Those Who Went Remain There Still [Hardcover]

Cherie Priest (Author), Mark Geyer (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 31, 2008

Heaster Wharton is dead, and his passing might mean an end to hostilities between the Manders and the Coys. If the the elderly patriarch showed the kindness and foresight to split his land cleanly between his feuding descendants, then a truce could be arranged.

But his final request is a strange one, delivered across the country to the straggling remnants of his tribe. Representatives from both families must visit a cave at the edge of his property in the hills of Kentucky. There, he promised, they would find his last will and testament.

But there's more than paperwork waiting underground, as vindictive old Heaster was well aware.

In 1775, Daniel Boone and a band of axe-wielding frontiersmen struggled to clear a path through the Cumberland Gap into the heart of Bluegrass country, and they did not work unopposed. Hounded and harried by an astonishing monster, the axe-men overcame the beast by sheer numbers and steel. They threw its body into a nearby cave.

It was not dead.
And now, it is not alone.

Crippled and outraged, for 100 years something terrible has huddled underground, dreaming of meat and revenge. But its newest callers are heavily armed, skeptical of their instructions, and predisposed to violence.

With their guns and their savage instincts, Heaster's grandchildren will not make for easy pickings.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Cilled a thing heer—D. Boone reads a message carved outside a spooky Kentucky cave in this slightly thin campfire tale. The thing is a bizarre creature with wings and a sharp beak, and despite Boone's declaration, she survives and spawns. By 1899, the cave is known as the Witch's Pit, and Heaster Wharton Junior—whose father accompanied Boone and fought the monster—hides his will there so his feuding descendants will have to work together to find it. Inevitably, the searchers tangle with the monster's bloodthirsty family. Humor enlivens the action, and Priest (Not Flesh nor Feathers) adds cool touches like Boone's ghost and an angry phantom woman, but the monster's origins remain a little too mysterious, giving the story a slightly undeveloped feel. Mark Geyer's illustrations lend old-fashioned atmosphere. (Dec.)
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From Booklist

Better known for her southern gothic horror novels, Priest here changes pace with the gruesome tale of a winged monster haunting the backwoods of late-nineteenth-century, rural Kentucky. When Heaster Wharton dies, his surviving grandchildren in the feuding Coy and Mander clans are faced with a daunting challenge. To retrieve his will, three Coys and three Manders must stop bickering long enough to visit the Witch’s Pit, a remote cavern in the hills. Before they can get their bearings in the foul-smelling recesses, they are assaulted by a gigantic, feathered beast with a deadly beak. Although their guns and their axes help them protect themselves somewhat, the ghost of a certain Kentucky frontiersman who confronted the beast 100 years before—Daniel Boone—is much more helpful. Priest spices the narrative with frequent flashbacks to Boone’s own beastly encounters during his trail-cutting days. Ultimately, the gore and the feathers are a bit overdone, though all for the sake of good, gratuitous fun. --Carl Hays

Product Details

• Hardcover: 175 pages
• Publisher: Subterranean (December 31, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1596061790
• ISBN-13: 978-1596061798
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,862,899 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Cherie Priest is the author of eleven novels, including the steampunk pulp adventures Dreadnought, Clementine, and Boneshaker. Boneshaker was nominated for both the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award; it was a PNBA Award winner, and winner of the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel. Cherie also wrote Fathom and the Eden Moore series from Tor (Macmillan), Bloodshot and Hellbent for Bantam, and three novellas published by Subterranean Press. In addition to all of the above, she is a newly minted member of the Wild Cards Consortium - and her first foray into George R. R. Martin's superhero universe, Fort Freak (for which she wrote the frame story), will debut in 2011. Cherie's short stories and nonfiction articles have appeared in such fine publications as Weird Tales, Subterranean Magazine, Publishers Weekly, The Living Dead 2, and the Thackeray T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities. Though she spent most of her life in the southeast, she presently lives in Seattle, Washington, with her husband and a fat black cat.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Daniel Boone, Kentucky woodsmen battling monsters. What more could you want?, February 15, 2009

By 

D. Berdanis "endymion9" (Joliet, IL United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Those Who Went Remain There Still (Hardcover)

Cherie does an excellent job of channelling Daniel Boone in the segments where he appears in the story. Very believable. The flashbacks to the earlier story build anticipation as a new group of Kentuckians prepares to face the horror.

The creepy atmosphere of the woods at night and the cave reminded me of what The Blair Witch crew were trying to make you feel. Very effective horror.

The personalities of the later Kentucky crew were well developed and written to make them interesting people that you want to know more about.

The old granny brought to mind the scene in The Stand where the "good" crowd is gathering at the granny's cabin. Not knowing what to expect. But knowing they must face a task together to save their part of the world.

Kept me on the edge of my seat wanting to know the outcome.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An old family tale--now with monsters!, February 27, 2009

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S H (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Those Who Went Remain There Still (Hardcover)

Those Who Went Remain There Still features Daniel Boone leading a team of lumberjacks through unexplored wilderness, a creature that comes at night to pick off the men one by one, a last will and testament by a vindictive patriarch and miles of black, stinking cave.

You won't find any vampires or werewolves here; this is all about the creepy, nameless stuff that lurks in the dark of night and imagination.

Priest based this story on an old family tale that, as she notes in the Acknowledgements, "features no actual monsters in its original incarnation." However, as she goes on to state, "this retelling rectifies reality's troubling oversight in this matter."

Hurrah!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars fast paced and gripping monster tale, April 4, 2009

By 

Allison J. Shown (Fairfax, VA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Those Who Went Remain There Still (Hardcover)

Those Who Went Remain There Still was a fantastic read with a plot that started out at a good clip and kept picking up speed. The past and present wove the story in a coherent way, revealing the perfect amount of information at the right pace. Loved it!