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Sign up todayBoys in the Valley
This audiobook uses AI narration.
Weโre taking steps to make sure AI narration is transparent.
Learn moreThis program is read by David Aaron Baker, who brings the nightmare to life with his sinister narration. He has earned several AudioFile Earphones Awards and has been a three-time finalist for the prestigious Audie Award for Best Male Narrator.
The Exorcist meets Lord of the Flies, by way of Midnight Mass, in Boys in the Valley, a brilliant coming-of-age tale from award-winning author Philip Fracassi.
โA sublimely chilling story.โ โLibrary Journal, STARRED review
St. Vincent's Orphanage for Boys.
Turn of the century, in a remote valley in Pennsylvania.
Here, under the watchful eyes of several priests, thirty boys work, learn, and worship. Peter Barlow, orphaned as a child by a gruesome murder, has made a new life here. As he approaches adulthood, he has friends, a future...a family.
Then, late one stormy night, a group of men arrive at their door, one of whom is badly wounded, occult symbols carved into his flesh. His death releases an ancient evil that spreads like sickness, infecting St. Vincent's and the children within. Soon, boys begin acting differently, forming groups. Taking sides.
Others turn up dead.
Now Peter and those dear to him must choose sides of their own, each of them knowing their lives โ and perhaps their eternal souls โ are at risk.
A Macmillan Audio production from Tor Nightfire.
PHILIP FRACASSI is the Bram Stoker Award-nominated author of the story collections Behold the Void and Beneath a Pale Sky. His novels include A Child Alone with Strangers, Gothic, and Boys in the Valley. His stories have been published in numerous magazines and anthologies, including Best Horror of the Year, Nightmare Magazine, Southwest Review, Interzone, and Black Static. Philip lives in Los Angeles and is represented by Copps Literary Services.
Reviews
Praise for Boys in the Valley
โThe prose is precise, the terrorโs exquisite, and Fracassiโs got his hand on the chisel going into your chest.โ โStephen Graham Jones, New York Times bestselling author of My Heart Is a Chainsaw
โA sublimely chilling storyโฆ.Fracassi almost cheerfully paints this gloomy tale with painfully beautiful and detailed prose that is not afraid to shy away from gore and terror.โ โLibrary Journal, STARRED review
โGut-wrenching, heartbreaking, and terrifying.โ โAndy Davidson, author of The Hollow Kind
โAs poignant as it is chilling, with a fast-paced, unflinching ending, itโs the richly drawn characters that make Boys in the Valley a standout.โ โAlma Katsu, author of The Fervor and The Hunger
โA riveting, and horrifying, tale of survival set against a punishing and vivid backdrop. Think William Peter Blatty and William Golding blended togetherโฆbut still the insights and angles are all Philip Fracassi.โ โVictor LaValle, author of The Ballad of Black Tom
โHarrowing and claustrophobic, Boys in the Valley is an outstanding horror novel, filled with dread. You can feel the evil in this story, soaked into every page. One hell of a read from Philip Fracassi!โ โChristopher Golden, New York Times bestselling author of Road of Bones and All Hallows
โBoys in the Valley is cruel, creepy, and keeps the pedal to the metal. An unrelenting and highly entertaining show of horrors.โ โThomas Olde Heuvelt, author of Hex and Echo
โPerfectly paced, elevated horror. Fracassi is required reading for the genre and beyond. A bellwether of whatโs to come.โ โJonathan Edward Durham, author of Winterset Hollow
โThis is not only a smart and deftly-written tale instilled with the kind of creeping, claustrophobic horror that I enjoyโFracassi's got real love for his characters: you truly care about his motley band of boys, and their fates.โ โNick Cutter, bestselling author of The Troop
โPhilip Fracassi amazes and inspires me. Full stop.โ โGemma Files, Shirley Jackson Award-winning author
โA gothic, gory Lord of the FliesโฆThe horror here is as much a warning on the dangers of human corruption as a testament to hope in the face of nigh-insurmountable darknessโฆHorror readers will be hooked.โ โPublishers Weekly
โFracassiโs tale casts a black spell...exploring the limits of faith, the bonds of brotherhood, the loss of childhood, and the extremes of evil.โ โJ. Todd Scott, author of The Flock
โThe most unsettling novel I have read all year. Cold dread clings to every page.โ โRonald Malfi, author of Black Mouth
โA tale that will truly frighten, unnerve, and touch readers' heartsโฆa beautiful novel that should be โ will likely be โ remembered as one of the best of the young decade.โ โCemetery Dance Online
โFast-paced, relentless, and chilling without ever neglecting the human side of the proceedings. This is pure horror that should satisfy any fan of the genre.โ โJeffrey Thomas, author of The American
Praise for Philip Fracassi:
โFracassi makes terror read so damn beautifully.โ โVictor LaValle
โFracassi...builds his horrific tales slowly and carefully...he's especially skillful at creating, and sustaining, suspense.โ โThe New York Times
โThis Fracassi guy is damn good.โ โRichard Chizmar, New York Times bestselling author
โPhilip Fracassiโs fiction is a mix of old and new school horrors, chock full of frightening monsters, demons, and humans. I always look forward to what heโs going to do next.โ โPaul Tremblay, author of The Pallbearers Club
โFracassi...brings a depth of understanding to his monsters, human and otherwise.โ โThe Guardian
โFracassiโs storytelling is...horror with a big, broken heart.โ โEsquire
โPhilip Fracassi is the best sort of horror writerโone who is unafraid to hunt for light in even the darkest places.โ โShaun Hamill, author of A Cosmology of Monsters
โPhilip Fracassi is an artist who paints with wordsโฆtimeless and original.โ โZoje Stage, USA Today bestselling author of Baby Teeth
โA master storyteller.โ โJonathan Janz, author of The Siren and the Spectre
โHis range, prolific output, and fast-paced prose are all set to put him on the shelf next to names such as King, Straub, and Thomas Harris.โ โSignal Horizon