This is a re-read . I originally read Off Season when it was first published in 1980. The emotional experience was like a flash flood. After I read it, I couldn't get the violent images and the primitive power of this novel out of my mind. Ketchum's verbal blood feast was a seminal moment in horror literature.The particular edition I just finished in from 2006 and is described as "The author's uncut, uncensored version". I didn't remember enough to say what was different but there is an afterword that specifies the changes. The one change I remembered was the ending. Without giving any spoilers, the authors' preferred ending (the uncensored one) is much better and much more brutal. An unconventional horror tale needs an unconventional ending.
The bottom line is Ketchum's tasty (pun intended) novel of terror and cannibalism remains as gut-wrenching (yes, intended too) as it was in 1980. A horror classic.
P. S. This particular edition also has a short story titled "Winter Child". It works nicely as a epilogue to the Off Season universe. Ketchum has also written a sequel to Off Season titled Offspring but I have yet to find it
