Dont Forget Mehasz

The night of the hunter

Book Published 1953, Written by Davis Grubb

Movie 1955, Directed By Charles LAughton

After seeing Robert Mitchum’s bone-chilling performance as the worst stepfather EVER, I immediately got myself some finger tattoos and waggled them in front of MY own stepchildren. Then I told them how lucky they are that i am neither a serial killer nor a fraudulent preacher.

After all the fun, I researched this story. Davis Grubb’s Book was a finalist for the 1955 National Book Award and A bestselling novel. And yeT, I had never heard of the book or the writer.

grubb’s novel is his first and it is excellent. the story is set in Moundsville, West Virginia and Is unwavering in its sympathy to those who suffered through the depression or “hard Times,” as the book refers to the time period.

The story is about two children trying to survive on their own. The irony is the brother and sister duo have $10,000 in their possession and no understanding of how to use it. A promise to their dead father to keep the money hidden propels the children through their story.

“Love” and “hate” are the words the money-hunting, preacher has tattooed on his opposing hands. But the words might as well be good and evil. the heroes of the story rob, kill, steal and lie, while the villians holler about their own godliness.

Grubb would have been a teenager during the depression. he truly paints a picture with his prose; some of the scenes he writes are as cinematic as the actual film. Apparently, Grubb wanted to be a painter but was foiled by color-blindness. (Thanks, Wikipedia). the book differs in small but important ways from the movie. In particular, Willa, the childrens’ mother, has many more dimensions in the text. In short, read the book.

And, if you have children or ever were a child yourself, you will never forget the preacher’s eerie cry “children” to his newfound stepkids.

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