The Hour Before Dark

Never play the Dark Game...It will take you over...it will come alive... From New York Times bestselling author Douglas Clegg comes this riveting supernatural thriller of dangerous secrets within a haunted family. After one of the most vicious killings of recent years, Nemo Raglan must return to the New England island he thought he'd escaped for good . . . and the shadowy home called Hawthorn.



"Douglas Clegg has become the new star in horror fiction, and The Hour Before Dark is his best and most exciting novel to date. This is pure imagination, and it is wearing speed skates." -- Peter Straub, New York Times bestselling author of Ghost Story and, with Stephen King, The Talisman.



*"...An eerie psychological tale of supernatural horror that builds suspense gradually as the characters slowly peel back the layers of their past and face the terrors of their shared childhood. Clegg approaches horror with a stark and vital simplicity that is utterly convincing. Fans of Stephen King and Dean Koontz will appreciate this atmospheric gem." -- Library Journal.



"I was compelled to keep turning the pages as fear...raised my pulse to racing level from cover to cover." -- DarkEcho.



From the Publishers Weekly Starred Review:

"Suspenseful and relentlessly spooky, told in economical prose yet peopled by characters as fully realized as one’s own blood kin, this is at once the most artful and most mainstream tale yet from one of horror’s brightest lights."



"... A dark,psychologically astute novel that pushes beyond the horror genre

and into raw suspense...THE HOUR BEFORE DARK is a powerful and deeply engaging novel of disturbance and redemption...highly recommended to any reader who enjoys Stephen King, Dean Koontz, or Pat Conroy." -- The BookReporter.



"In his finest novel to date, Clegg establishes himself firmly as one of the leading authors in the horror genre...Hold onto your chair; The Hour Before Dark is a powerhouse of a read." -- Cemetery Dance Magazine.



A gripping read that is refreshingly character-driven, yet still produces a palpable sense of dread." - Fangoria.



Books by Douglas Clegg

The Children’s Hour

Goat Dance

Purity

Dark of the Eye

The Words

Wild Things

Nightmare House

Bad Karma

Red Angel

Night Cage

Mischief

The Infinite

The Abandoned

The Necromancer

Isis

The Hour Before Dark

You Come When I Call You

Naomi

The Nightmare Chronicles

The Machinery of Night

Breeder

The Attraction



Praise for Douglas Clegg's Fiction

"Douglas Clegg knows exactly what scares us, and he knows just how to twist those fears into hair-raising chills..." - Tess Gerritsen, New York Times bestselling author of the Rizzoli & Isles series.



"Clegg is the best horror writer of the post-Stephen King generation."

— Bentley Little, author of The Policy



"Clegg delivers!"

— John Saul, bestselling author of Faces of Fear and The Devil's Labyrinth.



"Clegg is one of the best!"

— Richard Laymon



"Douglas Clegg is a weaver of nightmares!"

— Robert R. McCammon

author of The Queen of Bedlam and Speaks The Nightbird.