Book Review: "Boys in the Valley" by Philip Fracassi

“We didn't hit it off like many others in similar situations....Instead, he and I sort of gravitated around each other, either friends nor foes, like the moons of a planet we had no interest in observing but whose orbit we were forced to nonetheless reside within.”

The first time I encountered Philip Fracassi's works was when I read a book last year entitled A Child Alone With Strangers. An odd and provocative title which, at the time, terrified me - it was actually apt when we come to what the book was about (and if you haven't read it and you're judging by the title then I guarantee that you're wrong). A trauma-inspired novel of horror after horror, how sadness and grief begets sadness and grief, it made me interested in hopefully encountering his works again in the future. Through my Amazon recommendations I have finally done so. Boys in the Valley is a grief and trauma inspired nightmare with glimmers of hope and metaphors as deep as the fiery pit.

I think this quotation from the book sums it all up best:

“One reason tragedy exists is to teach us how to help others, help others learn how to find a way through their own dark time, through a journey of growth.”

Fracassi is a master of this old-school form of horror where not everything is a boring shock-value gore-fest. Instead, there are events and build ups that point us and guide us towards the horror. It made for a much better novel than your run-of-the-mill horror texts. A lot of this text relates to demonic possession and exorcisms which makes for a brilliant amount of scope and the fact that he has a lot to work with also means that we should get a really good story.

“The harder you fight to join the path of your choosing, the more the decision will resonate within you.”

Peter is orphaned and sent to live with the other boys under the priests. His parents are killed in a murder. He meets other boys, each with a very distinct personality. The shock and horror tends to kick in around the 20% marks and honestly, though it isn't very frightening, it is very effective in communicating the trauma of the children and what it relates to. There are a lot of things that are typical of Fracassi's writing in which he has a child at the centre of the story experiencing something we usually get from an adult's point of view. Another thing we have is a lack of people around to actually protect the child involved, which in itself heightens the tension.

“To see him so visibly, dramatically shaken is like seeing an adult cry for the first time. Seeing someone—someone you had thought unbreakable—splinter and crack. I still recall the first time I saw my mother cry. It was the first time in my life I felt truly exposed. Truly at risk. Because if our parents can be hurt, or shaken, or brought down by despair, what hope have we?”

Philip Fracassi delivers on fright but when it comes to storyline, what is it that he does that draws the reader in? He presents us with a horrific situation right from the beginning. I remember in A Child Alone With Strangers where the author offered up a terrifying and grief-stricken death scene as the start of the story. In this text it really is not much different. Early on, we are presented with events that we think are horrifying, and this comes to shape the experiences of the characters and create their realities. This is where we start to get narrators with things like trauma and main characters we listen to with caution for their mental health issues.

All in all, this book is a terrifying novel of children in the midst of crisis involving demonic possession, exorcisms, orphanages, the church and its secrets and so much more. It has a ring to it that does not make it quite a horror novel, but makes it as horrific as a novel can possibly be. Many have called this one of the scariest books they have ever read and though I do not feel that way, I can understand them.