Darker Days

De: Thomas Olde Heuvelt

Brought to you by Penguin.

Sometimes you think you can see things behind the fence. Bad things. So it's better not to look . . .

In Lock Haven, a quiet little town in Washington State, there is a very special street. Bird Street. The residents of Bird Street are all successful, wealthy, healthy and happy. And their children are all well-mannered and smart and high achievers.

At least they are for eleven months of the year. In November, however, the 'Darker Days' begin. For November's the month when things take a turn for the worse: accidents, bad luck, familial conflict and illness take hold. And it is in November that a stranger comes to Bird Street to collect the debt owed by the residents. Because, you see, there is a price that must be paid for all the happiness and good fortune they enjoy for the other eleven months of year. And that price is one human life. Every November. Without fail.

And so it has been for over a hundred years. To ease their guilt, the residents of Bird Street seek out individuals – usually the elderly or the terminally ill – who wish to die with dignity and are content to be helped on their way. Until one year, things don't go to plan and events take a terrifying turn . . .

This a neighbourhood drama to end all neighbourhood dramas. The residents of this particular cul de sac have made a pact with the Devil. For their gilded lives to continue, each year in November, someone must die in the woods . . .

'No one builds agonizing tension like Thomas Olde Heuvelt. Darker Days is his best yet.'
CATRIONA WARD

'This is Olde Heuvelt at the height of his powers.'
ALMA KATSU

© Thomas Olde Heuvelt 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025

©2025 Thomas Olde Heuvelt (P)2025 Penguin Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

‘Darker Days begins on an uncomfortably grim and mysterious note. Olde Heuvelt increases the dread and tension over the course of this labyrinthine and distressing novel until the pressure is almost unbearable. There’s a distinctly unpleasant current of inevitability coursing beneath every page of this genuinely distressing work—the inevitability of ritual, retribution, sacrifice, and death. This is a daring and uncompromising jewel of horror fiction. Reminiscent of the flawless work of Stephen King, Michael McDowell, and Robert R. McCammon, but still completely its own singular and disturbing vision.’ (ERIC LaROCCA, author of Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke)

Darker Days is a remarkable and disturbing morality tale about the true cost of lucky lives. It’s a tremendous achievement by Thomas Olde Heuvelt as well as a frightening gift for readers. (OWEN KING, author of The Curator)

The devilish genius behind Hex brings us a new collision of sly suburban satire and devastating folkloric nightmare . . . the perfect read for fans of Shirley Jackson, Sarah Langan, and stories you wanna read from behind your fingers, as if that’ll somehow keep you safe from the escalating darkness. (NAT CASSIDY, author of Mary and When the Wolf Comes Home)

Darker Days is a classic horror story, but its deal-with-the-devil couldn’t be more timely. With a beautifully-rendered, struggling family and a murderous pact at its core, the suspense is killer, and the central question – what are you willing to do in exchange for your own comfort and happiness – is chilling and deeply disturbing. This one will haunt me. (CHRISTOPHER GOLDEN, author of Road of Bones and The Night Birds)

On the surface Darker Days is a deliciously grim and twisted fable about a bargain with a Devil. But it is also an unflinching examination of human nature and how easy it can be to look away from the suffering of others, which is a very timely and poignant reminder in this particular moment in time. (HILDUR KNUTTSDOTTIR, acclaimed author of The Night Guest)

There are days where I can't help but wonder if Thomas Olde Heuvelt made a deal with the devil. His writing is so completely captivating, his forged worlds so engrossing and expansive, there has to be some soul-selling afoot. Darker Days is his Dr. Faustus on the grandest of scales, which makes Olde Heuvelt our modern day Marlowe. (CLAY McLEOD-CHAPMAN, author of Wake Up and Open Your Eyes)

Darker Days is a novel of reckoning, calculating the balance between what you want and what it will cost, and a meditation on unthinkable bargains. An ingeniously constructed chronicle of fear from a master storyteller. (A. G. SLATTER, author of The Crimson Road)