Those Across the River
Reddit take
AI summary of the Reddit excerpts below — not a quote
Christopher Buehlman's 'Those Across the River' is a Southern Gothic horror novel widely praised for its atmospheric slow burn and terrifying, non-romanticized portrayal of werewolves. While many readers find the tension and the 'rolling climax' of the second half highly effective, the book is polarizing due to its intentionally unlikeable protagonist and the author's handling of romance and period-accurate racial slurs.
Pros
- Terrifying and 'actually scary' take on werewolves
- Strong Southern Gothic atmosphere with a tense, slow-burn buildup
- Engrossing second half with a powerful climax
- Haunting and genuinely chilling horror sequences
Cons
- Unlikeable and 'annoying' protagonist whose 'macho posturing' can be grating
- Clumsy or 'cringe' writing regarding romance and sexual descriptions
- Frequent use of racially offensive language (period-accurate to the 1930s Georgia setting)
- Some readers consider it the author's weakest work compared to his later novels
Caveats
- The book contains significant amounts of racially offensive language reflective of its historical setting
- The protagonist is a 'man of his time' and is not intended to be a traditionally likable hero
- The ending is described by some as a 'bummer' and may be polarizing
Best for
- Fans of Southern Gothic horror
- Readers seeking a scary, monster-focused horror story
- Fans of slow-burn narratives similar to 'Salem's Lot'
Avoid if
- You are sensitive to frequent racial slurs in historical fiction
- You prefer protagonists who are inherently likable
- You are bothered by poorly executed romance subplots
This summary uses balanced time weighting with about a 122-month half-life. Evidence is drawn from 30 selected mentions primarily in r/horrorlit, with a median source age of approximately 389 days.
Sentiment
24 positive (71%) · 5 mixed (15%) · 5 negative (15%)
Trust + time weighted score: +55% · raw score 56%
What redditors said (10 of 34)
Mine are: Those Across the River - Christopher Buehlman
Yes! _The Lesser Dead_ and _Those Across the River_ are both great -- about vampires and werewolves respectively.
I'd like to recommend Those Across the River by Christopher Buehlman but there's a lot of racially offensive language used due to the setting. If you can get past that then I think he really did a good job with the ending of this one, better than other books of his that I've read.
I feel like *Those Across the River* has similar vibes, in the sense that it is also from the perspective of a writer moving to a small town that gets taken over by monsters.
Parent context: Those across the river The loney Both different both great Reply: Doubling down on Those Across the River. I'm not sure if its technically folk horror but it fits OPs motif and holy shit is that a haunting book! Big recommend.
definitely check out THOSE ACROSS THE RIVER by Christopher Beuhlman.
I don't remember it being particularly bad in this one. Guess it's been a while and I've forgotten/repressed it.
If the author wouldn’t have tried to write in romance or sex, the book would have been pretty great. It’s not that it’s explicit and I’m being prudish, the author just sucked at it in this book. Everything else with it was really good, but yeah it’s got a bit of “and then the women’s boobs boobed boobily” level of writing romance and sex content in it. The actual horror stuff in the book is pretty good otherwise.
I had the exact same gripe! Like we get it you have a “not like other girls” wife with a bangin bod who is always ready to fuck you
Yeah, he's definitely an unlikeable protagonist and he doesn't necessarily take it as far as some of the town's people in his comments but it all seemed excessive. I believe they're all super racist, you don't have to keep telling me haha. It would be another thing too if the rest of the book were handled better, I suppose, but to me it definitely did not.
Compare
Those Across the River vs Dark MatterThose Across the River vs MiseryThose Across the River vs Books of Blood
Related
- Dungeon Crawler Carl · related · 434 mentions
- Project Hail Mary · related · 325 mentions
- Between Two Fires · related · 239 mentions
- The Wheel of Time · related · 222 mentions
- Piranesi · related · 210 mentions
- House of Leaves · related · 204 mentions