Why Outer Dark is Cormac McCarthy’s Most Unsettling Masterpiece

This book is wild. Just reading the back cover, I knew I was in for something crazy, but Outer Dark surpassed even my wildest expectations.

Outer Dark back cover:

"A woman bears her brother's child, a boy; he leaves the baby in the woods and tells her he died of natural causes. Discovering her brother's lie, she sets forth alone to find her son. Both brother and sister wander separately through a countryside being scourged by three terrifying and elusive strangers, headlong toward an eerie, apocalyptic resolution."

This is an extremely dark read, but I loved every word McCarthy wrote. It was fantastic.

As I mentioned in my review of All the Pretty Horses, Cormac McCarthy is probably my favourite author. Outer Dark continues to reinforce that belief.

Interestingly, as I started reading Outer Dark, a Vanity Fair article surfaced claiming that Cormac McCarthy had a 16-year-old muse late in his life. While I haven’t been able to access the full article due to subscription barriers, the excerpts and discussions I’ve encountered paint the piece as overly stylized, almost as if the author is attempting to mimic McCarthy’s own prose. This stylistic choice, combined with the extraordinary claims made, makes the story feel exaggerated, if not dubious. I’m not dismissing the possibility that some of it might be true—if it is, it’s deeply troubling—but the lack of concrete evidence and the outlandish nature of certain allegations leave me skeptical. It’s also worth noting that McCarthy is no longer alive to respond or clarify these claims. While the article has sparked debates about separating art from the artist, I believe McCarthy’s literary contributions remain vital. His works deserve to be read and analyzed, even as we remain mindful of the complexities surrounding his personal life.

Now, back to Outer Dark.

This is an amazing piece of fiction. From the very beginning, the book is relentlessly dark. Set in Appalachia, McCarthy creates an eerie, almost fantastical world that feels alive in its desolation. The brother and sister live in an isolated shack deep in the woods, and when they venture out on their separate journeys, they encounter a cast of vivid and unforgettable characters. Some of these figures are helpful, while others are downright malevolent. These secondary characters breathe so much life—and death—into the story, amplifying its intensity.

The first time Culla Holme, the brother, meets the three elusive strangers face-to-face, right after his ride on the ferry, is one of the creepiest scenes I’ve ever read. The way McCarthy describes the shadows moving in the clearing and the strangers’ unsettling mannerisms—how they move, stare, laugh, and speak—is masterful. The tension is almost unbearable.

You know they’ll return, and when they do, McCarthy doesn’t disappoint.

"Well, I see ye didn't have no trouble findin us.
I wasn't huntin ye.
You got here all right for somebody bound elsewhere.
I wasn't bound nowheres. I just seen the fire.
I like to keep a good fire. A man never knows what all might chance along. Does he?
No.
No. Anything's liable to warsh up. From nowheres nowhere bound.
Where are you bound? Holme said.
I ain't, the man said. By nothin. He looked up at Holme. We ain't hard to find. Oncet you've found us."

This scene is haunting, and when the strangers appear again—with the one-eyed baby and the tinker in the tree—the atmosphere is downright terrifying. I’m not sure if Outer Dark is officially considered a horror novel, but it’s probably the scariest book I’ve ever read.

I’m not a big horror reader. People rave about Stephen King, but I haven’t been impressed. I’ve read The Dead Zone and The Shining, and neither really did it for me. I actually prefer Kubrick’s adaptation of The Shining because it improved on the source material in tone and execution. That said, I love Dan Simmons, I mostly know him as a science fiction author, however, I read Drood and loved it, though it wasn’t the horror elements that hooked me. If you have horror recommendations, I’d love to explore more.

But Outer Dark? It qualifies as horror in my book.

Religious themes also run deep in this story, coming to the forefront in the latter half. One of the most memorable scenes is when Holme meets the hog drovers. After one of their brothers dies and Holme gets blamed, a preacher shows up, declaring his guilt without any knowledge of the situation. The absurdity of this preacher, casually pronouncing judgment, is both comical and thought-provoking—a sharp critique of blind religious authority.

Rinthy Holme, Culla’s sister, has her own strange and fascinating encounters, though none are as grotesque as her brother’s.

This was an incredible read. Any Cormac McCarthy fan needs to pick up Outer Dark. Being one of his earlier works, it’s not as widely discussed as some of his other novels, but it deserves to be. It’s right up there with the rest of his literature in my opinion. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend Outer Dark as a starting point for McCarthy newcomers, but for fans, it’s an absolute must-read.