Book Review: "Offspring" by Jack Ketchum

Five years' ago I published a list of twenty books which scared me in order to celebrate Halloween. On that list was the beloved horror-enthusiast novel, The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum and yes, it is still a brilliant book.

But he's written others such as this one entitled Offspring. I think that this book has some interesting themes concerning how quickly civilisation can collapse in the moments following stressful or traumatising events due to the want for self-preservation. Apart from this, I did feel like the book was a bit more shock and gore than atmosphere and horror. That being said, it was still a fun read.

To start off, this book is the second of its kind. It starts with Off Season I believe and this one is after that. But the former Sheriff George Peters is haunted by the events of the previous novel, convinced that everything he has seen is definitely impacting his life today. These were events concerning a clan of cannibals who were terrorising the town of Dead River. Having moved on from this nightmare, the town is trying to have something resembling normal but for the sheriff, he doesn't believe anything can truly return to normal. Jack Ketchum opens the novel with a whole host of possibility and I think you know what's coming but with this kind of splatter-punk which resembles a slasher movie, you may not be witnessing greatness but you are witnessing fun and games.

So, hidden away from the rest of civilisation, the cannibal clan believed to be dead have managed to grow and birth new members. These are the 'offspring' the title is obviously referring to. This is a direct contrast to the things that are happening in the town: everything is normal and people are forming new connections. Even though they have had their troubles in the previous novel, they are completely oblivious to what horrors may be preparing out in the middle of nowhere. This is his comment on small town life of course, nothing outside can impact you unless it comes into your space. Everyone knows everyone until they don't. It's all shiny on the outside but everything's about to be turned upside-down. I like the exploration of that theme through the revival of the cannibal clan from the first novel. It's the same kind of exploration that happens in the previous book too. You should probably start there.

In this book, I feel we learn more about the society of the cannibals than what we learn in the first novel which I guess, is a good addition and feels more like the cannibals could possibly take over entirely. But not before long, there's an investigation opened up to something preying on the town. People are being attacked and it takes our former sheriff to investigate what the hell is going on and yet, perhaps he already knows it all. Lots of people actually don't believe him at first though. They aren't willing to believe that the attacks are coming from the same clan as before because they are sure everyone was eliminated. Jack Ketchum definitely makes you frustrated as you too, believe the sheriff and you and him are basically working together to give everyone around here a reality check.

It is unfortunate that in this novel the cannibal clan work more abruptly than in the first novel. There's something about them just doing things brash and out in the open makes the horror feel a little less atmospheric and frightening. That is perhaps the only thing I had a problem with. In the first book the cannibals start by doing things in the shadows, the darkness and working with stealth.

Of course, what you're reading towards is the huge showdown which lets us into how these small townsfolk act when something horrific is happening. They do things they would never even think about doing otherwise and yet, we get these scenes over and over. I really enjoyed the way in which Jack Ketchum writes the splatter-punk and I think even though it is predictable, he's not trying to write it as a serious horror novel - instead he wants to take us on a strange journey...