The Town

A pregnant woman gives birth to a cactus, a small church grows hair and bleeds, a man sprouts an umbilical cord and, one by one, residents of a tiny Southwest town die violently. These and other bizarre events begin occurring shortly after Gregory Tomasov returns to his old hometown of McGuane, Ariz., with his wife and three children. The old adage ""You can't go home again"" has perhaps never rung more true, as Bram Stoker Award-winner Little (The House) draws upon elements of religion, the supernatural, sexual fantasy and psychological horror to create a modern-day ghost town. Almost immediately after they unwittingly move into an old farmhouse where a deranged man once murdered his family and committed suicide, the Tomasovs are transformed. The two younger children become obsessed with the shadows inside the home's bathhouse, shadows that eat dead animals, torment children and kill mercilessly. As the deaths mount and small-town life becomes more dangerous and freakish, residents begin to blame the Tomasovs, whom they believe carry some kind of curse. Not until the terrifying finale, which takes place during a sandstorm and blackout, does everyone realize the evil's roots. What, in a lesser writer's hands, would have been an obvious conclusion remains a mystery until the end. While reminiscent of Dean Koontz and Stephen King, Little crafts his own vivid landscape full of dark corners, twisted characters and a gruesome plot. (May)