The Cursed Among Us

By: John Durgin

Narrated by: Joe Hempel

It has been 20 years since the serial killer known as The Black Heart Killer terrorized the town of Newport in 1979. Life mostly returned to normal after the killer was captured. All the townspeople have to do is stay out of the woods where the bodies were abandoned—their chests ripped open, and their hearts torn out....

Howie Burke and his friends decide rules are meant to be broken. That’s what 15-year-old kids do. On a beautiful fall day when they decide to go out in the woods to film a horror movie, they stumble across a mysterious grave. What they don’t know is that they are about to release an evil on the town unlike anything in their home-made movies. They will soon uncover the secrets of the Black Heart Killer, and what it truly means to be cursed.

©2022 John Durgin (P)2023 John Durgin

Critic reviews

“A remarkably malevolent debut that will leave you reaching for your talisman. Durgin takes all the right risks and proves nobody is safe in this impressive coming-of-age novel about a small town with a dark past.” (Joshua Marsella, author of Hunger For Death)

“The Cursed Among Us is a horror novel with its heart in the right place—ready to be ripped out! Containing surprising and sometimes stunning emotional depth, this homage to 90s B-movies and supernatural documentaries explores the agony of growing up and holding onto friendships when the world seems determined to rip everything you love apart.” (Joseph Sale, author of Dark Hilarity)

A perfect debut novel

I LOVED this book! I loved everything about it. It is creepy, not too heavy on the gore, and it kept a steady pace throughout the entire book. The narrator did such a great job. The fact that this was a debut novel is mind blowing. I am an instant fan. All of the thanks to John Durgin for sharing this audiobook with me.

The Cursed Among Us

I absolutely loved this book. It reminded me of how it was to hang out as kids and try to stay out of trouble. I would say these fellas found plenty of trouble. Very well written book.

Fantastic performance! Great story!

We start our story following a group of friends who love horror. They create their own low budget films and love behind the scenes stuff. But how will these kids do when pitted against a real supernatural slasher?

Who can they trust?

How can they fight?

Who will survive?

Great read and the performance was spectacular

Great story

I'm not usua!my a fan of horror but I figured if Stephen liked it...I'll check it out. glad I dud

Agreed- fine little story

Lots of fun for a coming of age horror that did not get mired in a YA monotony. A lot Stranger Things mixed with Dan Simulator ms’ Summer of Fear, throw in a bit of Super 8 and you have an afternoon of listening fun. I would have added the before and after then a reason for the sequel lead in…, regardless, not disappointed at all.