The Fisherman
By John Langan
In upstate New York, in the woods around Woodstock, Dutchman's Creek flows out of the Ashokan Reservoir. Steep-banked, fast-moving, it offers the promise of fine fishing, and of something more, a possibility too fantastic to be true. When Abe and Dan, two widowers who have found solace in each other's company and a shared passion for fishing, hear rumors of the Creek, and what might be found there, the remedy to both their losses, they dismiss it as just another fish story. Soon, though, the men find themselves drawn into a tale as deep and old as the Reservoir. It's a tale of dark pacts, of long-buried secrets, and of a mysterious figure known as Der Fisher: the Fisherman. It will bring Abe and Dan face to face with all that they have lost, and with the price they must pay to regain it.
"With a slight nod to ancient Egyptian mythology, The Fisherman also offers creative ideas on the structure of the universe and the dark possibilities of life after death, elevating it into an examination of human nature and the darkness that exists within every person. The whole effect is at once quiet and chaotic, terrifying and sad. The Fisherman, with its spine-tingling pleasures, represents the best of what a horror novel can offer." — Catherine Thureson, Foreword Reviews
John Langan is the author of two novels, The Fisherman and House of Windows, and three collections of stories, Sefira and Other Betrayals, The Wide, Carnivorous Sky and Other Monstrous Geographies, and Mr. Gaunt and Other Uneasy Encounters. The Fisherman won the Bram Stoker and This Is Horror Awards for superior achievement in a novel. With Paul Tremblay, Langan co-edited Creatures: Thirty Years of Monsters.