Black Spring is an idyllic little town nestled in the Hudson Valley of New York State. On the outside, it appears life in this town is perfect, like you imagine small-town life would be. Think Mayberry, if you remember The Andy Griffith Show. They even have their own resident celebrity -- Katherine van Wyler, a centuries old witch who wanders the streets and drops in unexpectedly on families and often overstays her welcome.
You would think having a resident witch would be awesome, that they town would have a thriving tourist industry, that they would do everything they could to exploit the woman's presence since Katherine comes across as a curiosity more than anything else. She sticks to her routine, and for the most part, you could set your watch by the times she makes certain appearances about town and never appears to be outwardly threatening. But the woman and the town have a history, and history shows the witch could be unpredictable. As a result, they have certain rules and regulations that are religiously adhered to, and violations of these laws often result in archaic forms of punishment. They have a system in place that monitors the witch's appearance, and God forbid she should appear in public and hang around, they have measures in place to make certain outsiders do not become aware of her presence. They also attempt to keep out the outsiders, and those who ignore the warnings and decide to make Black Spring their home... Well, they've more or less signed their lives away, and the lives of their children, and their childrens' children, becauste, you see, what goes on in Black Spring stays in Black Spring. It's like a roach motel: you can visit, and all is well, but live in Black Spring and you can never leave. Any attempt to do so can result in insanity, and even death.
But as with any strictly regimented communities, there are those who seek to rebel. Aside from the few adults who resent their current living conditions, you have the teens, and in this particular case, a handful of teens who, in an age of social media, resent having their freedoms monitored or restricted and have established an underground society/club that is gathering evidence with the planes of going public with their dirty little secret. They think that by doing so, they will break the Black Spring curse and regain not just their freedom but those of the townsfolk as well. But there are those in town who are content to let sleeping dogs lie and will go to any extreme to make sure the town keeps it secrets.
I know some of the reviews for Hex have been negative, citing that the book is not scary. The book, however, is terrifying in that we are witness the extent to which superstition can govern a community, and any attempt at change can start the gradual unraveling of a civilized society until they are reduced to a primal mob mentality resistant to any form of logic or reasoning. It's made all the more horrifying by what is revealed at the book's conclusion.
Overall, I think Hex is small-town horror at its best. Heuvelt paints a chilling picture of what superstition and living in a constant state of fear can drive men to do, and how the tension of living with that constant fear can build until it finally explodes and how quickly civilized society can devolve to primitive levels. Highly recommended. 5/5 stars
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