Night things [Paperback]

Thomas F. Monteleone (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1980

One could hardly expect the residents Conora, New Mexico, to be too disturbed when a nearby construction crew unearthed a Native American burial ground; after all, Sheriff Miguel Lopez, newspaperman Tony Cavella, shopkeeper Lori Danek, and the entire bustling community had their own lives to think about. Unfortunately, sometimes a bulldozer does more than move the earth ... it opens a wound. And the people of Conora had no idea about, nor any way to prepare for, the ancient terror that was loosed upon their small town ...

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Fawcett Popular Library (1980)
• ISBN-10: 0445046244
• ISBN-13: 978-0445046245
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 4.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,864,318 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A horde of nasty critters!, February 26, 2002

By 

Jim Lay (Knoxville, TN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Night things (Paperback)

I love a good monster novel (or "critter novel" as we say in the south). And Thomas F. Monteleone conjures a whole nasty horde of them in NIGHT THINGS... A construction crew accidentally unearths a cavern in the desert. It is the tomb of an ancient evil that the Indians bound to the underworld in an effort to save mankind. But now they are free and there'll be hell to pay for the residents of a nearby town. When darkness falls, a horde of mummified demon-like trolls crawl forth and begin to devour and feed like pirhanas... If you love horror like I do, and you enjoy a good critter story, with a fun b-movie flavor to it, then I highly recommend you seek this one out. It's probably hard to find these days, but well worth the search.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An entertaining b-grade horror book!, January 13, 2004

By 

J. Gould "Its just me" (Grasonville, MD United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Night things (Paperback)

Conora is a small, quiet town in the semi desert of New Mexico. It's habitants are diverse in culture and creed...

Anthony Cavella has just moved into town with his young daughter, Dierdre. They are making a fresh start and a new life for themselves, thanks to the small house and town newspaper left to Anthony by his Uncle. Tony is a newspaper man and soon finds things to investigate even in this little town...

Marty Haven's is a 15 year old boy living with his aunt, who is his guardian. Despite his aunts objections, he enjoys watching the new construction crew just outside of town, hoping for a little adventure...

Lori Danek is new to town as well, having just opened her own little shop. She is loving the transition from busy New York to serene Conora. Meeting wonderful Tony and his precocious daughter is icing on the cake.

Sheriff Miguel Lopez is a honest, hardworking man who carefully watches over his town. He has a wife, two children and a good heart.

Charles Longhand is an elderly native american working at the local gas station. He is fit and trim, having a physique worthy of a man 30 years his junior. He has lived his life struggling and alternating between the white man's world and the world of his people. For a long time he has lived in the world of the white man, though he still remembers the teachings of his grandfather, the shaman...

The rest of the town is full of normal everyday people, and a few odd ones who are just as much a fixture of the town as the desert land.

When Wally Grier unearths a Native American burial ground with his backhoe, none of them are safe. First one, then another, and then another fall victim. No one is safe from the Night Things...


I love stories like this. Not the premise, per se, but the many great characters that make up the story. Sheriff Lopez was not constructed to be one of those good-ol-boys stuck on taking care of everything themselves. He is willing and eager to accept help when he knows he needs it. He is a honest, friendly and open man, whose character is easy to figure out and like. He is by far my favorite character in the book, though others have larger parts.

An odd mixture of people join forces in this book: a newspaperman, a sheriff, a deputy, a professor of anthropology and old Charlie who has the knowledge of a shaman. Its amazing to me how the author was able to combine the many different personalities and actions in this story and make them work. Each chapter is covers the actions of a different person, going back and forth between the major and minor characters. The writing is very good, enabling me to comfortably swing from one character to another without losing the flow of the story.

With all the makings of a great B-horror movie, but many great characters to achieve even greater status, Night Thins is a wonderful read, sure to thrill all those horror fans.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great entertaining ride of terror, suspense and gore galore!, September 22, 2005

By 

Garnie Klier "G-man" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Night things (Paperback)

I purchased this book brand new and completely cold off the shelf. I knew nothing of the author, but simply from seeing the cover and reading the excerpt on the inside I felt it should feed the overwhelming addiction to horror and gore I was fully under the influence of at the time. Getting home on a friday afternoon I read it front to back and re-read it again, over the weekend. Needless to say bing very satisfied with the choice to buy it and totally entertained by a great story filled with native american mysticism, gore, suspense to be sure but a lot more as well, it was simply a great read.

Here we are 25 years later and I have been for ever-and-a-day trying recall all the images this book had left permanently etched into my slowly fading memory. You see, I have been trying to find this book after having foolishly lent it to someone else and never getting it back all those years ago. As time has gone on I've tried every couple of years to dig into the drudge and/or find help to track a copy down but had been becomming more unsure of the title (funny how age has that effect on the mind! That and not being able to recall the authors name.) The net has not been a help either, constantly getting listings for the book by Michael Talbot or lyrics for Ronnie Milsap tend to leave one feeling empty. Low and behold tonight I was lucky enough to stumble into here by pure chance and read the other reviews below. POW!! I've struck gold!

This is a really fun ride and I have had a special space on my shelf just waiting for this gem! Finally, after 25 years!! The copy I just purchased should be here by this weekend, I guess I can wait a little longer...

Thanks for the help and hopefully this helps someone else.