This is a horror novel with some clout - mentioned both by Stephen King in Danse Macabre and again by Kim Newman and Stephen Jones in Horror: The 100 Best Books. It's also a horror novel that was released over 30 years ago, but luckily has been re-released in ebook format and is now available on amazon for less than 5 dollars, which is a great price for this treasure of a horror novel that is a must read for anyone who considers themselves as a devotee of the horror genre. All Heads Turn... is v...

Beautifully written and great story but didn't get the ending. I hate that, but what you gonna do? I'll give it 4 stars.

Not exactly what I was expecting at all. The idea sounds great but the actual telling if it? Not as great. By 70% I was ready for it to be over. This book should’ve been one of my great loves but it just did not click with me.

Alright it’s the end of the month and I’m calling it on this disappointment. Anyone remember reading about that brief period, before VHS, when porn took itself seriously? This felt like a horror version of Behind The Green Door. Just big chunks of She blended with racism, vulgarity, sweat, and chaotic violence.It’s April and I’m out.

I read this e-book with my horror group at Shelfari.This book is widely considered a classic by many hard-core horror fans. It features African voodoo, slavery, southern plantations, snakes, curses and a unique cast of characters. It is well written and the story is beautifully told. I recommend the STORY highly for any fan of old-school horror.However, the formatting problems in this book seriously interfered with my enjoyment of the story. There were commas and periods out of place, character

There are certain novels that are discovered early on by other novelists and talked about constantly. Some of the time, the public picks up on these and turns them, and their authors, into popular figures. Far more often, however, they are left in obscurity among the masses while achieving legendary status among the industry insiders. Anne Rivers Siddons' _The House Next Door_ is a prime example; Lee Smith's _Oral History_ is another. And there are many other examples, including this tome, which...

I feel I’ve given this one sufficient time. Sitting on page 239 and I’m so confused, disinterested, and bored. The story is just stupid. Some sorta alternate history where the South maybe won the Civil War and slavery was therafter abolished. It starts with some moronic wedding massacre; it’s chock-full of offensive and ridiculous names, and the characters are doing absolutely nothing for long stretches of the exposition. This book was favorably reviewed in Paperbacks from Hell but I’ve found it...

Once again, Goodreads logs the wrong version of the book... I read the Kindle version, not this fancy limited autographed one :)This Southern Gothic begins with what must be one of the most iconic openings of a horror novel: a bloodbath at a wedding. The story then jumps to Britain where we eventually meet our main character, Jackson, who finds himself entangled with the survivors of the wedding massacre; and particularly so with Nhora, the stepmother. What follows is a tense, sensual, and suspe...

Having never read anything by John Farris, I stumbled upon his 1977 novel "All Heads Turn When the Hunt Goes By" after seeing David J. Schow's very laudatory remarks concerning the book in Jones & Newman's overview volume "Horror: 100 Best Books" (1988). In his essay, Schow calls it a "unique horror novel; the strongest single work yet produced by the field's most powerful individual voice," as well as "the first modern sexual horror novel yet written." "All Heads Turn" was hardly an early work

Abandoned at 57%, due to boredom. This book has not held up well. It's basically a cross between She by H. Rider Haggard and The Beetle by Richard Marsh (substituting a snake for a beetle), but not nearly as interesting. Not scary, and not campy enough to be a fun read. Disappointing.

All Heads Turn... is my first exposure to John Farris's work. I've seen his books on the horror shelves for many years and I have no clue why I haven't busted one open before now. Maybe, it was because I never really knew any Farris fans in my horror circles. Either way, All Heads Turn When the Hunt Goes By remedied that. I am now a fan. The title is a curious one and, for the life of me, I have no idea why the book is named that, even after reading it. That mystery aside, Farris crafts a southe...

Read for Classic Horror in Halloween Bingo! This was my first experience with John Farris, and it won’t be my last. I was blown away by the sheer beauty of the writing, the quality of his prose—quality prose isn’t something easily found in ‘70s horror. I also appreciated the pacing: Farris allows his story to grow, slowly, and answers aren’t given right away. Patience is required. I am docking a star simply because I found myself struggling to really ‘connect’ with most of the characters, as wel...

There is no other horror novel quite like this one. Its notoriety and reputation--its esteem and admiration--are fully well-earned. It was conceived at the dawn of the horror-fiction revolution stirred awake by Stephen King; during that long 'lull' before the genre exploded and multi-millions began to be tossed around. Ambitious mass-market authors at that time, were not really throwing all their energies into this genre because it was considered a 'sleepy backwater'. A special-interest genre. I...

John Farris is a legend in the horror genre, but unfortunately unknown to newer readers. Considering he's credited as being an influence to Stephen King, that should be enough. This novel follows two families, but largely the wealthy Southern Bradwins, as a horrific wedding day tragedy unfolds, and the expatriate British doctor who comes to take care of the surviving war hero son. Deadly paths converge amid suggestions of an ancient African horror that has survived to seek it's vengeance.Highest...

Sizzling voodoo horror from the Seventies - one of those pre-King novels that have become largely forgotten. One fascinating thing about this book is that it shows what horror was before it became formulaic during the Eighties. The structure and character development are interesting and somewhat odd, the atmosphere of the book is unique. "All Head Turn..." has one obvious structural problem - the second half cannot sustain the heady pace of the first one. But the quality of the writing sustains

really strange and grandly ambitious southern gothic / val lewton-style horror. interesting amalgamation of characters and settings. great opening scene in the church. never actually scary, though-- and gets less scary as it goes. by the end it's like, yeah, okay, let's just kill this snake lady and get on with it.

Stephen King liked this book. I did not. That makes me sad. America's premier novelist of terror. When he turns it on as he does here, nobody does it better.*glares at Stephen King*I just can't finish it. I tried. It has voodoo and snakes. Dang it. I just couldn't figure out which character was who and what the hell was happening. I did read over half the sucker before throwing in the towel.I'm bored now.

All Heads Turn When the Hunt Goes By is in dire need of a physical reprint! (From what I hear the e-book is littered with lazy formatting issues.) Switching back and forth between the conventions and dressings of a southern family gothic and a tale of post colonial horror, Farris' novel of 1977 was a notorious experiment in form then but is mostly forgotten now. What it is still is a singular experience in the genre: unorthodox plotting, jarring transitions in tone, byzantine approach to backsto...

Despite the glowing Stephen King blurb on the cover, and many positive reviews here on GR, AHTWTHGB did not do much for me. The book starts off with a military wedding in 1942 that goes way wrong, with the groom ('Clipper') using his dress sword to kill his new wife and his father ('Boss') among others while the chapel falls apart around the guests. Why did Clipper perform such an act? Why did the chapel self destruct? Very strange events to be sure. We then flash forward a few years to England,...

Absolute classic by John Farris! I really like the setting on the plantation, the mysterious woman (goddess), the references to Rider Haggard's She. It's an amazing read, absolutely no Southern comfort but extremely thrilling and fascinating. Reading this book is like watching an eerie movie. The main character is a real head-turner. The book has a bit of a slow start but then it cuts like a knife...