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Suffer the Children

john saul

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Alternate cover edition for this ISBN can be found here.

One hundred years ago in Port Arbello a pretty little girl began to scream. And struggle. And die. No one heard. No one saw. Just one man whose guilty heart burst in pain as he dashed himself to death in the sea. Now something peculiar is happening in Port Arbello. The children are disappearing, one by one. An evil history is repeating itself. And one strange, terrified child has ended her silence with a scream that began a hundred years ago.

378 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1,1977

This edition

Format
378 pages, Mass Market Paperback
Published
July 1, 1989 by Dell
ISBN
9780440182931
ASIN
044018293X
Language
English

More editions

About the author

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john saul

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John Saul grew up in Whittier California where he graduated from Whittier High School in 1959. He attended several colleges—Antioch, in Ohio, Cerritos, in Norwalk, California, Montana State University and San Francisco State College, variously majoring in anthropology, liberal arts, and theater, but never obtaining a degree.
After leaving college, he decided the best thing for a college dropout to do was become a writer, and spent the next fifteen years working in various jobs while attempting to write a book someone would want to publish. Should anyone ever want to write a novel concerning the car-rental industry or the travails of temporary typists, John can provide excellent background material.

Those years garnered him a nice collection of unpublished manuscripts, but not a lot of money. Eventually he found an agent in New York, who spent several years sending his manuscripts around, and trying to make the rejection slips sound hopeful. Then, in 1976, one of his manuscripts reached Dell, who didn't want to buy it, but asked if he'd be interested in writing a psychological thriller. He put together an outline, and crossed his fingers.

At that point, things started getting bizarre. His agent decided the outline had all the makings of a best-seller, and so did Dell. Gambling on a first novel by an unknown author, they backed the book with television advertising (one of the first times a paperback original was promoted on television) and the gamble paid off. Within a month Suffer the Children appeared on all the best-seller lists in the country and made the #1 spot in Canada. Subsequently all 32 of his books, have made all the best-seller lists and have been published world wide. Though many of his books were published by Bantam/Doubleday/Dell his last fourteen books have been published by Ballantine/Fawcett/Columbine.

In addition to his work as novelist, John is also interested in the theater. He has acted, and as a playwright has had several one-act plays produced in Los Angeles and Seattle, and two optioned in New York. One of his novels was produced by Gerber Productions Company and M.G.M. as a C.B.S. movie and currently one of his novels is in development.

John served on the Expansion Arts Panel of the National Endowment for the Arts. He is actively involved with the development of other writers, and is a lecturer at the Pacific Northwest Writers Conference and the Maui Writers Conference and received the Life Time Achievement Award from the Northwest Writers Conference. John is also a trustee and Vice President of The Chester Woodruff Foundation (New York), a philanthropic organization.

John lives part-time in the Pacific Northwest, both in Seattle and in the San Juan Islands. He also maintains a residence on the Big Island of Hawaii. He currently enjoys motor homing, travel and golf. He is an avid reader, bridge player, golfer and loves to cook.

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Community Reviews

Rating(3.9 / 5.0, 100 votes)
5 stars
26(26%)
4 stars
41(41%)
3 stars
33(33%)
2 stars
0(0%)
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0(0%)
100 reviews All reviews
Profile Image for Kimberly .
Willowtry
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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First Saul book I ever read, about ten or so years ago. It kept me up all night. Anything horror involving children has always been terrifying to me and Saul does it best. Since then I’ve read several more from him.
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Satyr_icon
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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I read Suffer the Children in 1977 when I was 13. It came to my attention again recently so I’m addIng it. Since I don’t recall specific details about the book, I can’t speak about the quality of the writing or the plot. I’m still giving it 4 stars because it put some horrific pictures in my mind that still reside there, especially at night. That’s a good enough endorsement for a horror book, I think.
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toshiro987
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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I think this book just made my “top favorite” list.

A slow-burn book about creepy kids, an old family curse, and lots and lots of blood.

And that ending... I hate it. But I also couldn’t have thought of a better one myself, that’s for sure.

It might be a while before I read another John Saul book, I’ve only read two of his and this one is far superior. Definitely recommending this one to fans of the macabre, and a must-read for horror fans everywhere.
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Zmey
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Outgrown!

I had forgotten about John Saul, surprisingly, because I’ve read a lot of his books, back in middle-school. This was about the time l also discovered Stephen King.

His books ascribe to “light” horror, that’s how l describe it. Lots of books about children makes it easier for younger teens to identify with the victims.

I find it really hard to care about the Conger family. They are too unlikeable, no wonder the children have problems.

For some reason, the book appears rushed at the end. Around about the last twenty percent of the book a lot of editing errors appear. The closer near the end, the worse it gets.

Three stars. ✨✨✨
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itsmeganechan
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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This book was weird af, so I liked that aspect. Lol I don't think there was enough explanation in the end. I may come back and write a complete review of this one later.
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Lehcara
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Description: One hundred years ago in Port Arbello a pretty little girl began to scream. And struggle. And die. No one heard. No one saw. Just one man whose guilty heart burst in pain as he dashed himself to death in the sea. Now something peculiar is happening in Port Arbello. The children are disappearing, one by one. An evil history is repeating itself. And one strange, terrified child has ended her silence with a scream that began a hundred years ago.



This is the one that starts with a little girl chasing a bunny in New England in the late 1800s.

□ □ □ □ □ □ □

What is it about New England and horror stories? Must be the same way that gothic big house stories work best in a Cornish setting.

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Nonafluid
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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It had all the creepy factors. I gave four because I wanted ending with more; too much of a cliffhanger.
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