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I felt a great deal of sympathy for Joel and the burden that he and his family must bear.

Massie’s sharp eye to detail really brings the characters alive. Religious fanatics like Missy Campbell really do exist in our world. Very deserving of the Bram Stoker Award recognition, Massie focuses on a tradition and storyline that is realistic rather than supernatural. Sineater is without a doubt one of the best horror novels I have read. Joel desperately searches for the real perpetrator and feels obligated to stand up for the father he has never known. Missy Campbell, the leader of the religious sect, believes it is God’s way of punishing them for interacting with the sineater’s family. Suddenly, violent things begin to happen to members of the town. He can’t simply ignore the existence of those around him. However, Joel can’t help but form relationships with other members of the town.

Everyone knows they should avoid the family or face the wrath of the sineater. He is taunted at school and throughout the community by members of a local religious sect.

The family must fall asleep before their father enters the house or they will face the same fate as those that dare to look at the sineater’s face. His childhood is a bit more difficult than most. One of his sons, Joel, is permitted to attend school. The sineater has married and has a family of his own. However, the tradition has been violated. The tradition of the sineater goes back for generations. The guests of the funeral must turn their backs, for if they catch a glimpse of the Sineater’s face they will bear witness to all the sins he is carrying. This is part of an elaborate ceremony that takes place after a funeral.

This is done by eating food that is laid out on the deceased’s body. As the townspeople die, it is his duty to absorb all their sins so they may pass freely into heaven. His existence is vital to the local townspeople, however. According to the legend, the sineater is a man that has been banished to the woods. Sineater takes place in the remote mountains of Virginia.