A blend of Gone With the Wind familial saga with some Lovecraftian horror. Surprisingly effective at pulling you along with the story even as little is happening, and then stabbing you in the back with some visceral horror when you're not expecting it. Probably best enjoyed on a porch in a rocking chair while sipping ice tea.
What prevented the four star is the time investment, when the story is not actually explaining much of anything about its own mythology despite the brick sized length. What's an understandable choice in a Lovecraft novella is less forgivable here. ( )

This is a masterpiece that ought to be better known. This is a southern gothic in the best tradition of that genre. It’s a book about family from the early half of the 20th century up to 1980, or thereabouts. It’s about the Caskey family and their rise and sorta fall in the small town of Perdido, Alabama. It’s about blood being thicker than water but mostly it’s an allegory about misfits, or rather those that society sees as misfits, and how they’re really just the same as the rest of us, or their wants and fears are the same anyway. Oh and I forgot, strong women. Almost all the main characters are strong women.

Oh, and I really forgot something important, to bring the misfit theme home, the pivotal character in this family is a swamp monster, but you’ll forget that most of the time, it’s that good. Honest. And there are a few vindictive ghosts thrown in. When you think about it, who is more of a misfit than a swamp monster? It’s allegory, stupid.

This is the book [a:Stephen King|3389|Stephen King|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1362814142p2/3389.jpg] wishes he could write. Ignored by literati because it’s categorized as horror instead of their beloved “magical realism,” it’s every bit as profound as anything in the latter genre.

Skip the shorter and better known [b:The Elementals|22461751|The Elementals|Michael McDowell|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1402604584s/22461751.jpg|292120] and go straight to [b:Blackwater: The Complete Caskey Family Saga|23476097|Blackwater The Complete Caskey Family Saga (Blackwater, #1-6)|Michael McDowell|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1431177310s/23476097.jpg|43067426]. ( )

Idk, I just wanted more creepiness ( )

All I can say is WOW! Fantastic novel. I am now a super fan of Michael McDowell. Highly recommended if you like Southern Gothic Lit. The audio version is excellent. ( )

I never expected to be so drawn into this 30 hour listen, but drawn in I was and once I started listening I could hardly stop at night to go to sleep. The narrator (Matt Godfrey) was brilliant and the different voices that he developed, and appeared to effortlessly transition into and out of, for the extensive cast of characters were so distinct that I could immediately tell who was speaking, before the person was identified.

The quirky Caskey family were easy to envision and the family dynamics were uniquely dysfunctional. Although it appears to be grouped with horror novels, it is of the Southern gothic genre, with more left to be imagined in the reader's mind than characterized in detail in the book. McDowell's writing is sublime, making this one of my new favorites. ( )