Book Review: Boys in the Valley by Philip Fracassi

 Boys in the Valley by Philip Fracassi

  352 pages, Hardcover

July, 2023 by Tor Nightfire

One of the evils those of us in this writing and publishing game that authors just have to deal with is the sad and unfortunate marketing of books. I almost vomited when a pop-up ad for a science fiction novel promoted itself as Barbie meets Oppenheimer in one of the grossest examples of a book being marketed as this meets that I have ever seen. So let's take a moment to say that this book which is marketed as “The Exorcist meets Lord of the Flies, by way of Midnight Mass…” is exactly that. Those three things are a fantastic way for someone to understand the Boys in the Valley.

I picked up my copy on the Mysterious Galaxy event for Philip Fracassi’s crazy book tour, he is absolutely a road dog for this book and I respect that. He added a lot of weight to the experience, as I enjoyed hearing Philip talk about the writing and research for this book. I go to as many of the book events as I can at MG, and it gives you a connection to an author or book that can’t be underrated. I was rooting for this book.

The good news is that it is a super fantastic novel. I have read Frcassi before, my main experience was his short story collection, which included a story Fail-safe that I remember knocked my socks off. I don't know why it took me so long to circle back to Fracassi but I am so glad I did.

I am not an enormous fan of novels set in this era, which would have been the turn of the 19th to 20th century, but I am not against historical novels, just not my favorite era. That said Fracassi did a great job of hooking me into the novel from the outset. I knew the basics that the bulk of the novel was set in this era at an orphanage. The opening chapter is a powerful and frightening example of domestic violence. I knew what was coming because of the setting and still, it was unsettling and went wonders creating a dark and cold tone.

I say dark and cold for good reason as I felt those two things dripping off every page. I am very close to calling it a full masterpiece, in total it is a fantastic, must-read horror novel. The quality of the writing and research is beyond terrific, and if you think I am being hyperbolic I will get out of the way the one nitpick I have with Boys in the Valley. You may consider this a feature and not a bug, but the novel has an interesting format. Anyone who has read my reviews knows I am not a fan of first-person narratives, and here the book opens in first person. When the novel switches point of view, the novel then becomes third person, and when it comes back to Peter’s point of view.

I think most non-authors would not even notice this, and certainly, I am the only person on Goodreads to mention it. It took me out of the narrative a little bit. Once I was 70 or 80 pages in I had totally forgotten about it. I mention it partly because I totally got engrossed and stopped paying attention to anything but the story. As someone who can’t help but see the zipper in the monster’s rubber suit narrative-wise it was good that  I forgot all about it. Most readers won’t notice, most will be under the book’s spell.

Peter is our point of view. He witnesses his father murder his mother in the opening pages as a very young boy. Too young. “For a moment, I see myself as a spector – a thin Shadow shaking before fiery dragon – crotch-stained and whimpering.” It won’t be the last time Peter experiences evil, but it puts him in a place where he can’t escape it. This perfectly executed prologue gives the reader compassion for Peter who is part of the structure of the story. We have to feel for him, we have to feel that he is trapped for the book to work.
 
Once the novel moves into the catholic orphanage the horror continues to flow off of the adult characters as much of the early tense is built off this group of boys, without families and little hope except for the one boy who wants to be a priest. Ideally, that is what all the boys will choose as the only “family” to adopt them is the church. Peter develops an important relationship with a priest Brother Johnson who understands Peter might interested in other things, like the local farm girl Grace- the first female he has ever met. There is excellent character work and world-building in the first one hundred pages. We understand Peter very well but all the boys, Grace, and her father are all excellent characters who leap off the page.

When the violence starts the source of the horror for this reader often comes from the lack of understanding of the adult the first scene that hits hard after the prologue is in chapter 24. When the first victim of possession or murder is found in the sanctuary murdered and hanging on the cross. Father Poople refuses to give last rites.

“Father you think he did this to himself?”
“I do.” Poole’s stoic face remains unmoved. “And suicide is a mortal sin, brother Johnson. Now…”
“He’s just a child…”
“He’s a sinner!”

So here’s the thing does religious horror work for you, or demonic possession stories? The loss of innocence in a child, and a young person out of control from evil is something I find freaky, but only my imagination believes in it. My mind rejects it, not enough to turn me off. If a story of demonic possession works for you, Boys in the Valley is a high-level execution of the concept.  The effect on kids comes out in a powerful example of perfect set-up and payoff. The priest is planning to bury the child that Father Poole accused of suicide and Bartholomew has a question.

“I would like to know if Basil will be buried in the St. Vincent’s cemetery. In consecrated ground I mean.”

I thought this set up a subtle theme of the book, the corruption of these boys is not only by the demons. The lack of compassion for his dead friend was fascinating to me and one I think some readers might not focus on. I did and I thought the parallel of the influence of these angry, and disconnected priests at times didn't seem any less evil. That is when I was reminded of the word cold, and how it influences the atmosphere.  As the weather turns and the world grows colder the heart of this one boy mirrors this. Soon evil will take many of their minds. Being raised to serve the church did nothing to protect them.

If elevated horror is a thing, Boys in the Valley applies because it works on multiple levels. I can only read from my point of view, but I think this story transforms in the eye of the beholder. A religious reader and a non-religious reader will have different valid experiences.  

The job of the horror reader is to put yourself into the shoes of the main characters. The job of the horror writer is to make it impossible not to. Fracassi does a masterful job,  not just with the details that show his ability as a researcher. This novel also excels in moments of traditional horror mechanics - the nuts and bolts of building tension.
 
“…the doors were thrown open as if by a strong wind. The cross…it fell to the floor. It was as if…”
Andrew waits, trying to temper his own apprehension.
“As if something entered that room, Father, Peter says, his eyes no longer delirious, or frightened, or feverish. They look at Andrew steadily. Cold. Assured. “as if something had come inside and settled there.”

I was not kidding about the cold, here Fracassi uses the cold like a weapon Tangible fear. undeniable for anyone who makes that deal with the author and gives themselves up to it. This reminds of the last moment when the novel got it's hooks into me. This terror inducing description of the feeling of demonic possession.

“One moment, his head is bursting with the swarm, an infinite number of angry flies battering the inside of his skull, countless black legs pressing against the back of his eyes, crawling through the deepest reaches of his ear canals, climbing up the back of his throat. So loud so dense, so heavy…he can do nothing, think nothing but for the instructions.
The command to kill is simple. Direct.
He wants nothing more to comply.”

Damn.

Boys in the Valley will be one of my top reads of the year. I respect Philip Fracassi's work ethic on the page and in the world. The passion for writing and creation shows up on his tour but most importantly it shows up in every page of his work. Boys in the Valley has everything it needs to become a bonafide historical horror classic.