Tabitha King was asked to complete McDowell's unfinished novel Candles Burning, which was published in 2006 to good reviews. Originally a six-novel serial published back in the early 80s, during the heyday of the cheap horror paperbacks, the Caskey Family saga begins on Easter Sunday, 1919, and the great flood that nearly wipes out the small town of Perdido, Alabama. I could go on and on about McDowell, as many of you already know, but now I'd like to address the narration of this story by Alabama native Matt Godfrey. Like the tv series Dallas or Falcon Crest, both family sagas, so is Blackwater a Southern family saga! James, though he is married to a woman, is also described often as effeminate and more interested in having a family than having a wife.

After his death, the collection was acquired by Chicago's Northwestern University, where it went on display in 2013.His extensive and diverse collection, which reportedly filled over seventy-six boxes, included items such as death pins, photographs and plaques from infant caskets. Michael McDowell was born June 1, 1950 in Enterprise, Alabama and attended public schools in southern Alabama until 1968. Life after slavery is a tragedy, I had some preconceptions of what life would be like after the Civil War but the most surprising thing, almost nothing changed. There were the ones who were making vital changes to society, it never undermined it for the male characters it’s just so female dominated it's very fascinating. Having said that, there were times when the narrative really shined, and these were the creepier (and most integral) parts of the story.

Though categorized as a southern gothic and shelved in the horror section (when it's not out-of-print) it defies genre in almost every way.

Genuinely Michael McDowell understands people and explores what life would be like as a woman during this era. The author didn't shy away from showing the ugliness of racial clashes (though only tangentially, the family itself is nice to their servants at least), rape and even addressed different kinds of sexuality (considering the time this was written in and the family he apparently grew up with himself, that is remarkable). and the consequences of those acts will haunt her family (literally) for generations, until Elinor herself is reclaimed by the waters of the Perdido. McDowell's Katie, meanwhile, concerns a clairvoyant serial killer whose powers of perception enable her to evade her trackers. I can't really put into words what is so amazing about this book but it was fabulous enough that I had to take extended breaks away from it because I was so distressed to see it end and to lose these characters.

He was born in Enterprise, Alabama, in 1950 and died of AIDS-related illness in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1999.As a character-driven epic spanning multiple generations, it often feels closer to Harper Lee or William Faulkner than Stephen King. The series included Jack and Susan in 1953 (1985), Jack and Susan in 1913 (1986) and Jack and Susan in 1933 (1987). A hotel has been evacuated but when the son of a wealthy matron and a black servant drive by the halfway submerged hotel in their little boat, they discover a young woman in one of the rooms. It is one of the most striking and ambitious horror novels that has languished in almost complete obscurity until recently. The Caskeys are rich, owning several wood mills on the river, but right from the beginning Elinor makes clear that her intention is to make them more rich — richer than any of them could ever imagine.

Blackwater" is a supernatural story; however, the supernatural aspects are more a backdrop than the focus of the story.From the onset, the Blackwater series was right up my alley: southern family saga, and for a bit of fun, throw a swamp monster into the mix.