsible for several terrible and unexplained deaths years earlier – and is now ready to kill again …
A haunted house story unlike any other, Michael McDowell’s The Elementals (1981) was one of the finest novels to come out of the horror publishing explosion of the 1970s and ’80s. Though best known for his screenplays for Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice and The Nightmare Before Christmas, McDowell is now being rediscovered as one of the best modern horror writers and a master of Southern Gothic literature. This edition of McDowell’s masterpiece of terror features a new introduction by award-winning horror author Michael Rowe. Seven other horror classics by Michael McDowell are available from Valancourt Books.
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Michael McDowell is an underrated horror novelist who went on to write the Beetlejuice and Nightmare Before Christmas screenplays. This book is an interesting twist on a gothic haunted mansion novel, set on the mercilessly sunny and hot beaches of the Alabama Gulf coast. I promise no spoilers, so let’s just say McDowell’s great talent is making monsters that are truly unique and haven’t appeared in this form in any other work of fiction. My first love will always be his haunting family saga Blackwater, but this one is definitely worth a read. It’s also short and quick.
Whoa! This book takes no prisoners. I’ll tell you before you start reading, some of the characters that you like, aren’t going to make it. And, when it is over, you’re going to wonder, now what? I read Blackwater, the Complete Series before reading this one. It was scary too. Looking for more by McDowell.
90% southern family drama
10% horror
Michael McDowell is the voice of an age and I can’t thank Valancourt enough!
That said I did not appreciate the ending.
*My review is for the audiobook format*
I listen to a lot of audiobooks, so I’ve heard a lot of stories. “The Elementals” is, without doubt, one of my most favorite of all time. I felt like I was in the room with those characters, baking in the same heat of an Alabama summer, seeing the same sights, and feeling the same fear. It’s hard to find stories like this these days, which is why I’m so glad I picked this up more or less on a whim. McDowell’s storytelling is nothing short of out of this world. Its characters are so real you can paint pictures of them in your mind. R.C. Bray remains a master narrator, and he does this story every justice it so beautifully deserves. I’ll listen to anything he’s a part of. His performance of “The Elementals” was just stellar. If you’re a fan of the likes of Stephen King, then you’ll probably find a lot to love here, just like I did. Two thumbs way up!
A great book for the month of October from a horror master.
A good ‘hot summer night’ read. If you’re looking for something to creep you out as you sweat your way through another hot summer night, this is the book. McDowell’s dialogue and characters are fantastic, they suck you in from page one.
The Elementals
By: Michael McDowell
Narrated by: R.C. Bray
This is an excellent book for the horror fan that likes the paranormal variety. This is about a couple of families that have grown up together in the south. One moved away to New York but everyone is back for a funeral. The characters are all so fleshed out so well! I could picture someone like each one of them. There are three large homes, one is called The Third House and no one goes into it, ever. The book then reveals why. Very exciting from page one!
It has. R.C. Bray narrating which he is the boss! Excellent!!!
A very nearly perfect haunted house book.
I can’t really say anything other than that I loved this book. The undercurrents are weird, very weird, but I think they come to a justified end, something like, “You’re in charge of your own bad history now.” But, then again, because meaning is never clear or obvious in this book, maybe not.
Anyhow, I loved this book. Recommend for gothic fans (Southern or otherwise), haunted house fans, and horror fans in general.
This book was a total pleasure, from start to finish. To enhance that pleasure, I read it with a group of horror lovers over at Goodreads and we had a ball!
Written back in the 80’s a lot of my fellow book loving friends have recommended THE ELEMENTALS to me over the last few years. Problem was it was out of print and I couldn’t even find 1 copy of anything he’s written in the various used book stores in which I shop. Then, Valancourt Books came to the rescue! Valancourt is dedicated to bringing back some of these out of print books and it’s impossible for me to say how on board with that I am.
Anyway, this book ROCKED. A southern family vacations at their family’s spit of land in southern Alabama, which they call Beldame. There are three houses, but only two families. Something is wrong with that third house and they all feel it.
The characters are crazy and memorable. Big Barbara-southern matriarch and drunk. India-a young girl from NYC trying to reconcile herself to a beach home in the south. Her father, Luker, with whom she has a very strange relationship. These are just a few of the fascinating characters that Mr. McDowell brings alive. He also brings Beldame alive with his descriptions of life on the gulf, the sweltering heat, the shifting dunes. I felt like I was there.
Another thing that I, (and a few others reading the book with me), enjoyed was the way the author would write a smooth paragraph where everything is cool and then WHAM: one chilling sentence that rocked the world of the reader. Over and over this technique was employed and I loved it. I truly loved it.
That’s all I’m going to say about the plot. This book comes with an intro from Michael Rowe, author of the most excellent book, Enter, Night. I avoided reading the intro until I had finished the book, because sometimes the intro gives a lot away. There is also a small section about the author in which I discovered that Michael McDowell helped to write the screenplay for Beetlejuice. That didn’t surprise me because the characters in this book came alive to me just like the characters in Beetlejuice did.
This is a most excellent example of atmospheric, literary 80’s horror and I cannot recommend it enough. I originally gave this 4 stars, but after thinking about it overnight, I cannot think of one thing that the author could have done better. So five stars it is for THE ELEMENTALS. Read it!
I was pointed to this book as an example of good ‘atmospheric horror’ (low gore/body count) and I’d have to say that I agree with the label. To start, the writing was excellent and I was just as interested in the side story of family drama as I was the supernatural events happening to them. Very interesting characters personalities made it easy to identify with individuals, but I struggled the entire time having no physical description of anyone. The scenes that were supposed to be scary could benefit with more, IMO, and the escape was a bit too easy for my taste, but a good story overall.