Suffer the Children (novel)

Suffer the Children
	Hardcover edition
Author	John Saul
Language	English
Genre	Novel
Publisher	Dell Publishing
Publication date	1977
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (hardback & paperback)
Followed by	Punish the Sinners

Suffer the Children is the debut novel by author John Saul, first published by Dell Publishing in 1977.^[1] The novel follows the story of a child abductor, who murders a young girl one hundred years earlier. The young girl returns and begins taking out more children one by one. Suffer the Children was initially published in paperback and has sold over a million copies since its release.^[2]

Plot

After a young girl is murdered one hundred years earlier in Port Arbello prior to the beginning of the novel, the one responsible comes back and begins taking out more children, one by one. As people scramble to find the culprit, everyone comes to a shocking realization that an evil history is repeating itself.^[3]

Development

Saul claims that the book took him 28 days to write^[4] and due to his editor's response to the title, he wrote another book before the first was published.^[2] Of the subject matter, Saul stated that "I always find ... that when you have a scary scene, it broadens the scope of possibilities if you have children involved."^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b Hanscom, Leslie. No Ghosts, but horror's still creepy The Montreal Gazette. Jul 23, 1983, p I-3.
^ ^a ^b Deutsch, Linda. John Saul's Words Make Readers' skin crawl. The Item. Jul 28, 1991, p 24.
^ "Suffer the Children by John Saul". Retrieved February 29, 2012.
^ Deutsch, Linda. JOHN SAUL'S FORMULA FOR FRIGHT MAKES HIM CHILLER-THRILLER STAR. Orlando Sentinel - Orlando, Fla. Aug 9, 1991, E1.