REALLY enjoyed this one. Never have I considered the insidious potential evil in an apple before reading this novel. The way Dan became something—but really became himself—along the way to the finale was so well done. He was likeable even while I cringed reading his arc, and I both hate and pity the man. I loved Joanie and Calla, their relationship. The duality of Marco. John and Emily were so great.
Just when I thought this book couldn’t get any darker, the moon went behind a cloud and I realized was darkness truly was. Masterful storytelling.

A creepy apple book for adults. I wasn’t sure it work but it really did. The atmosphere was ominous; that might be because I’m a little scared of orchards but the setting was it’s own character.
There were a few moments in the middle that seem to be bogged down with character descriptions and some info dumping. Normally not a big deal in a slow burn horror but it was still noticeable compared to the beginning and the end of the book.
I would recommend this to anyone looking for atmospheric, slow-burn chills.

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House Ballantine - Del Rey for gifting me an early copy of Chuck Wendig's Black River Orchard. Below you'll find my honest review.

If you're a fan of Stephen King, then I'm going to recommend you immediately get your hands on a copy of Black River Orchard. Chuck Wendig is an incredible writer, and some of his other novels have been very reminiscent of King, especially The Book of Accidents. But this one is a masterpiece, and comparing it to King is the highest praise I can think of for someone in the genre.

It starts with a slow burn - introducing the town, the characters, their histories, and of course, the apple. Obviously, you know the apple isn't going to be a good thing, and as you watch each character have their choice to take a bite, you pray they make the right decision.

As things heat up, and the apple's magic begins its work, the book goes directly into "almost impossible to put down" territory.

So go on, pick up this book and take a bite. You won't regret it... but beware the apple.

HIGHLY recommended.

"Ask for an apple and I will bring it to you. I will watch you eat it. Ask and you will experience a bliss like nothing you’ve ever felt."

There's a small town known for their delicious apples. The red slipper, so delicious that once you take a bite you can't stop. The apples are so dark they look almost black. As more and more of the townspeople eat the apples, they start to change. There's a dark history surrounding these apples and everyone will get a taste z whether they want to or not.

Look I love Chuck Wendig's books and this is no exception. He made apples scary! Thank you Random House Ballantine for giving me an advanced review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This had to start out as a dare. How great of an author are you? Can you write an award winning horror novel about the most mundane thing imaginable, an apple. And do you know what, Chuck Wendig absolutely nailed it. Just reading the Prologue I was entranced. I've enjoyed every book Wendig's written but the thought that went into this novel is more than impressive, it's bestselling. I have no problem recommending Black River Orchard as the best literary horror of the year.

There’s something about Wendig’s writing that makes me just fall into it, sinking deep - I get low-key obsessed with his stories when I read them. It feels like magic sometimes. It’s extremely rare for me to a) be willing to invest in a 650 page book, and b) think that there’s not a single paragraph that is cut.

It’s weird like most of his recent stuff is - it’s a story about evil apples that infect a small town and of course craziness ensues. It’s fast paced with a ton of action. It doesn’t really drag in any part, just full-on pedal to the metal.

I’d give it a solid 🍎🍎🍎🍎

This book was so perfectly fall, it's hard to describe how happy it made me. It is a story of a man who finds an heirloom apple tree and decides to graft it onto other apple trees in order to regrow the heirloom varietal. However, in classic Chuck Wendig style, this is not really about apples. This book is about the evil incarnate in humans, and how this apple changes them. The tale was clearly well-researched, and the characters were so interesting and I found myself in many of them as well. As someone who loves the idea of apple-picking and tasting interesting and new apples, but also how they came to be in our country, this book was the perfectly spooky fall / Halloween book to read and at the perfect time as well. I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for something to scare you just enough this fall!

This ebook was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Nothing says fall has arrived quite like apples and cider. Throw in a farming community cult, a welcome dose of body horror, and a whole lot of bloodshed, and you’ve got yourself a new, quintessential fall horror book that I suspect will be ripe for loads of annual re-reads come spooky season.

Black River Orchard, Chuck Wendig’s latest horror epic, reads like a necessary, and in my eyes much needed, update of T.E.D. Klein’s The Ceremonies, offering all the thrills and terrors lacking in that work of supposedly classic ‘80s horror. Where The Ceremonies is a dull and sedate snoozefest — the kind of book readers who claim they don’t like horror can read to help them fall asleep faster — Black River Orchard is a full-throated, pedal to the metal farmland horror book. It’s everything I wanted The Ceremonies to be, but wasn’t.

Wendig clues you in to the fact that not all is right on Dan Paxon’s farm right from the get-go when, in the middle of the night, his young daughter Calla catches him making a racket over the bundle of scionwood he’s cut…a bundle that just so happens to have some severed fingers in it, but which quickly vanish, allowing her to chalk up the brief, odd sight to tiredness. Flash forward a few years and Calla is a teenager, and the scionwood Dan has grafted to other trees have taken root and begun producing apples. Insanely delicious, life-changing apples. Apples that can truly keep the doctor away, curing all that ails you, from poor eyesight to death-sentence cancer. Apples that make you feel powerful. Apples that change you. Apples to kill, and to die, for.

Wendig has crafted a wonderfully unique, but also welcomingly familiar, tome with this one. It straddles that narrow line between silliness and deadly seriousness deftly, with the author fully aware of the weirdness of his central conceit, but also fully committed to following the path wherever it takes him. And good lord, does it ever take him — and readers — to some unusual, frightening places. There’s a certain Needful Things vibe that eventually gives way to some Evil Dead and Clive Barker vibes, a dash of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, a smidge of Bentley Little, and one particular late in the game body horror-rich orgy in an orchard that reminded me a bit of one particular moment in Society, but that’s probably just because of horror author Hailey Piper’s adoration of posting images from said moment on the regular all over her social media accounts. Thanks for that, Hailey…

Wendig has taken a dozen well-trod horror tropes and mixed them all up, blending until smooth, to create a unique, heady melange of tension, distrust, blood-spill, and pure, supernatural evil. The kind of horror that starts small and locally, but progressively grows into the threat of an all-consuming, all-American apocalypse. Black River Orchard, perversely, makes you want to eat a ton of apples while reading, but also makes you incredibly leery, if not actually afraid, of apples and their potential. I found myself craving apples while reading, while also wanting absolutely nothing to do with an apple ever again. Curse you, Wendig!

Wendig has veered away from his on-the-nose commentary of modern-day Americana that was so deeply baked into his viral apocalyptic horror duology, Wanderers and Wayward, but there’s certainly enough metaphors to draw real-life parallels to if you’re the type of reader to do so (and I am). I’m a big believer in art being inescapable from politics, and Black River Orchard certainly has its share of politics (or “politics” if you’re the type of reader who finds queer and minority representation to be an afront to your political sensibilities). Some are surface level, like teenagers protesting their high school track meet in support of trans rights, but other issues require some deeper digging. There’s the issue, too, of the book’s central quirk — an evil apple. A silly idea, perhaps, until you consider the darker ramifications of the apple’s symbology going all the way back to the Bible and man’s fall from grace. While Wendig eschews religiosity for the bulk of Black River Orchard, it’s another one of those elements that is simply baked into the plot and works deliciously thanks to popular knowledge, even for irreligious atheists like me.

Of course, there’s also a whole lot of real-world apple facts and niche apple knowledge that underpin the whole damn thing. For those not in the know, Wendig is a bit of an apple obsessive (his blog describes him as an “Apple-Obsessed Author Fella), having blogged, tweeted, and Instagrammed a multitudinous number of apple-centric posts over the years, like his heirloom apple review and his ranking of grocery store apples. Even The Mary Sue talked to him about apples and ONLY apples in 2019 when he was supposed to be promoting his not at all apple related release, Wanderers. So, yeah, if there was anybody best positioned to write a horror book about apples, it’s Wendig.

What few issues I have about Black River Orchard pale in comparison to how much I loved experiencing this book as a whole. Most of those complaints boil down to how the characters interact with each other and how few of them actually seem to enjoy being around those they proclaim to love, at least in the book’s first half. I spent a fair chunk of the book’s early going wondering why Emily and her wife, Meg, were even together, they seemed so cold, incompatible and at odds. Of course, there was a reason for that, but by introducing this couple already in the throes of conflict it made it hard for me to connect with them from the perspective of their relationship once the real big conflicts come along later. Calla spends much of the book as a bratty, social media obsessed wannabe influencer teen, and her friendships struck me as another take it or leave it kind of relationship. They all treated each other so poorly, I wondered why any of them even bothered with each other. After Calla says some truly awful things to her father, he turns verbally vicious in response, but I couldn’t help rooting for this ostensibly bad man, at least for a moment. The characters are complex and certainly not always likable, which in turn creates some additional complexities for the reader, occasionally to the point of being a hurdle, but it ultimately does all come together pretty well. There were times I wanted to see some of these characters absolutely ravaged by monsters and to get their final comeuppance, but then found myself relieved at their fortitude by book’s end. Ultimately, I found Wendig’s portrayal of these characters to be multifaceted and realistic. Good people aren’t good all the time, and bad people aren’t mustache-twirling evildoers every waking moment. There’s all kinds of shades of gray to each individual, and Wendig spends a lot of time playing in those murkier areas instead of giving us clear-cut heroes and villains to root for or against. Such deft portrayal’s can sometimes make it harder to connect with certain characters, but it can also make for a richer, more rewarding read.

I’m hesitant to call Black River Orchard an instant classic, but I suspect it will certanily become a fast favorite for many. As for myself, well, I’m already looking forward to taking another trip to Paxson’s farm in the near-future, hopefully next fall, and again for many other falls to come, preferably with a case of Angry Orchard and some fresh, hot apple cider cinnamon donuts on the side. And some apples, too, of course. Lots of apples. Just watch out for those seeds.

I would have never thought I'd say that one of the best and most terrifying horror books of the year is about...apples.. Yet, here we are.

And it's true. This novel, in my opinion, will be talked about for years to come when people discuss their favorite books. It's a masterpiece of horror fiction.

I don't like to compare authors to Stephen King but this book almost felt like a King novel in it's scope, amazingly realistic characters, and tone. But that's where comparisons end because this is a Chuck Wendig book and, just like with Book Of Accidents, he takes us on a horrifying, sometimes bloody ride and we're delighted to hang on tight as he drives.

Yes, this book is about apples, one variety in particular that has some extremely disturbing consequences for those who eat it. But this author mixes this terror with an almost palpable passion for apples in general as we see through the lens of some of the characters. And he accomplishes this without ever losing our interest. That's some talented writing right there!

This is definitely in my top horror books of the year and one of my favorites overall. It's just that good and I highly recommend it.

Ridiculously good: gripping to no end, wonderfully creepy and empathetic at the same time. I'll be recommending this to everyone, not just horror fans! I think this is *the* book for the fall season.

A perfect book for Fall/Spooky season! This book had the elements of Fall with the Apple orchard but the horror elements of this mysteriously addicting apple variety named the Ruby Slipper that needs “special” type of nutrients for growth and you could say it has a cult following.

In the acknowledgements of the novel, author Chuck Wendig writes about how boring, bland and uninteresting apples are. That was until a trip to a local farmers market unlocked his taste for the many lesser-known varieties. If you've followed Chuck on any of his social media platforms the last few years, you're aware of his thirst for "lost apples" - the ones that you won't find on grocery store shelves. In fact, there are an estimated 7,500 different assortments all over the world and there are even those, like famed apple-hunter Tom Brown, who have dedicated their lives to bringing them into the light.

Black River Orchard follows one of those aforementioned apple-hunters; a man named John Compass as he ventures across America looking for apples that have been lost to time. A colleague and friend of his, Walt, disappeared a number of years ago in search of the "perfect" apple - a fruit so delicious and stunning that no one is quite sure if it is reality or myth.

But someone did find that apple. Dan Paxton, a humble orchard owner, somehow got his hands on what his daughter dubs the "Ruby Slipper" apple - a fruit so deeply red, it is nearly black. But this apple holds within it a dark power - the power to heal injuries, increase health and vitality, and turn back the clock making one feel young again. In exchange however, the apple takes away your empathy and kindness, it makes you tougher and meaner and supplies an insatiable desire for more, more, more.

As a community is consumed by a ravenous need for Paxton's miracle fruit, those who refuse to indulge in the bountiful crop feel a sense of dread. Their loved ones are changing, and not for the better.

While I still read dozens and dozens of books a year, it's been a while since I've felt that compulsive need to race through a book. With Black River Orchard, if I wasn't reading it, I was thinking about it. While Chuck Wendig's book carries a hefty five-hundred plus page count, it felt like a tight five-hundred and forty pages (if that's possible). Wendig follows a number of characters allowing the reader to get to know each one in great detail as the story's perspective shifts regularly. This can sometimes be annoying when you're just getting into the head of any one of the book's protagonists or antagonists, but if done correctly, can allow the story to stay fresh and the pace to move at a blistering speed. Thankfully the latter is the outcome here.

I know I've said this before, but Wendig's style is just the absolute best. It feels very conversational and certainly lends an air of authenticity to his work. This is generally how Wendig writes in both his blog and social media posts, so you know it comes naturally and isn't forced. It's hard to explain. I love when he intersperses random self-destructive thoughts that bubble to the surface when he gets into the head of a character - this is very much how my brain operates at times and it feels refreshing to see that represented on a page.

The body horror is excellent as well. There are more than a few grotesque scenes here and those who look for this in their spooky season reads will be greatly rewarded. Never before have I both been simultaneously craving an apple and also never wanting to look at one again. Turns out you can make anything seem disgusting if you try hard enough. Without throwing out too much in the way of spoilers, one of the novel's peripheral characters gave me echoes of Stephen King's Trashcan Man from The Stand and boy, does he get gross as the book moves along.

Black River Orchard is a twisted, gnarly read that will absolutely find a spot in my top five fiction reads in 2023. If you're looking for a new book as we creep closer to Halloween, I can't think of a better recommendation than Wendig's newest tome.

Black River Orchard hits shelves on September 26th, 2023.

Chuck Wendig has been on my radar for awhile, but this was my first reading experience.
Black River Orchard follows multiple characters from all walks of life as they experience the aftermath of eating a cursed apple.
I loved the intricate storyline weaving together the history zof the apple with the terrifying present, the eloquent, simple, and funny prose, and the utterly human character development.

I do feel that Wendig has been heavily influence by Stephen King based upon his writing style, and that is a compliment for sure.

If you’re in for a horrifying wild and weird ride, then hope on board and take a trip to Black River Orchard!!!!

Chuck Wendig is an auto-buy author for me. Wanderers is spectacular and The Book of Accidents was one of my favorite reads last year. I couldn't wait to dive into this one as soon as the cover was revealed.

Black River Orchard expertly weaves together the stories of a cast of characters that at first glance have nothing in common. From a high school would-be influencer to a retired vet-turned-Quaker who searches for rare or lost apple varieties (to name only a few), Wendig takes us on a harrowing cinematic rollercoaster ride that you aren't sure is entirely on the tracks. When Dan unveils his "Ruby Slipper" apple, everything and everyone in the small town changes.

Simply put: I loved this book and you will too if you love: nuanced characters, quick-moving plot, body horror with a healthy dose of disturbing imagery, cult narratives, a dash of paranormal, and creepy, mystical horror that spans generations. I couldn't put it down.

Children of the Corn meets The Faculty in this visceral masterpiece guaranteed to bring the terror. 10/10 never have I ever been so glad to be allergic to apples.

Huge thanks to Ballantine and NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for honest review consideration.

Do you like apples?

I'm not particularly fond of them, too pulpy and mushy and messy for my taste.

I do like Chuck Wendig novels, though, and so it's probably a good thing that I can take apples or leave them after reading Black River Orchard. It doesn't help that the story is set, like Chuck Wendig is himself, in Pennsylvania and so am I because... this state is nutty enough in places for me to have to handle subconscious worries about poison apples turning my fellow Pennsylvanians into good little automatons who blindly follow a random guy who seems to know the most but really probably knows nothing at all.

It's almost too real, how the people behave, so it's good that the fantasy element of evil apples is thrown into the mix.

Black River Orchard is based around, obviously, apples but more specifically a down on his luck orchardist with a teenage daughter suddenly has handful of his trees sprout apples that no one can stop talking about. Or eating. It's got 'drink the kool-aid' vibes and it is fantastic in the way that haven't drunk the proverbial kool-aid are seen as outcasts and weirdos at first, and then as direct threats to the new apparent natural order of things. And the orchardist that everyone ignored and made fun of is the leader of the pack, i.e. cult.

Drunk with sudden power, literally and figuratively, he'll stop at nothing to ensure that he keeps that power and grows it. And, as in all narratives of fiction, 'stop at nothing' does stretch from passive aggressive preaching to murder. He's not alone, though, because an army of apple eaters are all willing to do the very same for the cause.

What that cause is, however, isn't quite what they think it is.

Counter to the orchardist and his army are a small group of people who never eat one of the cursed apples, whether due to allergies or a general dislike of apples or contrarianism because everybody wants them to eat the apples so very badly. It takes a little while, but they eventually band together and make a plan to stop what's happening to the family and friends they care about, no matter the personal cost.

Black River Orchard is a compulsively readable novel. It's long but the pace and narrative pull you in and keep you in. You never root for the apple eaters, and you consider deeply whether you'll ever eat an apple again, but you do want to be like those who didn't eat the apples on principle. And you can't help but want to hurry up and find out if they succeed and survive.

It's not unlike, I suppose, the way you might watch a story about former cult members being deprogrammed and returning to normal life. You're left heart-broken, maybe more than a little frightened, and yet somehow just a little hopeful.

Disclaimer: Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the chance to read an advance copy of this novel. All thoughts are my own and no

Well, I doubt I will look at apples the same way ever again.

This was a slow building, while simultaneously riveting story with some serious roots. It’s a unique and dark look at the lengths people will go for power and how that power can ultimately corrupt.

We have this interesting group of people all connected by circumstance, in the town of Harrow, where Dan Paxson thinks he has cracked the code for the most perfect apple on his family’s orchard. His daughter Calla has named it the Ruby Slipper and it is going to change everything.

Just one bite and you’re hooked, with this apple somehow making people better, stronger, smarter, HUNGRIER… I wasn’t expecting the cult-esque nature to really take hold in this book, but it becomes deadly. There is a force at play here, with deep roots, seeking blood and more. And, while most of the town is hooked on these apples, changing dramatically, there is a small group who have refrained from tasting them, which proves a major problem to those who have.

This book is wild. The characters are all so different and have so much to say. This is a weird story and it was SERIOUSLY good!

<b>A Wild Descent into Apple Flavored Madness!</b>

I really love Chuck Wendig's books. They always feel so real. I think it's his attention to detail, even including typos in text messages sent between teenagers, that really plants the story in reality. Not to mention his chracterizations are spot on and feel authentic.

I also loved the diversity of the characters in this book. It's not often you get some of the identities represented here, actually, well, represented. It's really nice to feel included and seen.

I didn't see where this one was going to go either. The story is winding, and takes a lot of turns before coming to a head. I really enjoyed the buildup of tension as it went, until everything was fully immersed in madness.

Once again, he's crafted an excellent tale, and I can't wait to see what he comes up with next.

Thank you to NetGalley for sending me a review copy. Chuck Wendig's "Black River Orchard" was a tour de force of horror. Good characters, good story, and entertaining. I will say I thought it was a little bit bloated at times but that was really my only gripe with it. I enjoyed my time with it and Wendig has written another novel that sucks you in. Although it may be a while before I can look at apples the same way again.

This was my first book by Chuck Wendig and it blew me away!

Going into it I only knew three things: 1) there’s a mysterious tree, 2) it grows magical apples, 3) people in town are acting weird.

There’s a deceptive simplicity to this story that could lend reviewers to include not-so-need-to-know details that could spoil the experience. Trust me, this one is worth going into blind.

Chuck is an exceptional author. The way he took his time in developing the characters and the story — and the research he put into understanding and explaining the history, varieties, and diversity of apple flavors?! — was nothing short of masterful. And left me craving apples.

The book was shocking, weird (and wholly original), sometimes laugh out loud funny and other times emotional. He created a thought-provoking social commentary, taking an experience we can all relate to on some level and putting a horrific spin on it.

It was an easy story to get lost in and I enjoyed the experience immensely. Honestly, the deeper into the book I got the more I wanted to devour his entire backlist. This is sure to be one of my favorites of 2023.

Huge thank you to the publishers for the arc!

Update: My review will be posted on instagram (@bertyinbookland) the week of September 11th.

I think he is a talented writer, but. . . Lots of characters, lots of subplots, lots of different types of horror. It was a lot generally. I felt pulled in different directions but not into the story. The characters were broad, and the author seemed to be trying too hard to make them quirky. By the end, the story spun out.