Black River Orchard

A Novel

By: Chuck Wendig

Narrated by: Xe Sands, Brittany Pressley, Sean Patrick Hopkins, Cindy Kay, Kalani Queypo, Gabra Zackman, Victor Colomé

Length: 22 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A small town is transformed when seven strange trees begin bearing magical apples in this masterpiece of horror from the author of Wanderers and The Book of Accidents.

“This masterful outing should continue to earn Wendig comparisons to Stephen King.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

AN NPR BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

It’s autumn in the town of Harrow, but something besides the season is changing there.

Because in that town there is an orchard, and in that orchard, seven most unusual trees. And from those trees grows a new sort of apple: strange, beautiful, with skin so red it’s nearly black.

Take a bite of one of these apples, and you will desire only to devour another. And another. You will become stronger. More vital. More yourself, you will believe. But then 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?

Even if something else is buried in the orchard besides the seeds of these extraordinary trees: a bloody history whose roots reach back to the very origins of the town.

But now the leaves are falling. The days grow darker. It’s harvest time, and the town will soon reap what it has sown.

©2023 Chuck Wendig (P)2023 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Chuck Wendig is one of my very favorite storytellers. Black River Orchard is a deep, dark, luscious tale that creeps up on you and doesn’t let go.”—Erin Morgenstern, author of The Night Circus

“An epic saga that is at once a propulsive horror novel and a parable, a thriller and a cautionary tale, Black River Orchard is the immensely talented Chuck Wendig at his finest.”—Lisa Unger, New York Times bestselling author of Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six

“A gripping story of love and legacies gone rotten, deeply rooted in the landscape and as twisty and gnarled as an ancient apple tree.”—T. Kingfisher, USA Today bestselling author of What Moves the Dead

sinister

wonderful creeping dread
perfect autumn read that makes me crave pie or cider and also never want to step foot in an orchard again.

Excellent story and audio!!

The story is imaginative, scary, insightful and so entertaining. The readers are wonderful. Highly recommend!!

Great book, interesting readers

Xe’s team was again, fantastic. Only gripe is that one of the readers is a manuscript reader and that became off-putting. I sped to 1.5 on his parts. Overall, highly recommend!

I hate apples

The narration team in this book is stellar. I particularly loved the women. Creepy and wonderful and just so very good. The story takes you on a wild romp. There were times I laughed out loud and times I felt a frisson shoot up my spine (the word frisson shows up a bunch). It is a well made story that is surprising and does the thing that all good horror does, makes you question human behavior and human desires. I loved this book and I’ll miss listening to it.

Best in this genre in a long time

I wasn't sure what to expect when I started this book, but it was not the amazing ride I got.
The authors unique descriptive prose combined with the narrators emotion rich reading leaves you with a wonderfully horrifying experience, you can't get enough of and want to end at the same time.
I cannot recommend this book more to lovers of this genre, and to those who are not yet... this book will bring you over to the dark side. Will you eat the apple?

Addictive read

If you’re wondering about the bad reviews, please read the author’s Wikipedia page about how he was fired from a writing job for, oh as the angry white guys from this country get really insecure when history of how we took this country away from the original residents. Well we did, and some bad stuff happened, but unfortunately some folks are too triggered by the reality of our country’s history. I recommend you ignore all the reviews bemoaning that the story is too “woke” (which they’ll never define when asked) and too full of politics. If you appreciate history and a gripping horror novel, then I reckon you’ll like this. I could barely pause this book to resume my life requirements, and it has nothing to do with politics but rather the story itself. And I don’t usually like horror, but I read (listened) to this in about a week. It’s that good. Highly recommend.

written for all us farmers market intellectuals

Good story, endearing characters, interesting history… weird …. In the best way. This review is required by “law” to be longer so ..

A good listen!

I had a little trouble with some of the toxic relationships - I just don't have the patience for gaslighting and emotional abuse even if those things are setting themes that are resolved within the book. The story kept me interested and I listened to the whole thing. I especially liked the bit at the end where the author talked about his inspiration. It was really cool to see how normal, everyday things can inspire really gripping stories. The story itself started out like normal life, things got a little weird, then things got weirder and weirder, until Holy Hell This Is Weird - as the truly great horror stories do. I'd recommend. :)

Different

Not at all what I expected. There were moments that I truly didn't expect in the story. Definitely
a story that allows your imagination to take hold. It is lengthly but, the foundation is laid for the crazy to take place. If you can commit, this is worth a go. You will find that you wont want to turn it off once it gets going.

Creepy and Delicious!

Listen to it….Trust me. Listen to it! You will not be disappointed! I will never look (or eat) another Apple in my entire lifetime without thinking of this book.