The Elementals
by Michael McDowell
4/5
Valancourt Books 277 pages July 1, 1981
After a funeral in rural Alabama, the eccentric Savage and McCray families retreat to their Gulf Coast beach houses, where a third house — slowly being consumed by sand — harbors something ancient and malevolent. A Southern Gothic masterpiece of creeping dread rediscovered by a new generation of horror fans.
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Jim's Review
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McDowell is criminally underrated and The Elementals is Exhibit A for why he deserves more recognition. The image of a Victorian house being swallowed by sand dunes is one of the most haunting visuals in horror fiction, and it's impossible to shake. The Southern family dynamics are as sharp as the scares, and the Alabama Gulf Coast setting is vividly oppressive. This worm considers it a lost classic that's finally getting its due.
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