Spooky season is in full swing, and the need for more horror stories to keep the monsters at bay (by inviting them into our subconscious) is always welcome. When the Night Comes Knocking is the debut novel from author Katherine Daniel, and it's poised to leave a bloody mark on the horror genre. This book caught my eye with its unique premise, and once I started reading, it gripped me so thoroughly that I blasted through it in a matter of days. If you're looking for a fresh horror read this October, When the Night Comes Knocking is a novel worth considering.
The story follows siblings Thomas and Jane, who are on their way to a family Thanksgiving together in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains. The pair had a recent falling out, and now it's all they can do to stand being in each other's presence. Of course, the book's monster loves exactly that sort of animosity. The creature for When the Night Comes Knocking, which is drawn from Appalachian urban legends, feeds off a person's regret, seeking out those in the mountains with guilty hearts so that it can hungrily consume them. Its path soon crosses with Thomas and Jane, trapping them and five other people at a convenience store on a remote mountainside while it stalks the forest outside.
The entire book takes place over the course of that night, where the monster tries all sorts of tricks to get into the store and slaughter everyone, while they fight just to survive. The fact that the book is so tightly contained adds to the drama in a number of ways, as the cast of characters turn on each other out of helplessness and fear, while the creature chooses its moments to strike with inhuman precision. I haven't read too many single-setting horror stories that are full novel length, and that aspect of When the Night Comes Knocking added greatly to the strength of the book.
The characters are the heart of When the Night Comes Knocking
Like all good horror stories, there are a few different elements at play in When the Night Comes Knocking that all have to stand on their own merits. First of course are the characters. Jane and Thomas are deeply developed to the point that they feel like real people, with real family history that has made it impossible for them to be at ease around each other. The gradual unraveling of their complicated feelings for one another is a highlight of the book, as Daniel peels back layer upon layer to reveal where it all started — and whether there's any hope of reconciliation.
Yet while we do find out what happened between them, Daniel stops short of tying everything off neatly with a bow. Life goes on, and so does the processing of trauma. It's a wise choice, making it feel like Thomas and Jane's story doesn't end with the final page of the novel even though this is a standalone.
There are other characters involved as well: a local rural man who's grieving the first grisly murder of the night, a shopkeeper well-versed in Appalachian lore, a kind-hearted young man with a German shepherd, and a married couple from out of town who are on the brink of having their first child. Other figures pop in and out of the periphery, but this group is the core cast of Daniel's book, and they very much have the feel of a classic slasher film group, fighting among themselves as they desperately seek the best way out of their situation.
While this book never lets you forget that it's about that struggle for survival, its examination of the grief and regrets driving each of the characters makes them the true heart of the story. This is a character-focused book, even when guts are getting spilled and claws are pounding at the gates. Long-repressed secrets coming to light served as some of the key scenes of the book, driving home the idea that horror works best when you actually understand the people under threat and care what happens to them. The cast can feel a bit like caricatures at times, but overall the focus on character development was one of the book's stronger elements.
The monster and structure of When the Night Comes Knocking are highlights
As mentioned earlier in this review, the monster of When the Night Comes Knocking is a creature drawn to guilty hearts. It is physically imposing, but also enjoys toying with those it stalks. There's a constant back-and-forth between sudden brutality and unnerving restraint that makes it hard to guess what the creature will do next. Its claws can rend flesh like tissue paper, but it's also capable of taking the form of anyone whose blood it has tasted, allowing for some standout scary scenes throughout the book as it tricks our protagonists — or burrows deep into the guiltiest parts of their past by showing them specters they'd rather forget.
The monster itself, which I'm being purposely cagey about describing in too great of detail, is a highlight of When the Night Comes Knocking. The journey of discovery of how it works, why it does what it does, and what it's capable of are some of the things I enjoyed most about the book. It always feels threatening; even when Jane or Thomas were in situations where I had no doubt their plot armor would protect them, the scars left by their encounters left them changed.
The other large highlight of When the Night Comes Knocking is its format. This is a single-setting horror story, which by default makes it more intense — if somewhat simpler — than a sprawling tale with more peaks and valleys. That focus forces both the characters and the readers into a pressure cooker; there's never a chance to relax in this book, because the threat of death is keeping the entire cast trapped. Even one step outside the door of Blackwell's Country Store store can spell immediate death, and the tiniest slip up might allow the monster inside, where Thomas, Jane, and all the rest would be practically defenseless. It's great for the tension.
When the Night Comes Knocking is a B monster movie in book form
At the same time, I do wish the store itself had felt like more of a character. When there's just one setting in a story like this, how memorable that setting is can make a huge difference in the tale overall. While it works for its impact on the characters and the danger they're in, I did feel that the convenience store overall is fairly forgettable, and the creepy factor is rarely dialed up much in terms of how it's presented on its own. Instead, it's the danger of what looms outside that gives this book most of its scariness. It's not a problem that detracted too much, but I was left wanting more from the setting in particular.
There were also a few aspects of When the Night Comes Knocking that broke my suspension of disbelief a little, including the sheer amount of times the group of characters shouted about how they had no idea what was going on. The vibe of the dialogue and story overall is reminiscent of a B monster movie (which isn't necessarily a bad thing, I love a good B monster movie). That makes it a fun read that does lean into the darkness well, but stops short of ever being truly terrifying outside of one or two very specific moments, such as a late-book flashback that reveals the horrific source of Jane's inner turmoil. It's often those sorts of moments that serve as the clearest reminder that When the Night Comes Knocking has hidden teeth that are capable of flooring the reader, rather than just a string of gradually escalating monster encounters.
Verdict
When the Night Comes Knocking is a compelling horror debut that's supported by solid character development, an unstoppable yet interesting monster, a bottleneck of a setting that adds to the tension, and a feeling that neither the reader nor the characters can get away until the sun comes up and you see how everything resolves. However, some aspects of the book, including the setting itself, aren't quite as memorable as I'd hoped, and the dialogue at times took me out of the story.
If you're looking for a fun creature horror story to get you through these spooky October nights, When the Night Comes Knocking is very much worth the ride. It's available now from Berkley, wherever books are sold.
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