Bentley Little
Bentley Little
born January 01, 1960 in Arizona, The United States
gender male
genre Horror
About this author
Bentley Little is an American author of numerous horror novels. He was discovered by Dean Koontz.
Little was born one month after his mother attended the world premiere of Psycho. He published his first novel, The Revelation, with St. Martin's Press in 1990. After reading it, Stephen King became a vocal fan of Little's work, and Little won the Bram Stoker Award for "Best First Novel" in 1990. He moved to New American Library for his next two novels, but was dropped from the company after he refused to write a police procedural as his next novel. He eventually returned to New American Library, with whom he continues to publish his novels.
Little has stated on several occasions that he considers himself a horror novelist, and that he writes in the horror genre, not the "suspense" or "dark fantasy" genres. He is an unabashed supporter of horror fiction and has been described as a disciple of Stephen King.
born January 01, 1960 in Arizona, The United States
gender male
genre Horror
About this author
Bentley Little is an American author of numerous horror novels. He was discovered by Dean Koontz.
Little was born one month after his mother attended the world premiere of Psycho. He published his first novel, The Revelation, with St. Martin's Press in 1990. After reading it, Stephen King became a vocal fan of Little's work, and Little won the Bram Stoker Award for "Best First Novel" in 1990. He moved to New American Library for his next two novels, but was dropped from the company after he refused to write a police procedural as his next novel. He eventually returned to New American Library, with whom he continues to publish his novels.
Little has stated on several occasions that he considers himself a horror novelist, and that he writes in the horror genre, not the "suspense" or "dark fantasy" genres. He is an unabashed supporter of horror fiction and has been described as a disciple of Stephen King.
Death Instinct (1)
Cathy was six when the man next door killed his wife and himself. She heard the screams. She saw the blood and the bodies. Now, 20 years later, the house is no longer vacant. Someone new has moved in and something terrible is happening to the neighbors. Reissue.
Dispatch (2)
Jason Handford has a real gift for writing letters that get results-from complaints to love letters to editorials. Then he's offered a job to do it for a living. It consumes his time, his mind, and eventually, his soul. Jason really should have stuck with freelance.
Dominion (3)
Something really strange is happening to Dion, the new boy in school. Odd-girl-out Penelope understands completely. Something is happening to her too. They were made for each other. And together, they're going to raise hell.
His Father's Son (4)
Steve Nye?s quiet life takes an unexpected turn when he receives a call from his mother. His father attacked her and has been committed to an asylum. The doctor says he?s suffering from dementia. But Steve?s father seems so calm, clear-eyed, and lucid when he whispers, ?I killed her?. Is it simply symptom of his father?s delusion and madness?
If only Steve were so lucky?
If only Steve were so lucky?
The Revelation (5)
Strange things are happening in the small town of Randall, Arizona. And as darkness falls, an itinerant preacher has arrived to spread a gospel of cataclysmic fury...
And stranger things are yet to come...
And stranger things are yet to come...
The Academy (6)
Here's one good reason for staying home from school...
Something strange is happening at Tyler High. The laid-back principal has become unusually strict. The janitors no longer work nights because of what they hear. The students are frightened by what they see. And things are happening on school grounds that defy rational explanation. But there is an explanation. It's just nothing that anyone can begin to believe, or hope to survive.
Something strange is happening at Tyler High. The laid-back principal has become unusually strict. The janitors no longer work nights because of what they hear. The students are frightened by what they see. And things are happening on school grounds that defy rational explanation. But there is an explanation. It's just nothing that anyone can begin to believe, or hope to survive.
The Association (7)
Barry and Maureen have just been approved as tenants by the Association. Pity they never read the fine print on the lease.
It could be the death of them...
It could be the death of them...
The Burning (8)
Now comes the hottest horror yet from the Bram Stoker Award winner...
They're four strangers with one thing in common-a mysterious train choking the sky with black smoke, charging trackless across the American night...and carrying an unstoppable evil raised from the depths of history that will bring each of their worst fears to life.
They're four strangers with one thing in common-a mysterious train choking the sky with black smoke, charging trackless across the American night...and carrying an unstoppable evil raised from the depths of history that will bring each of their worst fears to life.
The Collection (9)
He's been hailed by Dean Koontz for his "rock-'em, jolt-'em, shock-'em contemporary terror fiction.
" Now Little presents a 32-story collection that could only have come from an author with "a deft touch for the terrifying"
" Now Little presents a 32-story collection that could only have come from an author with "a deft touch for the terrifying"
The Disappearance (10)
From the Bram Stoker Award-winning "horror poet laureate" (Stephen King)
When Gary's girlfriend Joan vanishes, calls to her parents' home yield only dead air. Her school records are gone. There is no longer any evidence that she even existed. Most disturbing of all is what Gary does find: a warning and a tantalizing clue, leading to a mysterious backward cult known as the Homesteaders. Now Gary may be the next to disappear.
When Gary's girlfriend Joan vanishes, calls to her parents' home yield only dead air. Her school records are gone. There is no longer any evidence that she even existed. Most disturbing of all is what Gary does find: a warning and a tantalizing clue, leading to a mysterious backward cult known as the Homesteaders. Now Gary may be the next to disappear.
The House (11)
Five complete strangers from across America are about to come together and open the door to a place of evil that they all call home. Inexplicably, four men and one woman are having heart-stopping nightmares revolving around the dark and forbidding houses where each of them were born. When recent terrifying events occur, they are each drawn to their identical childhood homes, only to confront a sinister supernatural presence which has pursued them all their lives, and is now closer than ever to capturing their souls....
The Ignored (12)
Bob Jones is ordinary, from his appearance right down to his very name. No one seems to take notice of him, not his co-workers, his girlfriend, or even his own parents. But Bob learns he's not alone when he's taken in by a band of people that suffer similarly. Calling themselves "The Ignored", the deadly vengeance they intend to wreak is sure to make them more than just memorable.
The Mailman (13)
The book is basically about a small town and the main characters are a male school teacher, his wife, and their 10/11 yr. old son. One day the town is horrified to learn their mail carrier committed suicide. He was a happy man with no depression, a happy marriage, and the suicide made no sense.
Almost immediately, a new mailman shows up. This is where Bentley Little scares the average person, proving how much power the mail actually has. People around town are receiving all good mail at first; no bills, no junk, letters from long lost friends. Then the mail turns sinister. Since no one is receiving bills, the power is turned off, the gas, electric, phones. People start receiving hate mail from their neighbors, or so they believe it to be their neighbors. People start committing suicide for no apparent reason, except it's all centered around the mail. The new postmaster delivers mail at all hours of the night, he is a force that never stops.
The conclusion of the books revolves around Doug, the school teacher trying to figure out a way to beat the mailman at his own game. Will he succeed or will the town suffer at the hands of the evil mailman?
Almost immediately, a new mailman shows up. This is where Bentley Little scares the average person, proving how much power the mail actually has. People around town are receiving all good mail at first; no bills, no junk, letters from long lost friends. Then the mail turns sinister. Since no one is receiving bills, the power is turned off, the gas, electric, phones. People start receiving hate mail from their neighbors, or so they believe it to be their neighbors. People start committing suicide for no apparent reason, except it's all centered around the mail. The new postmaster delivers mail at all hours of the night, he is a force that never stops.
The conclusion of the books revolves around Doug, the school teacher trying to figure out a way to beat the mailman at his own game. Will he succeed or will the town suffer at the hands of the evil mailman?
The Return (14)
There's only one thing that can follow the success of Bentley Little's acclaimed The Association, The Walking, and The Revelation. And that's Bentley Little's return.
The Store (15)
Last year Bentley Little topped our "Best of 1997" list with his tour de force THE IGNORED, a remarkable blend of satire, dark fantasy, social commentary, and outright horror, a difficult act to follow, without question. But with THE STORE he has risen to the occasion; it's a novel that though perhaps not quite as ambitious as THE IGNORED is every bit as terrifying and satisfying. With this book, Bentley Little has solidified his place at the very top of the horror genre.
As the novel begins, Bill Davis, the likable protagonist, is a happily married telecommuter who is looking to make a little spare cash to help his two teenage daughters enjoy their summer. Enter The Store: a nationwide chain of Wal-Mart-like shopping centers that only sets up branches in small towns. The Store has come to take up residence in Bill's nature-loving home of Juniper, Arizona, with promises of low prices and everything any shopper could possibly want under one roof an idea that has the little town buzzing with excitement. But a hidden menace comes with it. Dead animals and ominous accidents that surround the construction site of The Store-to-be should have tipped off the town's residents, but the lure of all that potential extra income flooding into the town goes a long way toward closing their eyes to the warning signs. It's always those things you welcome with open arms that can hurt you the most, isn't it? And so a freakish nightmare beyond anyone's wildest imaginings gains a foothold in this quiet Arizona community.
Once The Store opens, it quickly becomes apparent that it not only plans on dominating the shopping scene, but also the local politics. Money talks in a small town, and The Store's deep pockets soon have the local police force, mayor, and school system under its belt. Small businesses unable to compete go belly-up by the handful, and as Juniper and its residents fall further under The Store's influence, with nowhere else to turn for what they need, the stock on the shelves begins to change. Firecrackers and M-80s placed on the very bottom shelf (for only a quarter apiece) at eye-level view for a child and child pornography videotapes conveniently placed where the local clergy can find them are just some of The Store's unorthodox business strategies. Bill Davies is appalled, but if anyone else is they're keeping it to themselves; The Store has become the focal point of the entire community has in fact become the community and its power in the town seems unimpeachable.
The novel really gets going when Bill's two daughters take jobs at The Store, against their father's wishes. At this point THE STORE rises to a level of stomach-churning horror that most modern horror novels don't even attempt. Becoming an employee of The Store requires an initiation that makes the worst frat hazing look like the Mickey Mouse Club. Many readers will undoubtedly find themselves deeply disturbed at how convincingly Little paints a portrait of groupthink mentality and the appeal of a cult like, tight-knit community, one that makes The Store's employees willing to visit unspeakable evils upon anyone who threatens the business's livelihood. And if that threat is a member of an employee's family, it only makes the revenge that much more satisfying. The psychological violence here is mesmerizing.
Little generates horror that truly runs deep in the reader's veins by creating believable, well developed, and (most important) likable characters, and then taking us step by step through their gradual transformation into brainwashed, soulless members of The Store's team. It's a depressing journey to see characters you have been made to like commit the vilest of atrocities, and this is exactly what gives THE STORE, and all of Little's works, for that matter, its power. There is a sense of dread, of almost unbearable loathing that permeates THE STORE, and this brutal unpredictability raises Little's writing to a level that is at times far above his peers. Most novels quickly lay out who is good and who is evil; Bentley Little works under the premise, a realistic one that people cannot be so easily categorized. The result is that as we read him we are forced to doubt ourselves, to wonder if we would have the strength or the foresight to act differently from his characters if we were put in the same situations.
The conclusion, in Little's typical manner, is ambiguous and not particularly comforting. THE STORE doesn't have quite the moral complexity of Little's last book, but that's not to say it is without weight. First and foremost it's a masterfully written, entertaining, and terrifying story; but beneath the surface it's also a brutally scathing look taken to the ultimate extreme, of course at the effect that corporate culture can have on a small town. Following up masterpieces such as THE IGNORED and THE MAILMAN, THE STORE is solid proof that Little may at this moment be horror fiction's premier author.
As the novel begins, Bill Davis, the likable protagonist, is a happily married telecommuter who is looking to make a little spare cash to help his two teenage daughters enjoy their summer. Enter The Store: a nationwide chain of Wal-Mart-like shopping centers that only sets up branches in small towns. The Store has come to take up residence in Bill's nature-loving home of Juniper, Arizona, with promises of low prices and everything any shopper could possibly want under one roof an idea that has the little town buzzing with excitement. But a hidden menace comes with it. Dead animals and ominous accidents that surround the construction site of The Store-to-be should have tipped off the town's residents, but the lure of all that potential extra income flooding into the town goes a long way toward closing their eyes to the warning signs. It's always those things you welcome with open arms that can hurt you the most, isn't it? And so a freakish nightmare beyond anyone's wildest imaginings gains a foothold in this quiet Arizona community.
Once The Store opens, it quickly becomes apparent that it not only plans on dominating the shopping scene, but also the local politics. Money talks in a small town, and The Store's deep pockets soon have the local police force, mayor, and school system under its belt. Small businesses unable to compete go belly-up by the handful, and as Juniper and its residents fall further under The Store's influence, with nowhere else to turn for what they need, the stock on the shelves begins to change. Firecrackers and M-80s placed on the very bottom shelf (for only a quarter apiece) at eye-level view for a child and child pornography videotapes conveniently placed where the local clergy can find them are just some of The Store's unorthodox business strategies. Bill Davies is appalled, but if anyone else is they're keeping it to themselves; The Store has become the focal point of the entire community has in fact become the community and its power in the town seems unimpeachable.
The novel really gets going when Bill's two daughters take jobs at The Store, against their father's wishes. At this point THE STORE rises to a level of stomach-churning horror that most modern horror novels don't even attempt. Becoming an employee of The Store requires an initiation that makes the worst frat hazing look like the Mickey Mouse Club. Many readers will undoubtedly find themselves deeply disturbed at how convincingly Little paints a portrait of groupthink mentality and the appeal of a cult like, tight-knit community, one that makes The Store's employees willing to visit unspeakable evils upon anyone who threatens the business's livelihood. And if that threat is a member of an employee's family, it only makes the revenge that much more satisfying. The psychological violence here is mesmerizing.
Little generates horror that truly runs deep in the reader's veins by creating believable, well developed, and (most important) likable characters, and then taking us step by step through their gradual transformation into brainwashed, soulless members of The Store's team. It's a depressing journey to see characters you have been made to like commit the vilest of atrocities, and this is exactly what gives THE STORE, and all of Little's works, for that matter, its power. There is a sense of dread, of almost unbearable loathing that permeates THE STORE, and this brutal unpredictability raises Little's writing to a level that is at times far above his peers. Most novels quickly lay out who is good and who is evil; Bentley Little works under the premise, a realistic one that people cannot be so easily categorized. The result is that as we read him we are forced to doubt ourselves, to wonder if we would have the strength or the foresight to act differently from his characters if we were put in the same situations.
The conclusion, in Little's typical manner, is ambiguous and not particularly comforting. THE STORE doesn't have quite the moral complexity of Little's last book, but that's not to say it is without weight. First and foremost it's a masterfully written, entertaining, and terrifying story; but beneath the surface it's also a brutally scathing look taken to the ultimate extreme, of course at the effect that corporate culture can have on a small town. Following up masterpieces such as THE IGNORED and THE MAILMAN, THE STORE is solid proof that Little may at this moment be horror fiction's premier author.
The Summoning (16)
An evil older than time is rising from the desert over the small town of Rio Verde, Arizona. Brad Wood has performed a lot of autopsies, but never like this one -- the body is purged of all blood. Fear made Sue Wing run for the darkened school that night -- fear she could only name in the Cantonese of her grandmother: "Cup-hu-girngsi" -- translated as "corpse-who-drinks-blood".
The Town (17)
Gregory Tomasov has returned with his family to the quaint Arizona community of his youth. In McGuane, the air is clean, the land is unspoiled. Nothing much has changed. Except now, no one goes out after dark. And no one told Gregory that he shouldn't have moved into the old abandoned farm on the edge of town. Once upon a time something bad happened there. Something that's now buried in its walls. Something now reborn in the nightmares of Gregory's young son. Something about to be unleashed. What happened once is going to happen again in...The Town. You can't go home again.
University (18)
Reluctantly returning for another semester at UC, campus editor Jim Parker and library assistant Faith Pullen are alarmed by a series of bloody accidents that seem to be linked to an eerie and sinister force.
The Vanishing (19)
In Beverly Hills a businessman slaughters his entire family and leaves behind a video of the massacre and a cryptic message: "this is where it begins." Sure enough, it is only the beginning. Children everywhere are either being killed or are disappearing. Social worker Carrie Daniels wants to know why. God help her when she finds out.
The Walking (20)
Miles Huerdeen is a private investigator. His elderly father suffers a stroke and dies a few months later. But his dad doesn't rest in peace. He walks. Around and around his room, eyes blank and staring at nothing, heart stopped, lungs still. He's dead, but up and moving.
Miles calls a buddy in the coroner's office and they come and take the boogying body away, after the proper drugs and restraints are applied. But the body disappears a few days later.
Now Miles is in a desperate search for his father. He discovers that others have died and walked. Some have died naturally, others hideously murdered. Will Miles find his dad? Will he discover the cause of the mysterious undead walking? Read for yourself.
Little also tells a parallel story, which impacts the main story, about Wolf Canyon, and the witch named William who establishes the town as a refuge for other witches harassed and persecuted by those close-minded, mean, nasty Christian folk. When are writers going to tire of this insulting stereotype?
Other than that, the book is quite good, suspenseful and at times scary.
Miles calls a buddy in the coroner's office and they come and take the boogying body away, after the proper drugs and restraints are applied. But the body disappears a few days later.
Now Miles is in a desperate search for his father. He discovers that others have died and walked. Some have died naturally, others hideously murdered. Will Miles find his dad? Will he discover the cause of the mysterious undead walking? Read for yourself.
Little also tells a parallel story, which impacts the main story, about Wolf Canyon, and the witch named William who establishes the town as a refuge for other witches harassed and persecuted by those close-minded, mean, nasty Christian folk. When are writers going to tire of this insulting stereotype?
Other than that, the book is quite good, suspenseful and at times scary.