“Harrowing Hills by Eric Henson gave me goose bumps. Scared the bejesus out of me, actually. Still, I couldn’t put it down until I’d finished. It starts off with a tsunami that hits Thailand and washes a fallen angel up on the balcony of Bruce and Liz, a couple vacationing there. Then the story switches to the town of Harrow, New Hampshire, where children are disappearing and strange things are happening.

I have to say that Henson has a very disturbing imagination, and while I would certainly hate to be in one of his nightmares, he does tell a very chilling and exciting tale, filled with demons, fallen angels, and other creatures that I can’t even pronounce. And all of these beings consider humans to be completely insignificant. It gives me the shivers to even consider the possibility.

The story is almost too well written. Henson makes an unbelievable plot sound entirely logical and possible. The things that happen seem almost too real. His characters are well developed, flawed, and mostly too human to cope with all the strange things going on both in Thailand and in Harrow. I was fascinated from the very first page, though I don’t recommend reading it on a dark, stormy night. I’m giving the book 4.7 stars.” –Taylor Jones
 

 

“I am not much for horror or Stephen King type novels, but I did enjoy Harrowing Hills by Eric Henson. While it has all the suspense and twisted characters of King’s stories, for some reason, I didn’t get that creepy-crawly feeling I get from reading King. I’m not sure what the difference was, but while Henson’s tale had evil creatures and horrific, unexplainable happenings, the evil seemed a more natural phenomenon. The evil creatures weren’t out to destroy humans, exactly. Humans were just in the way. They were also considered insects by these other creatures who, therefore, had no qualms about stepping on them, so to speak. They weren’t trying to step on the humans, but they also didn’t bother to watch where they put their feet.

It is a chilling story, made more so by the quality of Henson’s writing. I was quite surprised to find out that not only was this Henson’s first novel, but Henson has dyslexia, which I understand means that he has problems using words. If that’s true, you certainly couldn’t tell it by his book. The story is well-written, the characters well-developed, and the plot twisted enough to keep you turning pages from beginning to end. I’m giving Harrow 4.6 stars.” –Regan Murphy