When young widow Natalie looks into the disappearance of some books from the local library, she finds herself targeted by the community's most wealthy and powerful, and uncovers a conspiracy of the supernatural which threatens the freedom of the small town of Oxrun Station, and beyond. With the help of newspaperman Marc, Natalie races to stop the cabal from carrying out it's evil plans before the town falls victim to ...The Hour of the Oxrun Dead.This book, the first in Grant's legendary series,...

3.5; some aspects of the novel are thoroughly dated, and the ending is abrupt even by Grant's standards, but still well worth reading for the wonderfully eerie and understated atmosphere, which is perhaps comparable in tone and effectiveness to a Val Lewton film.

Aw I like Charles L. Grant. Solid spooky vibes even when the story doesn't stand out. Not great dialogue in this one and the ending is rushed but, again, stellar vibes. Dead leaves in the wind and things peering out from the dark and ominous forebodings. Vibes, vibes, vibes.

Nicely put together from Centipede Press. Great production values, nice artwork, etc. I enjoyed the novella and the interview more than that the main novel: hence the three stars. Grant is a good writer, and the novella seems to be written later in his career (I haven't confirmed, but it is a more mature piece of writing than the main novel, which was one of his first published). That said, Grant has a good, minimal style, with generally well thought out sentence structure. This is not lazy writ...

I thought Grant was a dull writer when I first encountered him in the 1980s. Knowledgable people continue to sing his praises, so I recently decided to take another look. He's still dull.If I may borrow terms applied to his work by two other Goodreads reviewers, "genteel suburban horror" sums things up quite satisfactorily. No complicated, tormented, edgy characters, just respectable, bland middle class folk. Plotting is straightforward, if sometimes clumsy and rudimentary. The prose is mostly d...

Charles L. Grant proved that a whisper can echo longer than a scream and forever set the bar for quiet, atmospheric horror when he introduced readers to Oxrun Station.

This was my first book by Charles Grant and while it was very light on chills, it was an enjoyable story. More than any creepy atmosphere I had expected from reading reviews, the two main characters' relationship was what I found to be most charming. Character driven narrative and romance are not normally what I hope to find when I pick up a book, so this was surprising.It was a nice palate cleanser.

Lots of fun in the first Oxrun Station novel. Engaging quirky "normal" suburban characters acting totally insane so we can get a story (just run away from Oxrun Station for heaven's sake). Tell me you don't like Natalie and Marc and I'll prove you have no heart. The payoff turns out to be less menacing, in my opinion, than the buildup, but it is a fun roller coaster ride nonetheless. Kudos for Grant not loading us with a lot of post-climax BS about the protagonists' future life. Quit while you a...

This is the first Grant novel that I read. It was great. Heavy on atmosphere and character development, the novel shies away from cheap scares. I've read a lot of Ramsey Campbell and this style is much more in that school than say Barker or King. I think I've heard it referred as "Quiet Horror". Regardless, much recommend! Will definitely dive into another Charles L. Grant novel soon.

I'd never heard of Charles L. Grant, until he died in 2006. Shortly after his death, Cemetery Dance ran a tribute issue to him, devoting two or three story slots to unpublished horror tales he'd written, and quite a bit of laudatory essays and personal accounts from his friends and fans. During his life, he'd been known more for his influential horror anthologies in the 80s, which according to many of the authors featured in the Cemetery Dance tribute issue, offered a haven for more subtle horro...

THE HOUR OF THE OXRUN DEAD is an intriguing read, the first book in what would become an ongoing, disconnected series of books set in the fictional town of Oxrun Station. It is very subtle in its horror, with some gripping suspense and main characters you can like. As with all of Charles Grant's gothic horror, the prose weaves a spell of almost surreal gloom. In a few places, in an attempt to weave that spell, the prose gets awkward, with strange analogies that make you stop and have to think ab...

Let's face it, the guy had style. Those staples of horror--the rundown graveyard, the sinister shape in the fog, the strange noises in the night--they're all here in spades, but rather than feeling cliched, author Charles L. Grant has fashioned them into an engaging little novel of paranoia (one of his first, if I'm correct). "Oxrun Dead" isn't startling or brutal or even all that frightening (well, okay, I lied... maybe it's a little frightening). What it is is atmospheric--even elegantly so, a...

It was Grady Hendrix that made me do it.Inspired by his Paperbacks From Hell summary of the 1970’s and 80’s Horror boom, I decided to read a book that I’d had around for a while, one that was a breakthrough novel from an author who’s a “writer’s writer”.You may not've heard of Charles L Grant before, even though he’s widely regarded by those writers “in the know”. He’s one of those authors who amassed novels and sales while getting on with the job of writing during his lifetime without too much

The first of the Oxrun series is a wet blanket of a novel. It's like reading a Nancy Drew cardboard potboiler tinged with the gothic--every small town has a cult seeking world domination, no? What is most memorable of 'The Hour of the Oxrun Dead' is that it contains one of the most nonsensical love affairs ever put to the page. Grant can lay on the atmosphere, and he passionately does so--the fog, the diffused lights, the prowler in the dark--but it seems like he was writing with one hand in the...

I've been a fan of Charles Grant, and his Oxrun Station stories, for a long while now, but this is the first of the Oxrun novels I've read, and I liked it. A lot.Grant was a leading proponent of the quiet horror movement, the more restrained counter to splatterpunk. He viewed quiet horror as more based in atmosphere and character, as opposed to violence and gore. There can, of course, be a balance between the two schools, but that's an argument for another time. Still, his emphasis was often on

This is the first in a series of books set in the fictional town of Oxrun Station. If you are looking for splatter punk, or excessive gore, this is NOT that type of horror. Charles Grant has an incredible style that emphasizes the building of oppressive atmosphere, and developing strong characterization. I will admit that the "climax" was rather brief in relation to the build-up; but I felt that this was perfect for the type of tale that this novel set forth. The mounting dread was almost tangib...

Although the introduction to events in the town of Oxrun Station was a little clunky, it did capture my interest, and soon I was contentedly following the life of small town librarian Natalie Windsor. And as events quickly began to point to some sort of sinister conspiracy, and a possible supernatural connection, I was hooked! What could some sort of fraternity rings and missing books at the town library have in common? What was the mysterious killer that lurked in the night? How did the leading...

Interesting idea and great cover. When starting with the book suspense slowly built up. But the more you read the more tedious the story became. I was warned about the quiet horror concept of the author but at some parts you really had to struggle to keep your eyes open. In my opinion it would have been better if Grant would have set the story in Britain than in the USA. Besides he could have integrated more horror elements not only the eerie basic flow. The reason I finished the book was becaus...

You could tell Grant was starting to come into his own with The Hour of the Oxrun Dead.The writing was much better than The Curse. The atmosphere that he sets has a nice slow build up of dread. In The Curse, the female characters were amazingly shallow and annoying. While they were better in this story, the main character still puts herself in stupid situations. Oddly enough, I've read a few other authors whose novels that were written in the 1970s and they had the same type of female characters...

This was the first novel I've read by the late, esteemed Mr. Grant. He was a very talented writer. His writing oozes atmosphere. The setup and basically the first two thirds of the book were fantastically creepy and interesting. I wasn't wild about the climax, it felt kind of rushed after all that slow burn and brilliant setup. Still, I guess this was Mr. Grant's first novel and his writing improved hereafter. As a first novel its incredibly impressive. I definitely enjoyed this and look forward...