CABIN FEVER

Paul Tremblay puts an apocalyptic twist on the homeinvasion story...

From The Strangers and Funny Games to this year’s Breaking In, the home invasion has become a horror movie staple – albeit one that novelist Paul Tremblay doesn’t much care for. “I generally don’t connect with the home-invasion subgenre,” he says. “For me, the characters – on both sides – are often badly drawn and don’t feel like real people.”

All of which may make it rather surprising that Tremblay’s latest novel, The Cabin At The End Of The World, is precisely that. “Oddly, that’s exactly why I wanted to write the book; the challenge of how I would approach a home invasion novel was a big part of the appeal.”

The book centres on a young couple, Andrew and Eric, and their eight-year-old daughter Wen, as they go on vacation. It’s not long, however, before a group of strangers show up at their cabin, stating that they need the family’s help to prevent the end of the world. “One of the mysteries is why the four strangers are there, and I give the reader glimpses into their lives and thought processes. Hopefully the horror of what they are choosing to do, and their hopelessness in believing they have no choice, resonates along with what the beleaguered family is made to go through.” WS