Norman Partridge’s novel Dark Harvest was a nice little surprise for me when I stumbled upon it more than ten years ago. I was perusing through Borders (R.I.P.) and was caught by the cover of the book, which features some sort of humanoid creature with a flaming pumpkin for a head. I was pleasantly enraptured by Partridge’s book which feels like a nice mix of Ray Bradbury and Richard Bachman.
And now comes word that the book will become a movie and none other than David Slade (Hard Candy, 30 Days of Night, Twilight: Eclipse) will direct. Slade seems like a perfect fit for the Halloween-themed film. Here’s the plot for the book:
“Halloween, 1963. They call him the October Boy, or Ol’ Hacksaw Face, or Sawtooth Jack. Whatever the name, everybody in this small Midwestern town knows who he is. How he rises from the cornfields every Halloween, a butcher knife in his hand, and makes his way toward town, where gangs of teenage boys eagerly await their chance to confront the legendary nightmare. Both the hunter and the hunted, the October Boy is the prize in an annual rite of life and death.
Pete McCormick knows that killing the October Boy is his one chance to escape a dead-end future in this one-horse town. He’s willing to risk everything, including his life, to be a winner for once. But before the night is over, Pete will look into the saw-toothed face of horror—and discover the terrifying true secret of the October Boy . . .”
Yes, Dark Harvest is about a small town whose teens hunt a supernatural pumpkin-headed monstrosity every Halloween. That’s a basic plot but the book contains a decent amount of heart, character and some inspired storytelling. I hope that all translates to Slade’s adaptation and he doesn’t just turn it into a straight-up horror film.
Slade is a good director whose movies often don’t live up to his talent, mostly because he has taken on some weak scripts. He’s got a keen eye, especially for all things macabre and haunting so Dark Harvest is right up his alley. But there’s a lot riding on the script here, written by Michael Gilio. Dark Harvest certainly contains a lot of the typical horror movie tropes but it’s also got a lot more going below the surface so hopefully Gilio and Slade are able to bring that to life. In the meantime, see if you can find a copy of Dark Harvest at your local bookstore. It’s a short, fun read that is perfect for the Fall season.
