What is Evil? - The Bleeding Season (Review) It has been so long since I wrote a good review on here that I think I've forgotten how. I know I really neglect my reading websites and just my reading in general these days, but I've been trying to get back in the hang of things. I started by reading two Richard Laymon books, which are good, easy, fun reads which I'll probably post reviews of later. I read these books rather quick and they helped me get out of my massive reading slump. I was going through my Kindle after I finished the second book trying to figure out what I was going to read next and happened upon The Bleeding Season. I tried reading The Bleeding Season last summer but I really couldn't handle it. I don't know whether it was due to my mind set at the time or what, but the book was too dark and slow-paced for me to really enjoy at the time. So I decided to try to finish it. I'm extremely glad I did. ***************************************** The Goodreads description of the book: Alan, Tommy, Rick, Donald and Bernard were inseparable best friends living in the small, coastal Massachusetts town of Potter's Cove. A circle of five, their world was simple and happy until the day Tommy was struck by a car and killed. Nothing was ever the same. They were never the same.Years later, as the four survivors-all unhappy, unsuccessful and marking time-approach their fortieth birthdays, Bernard suddenly commits suicide.Within weeks of Bernard's death, one by one the mutilated bodies of murder victims are found in town, and as the three remaining friends attempt to solve the riddle of Bernard's suicide, they come to realize that he may not have been who or what they thought he was. His entire life may have been a lie, and rather than the sad, lonely and harmless person they believed him to be, he very well may have been a savage ritual killer, a bleeder of young women who conjured evil to fulfill his own demented dreams. To find the truth not only about Bernard, but themselves, they must delve into the darkness and those who inhabit it, a darkness that cradles an unspeakable evil so terrifying it could forever trap them in the shadows of the damned and shatter the very concept of their existence.THE BLEEDING SEASON: Evil is a state of mind. Evil is a state of mind. Remember that. I've never read a book dealing more with what evil actually is than this one. And this is definitely not your typical horror story. This story is sad and at times you will want to put it down. It gets that sad. There is no scene in this book that is too gory (is that how you spell that?) or disgusting. It just isn't that kind of horror novel. This book builds atmosphere. Fuck, it chokes you with it and then makes you care about these characters who it puts through hell, literally and figuratively, at every turn. But what really disturbed me about this novel is that it actually made me feel vulnerable just like the characters in it. Do we really know the people we love? Are we born evil or influenced by it. Is evil a state of mind or is it like a disease? Is it both? It's hard to talk about this book, but I highly recommend it. 5 glowing stars ********************************** I probably won't be on here much for a while because I have to go to this six week university program after vacation this week, but I'll try to make updates from my phone (which is a pain in the ass to do). Sorry about the inactivity. I'm reading Boy's Life by Robert McCammon right now and I'm definitely going to try to review that book, even though it might be harder than this book to review. I love it so far. :)
I have read a number of works by Greg Gifune, the most recent of which was The Bleeding Season. Based on my experience, two things are apparent. First, Mr. Gifune has a strong interest in the impact of dramatic (and in some cases traumatic) historical events in the lives of his characters – and how these events literally come back and haunt the characters at a later time. Second, he is a cerebral writer, and he spends much time within the thought processes and flow of consciousness of his characters. The Bleeding Season fits this pattern well, which is fine with me because I enjoy this method of character development. The story focuses on three friends, men in their late thirties, who have just learned that a fourth friend recently committed suicide. The four had been friends since early childhood and the death understandably shakes them up. The remaining three, Alan, Donald, and Rick, begin working together to figure out why their friend unexpectedly took his own life. The impetus for their investigation is a suicide tape left by Bernard where he details the trio’s strengths and weaknesses and hints at his “other side”. The postmortem tape is quite brutal in its honesty and taunts the men even further to review their lives, and the secret life led by Bernard. The long and short of Bernard’s life (and these are not spoilers) is this: in his teens Bernard was introduced to and became fascinated with evil rituals of a satanic nature – and began stalking and killing women. The entire narrative is told through the first person from Alan’s perspective. He is a flawed character who constantly is reexamining his past and the past of his friends looking for clues, cause, and fault for the horrifying outcomes. Alan’s recounting of family and relationship history plays a huge role in the story, and much of the action takes place within Alan’s mind as he analyzes and ruminates about everything from what is happening at the moment to the experiences and interactions of the men when they were boys. This is not to say there aren’t intense and frightening scenes. There certainly are, and they are routinely unnerving. Mr. Gifune casts these passages in such a way that the reader is kept on edge (at least I was), and constantly assessing the flow of the narrative. As a result, the horror is kept fresh and unpredictable and nothing comes across as rote. This type of storytelling may not be everyone’s cup of tea – you don’t get a neat and tidy explanation or conclusion. This is fine with me – something to ponder after the book is done is a huge bonus. The Bleeding Season delivers big time.
Do You like book The Bleeding Season (2007)?
Having heard so many positives about The Bleeding Season, I went in somewhat guardedly, having been burnt by high expectations before. Fortunately, I need not have been concerned.A captivating and compelling read that creeps inexorably toward its less than neat conclusion, Greg F Gifune's The Bleeding Season is as much a philosophical reflection on the nature of evil as it is the story of a small group of friends trying to come to terms with one of their own having been a serial killer before he committed suicide. Gifune teases the reader with possible supernatural origins for what protagonist Alan learns about his dead friend, Bernard, but refuses to commit to such a simple explanation for all that takes place within his novel. I'm torn as to whether this worked in The Bleeding Season's favour, but as I've not been able to stop thinking about it since I put it down this morning, it's clear it had a considerable effect on me.A highly skilled writer, Gifune occasionally allows Alan to wax a little too lyrical about his circumstances, which caused the pace to stutter in the back half of the novel. But otherwise this is well worth the time and effort of any horror aficionado. Do check out what all the fuss is about.4 Lidless Eyes for The Bleeding Season.
—Kaisersoze
The Bleeding Season has a very enticing premise:In the small town of Potter's Cove, five boys are best buddies. One day, young Tommy is struck by a car and killed. Fast forward to present day where the four men are pushing forty, and Bernard has committed suicide.Now some weird shit is happening to the remaining three men, and revelations have come to light that Bernard had some very dark secrets.Yeah. I am fully on board.The first half or so of this novel had me very tightly in its grip. Gifune kept the pacing at a steady rate, drawing out the sense of mystery and dread to where I couldn't get through the pages fast enough.This looked like a five star read for sure. I had to dock about half a star for the pacing stutter-steps. Alan, ourprotagonist, waxed philosophic just a bit too much, and I felt that towards the later part of the novel the story flow suffered for it.These philosophic instances were warranted, sure. Early on they were present, but they seemed to support the flow of the narrative much better than in the second half of the novel, where they felt a little forced on me. This is a very minor quibble in the grand scheme of things. The only reason I bring it up was because of the difference I noticed through the storyline.This is the biggest problem I had with the book:I wish there was a lot more time spent with when the men were kids, asthis laid the groundwork for what would happen later, and unfortunately this content was either edited out or he simply decided that this was the way it would be.He could have easily fleshed this period out another hundred pages or so and the book would have been awesome.And Tommy, we barely knew ye, it seemed that you would have been the most interesting character of the bunch.So, four stars because it is a good story with some very fine parts. I will definitely read him again.
—Bill
This is the first book I've read by Greg F. Gifune and to say I enjoyed it would be a massive understatement, totally blew me away, a horror that touches on the evil of man, how that evil manifests after death and the shocking tale of man with two lives. This is a book that doesn't rely on excessive descriptions of bloodshed and violence, that said it is horror and there are elements that tie it to the genre but the strength of this novel is the characterisation and the gripping story.Alan, Tommy, Rick, Donald and Bernard were close childhood friends, inseparable as kids can be and absolutely devastated the day a tragic accident killed Tommy their leader. Life carried on, they endured but they never truly recovered each resorting to their own coping mechanisms, each to their own battle, each flawed in their own way.Fast approaching 40 and with very little to show for their lives, dead end jobs the likes of used car salesman, security guard and bouncer, the friends are about to feel that shock again as Bernard, apparently down on his luck resorts to hanging himself.All the possessions he had left were a duffel bag, address book and the picture of an unidentified woman, no suicide note, that arrives later in the post and it’s on a cassette. The story is told from Alan’s point of view and it’s riveting as we listen to Bernard’s final words to his friends, a few home truths are laid bare but it’s what he alludes to that grabs their attention and I was hooked at this pointBernard had always been the weak one, gifted with his mouth but rarely truthful, perhaps more morally sensitive than the others Alan has to discover why he killed himself and it soon becomes obvious that Bernard wasn't quite who they thought he was. Each of them recollect stories from their childhood, occasions where Bernard acted anything other than a normal kid but when they all dream the same dream and bodies start to appear, the terrifying darkness reaches out to them.An intelligent and totally absorbing read that drags you in and doesn't let go (like any good horror villain), I will definitely be exploring more of Greg F Gifune’s work. Highly recommended.
—Paul Nelson
