12/09/2025 Guest Review: DARK HARVEST BY Norman Partridge
- Candace Nola
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
Today, we have a guest review from author friend Sue Rovens! She sends us her thoughts on DARK HARVEST by Norman Partridge. Norman is a favorite author of mine and I really enjoyed hearing her thoughts on this title from him. I hope you enjoy her review and please do check out the book when you finish!
Thanks as always to Sue and be sure to read her bio at the bottom and considering checking out Sue's work as well!
Dark Harvest by Norman Partridge
Reviewed By Sue Rovens
Dark Harvest (2006) is a disturbing tale about a Halloween challenge/sordid game which took place in and prior to 1963. It’s a tight telling which incorporates themes such as coming-of-age, bullying, abusive parents, small towns, obscure rules, and secrets. A lot of secrets. In fact, the entire story is based on secrets and rituals from the past. It would be best to read it slowly, as one might miss important key points if you turn the pages too quickly.
Norman Partridge is a good writer. Although I’ve not read anything else by him, the prose in Dark Harvest is more conversational and casual than one might see in other horror offerings. I’m not sure if this is Mr. Partridge’s ‘modus operandi’ or if he chose to use this style for this specific book alone. While it may give readers an ‘off the cuff’ feel in certain sections, the story drives forward at a consistently brisk pace. It doesn’t linger on any one point, a fact that may turn off readers who are looking for something with more depth, character development, and backstory. For me, however, the writing style mostly works and kept my attention throughout.
I hesitate to outline the plot or go into too much detail as the book is only 169 pages, and the text is medium-to-large. The blurb on the back is really all you need to get the overarching gist (which I won’t repeat here to refrain from redundancy). If you are looking for a creepy throwback Halloween story that wedges itself firmly into the trials and tribulations of small-town life, Dark Harvest is worth picking up.
Recommended for readers who enjoy small town horrors, vintage stories, retribution tales, and short(er) tales.
Order the book here:
Sue's Bio:
Sue Rovens is an indie suspense/horror author who lives in Normal, Illinois. She has written five novels and two books of short horror stories.
Track 9, her second novel, received a starred review in Publisher's Weekly (May 2018), her short story, “Coming Over”, from her book, In a Corner, Darkly (Volume 1) was turned into a screenplay and short student indie film by the theater department of Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, and another short story, “When the Earth Bled”, won 2nd place in the Support Indie Authors short story contest. Her three most recent books (Buried, Rage, and Sanctum) are under Plump Toad Press.
Sue owns a blog (suerovens.com) which includes interviews with authors, musicians, podcasters, and artists. She is also a current member of both the Chicago Writers Association and the Alliance for Independent Authors (ALLi).
PICK UP HER LATEST COLLECTION BELOW:
Comments