Frank Delabano is a retired science teacher living an unremarkable life in an unremarkable suburb. But in a sunny corner of his backyard lies his secret treasure: a magnificent rose garden. When his beloved blooms are threatened by a mysterious burrowing pest, he sends away for an organic remedy: an exotic tropical plant guaranteed to be antithetical to garden varmints but harmless to pets and everything else. The strange gopherbane plants take care of the problem . . . and much more. Building to an unforgettable climax, Ordinary Horror tells an unsettling, richly atmospheric tale of creepily evolving menace. An elegantly literary debut . . . Like a Stephen King novel written by Joseph Conrad. (Laura Miller, Salon.com) Searcy's prose is a razor-like tool for dissecting the surreal mundanity of suburbia. (Los Angeles Times) In controlled and lyrical prose, Searcy imbues the ordinary with the horrific . . . His skill is to keep us guessing. (The New Yorker)
- ISBN10 0452282969
- ISBN13 9780452282964
- Publish Date 29 January 2002 (first published 25 January 2001)
- Publish Status Unknown
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Penguin Putnam Inc
- Imprint Plume
- Format Paperback
- Pages 240
- Language English