The Open Curtain

Brian Evenson's psychological horror story is a convincing and unnerving portrait of mental disintegration. He brings together the life of Rudd Theurer, a disaffected Morman teenaged boy; that boy's fascination with a 1902 murder involving William Hooper Young, who was a grandson of Brigham Young; and a social setting that allows the boy's growing madness to pass unnoticed in an atmosphere that combines neglect, abuse, and denial. The book skirts becoming overloaded with complications and references, but Evenson knows how to pay off plot twists and shock elements while maintaining the readers sympathy -- up to a point -- with his severely disturbed protagonist.

The title refers to Mormon ritual, and the violent undercurrents of Morman history inform the plot. In a afterward, Evenson reveals that during the writing of The Open Curtain he fully disengaged from the LDS Church and formally requested excommunication. His horror story is not an anti-Mormon diatribe, but he is unrelenting in his exploration of the corrosive effect of Morman theology on his mentally fragile protagonist.