The Awakening |

The Awakening

(2012)

“The novel rivals the best of Stephen King’s coming of age prose…One of the best ever novels I have ever read.”

—ScaryMinds

Published in limited edition hardcover by Tasmaniac Publications

From Ray Garton’s introduction:

“(Brett McBean) lures us in and settles us into a story that is not designed to make us scream and hide under the covers, but one that lingers after we’re done reading it and haunts us. (The Awakening) has a heartbeat and a grip that pulls you in and keeps you from getting away.”

For as long as he can remember, fourteen-year-old Toby Fairchild has been afraid of the strange old man living across the street. Along with the rest of the kids in the small Midwestern town of Belford, he sees the reclusive Mr. Joseph as the local bogeyman.

Mr. Joseph’s life is an unhappy one. The memories of his past fill him with deep sorrow, and the kids of Belford have long been afraid of him, what with his unusual features and awkward gait.

However, when Toby accidentally discovers the remarkable truth about Mr. Joseph, an unlikely friendship develops. Over the course of the summer, Toby will come to know about pain and death; loss and the meaning of freedom, as Mr. Joseph recounts the incredible story of his past back in Haiti. A story laced with voodoo spirits, slave plantations, evil sorcerers…and zombis.

Toby will learn that monsters do exist – though not always where you expect to find them.

Drawing on my fascination with Haitian Voodoo, and my love for coming-of age stories, The Awakening is a horror/mystery/dark drama of a teenager’s tumultuous summer, as he deals with the joys and hardships of growing up, while learning about the value of freedom at the hands of a kind but cursed old man.

Introduction by Ray Garton

Cover and internal illustrations by Erin Wells

Limited to 200 copies. Signed by all contributors. 450 pages. $40 US

Sold out at the publisher. Copies available from Notions Unlimited Bookshop

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