Well the Lord of the Flies comp was SPOT ON. That was one of my favorite books as a kid, so it was nice to get something that gave me that similar feeling from reading that book. This one is was really interesting too because of the author's takes on similar themes that Lord of the Flies had. This book is scary as well. I felt fear in my bones from it. It is dark and it has a lot of hefty things to accomplish within its relatively short pages, but it manages to do so almost seamlessly. There's so much to love about this gripping horror and I'm very glad I read it.

This novel had all of my favorite elements! Isolation, possession, extreme weather conditions, good vs. evil, coming of age, and extreme suspense. I couldn't get enough! This was my first experience with a novel by author Philip Fracassi, but it surely will not be my last. His storytelling style will appeal to anyone that wants to sit on the edge of their seat and read with the lights on. Bc of the combination of the possession and isolation, I had to put this book down when it got too late at night. And in my opinion that is the sign of top notch horror. Read this! You won't be disappointed!
Thank you to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this awesome novel. It was *chef's kiss* and 5 stars! Highly recommend to all horror lovers.

A masterpiece of horror! Modern day classic. This book sucked me in and I read it in one sitting. The author had me caring for all the characters and what would happen to them. It was beautifully written and heartbreaking while being terrifying the entire time.

Rating: 3.5/5 ⭐
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This book makes me feel confused. Not by what happened but by how I feel about it. I really enjoyed my time with this book but it also wasn't the best book I've ever read. The author is a talented writer and the themes/setting were things that I personally enjoy but I feel like there were no surprises in the writing.
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The whole plot is given away very early on and honestly if you read the synopsis you basically know what's gonna happen. It's pretty straightforward that what you think will happen, happens except the one place I really thought this was going... it didn't. 😂 I thought there would be more social commentary on the Catholic church and humans as a whole but it's basically a big gory, messy, blood bath (in the best way).
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I'm not sure if it was just me but I found it very easy to figure out who to trust and who not to trust so once again no surprises for me there. The characters were ok but I never felt super connected to any of them for some reason....
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Do you see my dilemma now? It sounds like I wouldn't recommend this book but that's not really the case (I actually liked it I swear). If you enjoy religious horror, terrifying children and slasher vibes then I absolutely would recommend this book! It also does really well with making a close proximity, claustrophobic setting feel very intense and exciting.
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Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
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***Trigger warnings include but may not be limited to, murder, suicide, death of loved ones (including a baby), torture and abuse of minors, manipulation and death of animals.***

Philip Fracassi continues to up his game with each new release. This novel displays all of his considerable talent as a dark and imaginative storyteller. The shifting POV and tense pacing keep the frightening story moving toward a grim and satisfying end.

Boys In the Valley is a classic Horror story; an absolutely delightful scarefest that gripped me from the start.

In the opening scene, we meet a young boy on the night that he loses both of his parents and his home in one bloody tragedy. The violence of this scene aptly sets the tone for the entire story, tense and atmospheric.
From there, we find ourselves at St. Vincent's Orphanage for Boys, a self-contained parochial orphanage and school set in a remote valley in Pennsylvania.

It's the early 1900s and being in such a location makes for a dire lifestyle. The boys at the orphanage, under the careful watch of several priests, grow their own food and only ever socialize with one another. There are occasional supply runs to a distant farm, but only one of the priests, Father Andrew, and one of the older boys, Peter, ever go. For the rest of the boys, the grounds and the orphanage make up their entire world.

On a dark and dreary night, as all the boys lie in their bunks in the dorm, they hear a disturbance below. Someone has come seeking help from the priests. It's a group of men, one of whom is badly injured. The injured man is raving, dangerous, he has occult symbols carved all over his body. As the priests attempt to aid him, he dies suddenly, releasing an ancient evil with his last breath.

The boys upstairs aren't privy to these events, but as the doors to their dorm room suddenly burst open and the cross hanging sentry above their door falls to the ground, many can feel a shift in atmosphere. Soon a few of the boys begin acting strangely. They're suspicious and mean, bullying in ways they never attempted before. They begin forming groups and taking sides.

Peter, the oldest and golden boy of the orphanage, an aspiring priest, becomes the unofficial leader of one side, as another boy, Bartholomew, leads the dark side .As the tension rises, so does the danger and before the innocents can even wrap their minds around it, all hell breaks loose at St. Vincent's. It's chaos.

Fracassi transported me with this story. I loved the historical feel and the remote setting was so well done. I felt like I was there in the dark and the cold. I literally felt cold and I read this during one of the hottest weeks of the years. That's a damn good story.

It scared me. There were scenes, particularly in the beginning as it begins unfolding, that got my pulse-racing. I was simultaneously horrified and delighted. This felt like a treat to read. There are no tricks, or gimmicks. It's just a well-told, well-plotted, well-developed, atmospheric, engaging and creepy tale. A story that could be told just as easily around a campfire, as read in the silence of your own room at night. It's got that epic good-versus-evil feel, but stripped down to a fluid Lord of the Flies meets The Exorcist combination.

I would absolutely recommend this to any Horror fan, particularly if you are creeped out by things like religion and kids. If you are, this will play right into your sweet spots. Thank you so much to the publisher, Tor Nightfire, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I'm really excited to pick up more from this author!

𝟯.𝟱 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗥𝗦 𝗥𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗗 𝗨𝗣

“𝕲𝖚𝖎𝖑𝖙 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖍𝖆𝖙𝖊 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖗𝖆𝖌𝖊 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖉𝖊𝖊𝖕, 𝖉𝖊𝖊𝖕 𝖋𝖊𝖆𝖗 𝖋𝖑𝖔𝖔𝖉 𝖙𝖍𝖗𝖔𝖚𝖌𝖍 𝖍𝖎𝖒 𝖑𝖎𝖐𝖊 𝖎𝖈𝖞 𝖜𝖆𝖙𝖊𝖗. 𝕾𝖔𝖒𝖊𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖎𝖓𝖘𝖎𝖉𝖊 𝖍𝖎𝖘 𝖈𝖍𝖊𝖘𝖙, 𝖎𝖓 𝖍𝖎𝖘 𝖛𝖊𝖗𝖞 𝖘𝖔𝖚𝖑, 𝖇𝖊𝖈𝖔𝖒𝖊𝖘 𝖉𝖎𝖘𝖑𝖔𝖉𝖌𝖊𝖉—𝖆𝖓 𝖆𝖑𝖒𝖔𝖘𝖙 𝖙𝖆𝖈𝖙𝖎𝖑𝖊 𝖘𝖊𝖓𝖘𝖊 𝖔𝖋 𝖑𝖔𝖘𝖘—𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖓 𝖎𝖙 𝖘𝖑𝖎𝖉𝖊𝖘 𝖔𝖚𝖙 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖆𝖜𝖆𝖞, 𝖙𝖍𝖗𝖔𝖚𝖌𝖍 𝖍𝖎𝖘 𝖋𝖑𝖊𝖘𝖍, 𝖎𝖓𝖙𝖔 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖒𝖚𝖈𝖐, 𝖎𝖓𝖙𝖔 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖆𝖇𝖞𝖘𝖘 𝖙𝖍𝖆𝖙 𝖑𝖎𝖊𝖘 𝖇𝖊𝖞𝖔𝖓𝖉, 𝖙𝖍𝖆𝖙 𝖊𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖓𝖆𝖑 𝖉𝖆𝖗𝖐𝖓𝖊𝖘𝖘 𝖙𝖍𝖆𝖙 𝖜𝖆𝖎𝖙𝖘 𝖙𝖔 𝖈𝖔𝖓𝖘𝖚𝖒𝖊 𝖙𝖍𝖆𝖙 𝖜𝖍𝖎𝖈𝖍 𝖜𝖊 𝖑𝖔𝖘𝖊, 𝖜𝖍𝖎𝖈𝖍 𝖜𝖊 𝖌𝖎𝖛𝖊 𝖆𝖜𝖆𝖞, 𝖜𝖍𝖎𝖈𝖍 𝖎𝖘 𝖙𝖆𝖐𝖊𝖓.”

atmosphere? stunning
sense of dread? overwhelming
sympathy for the kids? yes, for once (those who know me know that this is a rare occurrence)
scariness factor? solid 6 out of 10

religion is effed up y’all. that’s the takeaway here for me

I didn't like this as much as most people seemed to - I felt it was a little drawn out and predictable for me. While not all of the violence was graphic (I don't mind graphic if it fits)- the aftermath of it was.

I'm not a huge fan of these orphanage schools run by the church because I feel they were horrific without adding any supernatural stuff. Hundreds of kids died in these schools from being beaten and starved that to me is scary in itself. The creep factor wasn't there for me in this one either.

There were definitely some really good parts to the story, the friendships between the boys was excellent and really sort of set the stage for some of the drama. I also really liked the struggle of Peter to decide whether to become a priest or to have a life with Grace.

Simply put, one of the best horror books I've read in a long time. Excellent and gripping all the way through.

*4.75 stars

Here I am reading another Philip Fracassi novel; this just cements the fact that he is one of my favorite authors. Boys in the Valley was such an enjoyable read for me. It, along with Fracassi's other works, always just flow so well. This book in particular truly read like a horror movie to me. While at first glance the concept didn't seem "fresh," I can easily say I've never read anything like this before. An eerie coming-of-age tale that is worth a read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was creepy! I enjoyed every minute of it! I plan on reading the audiobook as well. Hopefully it will be just as good.

Good Versus Evil!

It is the early 1900's when little Peter who is nine years old experiences a horror that no child should ever experience and it will be forever burned in mind, heart and dreams when he loses the warmth and safety of his family all in one night. Peter will be sent to a boys orphanage run by priests which will become his home and family until he turns eighteen unless he runs away as so many other boys had done in the past.

The story begins seven years later where Peter is one of the oldest boys among a group of 30 or more. Peter has always been a good boy and has become a leader and role model without even trying and all the younger children respect and look to him for comfort and guidance when needed. It's a very hard life that the boys live. The head priest is strict beyond words and if any of the rules are broken, there are no excuses accepted and the punishments given out are more than cruel. So this is why all the boys help one another to avoid breaking a rule.

Sadly, the more children there are the less food they get to eat and each meal is so sparse that hunger is always in their minds as the sounds of stomachs groan and rumble night after night. The boys are assigned daily chores from morning until supper time along with daily mass and prayer time. This is the life they live until their thin and sometimes frail bodies leave the orphanage. They reside in Pennsylvania so the winters are very brutal with many blizzards and the orphanage can be snowed in for weeks at a time. Every winter that passes brings illness with the freezing temperatures and the boys worry if they will lose another member of their small knit family since many the sickly children will not survive until the springtime.

One night a group of men including the sheriff bring a wounded man to their door begging for help from the priests to help save the man's life. The priests discover an assortment of occult carvings on the man's skin along with a gunshot wound but the priests know he needs spiritual help far more than physical care. Awful, strange and hideous sounds come from the man and the inhuman strength he exudes as he breaks the restraints and attacks a deputy and a few others brings death to the orphanage and an unseen evil presence will be left behind to assault the spiritually weak and it will gain strength in its numbers as two groups will emerge where the boys will be pitted against one another while the evil grows quickly fighting for dominance and will not leave any boy or priest untouched by it's malevolent power.


This book was terrifying in the creeping of insideous evil that I could feel through the pages that I read. The book was had such a frightening effect on me that I was afraid to read it in the.middle of the night. I haven't experienced those feelings with reading a book in a very long time. It's such a difference between being afraid and feeling creeped out which I find in reading many horror books. This novel was downright horrifyingly scary!

This book will appeal to any horror lover but if you were raised Catholic and especially if you attended parochial schools years ago then this book may have a big impact on the reader as far as the sinister evil attacking a Catholic orphanage and all those within because of their belief systems between good and evil.and the cruelty and abuse these children suffered on a daily basis. Please, don't get me wrong you don't have to be religious to understand or be entertained by the story because I can't imagine any reader not being affected by this very, very creepy book. The beautiful, atmospheric writing by "Philip Fracassi" was a complete reading experience. The characters were so relatable and my heartstrings were continuously tugged and pulled throughout the novel from page one until the very last page. I felt so many different emotions while reading this book while feeling tears welling up in my eyes so many times.

The writing was absolutely stellar! Fracassi did not overwrite or be repetitive with his descriptions yet he captured all the essence of youth and innocence combined with the coming of age to these boys that I felt I was right there with the boys experiencing their pain and terror and I was so emotionally caught up with each child that it hurt my heart. An amazing effect that the powerful writing had on myself. This book will be an unforgettable read for me and I just can't say enough about the exquisite writing and flow of words that brought out so many unexpected feelings and the fear factor, wow, wow, wow! I hope this talented author continues to write many stories along this line and hopefully this will be on the bestseller list for a.long, long time.

I highly recommend this horror novel!

I sincerely want to thank the author "Philip Francassi" the publisher "Tor Publishing Group/ Tor Fire" and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this fantastic book and any thoughts or opinions express are unbiased and mine alone!

I have given a rating of 5 TERRIFYING AND HEART SHATTERING 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 STARS!!

This novel was terrifying in such a good way! I simply could not put it down. The terror starts from the first page and doesn’t let up.

Peter, who just lost both of his parents to an unspeakable tragedy, finds himself in an orphanage, which sounds more like a concentration camp. He somehow manages to remain sane and adapt to his new surroundings, but the event that transpires one fateful night changes everything for him and all the residents of the orphanage, children and staff alike. This story reminded me of Children of the Corn, or any one of Stephen King’s masterpieces of terror, and that’s a huge compliment.

All the characters are fully fleshed out and the ending brings everything together. I felt I could relate to many of them, boys and adults alike. They were believable and real. I'm so happy I decided to pick this up. I kept thinking this would make a great film or TV series. Yes, it's that good.

Thank you to Tor Nightfire for the digital ARC via NetGalley!

I was provided an ARC via Netgalley, all opinions are my own.

This would be a great fall/winter read as it is set in the cold winter of Pennsylvania farmlands. There is nothing for miles surrounding the orphanage of St. Vincent's. When evil comes knocking on the front door of the orphanage one snowy night, the poor boys of the orphanage and their souls are in danger. You could really feel the buildup of suspense not only as the snowstorm was building but as the madness within the orphanage was taking over and reaching its peak.

This is my first book by Fracassi, but I grabbed it immediately when I saw it was available. I will have to check out more of his books. This wasn't overly gory, but it was the kind of suspenseful horror that I love. The worldbuilding made me feel like I was in the orphanage and I really felt Peter's conflict between his faith and his worldly desires. He really gave the story the atmospheric vibe it needed to go along with the terrifying acts that were playing out. I think it was made even more horrific by the fact that it was children carrying out the acts and you weren't sure if it was just madness or if something more sinister and paranormal was at play.

I really liked how the author played with the different perspectives in telling the story. We get to see the story from a few different views as things unfold and each of the characters is tested as the chaos around them unfolds. They struggle with faith, humanity, madness, and protecting those in their care as the storm around them rages.

I really enjoyed this! I highly recommend it!

I can say, horror books don’t often unsettle me; I appreciate the creep factor in them, but they don’t often leave me feeling uncomfortable. Well, Philip Fracassi (@pfracassi) succeeded in creeping me the f*ck out with BOYS IN THE VALLEY from Tor Nightfire. This was downright scary; think LORD OF THE FLIES by way of THE EXORCIST.

At an all boys catholic orphanage in turn of the century Pennsylvania, something has gone horribly wrong. The local sheriff brings a wounded man to the orphanage in the hope of saving him, both from the occult symbols carved all over his body and the mortal gunshot wound he has sustained that should have killed him. When the priests fail to save the man, something is unleashed and takes up residence in the orphans themselves. What follows is a battle of good and evil, innocence and corruption, that leaves the reader very little time to process one horrible event before the next is thrust at them.

Told over the course of simply a few days, we witness a descent into hell for everyone at the orphanage, as young Peter, orphaned at a young age as a result of a gruesome murder, tries to save his fellow brothers and the priests alike. The events are brutal, violent, and gruesome, and Fracassi doesn’t shy from blurring the line on who is more evil, the possessed or the priests themselves.

An excellently paced story of evil and what it means to be “good”, and how sometimes that is not always a clear distinction. This is my first time reading Philip Fracassi’s work, but I know I’ll be going back for more.

Thank you to @netgalley and @tornightfire for the gifted eARC in exchange for an honest review, and to the fine folks at @night_worms for including this in their latest monthly drop. I’m thrilled to have a signed physical copy to add to my shelf.

#netgalley #boysinthevalley #philipfracassi #tornightfire #nightworms #horror #horrorbooks #horrorbookreviewer #horrorbookstagram #bookworm #bookstagram #booksta #arc #bookreview #books #book #booksbooksbooks #frommybookshelf #frommybookshelfblog

This is one of the best horror books I've read in awhile. It's like Lord of the Flies but in an orphanage with the element of demonic possession. I absolutely loved the subtlety of possession and the darkness of it all. It had the right combination of real life horror and supernatural horror. The characters are the best thing of this book. The childrens personalities and characters are what suck you into the story and keep you. There were many twists in turns that left me both gutted and anxious. I'm adding this author to my favorites list and will definitely be reading more from him.

Boys in the Valley by Philip Fracassi is going to be one of my favorite books of 2023. I have a hard time putting everything this book has into words: part coming of age story, part horror story, with love and sacrifice mixed with moments of fear and sadness. I just loved it. Cannot recommend it enough.

It is horror but don’t let that deter you. It’s a page turner filled with fully realized characters you will care about. If you are a Stephen King fan I do believe Mr Fracassi’s style will appeal to you greatly as will this story. If you are a fan of demonic possession stories and the battle of good vs evil then read this book.

**Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the e-arc I received in exchange for my honest review.**

This one took awhile to get going, but when it did, it was awesome.

Peter you see, was made an orphan and sent to a catholic orphanage. You can already tell where this is going.

Anyways, one day a man who may be possessed with a demon shows up and the even more horrible things show up.

Yall, I am not gonna lie, I was so upset at the ending. Not to spoil it, but Peter deserved better.

I am so thankful to Tor Nightfire, Netgalley, and Philip Fracassi for granting me advanced digital. physical and audiobook access to this jarring thriller. I couldn't put it down and can't wait to consume more of this like-minded content going forward.

This was certainly terrifying and extremely well paced! I think he tried to convert me to Catholicism at the end tho so that was weird. I also found the characterizations a little thin for some very important characters. I didn't personally enjoy it, but I think it's successful at doing what it wanted to do, so four stars.