"Of everything Charlie wrote, my favorite books of his are those that combine quartets of stories linked by a central motif like this one. It has long been argued that, for horror writers particularly, the novella is the ideal length for a story. It allows character development and plenty of darkness, while negating the need for rambling or filler. Grant was most at home with novellas, and indeed they represented him at the height of his power, and nowhere is that more evident than here, in The Orchard.—Kealan Patrick Burke (from the Introduction)