The strength of 'The Other' lies in its understated eerieness and sense of dread, superbly set off against the wonderful and warm days of seemingly neverending summer, filled with adventure and light. The result is, in my opinion, one of the best horror films of the 1970s, surpassing even spectacle-laden blockbusters such as 'Jaws' or 'The Excorsist'. Tryon adapted his novel into a screenplay for said film, which he also executive produced. I am an avid fan of the eponymous 1972 film, directed by Robert Mulligan, for which this best-selling novel by Thomas Tryon laid the literary groundwork. It is a landmark of psychological horror that is a worthy descendent of the books of James Hogg, Robert Louis Stevenson, Shirley Jackson, and Patricia Highsmith. Thomas Tryon’s best-selling novel about a homegrown monster is an eerie examination of the darkness that dwells within everyone.

As the summer goes on, though, and Holland’s pranks become increasingly sinister, Niles finds he can no longer make excuses for his brother’s actions. Perry still hasn’t recovered from the shock of her husband’s gruesome end and stays sequestered in her room, leaving her sons to roam free. The Perrys live in the bucolic New England town their family settled centuries ago, and as it happens, the extended clan has gathered at its ancestral farm this summer to mourn the death of the twins’ father in a most unfortunate accident. Holland is bold and mischievous, a bad influence, while Niles is kind and eager to please, the sort of boy who makes parents proud. They are close, close enough, almost, to read each other’s thoughts, but they couldn’t be more different. Set in 1935, the novel focuses on the sadistic relationship between two 13-year-old and identical twin boys: one of whom is well behaved while the other is a sociopath who wreaks havoc on his family's rural New England farm property.Holland and Niles Perry are identical thirteen-year-old twins. The novel was reprinted in a commemorative edition in 2012 by New York Review Books with an afterword by Dan Chaon. The Other was adapted into a 1972 film of the same name directed by Robert Mulligan and starring Uta Hagen. Upon its release, the novel received wide critical acclaim and became a surprise bestseller. Tryon, who had been a working actor, retired from his Hollywood career to become a novelist. The Other is a psychological horror novel by American writer Thomas Tryon, published in 1971.

The other tryon