What kind of demons await you tonight?For Richie, life’s constant cheap shots are adding up. When he finds something is watching him, he never dreamed that it would show him everything he ever wanted.When his son, James, comes to stay for the last month of summer, the changes in his father’s behavior come to the forefront. What is his father doing staring into the window in the middle of the … middle of the night?
Was the fiery spark in the dark real? Or is Jame’s imagination getting the best of him?
Summer’s almost over.
And life is about to change.
Will James be able to save his father? Or is it already too late?
The Window holds the answers…and the key.
The new and terrifying novel from Glenn Rolfe, author of LAND OF BONES and BECOMING
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We’re introduced to James, a teenager who has been forced to move towns to live with his mother and her boyfriend after she and his father divorce. James is less than enthused about being forced to spend the rest of his summer with the pair, instead of with his much more lenient father Richie, and the father’s girlfriend Alison. We then find out that Richie is feeling much of the same. Having been left by his wife, and then suffering the loss of his business, he decides that he’s not going to let his ex dictate the remaining time left during the summer that he could be spending with his son. We also get a bit more insight into Richie’s shortcomings with both lack of work and in the bedroom, which have led to depression and a slight drinking problem. His weaknesses are ultimately what make him the perfect target to be manipulated by demonic forces.
My favorite aspect of The Window was the adolescent friendship. James isn’t only coming home to spend time with his father, but to enjoy the remaining summer days with his two best friends and his crush. When things start to go awry, the five young teens take matters into their own hands, not at all aware of the true horrors which await them all.
I honestly had the hardest time putting this one down. I believe it took me all of two days to finish, which given my day to day life and how slow of a reader I am, speaks volumes about this book. I took an immediate liking to all of the characters (except Garrett. He can still eat shit.) and was definitely invested in the plot within the first few pages. At times I thought it to be oddly erotic, sad, hilarious, sweet; It gave me everything I’d want and more. I now find myself needing to know what’s going on with certain characters after the fact, and hoping that one day we may even get a follow up. I highly recommend The Window to anyone with eyes and the ability to read. Just be sure to avoid staring into any reflective surfaces after; you never know who, or what, may be looking back.
THE WINDOW, by Glenn Rolfe, is a novel that had virtually everything you could ask for in a horror story. There was great characterization, some “coming-of-age” themes, demonic possession, evil, torture–both mental and physical–betrayal, tests of loyalty, and an ever present feeling of fear.
Did I mention the demons?
After the initial, jolting introduction, we meet our main characters. James is a young teenager, trying to adjust to his parents’ divorce, changing feelings, and a forced move. His father, Richie, lives in a trailer with his new girlfriend–shrouded in despondency over what he feels are his own weaknesses. He doesn’t have enough work to support them, and his son was taken away from the town he grew up in, and all of his friends. Rolfe does a great job of showing us his all-too-human faults. The reader can instantly sympathize with both he and James, and feel the turmoil in each of their lives.
“. . . but need and want are not mutually exclusive, are they?”
When James gets to spend part of the summer with his father, we get a real “coming-of-age” story with his maturing, growth, and the dynamics between he and his three best friends–Carrie being the only female.
“. . . Thankfully, Eric’s brain didn’t spark with the same amount of brightness as most of their friends . . . ”
When the supernatural enters into the equation, the situation is one that the reader can readily accept, due to the prior build up of the primary characters. Not only can we believe in their actions, but we can sympathize and understand why they do what they do. This takes the story to a higher level, mentally.
“. . . wasn’t your normal problem. In fact . . . this wasn’t even close to being a normal situation.”
Overall, a unique story where even the demons have attainable goals, great characterization all around, and a coming-of-age angle that blends perfectly into the direction of the novel. Rolfe certainly shows his growth as an author with this emotional and action-packed tale.
“. . . There was no light without the darkness.”
Recommended.
Getting up to pee in the middle of the night will never be the same after reading about demons who live in the reflections of mirrors and windows.
This is a wonderful coming-of-age novel.
James’s dad Richie is battling his own demons, literally, but James and his group of friends have their work cut out for them.
Glenn Rolfe writes amazing characters, but you never know which ones are going to live to tell about it. I was on the edge of my seat during the climax, hoping everyone made it out alive!
If you’re looking for a creepy book, open The Window, but I suggest you close the curtains at night.
Thanks for the review copy, Glenn.
I loved it.
I returned it after the first few pages …. gruesome!
I got this as an ARC for an honest review.
James hates that his parents have divorced and even worse, that he’s living with his mom far away from his dad. However, he gets a chance to stay with his dad for the rest of the Summer.
But as James soon learns, is he really staying with his dad or is he staying with something that is wearing his skin?
This has a good mythology and was fluid in it’s pacing. I’m normally not a fan of Coming of Age stories but some of them get through to me…and this was one of them. Very similar to Brian Keene’s Ghoul…and I’m a big fan of Keene. Will be checking out the rest of Glenn’s work!
Definitely recommend this one!!
The Window reveals a horror haunt about demons abiding in conventional life struggling towards a longing freedom from a their own tormented solitary confinement. Chaos and mayhem find its way to the main group of characters as they discover and awaken an age old evil. Glenn Rolfe writes an interesting tale of adolescent ideology meeting life’s adversities. A new discovery awaits the reader as this novel capitalizes on the old saying, there is no light without darkness, a theory that surfaces a pragmatic violent confrontation which Rolfe handles with hardcore artistic creativity. Living in a common world of mirrors and windows are an everyday factor in conventional lively hood, however a little known folklore withholds more than than meets the eye, and this acknowledgment becomes an endangerment and detriment to all that embroil it. This book will make you think twice before you look through a window.
It’s very rare to have the opportunity to read a novel from an author, who is known in the horror world, which will firmly cement them in the annals of classic coming of age tales. This is what The Window is for Glenn Rolfe. I have read a few releases from Mr. Rolfe already and to this day, one of his short stories from Land of Bones has never left me (and still makes me cringe when I chat with my friend Simon!).
To put it simply; this is Mr. Rolfe’s IT. This is his Boy’s Life.
The Window is one of those rare releases that is essentially four books in one; the tale of some friends, separated by a move, trying to have one last summer together before they grow up and grow apart. Of course young love is in the air, which aids in the complexity of the summer. The second book within this book is the heart-wrenching display of a family torn apart by divorce, with the son James trapped in the middle. Now living with his mom and her new significant other, he longs to stay with his dad and his dad’s new significant other. It also helps that his dad lives where all of his friends live. Within that is the grief and frustration created by his dad’s continued and excessive drinking. The third aspect to the story is James struggle with his own religious beliefs. This is done fantastically and is never pushed down the reader’s throat. And the last book within the book is the harrowing possession tale, where Domineous and Sanikus try to cross back over into the real world realm.
Each of these singular aspects on their own made this book such a fantastic read, but combined it put it over the top. On their own, each aspect is easily a 5/5 and I truly wish I had more stars to give this book. The beauty of how well each part works and flows, is that you could easily lose any of the parts and the other three on their own would hold this book up.
Throughout the story, Glenn drops references to his own favourite authors, fan-zines etc. In a decade or so, we will be seeing all the references to this fantastic book, much like he did in his own story.
I can’t sing my praises enough for this book. As I said at the start, reading this story will bring a smile to your face. Not because of the hurt, the horror and the gore (which there is plenty of all three in spades) but realizing you are currently in the middle of reading one of the best books of the year and one of the best coming of age books ever written. In chapter 11, you will read a small snippet of dialogue about ordering pizza, and you will realize you are in the throes of a classic book that you are deeply involved with, and your mouth won’t be able to hold back its own smile.
Glenn Rolfe had already arrived in the horror world before The Window. Now he will take a step up into the next echelon of horror greats and it will be completely deserved off of this masterpiece.
Full review can be found in Scream Magazine but needless to say, I bloody loved this book. So good and a little bit naughty …
This is a demon possession story with plenty of creep factor and creep-out sex.
The demon possession was handled very well. Tense moments and terrifying scenes kept me turning pages.
However, the non-horror scenes dragged because there was too much happy-people-in-happy-land dialogue, and it took too long to set up supporting family and kids’ scenes.
The prose is nothing special, but it’s perfectly fine. I didn’t encounter as many typos as other reviewers. Perhaps I got a re-edited version (Kindle, June 2020).
Overall, the plot is good and the storytelling decent. Even though I didn’t absolutely love this book, I wouldn’t hesitate to read more from Rolfe. 3.5 stars.
My first possession novel. I love possession movies so I thought I’d give a novel a try. I got “The Window” on Amazon & read it thru the Kindle app. First and foremost their were typographical & punctuational errors. Although in most demon/possession movies they have that mean/evil spoken tactic where using vulgar phrases to get their point acrossed. I however didn’t find this novel should be so distasteful in letting the “demons” talk to the kids the way the did. You see those types of things happen in movies towards adults yes but to children no. Also I think there were alot of parts in the novel that was just put in there to make the novel bigger because honestly we didn’t need to know ever single detail of every single thing. “This kid opened his pop” “This kid bit into his pizza” blah blah blah… And so that’s why 3 stars for “The Window”.
Not my reading style