There is a curse on Point Vestal. Time moves differently in this sleepy Northwestern coastal town, where the ghosts of the past roam the streets as readily as the living inhabitants. It's still the late 19th century, and underneath the quaint touristy allure of the commingling of the past and present is a lurking darkness.
August Starling, a decadent (and dead) crime baron, has a plan for Point Vestal because the magical nature of the town is a haven for sinners fleeing judgment for their crimes. And the only residents who can stop him are newcomers to town: a defrocked Episcopalian priest and a talking cat, who is fluent in seven languages.
The Off Season is an effusive meditation on the nature of the fantastic, by a writer the Atlanta Constitution calls "a lasting voice in modern American literature." Cady, winner of both the Nebula and the World Fantasy Award, has given us "a consummate yarn, told with many digressions and anecdotes that combine with folksy humor to create a tall tale suffused with pathos and melancholy." (The Seattle Times)
When Off Season, a novel of horror and cannibalism in modern day Maine, was first released in 1980, it took readers by storm and sold over 250,000 copies! However, the original edition was edited and content was removed from the story at the publisher's request. The whole effect of the book was deemed to intense, in particular the ending-which is completely restored in this edition. The Overlook Connection Press is releasing this edition in it's original unexpurgated state for the first time anywhere. The author's original vision can now be read. This book has not been available in the US for almost two decades in any edition. We have a special introduction by Douglas E. Winter, who has championed this novel for years. Also an Afterword by the author Jack Ketchum.