Epic Horror is among the most bold sorts of horror tales to inform. Horror is a style that depends an ideal deal on rigidity and may usually be strengthened by intimacy of character or state of affairs. In different phrases, comparatively small stakes. Sustaining a stage of rigidity and mounting dread over the course of a 750+ web page novel is audacious purpose. Ronald Malfi efficiently meets that problem in stride with The Hive, a chonker of a novel that’s in rarified air. To play on phrases, there was a substantial amount of buzz about this novel within the months main as much as its launch. For me, as a fan of Malfi’s work since I learn Black Mouth just a few years in the past, The Hive is a e-book I used to be enormously anticipating. How did it measure up and what’s it about?
Learn on after the blurb/writer description and canopy…
The residents of Mariner’s Cove are altering…
Within the aftermath of a violent storm, a collective obsession is quickly growing among the many individuals of this quaint suburban neighborhood. Random, on a regular basis objects left scattered upon the lawns, the streets, and the shoreline all appear to name out to them. There may be an merchandise for nearly everybody, and every merchandise has a sure maintain over the one that finds it—a maintain that quickly turns into unwavering infatuation. They cover their objects from one another, obsess over them, and they’re going to do something—something—to guard them.
The collective hum of bees’ wings…
A younger boy finds himself the possessor of a wierd and inexplicable energy. Is the arrival of this energy linked to the more and more odd and harmful habits of the residents of Mariner’s Cove? Has he been granted this energy with the intention to thwart no matter is about to occur on this small, bayside neighborhood, or is there a extra sinister goal?
All hail the Dragon…
All eyes are on him now. The residents of Mariner’s Cove are watching. They transfer as one, like a solitary organism, and can do something to achieve their single-minded goal.
They won’t be stopped.
A robust, nearly otherworldly storm assaults the Maryland Chesapeake Bay city of Mariner’s Cove. Lightning not like something individuals can recall flashes within the night time with the storm serving as a catalyst, of kinds. Whereas there doesn’t appear to be extreme storm harm, residents do discover fairly distinctive objects strewn about city. A door caught upright in shallow water might be probably the most peculiar. Little Cory McBride, who had been behaving a tad unusual previous to the novel, outright manifests… one thing through the storm, stopping damaged glass from scattering and harming him and his mom Ellen.
Different unusual issues start to happen. Markings seem on sidewalks and streets, unusual iconography which might be nearly like hieroglyphics. The townspeople begin to grow to be obsessive about particular, however in any other case atypical on a regular basis objects… the aforementioned door turns into a degree of obsession for a retired coronary heart surgeon, a colander turns into a talisman of kinds for a household, a lady turns into obsessive about accumulating hangers, one other younger man already obsessive about bees (who many name Stinger) is compelled to construct … one thing within the city’s park.
Poor little Cory turns into the goal of an obsessive neighbor who stares at Cory’s home and regularly tries to get in. What makes it worse for Cory is that he can sense / learn the ideas of the neighbor, in addition to lots of the individuals within the city. Cory has some hope, his estranged uncle Brian additionally has skills just like Cory, Cory calls out to Brian, drawing his uncle to Cory and his mother.
The novel is an examination of a small city beneath duress of compulsion with everyone residing beneath a rising cloud of terror. These unusual obsessions (hangers, doorways, colanders) superficially appear extraordinarily random. Malfi takes nice care to place these characters beneath a microscope, illustrate how a compulsion or obsession will be damaging to these round them. Regardless of the solid of characters being pretty sizeable, Malfi does an ideal job of constructing them out as people, their life in Mariner’s Cove and what they convey of their time earlier than the storm, and the way their obsession with a seemingly random object impacts their arc all through the novel. Even the characters who appear probably the most unlikeable (taking a look at you, Stinger), do handle to elicit a glimmer of empathy due to their state of affairs. The aforementioned retired coronary heart physician, Mike Danver, was fascinating character. His obsession with the door lodged within the sandbar was very compelling, his relationship along with his (a lot) youthful spouse appeared nearly a throw-away however I actually recognized with the annoyance he felt about his neighbor. I liked the tense but highly effective relationship between Cory and his Uncle Brian.
All through the 750+ pages, Malfi crafts a tense, rising sense of dread that’s each an undercurrent that is likely to be connecting these characters and a darkish cloud that shadows all of them as effectively. To say this novel is a gradual burn is an understatement, however I discovered it to be extraordinarily efficient. I felt invested in these characters, the strangeness of those objects of obsession and the way they could join was a strong curiosity. I personally felt obsessive about discovering the place all of the items would lead as a result of the tempo is addictive.
One thing I’ve referred to as out in my critiques of Epic Fantasy novels (particularly the books that I loved) is an creator’s capability to stability epic and intimate. As I discussed, intimacy and private stakes in a horror novel are sometimes components that assist to make an efficient horror story. Malfi does that completely with the characters. However he additionally lends a way of scope to the story past the person. Despite the fact that it’s set in a small city, the stakes are excessive. The best way the characters start to view their objects and the place these objects can lead feels bigger than them or the city of Mariner’s Cove.
… and right here we arrive on the inevitable comparisons. It’s laborious *not* to match an Epic Horror Novel to Stephen King’s work, so right here goes. I felt some very optimistic resonance to King’s Needful Issues with The Hive, the small-town solid of characters, singular level of obsession, a darkish “factor” on the heart of all of it. That mentioned, The Hive is certainly its personal factor. I additionally assume an apt comparability is Chuck Wendig’s latest masterpiece, Black River Orchard, one other “epic small-town horror.” Because it stands, the darkish drive seeping right into a small city is a tried and true template for a horror story and Malfi has confirmed himself a grasp with novels like Black Mouth and the aptly named Small City Horror and now The Hive.
Perhaps the one concern(?), criticism(?) I can stage on the novel is the conclusion. I can normally settle for a novel or story the place sure components aren’t defined in nice element. Right here in The Hive; nevertheless, I’d have preferred a bit of extra element on the finish. Was the climax/conclusion/ending efficient? Sure, by the point I closed the e-book and declared it completed, I used to be happy with the novel as a complete and the way the plot and character arcs have been resolved. Would I’ve been a bit of extra happy if there was only a bit extra element? Additionally, sure.
Backside line, one other very good novel from Ronald Malfi.
Undecided if there’s a buzz at the back of my mouth or my head, however I really feel like there is likely to be extra story to be instructed with these characters and the place the novel ended.
Extremely advisable.
© 2026 Rob H. Bedford
Hardcover | Titan Books
April 2026 | 765 Pages
https://www.petervbrett.com/
Evaluation copy courtesy of the writer, Titan Books
Leave a Reply