Synopses & Reviews
As children, they played the Dark Game...
When Nemo Raglan's father is murdered in one of the most vicious killings of recent years, Nemo must return to the New England island he thought he had escaped for good, Burnley Island...and the shadowy farmhouse called Hawthorn. But this murder was no crime of human ferocity. What butchered Nemo's father may in fact be something far more terrifying something Nemo and his younger brother, Bruno, and sister, Brooke, have known since childhood.
There are secrets buried on Burnley Island.
Within the rooms of Hawthorn, beautiful Brooke Raglan has begun to go mad. She sees faces at the windows and wanders the night, trying to find what she believes is a monster.
Bruno Raglan has wiped the memory of a terrible event from his mind. Now he compulsively picks apart Hawthorn and discovers that within its walls lies a forbidden secret.
As he unravels the mysteries of his past and a terrible night of his childhood, Nemo witnesses something unimaginable...and sees the true face of evil...while Burnley Island comes to know the unspeakable horror that grows in the darkness.
Here comes a candle to light you to bed...
And here comes a chopper to chop off your head.
Review
"[P]sychologically astute and genuinely shivery....Suspenseful and relentlessly spooky, told in economical prose yet peopled by characters as fully realized as one's own blood kin, this is at once the most artful and most mainstream tale yet from one of horror's brightest lights." Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
Review
"In his finest novel to date, Clegg establishes himself firmly as one of the leading authors in the horror genre....Hold onto your chair; The Hour Before Dark is a powerhouse of a read." Cemetery Dance Magazine
Review
"[A]n eerie psychological tale of supernatural horror that builds suspense gradually as the characters slowly peel back the layers of their past and face the terrors of their shared childhood. Clegg approaches horror with a stark and vital simplicity that is utterly convincing." Library Journal
Review
"Clegg's stories can chill the spine so effectively that the reader should keep paramedics on standby." Dean Koontz, bestselling author of From the Corner of His Eye
Review
"Clegg delivers!" John Saul, bestselling author of The Blackstone Chronicles
Review
"Douglas Clegg is one of the best!" Richard Laymon, bestselling author of Island and The Traveling Vampire Show
Synopsis
When his father is brutally murdered, Nemo Raglan returns to the family's New England island home he thought he'd left forever to confront an unspeakable evil from his past.
Synopsis
The brutal slaughter of his father brings a young man back to the family home he thought he'd left forever to confront an unspeakable evil from his past.
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About the Author
Douglas Clegg is the author of The Infinite, You Come When I Call You, Naomi, and others. His collection, The Nightmare Chronicles, won both the Bram Stoker Award and the International Horror Guild Award. He lives near New York City, and his novella, "The Words," can be found in the book Four Dark Nights.