Reborn by F. Paul Wilson

 

(pb; 1990, revised in 2005: second book in the Nightworld Cycle, aka the Adversary Cycle.)

 

From the back cover

“When an ancient artifact dissolves in the hands of a man calling himself Mr. Veilleur, he knows something has gone wrong. . . terribly, cosmically wrong.

“Dr. Roderick Hanley, a Novel Prize-winning geneticist, dies in a plane crash. His last words: ‘The boy! They’ll find out about the boy! He’ll find out about himself!’ When Jim Stevens, an orphan and struggling writer, learns that he is the sole heir to the Hanley estate, he is sure he has at last found his biological father.

“He’s only half right. The true nature of his inheritance—and the truth about his conception—will crush him. In New York City, a group of charismatics has been drawn together with a sense of great purpose. Satan is coming, and they have been chosen to fight him.

“Mr. Veilleur has been drawn to the group as well, but he realizes it’s not Satan who is coming. Stan would be a suitable au pair compared to the ancient evil that is in the process of being. . . Reborn.”

 

Review

Reborn didn’t thrill me as much as its prequel, The Keep. A big reason for this might be Keep’s setting—I love WWII-era horror novels that waste no time jumping into character-centric action, something Reborn is not. (Please note that I'm not condemning any choices that Wilson might've made with Reborn; I'm merely stating a personal leaning.)

Reborn is a different type of novel. Set in stateside 1968, it mostly focuses on Jim and Carol Stevens, husband and wife, and what happens when Jim—a temperamental, struggling horror writer with mysterious parentage—inherits a fortune from a man he’s never met (Dr. Robert Hanley). In addition to the fortune, though, there are terrible secrets, secrets which may have something to do with the struggle between Rasalom and Glaeken (possibly now going by the name Gaston Veilleur) in Keep.

Reborn, with its relatively slow, steady setup (as well as more characters), is an above average, sometimes clever read from a great writer. When it comes together at the end, it generally delivers, but ultimately, it—like the rest of Reborn—feels like a setup for larger story that does not come about in this book. Fans of Ira Levin’s 1967 novel Rosemary’s Baby (and Roman Polanski’s 1968 cinematic adaptation of it) might especially enjoy Reborn, which explicitly acknowledges the 1967 novel’s influence.

Worth owning, this. According to F. Paul Wilson’s official website, Reborn is followed, story-wise, by F. Paul Wilson’s The Touch (1986).

Son of Rosemary by Ira Levin

 

(hb; 1997: sequel to Rosemary’sBaby)

From the inside flap

“Son of Rosemary opens at the dawn of the new millennium—a time when human hope is shadowed by growing fear and uncertainty, and the world is in greatest need of a savior. It is here—against the glittering backdrop of New York City in 1999—that Rosemary is reunited with her son. It is also here that the battle between good and evil will be played out on a global scale—a struggle that will have frightening, far-reaching consequences, not only for Rosemary and her son but for all of humanity.”

 

Review

Son, like Rosemary’s Baby, is a hard-to-set-down, clever, and satirically devilish read. Thirty years have passed since the events of Rosemary’s, and Rosemary Reilly—then Rosemary Woodhouse—has spent twenty-seven of them in a Bramford cult-induced coma. Then the last member of the cult dies, just as Rosemary wakes, shortly to be reunited with her thirty-three-old son (Andy Castevet), head of God’s Children, a globally popular Christian peace movement. Andy and Rosemary’s coming-together is joyous, with Andy breaking with His father’s plans, something that didn’t sit well with Satan. Setpiece-sly murders begin, the smell of tannis—like that preceded the horrors of the previous novel—seeps into Rosemary’s investigations, and she begins to suspect something’s not right with Andy and his organization. . .

Levin, with his usual economical prose, keeps the thematic connective tissue taut and intriguing, maintaining the visual and plot cues of Rosemary’s. Son’s tone is updated and different than Rosemary’s, but it feels like a natural continuation of the first book, with an effective multi-twist finish that, with a lesser writer, might’ve galled me as a cheat ending, but with Son feels right. Worth reading, this.

Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin

 

(hb; 1967)

From the inside flap

“Rosemary and Guy Woodhouse were delighted at the chance to move into the Bramford, one of Manhattan’s oldest and most celebrated apartment houses. Their friend Hutch urged them not to; he knew of too many shadows in the Bramford’s past—unsavory tenants like Adrian Marcato, who had practiced witchcraft, and the monstrous Trench sisters. But Rosemary and Guy were clear-thinking and not at all superstitious. They dismissed Hutch’s warnings and moved in.

“At first they were completely happy. Rosemary hung curtains and planned a nursery for the baby she hoped to have some day. Guy pursued his career as a stage and television actor. They met their neighbors, who were friendly and unintrusive. But then, one day when Rosemary was down in the basement laundry room, a girl her own age came in. . .”

 

Review

Set in Manhattan, New York between 1965 and 1966, Ira Levin’s clever, satiric and tightly written devilish thriller is excellent, cinematic in its representation of Rosemary’s victimization and sometimes-disturbing resilience (or breakdown, depending on how you look at it) while maintaining a this-is-a-major-novel feel with its hyper-focused eye for detail, sly real-world references, occurrences and details (which reinforce the personalities of ex-Catholic Rosemary and those around her) and foreshadow the horrors that the expectant mother has yet to fully realize and battle, if she is to survive her ordeal. 

Great, non-gory and one of the all-time best horror novels I’ve read, this—I particularly appreciate how deftly Levin’s prose slips in and out of Rosemary’s stream-of-consciousness observations and fears within a third-person point of view, something a lot of authors seem unable to seamlessly pull off. This is how you construct slow-build paranoia and horror within the fabric of a written and cinematic framework—something more folk horror authors and filmmakers (though Rosemary isn’t folk horror) ought to study and utilize!

Followed by Son of Rosemary.

#

The resulting film was released stateside on June 12, 1968. Roman Polanski directed and wrote the screenplay for it. Further details about the film and its noteworthy, excellent players can be found on IMDb and other places.

The Boys from Brazil by Ira Levin

(pb; 1976)

From the back cover

“Scattered throughout the world, ninety-four men. Each one a civil servant. Each one approaching retirement. Each one harmless, unknown to the other. Each one marked for death.

“Hiding in the jungles of Brazil, a Nazi scientist with a diabolical plan to create a new Hitler─and the deadly means to carry it out.”

Review

Boys is an intense, sharp and entertaining B-movie take on horrific world events, with a role-shifting cat-and-mouse game between Lieberman, the avenging Jew, and Mengele, the homicidal scientist, as the structure. Levin’s prose is tight, the characters well-developed, the action succinct and gripping, the pathos affecting, and the scenario─wild as it is─even more plausible when re-read in 2020 (I read it decades ago, when I was a teenager). This is an excellent, memorable thriller, one worth owning.

#

The resulting film was released stateside on October 6, 1978. Franklin J. Schaffner directed it, from a screenplay by Heywood Gould.

Laurence Olivier played Ezra Lieberman. Gregory Peck played Dr. Josef Mengele. James Mason played Eduard Seibert. Lilli Palmer played Esther Lieberman. Bruno Ganz played Professor Bruckner.

Steve Guttenberg, billed as Steven Guttenberg, played Barry Kohler. Denholm Elliott played Sidney Beynon. Walter Gotell played Mundt. Rosemary Harris played Mrs. Doring.

Uta Hagen played Frieda Maloney. John Dehner played Henry Wheelock. Anne Meara played Mrs. Curry.

Jeremy Black played Jack Curry / Simon Harrington / Erich Doring / Bobby Wheelock.

The Lords of Salem by Rob Zombie with B.K. Evenson

(hb; 2013)


From the inside flap:

"Heidi Hawthorne is a thirty-seven-year-old FM radio DJ and a recovering drug addict.  Struggling with her newfound sobriety and creeping depression, Heidi suddenly receives an anonymous gift at the station - a mysteriously shaped wooden box branded with a strange symbol.  Inside the box is a promotional record for a band that identifies themselves as The Lords.  There is no other information.

"She decides to play it on the radio show as a joke, and the moment she does, horrible things begin to happen.  The strange music unleashes something evil in the town.  Soon enough, terrifying murders begin to happen all around Heidi.  Who are The Lords?  What do they want?

"Now, as old bloodlines are awakened and the bodies start to pile up, only one thing seems certain - all hell is about to break loose."


Review:

Lords is a compelling, entertaining read, with its engaging characters and its graphic, jubilant and orgiastic bloodshed.  While it's not the grimmest horror novel I've read, its unrepentant and unflinching unveiling of viscous, carnal violence makes many other like-genre books pale in comparison.

Zombie and Evenson weave elements of humor, Ira Levin's Rosemary's Baby and the Norwegian black metal genre into this feels-like-a-Seventies-horror-flick novel, making it even more fun.

Worth owning, this.

#

The film version is scheduled for theatrical release on April 19, 2013.  Co-author Rob Zombie scripted and directed the film.

Sheri Moon Zombie played Heidi Hawthorne.  Bruce Davison played Francis Matthias.  Jeff Daniel Phillips, billed as Jeffrey Daniel Phillips, played Herman Whitey Salvador.  Ken Foree played Herman Jackson.   Ernest Thomas played Chip Freakshow McDonald. 

Michael Berryman played Virgil Magnus.  Sid Haig played Dean Magnus.   Maria Conchita Alonso played Alice Matthias.  Dustin Quick played Masie Mather. 

Judy Geeson played Lacy Doyle. Patricia Quinn played Megan.  Dee Wallace played Sonny.  Meg Foster played Margaret Morgan.  Brandon Cruz played Ted Delta.  Torsten Voges played Count Gorgann.  Niko Posey played Cerina Hooten.  Lisa Marie played Priscilla Reed.

Maria Olsen played a "Dream Sequence Woman".  Diana Hart played another "Dream Sequence Woman".  Flo Lawrence played a "Witch".  Silvia Moore played another "Witch".

Barbara Crampton, in deleted scenes, played Virginia Cable.  Udo Kier, in deleted scenes, played Matthew Hopkins.  Camille Keaton, in deleted scenes, played Doris Von Fux.  Clint Howard, in deleted scenes, played Carlo Caravaggio. Richard Lynch, in deleted scenes, played Reverend John Hawthorne. 

Daniel Roebuck, in deleted scenes, played The Frankenstein Monster.  Christopher Knight, in deleted scenes, played Keith 'Lobster Joe' Williams.  

Stranger Than Fiction by Chuck Palahniuk

(pb; 2004: non-fiction)


From the back cover:

"Chuck Palahniuk's world has always been, well, different from yours and mine. In his first collection of nonfiction, Chuck Palahniuk brings us into this world, and gives us a glimpse of what inspires his fiction.

"At the Rock Creek Lodge Testicle Festival in Missoula, Montana, average people perform public sex acts on an outdoor stage. In a mansion once occupied by the Rolling Stones, Marilyn Manson reads his own Tarot cards and talks sweetly to his beautiful actress [then-]girlfriend. Across the country, men build their own full-size castles and rocketships that will send them into space. Palahniuk experiments with steroids, works on an assembly line by day and as a hospice volunteer by night, and experiences the brutal murder of his father by a white supremacist. . ."


Overall review:

Exceptional collection of essays - charming, risible, sexual, alarming, touching and otherwise mood-effective, about, as Palahniuk notes in his introduction, lonely people "looking for some way to connect with other people."

Stranger is as incisive, subversive and insightful as his novels, and any reader familiar with Palahniuk's body of fictional work will likely see direct links between his nonfiction and fiction.

This is a book worth owning - not only that, it's a book that bears re-reading*, at a later time, especially for writers looking to hone their characterization, research efforts and overall appreciation for ink-craft.

[*For those not familiar with my reading bents, I rarely re-read books (except if it's for site review purposes, and even then, it's not that often).]


Standout essays:

1.) "Testy Festy": Public sex acts highlight a controversial get-together, the Rock Creek Lodge Testicle Festival, in an otherwise conservative state.


2.) "Where Meat Comes From": Amateur wrestling, and its life-changing scars and results, are explored. Interesting study in an "underappreciated" sport.


3.) "You Are Here": Amateur screenwriters meet Hollywood pros, hoping to effectively pitch their ideas.


4.) "Confessions in Stone": The lives of three dedicated castle builders are explored - their successes and their failures, as well as their strange-for-modern-times learning (and castle-necessary) learning curves. (Echoes of this essay's facts can be seen in Palahniuk's novel Diary.)


5.) "Frontiers": Palahniuk experiments with steroids, with mixed results.


6.) "The People Can": Life on a submarine, in all its subversive-for-that-group nuances, is detailed.


7.) "The Lady": Palahniuk hosts a debunk-spooky-ghosts-bulls**t party in a supposedly haunted house.


8.) "In Her Own Words": Charming hang-out session/interview with Juliette Lewis.


9.) "Not Chasing Amy": Palahniuk, then an unpublished novel writer, attends Tom Spanbauer's writing workshop, where Palahniuk's education in craftwork is kicked up a necessary notch. One of my favorite entries in this collection.


10.) "Reading Yourself": Palahniuk interviews Marilyn Manson.


11.) "Dear Mr. Levin,": An open letter to Ira Levin, author of Rosemary's Baby, The Stepford Wives and other entertaining, subversive works. This is another favorite entry in this collection.


12.) "Almost California": Palahniuk, visiting Los Angeles on book/movie business, has a small-scale, memorably disastrous day.


13.) "The Lip Enhancer": Palahniuk's lip plumping experiment goes wrong with amusing-in-hindsight results.


14.) "Monkey Think, Monkey Do": Subversive novels, Søren Kierkegaard's theories and man's propensity for destruction, self- and otherwise, are linked in an effective manner. Antoher one of my favorite entries here.


15.) "Now I Remember. . .": Hilarious, incisive take on memory, chihuauas and writing.


16.) "Consolation Prizes": Palahniuk writes about post-Fight Club popularity and ruminates about the sad and disturbing facts surrounding his father's murder.


Other essays:

"Demolition"; "My Life as a Dog"; "Why Isn't He Budging?"; "Bodhisattva"; "Human Error"; "Escort"; "Brinksmanship"