Second in the horror novel marathon

I finally started reading Jonathan Maberry's Pine Deep Trilogy the other day. Unfortunately, with my cheesy horror watching Saturday (Waxwork circa 1988) and my Doctor Who therapy yesterday, I didn't get much read this weekend (shame on me). I read most of the book last night before passing out and should finish today. 

The trilogy began in summer 2006 with the release of the Stoker winning, Ghost Road Blues. Since I'm not quite done with it, I'll let PW do the talking:

Maberry supplies plenty of chills, both Earth-bound and otherworldly, in this atmospheric horror novel, the first of a trilogy. Thirty years after the citizens of Pine Deep, Pa., killed the serial killer known as the Reaper, the town enjoys a quiet idyll and a tourist-friendly reputation as "the most haunted town in America." But gearing up for its annual Halloween celebration, the town is unprepared for the real haunts stirring in their corn fields, seeking to finish what the Reaper started. Switching among a large cast of characters, Maberry builds suspense by degrees, in the process exploring the community of Pine Deep. Showing his smalltown Americans at their worst—through domestic abuse, religious fanaticism and cowardice—Maberry proves how everyday, evening –news–grade sadism can dovetail neatly with capital-E Evil and the supernatural big guns that carry it out. This is horror on a grand scale, reminiscent of Stephen King's heftier works (The Stand, Needful Things) and just as dense with detail...

Of course Maberry took home the Horror Writers' Association Bram Stoker Award for "Best First Novel." Other noms in the category that year included Sarah Langan's The Keeper, Nate Kenyon's Bloodstone, and Alexandra Sokoloff's The Harrowing. I've read all three and Maberry had some pretty stiff competition that year!

I've got about 100 pages left to go and the other two books, Dead Man's Song and Bad Moon Rising, waiting for me. It is a really original concept. I've not come across anything exactly like it even though, as the PW review says, it does bring to mind Needful Things. It also reminds me just a bit of James Moore's Serenity Falls trilogy which is another of my all-time horror faves.

I'm not sure what will jump off my bedside table at me next, but I'll keep you posted and let you know what the next read in my horror novel marathon is tomorrow!