The Other by Thomas Tryon
It's hard to believe that this is Thomas Tryon's first novel, 'The Other' is fully formed and sophisticated in its characterization of small town Pequot's Landing in Connecticut in the 1930s. The central family is there, too. Many of the characters are surely drawn from life, and Tryon gets all of the details right in a fashion that likely still makes Stephen King envious.
King definitely was influenced by this book--maybe he should reread Tryon and get back on track. 'Under The Dome' missed huge opportunities of subtle small-town life that is rife in Tryon's 'The Other' and 'Harvest Home'. I appreciated all of the period details that were effortlessly scattered throughout, the Chautauqua desk in particular was fun to look up.
The novel was a raging best-seller back in 1972, and it is easy to see why. It is one of the best horror novels I've ever read, full of terrible acts and secrets without ever scraping the bottom of the barrel in taste or quality. With Niles and Holland Perry, the themes of growing up and the nostalgia, I was reminded of a more cynical 'Dandelion Wine' and 'Something Wicked This Way Comes'.
Tom Tryon was a relatively successful actor of his day, but had grown tired of Hollywood and the game that had to be played as one got older there. I've found no evidence so far, but Tryon must have been writing for years before this novel because of the confidence of it.
I'm changing my mind last minute and giving this the full five stars, because even though when I was much, much younger, my Dad rented the faithful movie adaptation (Tryon wrote the screenplay); even having seen that, I was still shocked and riveted by what happened in this book. Simply, no movie could convey the subtlety of what happens in 'The Other'.
