Q+A / Rachel Harrison
The Catskills Virtual Book Tour celebrates contemporary Catskills writing through exclusive author interviews and encourages people to support local writers and independent booksellers.
Get ready to find your next great Catskills read.
I’ve written before that I think there should be more Catskills-set horror, so when I saw a blurb for Rachel Harrison’s new book The Return, I knew I had to read it.
The book follows four long-time friends reuniting for a getaway at a Catskills hotel. One of them has just mysteriously returned two years after she went missing while hiking in Acadia National Park. She is back, but she isn’t quite how her friends remember her. The Return has the slow-burn horror of a classic gothic novel but with thoroughly modern and relatable characters. What will make this book of particular interest to our readers is its setting. While the characters don’t experience much of the Catskills outside of the kitchy Red Honey Inn, locals and repeat visitors will find something recognizable in those moments when solitude feels unsettling. I devoured this quickly (it’s great on audiobook!) and recommend it for anyone who doesn’t mind their stories creepy with a bit of body horror.
Rachel graciously answered our questions about the book and her inspiration. If you want to read the book, we encourage you to order it from a Catskills bookstore (most are doing online/phone orders, shipping, and curbside pickup!).
How would you describe your book to readers?
The Return is a horror novel about female friendship.
Do you have a personal connection to or interest in the Catskills?
I don’t have a personal connection, more like a distant fascination. I lived in New York City for ten years, so it was always fascinating to me that just north of all the chaos of the city was beautiful, untouched, peaceful nature. I had a friend go on a writing retreat there, and she came back to show me pictures and tell me about how quiet it was, and my immediate reaction was this strange aversion to the idea of somewhere remote and quiet. It scared me! It was so drastically different from what I was used to being in the city. That’s sort of where the inspiration for setting the novel in the Catskills came from.
In the book, nature is pretty frightening, whether Julie's disappearance in Acadia National Park or the fateful reunion of the women at the Catskills-based Red Honey Inn. Why do you think the woods, and particularly the Catskills, are a good setting for a horror novel?
One of the most powerful brands of fear is fear of the unknown. Nature is the great unknown. It’s a mysterious force beyond our control. And, logistically, it’s easier for horror to take place where there aren’t many witnesses. I remember being really young when my mom showed me “Alien.” The tagline for that movie is “In space nowhere can hear you scream.” And that always stuck with me. In the woods, no one can hear you scream. You set a horror novel in downtown Brooklyn, they can hear you, they might not pay attention to you, but they can hear you!
What book do you like to recommend to people, Catskills-themed or not?
I’m going to go rogue and recommend two of the books that inspired The Return, because they are both heavily rooted in setting. The first is a classic, The Shining, which takes place in the mountains in Colorado. The second is Summer Sisters by Judy Blume, which mostly takes place on Martha’s Vineyard. My book was inspired by the horror hotel aspect of The Shining, and the realistic portrayal of female friendship from Summer Sisters.
Where can readers go to learn more about The Return?
They can go to my website, https://www.rachel-harrison.com/
Interview by Kelli Huggins, Visitor Experience Coordinator
When ordering books, we encourage you to support our Catskills independent booksellers, like those listed below (if we forgot to tag a store, let us know and we'll add it to the list). Most are currently doing remote orders, shipping, and curbside pickup:
Briars and Brambles Books
The Golden Notebook Bookstore
Hobart Book Village
Inquiring Minds Coffee House and Bookstore
Magpie Bookshop
Mirabai Books - Woodstock, NY
MONIQUE'S BOOKS BOUTIQUE
Rough Draft Bar & Books