10 Scariest Summer-Based Horror Novels Ever

Imagine if the bloke that played Steven Beale in Eastenders unleashed something like The Ritual on us all. Well, back in 1973 that happened (sort of) when jobbing TV actor, Thomas Tryon, invited us to Harvest Home.

Set in rural Connecticut, the story follows that ease-you-in trope of a family (the Constantines) setting up home in an unfamiliar place, only in this case to find that the village of Cornwall Combe is not all corn husks and county fairs.

At first, the Constantines immerse themselves in the ‘Combe way of life, which eschews any form of technology and favours the ‘old way’ of doing things, but things soon take a dark turn when it becomes clear the inhabitants have some macabre plans for their new guests. What transpires is a mystery around a missing girl, a mute child, the passing of a scared rite and ritualistic horrors lurking in the surrounding woods.

Although unfairly bashed at the time by critics, Harvest Home’s stock has risen over the years and remains a creepy old worldly tale, which packs a bleak finale. The hard to locate miniseries adaptation of the book is worth a peek, too.