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'Hex' review: a perfect melding of old school horror with a modern setting

31 Days of Halloween

‘Hex’ review: a perfect melding of old school horror with a modern setting

Back in the late 1600s, a witch was brutally murdered by the townspeople. Since then, anyone who resides in Black Springs (or makes the tragic mistake of moving there) cannot leave without becoming suicidal.

Welcome to another installment of 31 Days of Halloween! This is our chance to set the mood for the spookiest and scariest month of the year as we focus our attention on horror and Halloween fun. For the month of October we’ll be sharing various pieces of underappreciated scary books, comics, movies, and television to help keep you terrified and entertained all the way up to Halloween.


As we close in on October 31, AiPT! will be reviewing and recommending various pieces of underappreciated scary media-books, comics, movies, and television-to help keep you terrified and entertained all the way up to Halloween.

Originally published in the Netherlands, Thomas Olde Heuvelt’s exceptional horror novel was the beneficiary of some wonderful translation work by Nancy Forest-Flier (along with a dash of new content), allowing English readers to lose sleep, as well.

The Plot

To call the town of Black Spring, New York “insular” would be a gross understatement. In addition to being a close knit community, all the residents are trapped inside the town limits via an ancient curse.

Back in the late 1600s, a witch was brutally murdered by the townspeople. Since then, anyone who resides in Black Springs (or makes the tragic mistake of moving there) cannot leave without becoming suicidal.

As if that weren’t bad enough, the witch likes to show up around at semi-regular intervals. She doesn’t really do anything except look insanely creepy, but it can still totally mess up your evening if she happens to show up standing behind you at the dinner table. Also, if you try to interact with her–or remove the stitches sealing her eyes shut–then very, VERY bad things can happen.

Fortunately, the town has adapted to this strange way of live, even developing a HEX app to report and track witch sightings. They also have access to the internet…and kids who are on the internet all the time…which of course leads to them wanting to find a way to leave the town and/or defeat the witch for good–or at least get internet famous for how messed up their town is.

As you might imagine, this also leads to very, VERY bad things happening.

What Works

The town’s history, dynamic, and even its functionality is absolutely fascinating. Heuvelt does an great job laying out the rules and story behind the hex without every falling into the trap of massive exposition dumps. Instead we’re treated to some riveting flashbacks along with a present narrative populated by a fantastic group of characters. I’m not sure how Heuvelt pulls it off, but he’s somehow able to make a massive cast all have distinct personalities that are easy to keep track of.

He also writes authentically devious and frustrated teenagers. What starts as some mean-spirited videoed pranks against the witch methodically escalates into something much more dangerous. It never seems irrational from their viewpoint, but seen in the larger scope of the town–along with the men and women charged with keeping the curse from leaving the town premises–it’s a horrific worse case scenario.

What Doesn’t

The ending of the book is, uh…weird. Like, really freaking weird. Weird enough that I actually didn’t like it very much.

The Verdict

Don’t let that discourage you from reading this book, though.

Look, I’m one of those people who HATES it when a narrative’s subpar ending is justified by “the journey.” In this instance, however, the narrative is not only totally worth it, but also comes to a satisfying conclusion before everything goes all Willy Wonka Tunnel.

If you want a good old fashion creepy witch tale in a modern setting, you really can’t ask for much better than Hex.

 

'Hex' review: a perfect melding of old school horror with a modern setting
‘Hex’ review: a perfect melding of old school horror with a modern setting
Is it good?
If you want a good old fashion creepy witch tale in a modern setting, you really can't ask for much better than Hex.
The town's history, dynamic, and even its functionality is absolutely fascinating.
Despite a large cast, the characters are all well-defined and interesting.
The world building is some of the best you could ever hope for.
The ending is uh...weird (and not necessarily in a good way).
9

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