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Black River Orchard

A masterpiece of horror from the bestselling author of Wanderers and The Book of Accidents

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Black River Orchard

By: Chuck Wendig
Narrated by: Gabra Zackman, Brittany Pressley, Xe Sands, Sean Patrick Hopkins, Cindy Kay, Kalani Queypo
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Summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

A small town is transformed by dark magic when strange apple trees begin bearing fruit in this new masterpiece of horror from the bestselling author of Wanderers and The Book of Accidents.

It's autumn in Harrow, but something is changing in the town besides the season.

Because in that town there is an orchard, and in that orchard grows a new sort of apple: strange and beautiful, with skin so red it's nearly black.

Take a bite of one of these apples and you will you will become stronger. More vital. More yourself, you will believe. But soon your appetite for the apples and their peculiar gifts will keep growing - and become darker.

This is what happens when the townsfolk discover the secret of the orchard. Soon it seems that everyone is consumed by an obsession with the magic of the apples . . . and what's the harm, if it is making them all happier, more confident, more powerful?

But now the leaves are falling. The days grow darker. And a stranger has come to town, a stranger who knows Harrow's secrets. Because it's harvest time, and the town will soon reap what it has sown.

©2023 Chuck Wendig (P)2023 Penguin Audio

 Fantasy Fiction Genre Fiction Horror Psychological Small Town & Rural Thriller & Suspense Magic Paranormal

Critic reviews

Chuck Wendig is one of my very favorite storytellers. His stories are so rich and vivid and layered they seem to live and breathe, they have teeth and they might bite. Black River Orchard is a deep, dark, luscious tale that creeps up on you and doesn't let go. Sharp and crisp and juicy like the most obvious of fruit metaphors. This is folklore for the modern age, visceral and familiar in ways that make it all the more terrifying.
Wendig's ensemble cast and rich atmosphere of collective decay bring to life a book that makes your skin crawl. Creepy and insidious to the core, Black River Orchard whets your appetite and then turns you inside-out.
There's a soul-unraveling blight leeching across the pages of Chuck Wendig's Black River Orchard, an irresistible kind of charming decay that traps the reader in this eerie orchard and renders them completely spellbound. This will undoubtedly be heralded as one of the finest horror novels of the 21st century.
A gripping story of love and legacies gone rotten, deeply rooted in the landscape and as twisty and gnarled as an ancient apple tree. Be careful what you wish for: I devoured it down to the core.
Myth and magic, history and folklore, trauma, and temptation, it's all tangled together here and watered deeply with blood. Wendig has pulled off a fresh and unexpected horror feat, expertly drawing from the ancient, endless wells of our greatest fears.
An epic saga that is at once propulsive horror novel and parable, thriller and cautionary tale, Black River Orchard is the immensely talented Chuck Wendig at his finest. Like the dark, red apples at the heart of this beautifully told, character rich, and utterly engrossing story, you'll take one bite and won't be able to stop yourself from devouring the rest.
The horror of Black River Orchard is the existence of an insidious, dormant catalyst for evil that exists inside of us. All that has to happen is for humankind to discover that one thing that will universally divide us all. Wendig's wheelhouse is knowing exactly how to pluck heartstrings and prey on fears at the same time; high stakes horror meets peak emotional investment means Total. Reader. Devastation.
Enchanting, exquisite and dark, Chuck Wendig masterfully weaves a new horrifying fairy tale in Black River Orchard.
An essential for horror readers-and buy it for new horror readers-it will convert them instantly. A well-written, compelling read.
All stars
Most relevant
I’ve been sitting mulling over what to write for this review. I really don’t know how to aptly communicate its complexities but also it’s fun. It has so many great horror story elements, I think there is something for everyone. It addresses many current issues but not in a dry or boringly in-depth way. It is done through wonderful characters. Each so diverse. The plot builds tantalisingly and then all Hell is let loose, a version of Hell on Earth that horrified me. There was interesting information on geography, history and botany. All fascinating. This was very well written and the narration on this audiobook was perfect. I’m off to see if I can find myself a non-supermarket apple and enjoy it, if I dare!

What a read!! Loved it

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Best and most immersive audiobook I’ve listened to in a long time. I’m gutted that it’s over and I’ll never look at an apple in the same way again. Brilliantly performed, impressively plotted-sheer storytelling gold from start to finish.

Bravo!

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Loved this book. It has depth of place and characters plus intriguing details about apples and native and colonial history. John Compass in particular is a great creation. Some gruesome scenes and ideas haunt the plot and memory, satisfying in a horror-story appropriate way. I’ve followed Wendig for years but will be tuning back in now to all the titles I’ve missed.

Superb, intriguing shocker with depth

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I enjoyed the amount of detail that went into this much better than a basic horror story.

Well developed story.

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Who knew that 613 pages about apples could be so intoxicating!? Chuck Wendig’s Black River Orchard is a ride. Small town horror, folklore, body-horror, and cultism are pressed to produce a remarkably tactile read that both frightens and enthrals.

Black River Orchard takes its sweet (and sour) time to bring the town and its people to life, before tearing those lives apart in spectacular fashion. To quote Neil McRobert of the fantastic Talking Scared podcast “think the fabricated faux-history of John Langan’s The Fisherman, mixed with the paranoia of Invasion of the Body Snatchers,all finished off with a hint of The Tommyknockers’ mad self-improvement fixation.” He’s spot on. As is this novel. Delicious!

“Friends are a light in dark times, Emily. We try to be brighter together so that the darkness doesn't take us alone.”

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