Moon-Death by Rick Hautala

 

(pb; 1980)

From the back cover

“Cooper Falls is a small, quiet New Hampshire town, the kind you’d miss if you blinked an eye. But when darkness falls and the full moon rises, an uneasy feeling filters through the air; an unnerving foreboding that causes the skin to prickle and the body to tense.

“Because faintly from across the water, a low moaning howl begins to rise and a massive, black shadow with burning green eyes stalks the night. It is part man, part beast—a victim of the past, a creature of evil—who hungers for flesh, thirsts for blood and lives to kill again. . . again and again and again. . .”

 

 

Review

Fans of Stephen King and his creative ilk, 1950s-1970s Hammer films, sensualized Satanism and witchcraft, and small-town horror novels are the target audience of this well-written, steady-pace terror tale with multilayered characterization (even if the lead characters, Bob Wentworth and Lisa Carter, have a weird, constantly shouting at each other vibe between them, early on in their budding, melodramatic romantic relationship—one that does not bode well for realistic longevity). The ending is fun, memorable, the suitable finish for a good entry in the small-town horror subgenre. Worth owning, this.

Winter Wake by Rick Hautala

(pb;  1989)

From the back cover:

"When John Carlson moves with his wife and stepdaughter, Brianna, to his hometown, Brianna makes friends with mysterious Audrey, and strange things begin to happen. Then John realizes Audrey is the high school girlfriend he murdered many years before--the girlfriend who has returned for blood."


Review:

Winter Wake is an entertaining, slow-build horror read. Hautala's eye for detail, relatable characters and steady pacing elevates this small town-island tale above other novels of this subgenre. There are few, if any, surprises in Wake but it is a fun-ride novel, one worth owning if you are a fan of 'horror in a small town' works.

Fear the Reaper, edited by Joe Mynhardt

(eBook; 2013: horror anthology)


Overall review:

Good mainstream horror anthology, worth owning.


Standout stories:

1.)  "Stumps" - Jeff Strand:  Darkly funny story about a man who seeks immortality and finds it.


2.)   "Death Squared" - Rena Mason: Two boys' friendship is tested when they visit a death site and encounter something more than ghosts.  The scenes will be familiar to those well-versed in ghost works, but the writing is fun and solid.


3.)   "The Death Catcher" - Robert S. Wilson:  Especially well-written and real-world plausible (within the context of this work) tale about a man whose ability to resurrect the dying brings heartache as well as relief.


4.)   "Cedo Looked Like People" - E.C. McMullen Jr.:  A boy's strange next door night- and day-divided neighbors make for equally strange - and later disturbing - friendships.  This Ray Bradbury-esque is one of the most memorable and one of the more original stories I've read in a long time.


5.)   "The Tubes" - Jeremy C. Shipp:  This is one of my favorite works in this anthology.  In a not-quite-bizarro science fictional world, death's dominion is political.  Like the preceding story, this one is memorable.


6.)   "A Life in Five Objects" - Ross Warren:  An interview involving the titular five objects takes a surprising turn.  Good read, entertaining.


7.)   "The Last Resort" - Sam Stone: Solid, plot-twisty piece about a man (Charlie), dying of cancer, whose eyes are opened to certain untimely revelations.


8.)   "Der Engel der Liebe" - Dean M Drinkel:  This story reads like a mid-Sixties to early Seventies Hammer film, with its ritualistic murder, sadism and blasphemous-religious elements.  It's predictable, aside from a Hammer-esque tale-expansive twist at the end, but this well-written work is all about enjoying the ride not the destination.


9.)   "The Final Peace" - Gary Fry:  A man, mourning his recently deceased wife and fearful for their offspring, goes to the fair with his too-curious-for-his-comfort children.  Well-written tale, with an effective, grief-realistic tone and a finish that made me smile.


10.)   "Do No Harm" - Joe C. McKinney:  Provocative, memorable work about a doctor (Turner) who's forced to help a group of creatures - who prey on mankind - conquer a disease that's held them in check.  One of my favorite stories in this collection.

The Gore by Joseph A. Citro

(pb; 1990, 2000: originally published under the title The Unseen)


From the back cover:

"Ex-newspaperman Roger Newton's adventure begins when Claude Lavigne, a power company employee, sees something in the forests of 'the gore' - a tiny swatch of unclaimed land created by a surveyor's mistake. His sense of reality, unhinged, Lavigne commits suicide. When Lavigne's son, best friend, and an old black man risk an expedition into the gore, Newton, attempting to sto them, upsets a fragile balance and looses an ancient, nameless fear among the people of Vermont."


Review:

Excellent suspense novel with horroresque tones, effective twists and unexpected humaneness. This isn't your typical 'horror in the hills' read.

Fans of Jack Ketchum's earlier work (e.g., Off Season) or Clive Barker's Cabal (the source of the 1990 film Nightbreed) may enjoy this relatively gentle - compared to the savagery of Off Season - if occasionally gory and violent read.

The Gore is worth owning, for its quiet, masterful take on a familiar genre staple.

#

(Big thanks to Rick Hautala, for recommending this author.)

The New Dead edited by Christopher Golden

(pb; 2010: zombie anthology)


Overall review:

Above average zombie anthology, worth owning - most of the stories are good, at least slightly different than the others.

The only stories I didn't like were: Stephen R. Bissette's "Copper" (a good idea ruined by choppy and overlong writing), Mike Carey's "Second Wind" (too chatty, rambling) and Max Brooks' "Closure, Limited: A Story of World War Z" (Brooks' use of the present tense reads too much like stage directions - it's a failed Night of the Living Dead rehash/mini-play, at best).


Standout stories:

1.) "What Maisie Knew" - David Liss: A man (Walter Molton) purchases and houses a female Reanimate, an illegally resurrected (and preserved) zombie named Maisie, for reasons that aren't entirely beneficent.

A familiar but imaginative concept highlights this solid story.


2.) "In the Dust" - Tim Lebbon: Three survivors of a zombie plague find that a military barricade trapping them in their hometown might not be a bad fate: a good read that adeptly avoids clichés even as it stays genre true, with characters worth caring about.


3.) "Life Sentence" - Kelley Armstrong: Fun creepshow of a morality tale about a dying rich man (Daniel Boyd) whose ruthless bid for a "cure" takes darker-than-expected turns.


4.) "Delice" - Holly Newstein: A voudou priestess gets revenge on a rich deviant couple: mood-effective, all-around excellent story.


5.) "The Wind Cries Mary" - Brian Keene: Wonderful, emotive genre-blender story about a man and his zombie wife. Distinctive work.


6.) "Family Business" - Jonathan Maberry: An angry teenager (Benny Imura) seeks suitable employment in a undead-impacted world, even as his older brother, Tom, tries to guide him toward certain life-changing truths.

Superb, humane and well thought-out slant on the familiar shambler-human drama.


7.) "The Zombie Who Fell From the Sky" - M.B. Homler: Hilarious, satirical story about a sudden plague, poetry and the American military. Fans of Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb may especially appreciate this one.


8.) "Among Us" - Aimee Bender: Uneven but off-beat and timely (given how the meat industry packages and sells it product) - "Among Us" is also amusing, in a Douglas Adams way.


9.) "Ghost Trap" - Rick Hautala: A fisherman-diver (Jeff Stewart) discovers an especially unsettling corpse, one that may herald further, familiar tragedies.

Solid, mood-effective, with a great use of title (given its plot-based elements).


10.) "The Storm Door" - Tad Williams: Nathan Nightingale, a paranormal investigator, finds that the returning, corpse-possessing dead he's been hunting are more dangerous than he initially thought.

Good read, notably different slant on the undead theme, especially when contrasted with those seen in this collection.


11.) "Weaponized" - David Wellington: Good, interesting, reads-like-real-life (if zombies were real) tale about the war dead being used to defend our country.



Other stories:

"Lazarus" - John Connolly; "My Dolly" - Derek Nikitas; "Kids and Their Toys" - James A. Moore; "Shooting Pool" - Joe R. Lansdale; "Twittering From The Circus Of The Dead" - Joe Hill.

Beyond the Shroud by Rick Hautala

(hb; 1995)

From the back cover:

"David Robinson's life has taken several turns for the worse: first his daughter dies, then his marriage crumbles and his career as a mystery writer falls apart. But after he is killed in a hit-and-run accident, David quickly learns that he will face the most harrowing challenges as a wraith in the Shadowlands.

"Unable to contact or influence the world of the living, David's agony is made worse when he learns that his ex-wife relationship with a dangerous man named Tony Ranieri has put her life at risk. Tony possesses - and is possessed by - a relic filled with such awesome powers of destruction that dark forces within the Shadowlands will stop at nothing to obtain it. They'll even spur Tony to murder and manipulate the soul of David's daughter to forge his cooperation.

"But Tony is already dead, and he knows that power is a blade that cuts two ways."


Review:

With its palpable mood of cycling grief, vivid description and relatable characters, the genre-melding Shroud is a hard-to-set-down novel that deftly avoids horror clichés, while updating them and infusing them with elements of urban fantasy.

The finish of this exceptional, emotionally effective novel indicates that two other Wraith books should follow. I hope that Hautala gets them published sooner, not later.

Worth owning, this.

Haunted Heart: The Life and Times of Stephen King by Lisa Rogak

(hb; 2008: biography)

From the inside flap:

"One of the most prolific and popular authors today, Stephen King has become part of pop-culture history. But who is the man behind those tales of horror, grief, and the supernatural? Where do those ideas come from? And what drives him to keep writing at a breakneck pace after a thirty-year career? In this unauthorized biography, Lisa Rogak reveals the troubled background and lifelong fears that inspire one of the twentieth century's most influential authors.

"King's origins were inauspicious at best. His impoverished childhood in rural Maine and early marriage hardly spelled out the likelihood of a blossoming literary career. but his unflagging work ethic and a ceaseless flow of ideas put him on the path to success. It came in a flash, and the side effects of sudden stardom and seemingly unlimited wealth soon threatened to destroy his work and, worse, his life. But he survived and has since continued to write at a level of originality few authors could hope to match.

"Despite his dark and disturbing work, Stephen King has become revered by critics and his countless fans as an all-American voice more akin to Mark Twain than H.P. Lovecraft. Haunted Heart chronicles his story, revealing the character of a man who has created some of the most memorable -- and frightening -- stories found in literature today."

Review

Balanced, entertaining bio about a man whose name is, for many, synonymous with icky terror.

Normally, I'm wary of any bio that's written about an author who's still and alive and publishing, but Rogak, via her facts and interviews, shows King as a flesh-and-zombie-shake man, with demons (father abandonment issues, drug addiction) who still managed -- and manages -- to keep his priorities straight: writing, and taking care of his family (longtime wife Tabitha, daughter Naomi, and sons Joe and Owen).

Notable, portrait-supportive interviews with friends and family include: Peter Straub (who, among his books, co-authored The Talisman and Black House with King), Bev Vincent, and Rick Hautala (a consistently exemplary author and college friend of King's).

Good read, this. I'm not a big fan of most of Stephen King's post-mid-Eighties books. As a reader and writer, I'm a "minimalist," not a "maximalist" (phrases King used in his non-fiction book, On Writing). However, I've long admired what he's done, as a man and a writer, and this confirmed my feelings on the man, and his persona.

Worth checking out.

My Favorite Horror Story edited by Mike Baker & Martin H. Greenberg

(pb; 2000: story anthology)

From the back cover

"Who do today's top horror writers read -- and why?

"This was the question posed to some of the most influential authors in the field toady. This book is their answer. Here are fifteen of the most memorable stories in the genre, each one personally selected by a well-known writer, and each prefaced by that writer's explanation of his and her choice. Here's your chance to enjoy familiar favorites, and perhaps discover some wonderful treasures. In each case, you'll have the opportunity to see the story from the perspective of a master of the field."


Overall review

Wonderful collection of horror stories, some famous, others off-beat and (somewhat) obscure -- overall, the story introductions, written by the authors who selected these stories, are interesting and engaging. Worth owning, this anthology.


Review, story by story

1.) "Sweets to the Sweet" - Robert Bloch: An abusive father unwittingly convinces his daughter that she's a "little witch." Predictable, taut-prosed, excellent (nonetheless), with a memorable finish. (Selected by Stephen King)


2.) "The Father-Thing" - Phillip K. Dick: Effective chiller about a ten-year old boy who discovers that his father, who's been killed, has spawned an alien twin. Classic; relatable, with its terrifying echoes of childhood. You probably won't forget this one for a long time -- if at all. (Selected by Ed Gorman)


3.) "The Distributor" - Richard Matheson: A seemingly-friendly man (Theodore Gordon), just moved into a surburban neighborhood, surreptitiously begins stirring up barely-buried resentments between his neighbors. Excellent for its adjective-restrained tone, scary in its real-world implications. (Selected by F. Paul Wilson)


4.) "A Warning to the Curious" - M.R. James: Loquacious, later creepy, tale about a man (Paxton) who foolishly unearths a seaside relic protecting a town against "invasion". An elevated sense of horror is displayed here, not spelled out for the reader, but effectively suggestive. (Selected by Ramsey Campbell)

"A Warning to the Curious" became a television short-film, airing in the UK on December 24, 1972. Peter Vaughn played Mr. Paxton. Clive Swift played Dr. Black. John Kearney played Ager/Ghost (the cinematic counterpart to William Ager). Lawrence Gordon Clark scripted, with no director listed.

5.) "Opening the Door" - Arthur Machen: A scholarly man, after having a "prophetic vision," goes missing and later reappears, with no memory of where he was. Long-winded, philosophical, sometimes funny, with carefully clarified words, it's an admirable piece -- Machen's skill is not to be denied -- but the ending is predictable and shockingly limp... so much so that when it did end, I went huh? (Selected by Peter Atkins)


6.) "The Colour Out of Space" - H.P. Lovecraft: A strangely-heated and rainbow-tinted meteorite lands on an Arkham, New England farm; wild, corrosive things (physical and mental) begin happening there. One of Lovecraft's best stories -- a miasmic, vivid nightmare of bright odd hues and blighting madness. It's also one of my favorite selections in this anthology. (Selected by Richard Laymon)

"The Colour Out of Space" became the source material for two movies.

The first film, Die, Monster, Die!, was released in the United States on October 27, 1965. (It also is titled Monster of Terror.) Boris Karloff starred as Nahum Witley (the cinematic counterpart to Nahum Gardner). Nick Adams played Steven Reinhart. Freda Jackson played Letitia Witley. Suzan Farmer played Susan Witley. Daniel Haller directed, from a script by Jerry Sohl. 

The second film, The Curse, was released in the United States on September 11, 1987. Wil Wheaton played Zack. Claude Akins played Nathan. Malcolm Danare played Cyrus. John Schneider played Willis. Amy Wheaton (sister of actor Wil) played Alice. Actor David Keith, making his directorial debut, directed. Written by David Chaskin, Lovecraft's "Colour" is the uncredited source for Chaskin's script.

7.) "The Inner Room" - Robert Aickman: Long-winded, but solid tale about a little girl (Lene) who gets a forboding doll house, which later disappears. But is it really gone? The last third of the story is especially chilling, with a visually-memorable ending. (Selected by Peter Straub)


8.) "Young Goodman Brown" - Nathaniel Hawthorne: A young man takes a late-night stroll with the Devil, and witnesses some horrible truths about his fellow villagers. Classic, memorable. (Selected by Rick Hautala)

This story inspired two films.

The first film, La Nuit de Tom Brown, aired on French television on March 24, 1959. Michel Piccoli played "Tom, jeune". Jean-Marc Tennberg played Mephisto. Roger Carel played L'abbe Jefferson. Jean-Pierre Cassel played Toby. Claude Barma directed.

Young Goodman Brown was released in 1993. Tom Shell played Goodman Brown. Matt Adler played William Stacey. Mary Grace Canfield played Goody Cloyse. Melinda Clark played Faith Brown. John P. Ryan played The Devil. Peter George scripted and directed.

9.) "The Rats in the Walls" - H.P. Lovecraft: July 16, 1923 -- Anchester, England. A middle-aged, grieving man (Delapore), who's recently lost his son to war, begins renovating an ancient temple-house that once belonged to his family, many years before. Unswayed by local rumors of mysterious disappearances, bizarre cult worship, and murder by his ancestors, Delapore moves in.

However, when Delapore begins having recurring, intensity-escalating nightmares, and his cats (all eight of them, led by the unfortunately-named "Nigger-Man") start acting restless, sniffing and tearing at the ancient walls (which occasionally seem to bulge with the movements of rats), Delapore decides to explore the lower rooms of the architectural mish-mash that is his new home. He's helped by Captain Norrys (a wartime friend of Delapore's dead son) and his cats.

Creepy, atmospheric, historically-aware and -researched work: all trademarks of a Lovecraftian piece -- excellent, of course. (Selected by Michael Slade)

"The Rats in the Walls" made up part of the three-story cinematic horror anthology, Necronomicon, which was released on July 29, 1994 in the UK, after being shown at a few international film festivals in 1993. (The two other stories included in the anthology were "Cool Air" and "The Whisperer in the Darkness" -- it also had a wrap-around story, in which Jeffrey Combs played Lovecraft.)

In the "Rats" segment (Part/story 1, renamed "The Drawned"), Bruce Payne played Edward De Lapoer (old spelling of "Delapore"). Belinda Bauer played Nancy Gallmore. Richard Lynch played Jethro De Lapoer. Maria Ford played Clara. Christophe Gans directed and co-scripted this movie section, with help from co-scriptor Brent V. Friedman.

10.) "The Dog Park" - Dennis Etchison: Subliminal terror work where the fear of professional failure is as pervasive and dire as the threat of bloody death (it's set in Los Angeles). This is the kind of story that I wish I'd been able to read in my high school English classes and write an essay on, as it has nothing that would be deemed offensive (except to Hollywood-types), but leaves a lot to reader-interpretation... Etchison doesn't spoon-feed the story to his readers, but leaves a lot to his readers' imagination (especially at the end). Excellent, unsettling piece. (Selected by Richard Christian Matheson)


11.) "The Animal Fair" - Robert Bloch: A hitchhiker (Dave) catches a ride with a carny (Captain Ryder), who tells him about his tragic, startling life. Dark, different, fun. (Selected by Joe R. Lansdale)


12.) "The Pattern" - Ramsey Campbell: A painter (Tony) and his writer wife (Di) are enjoying their rented, quiet, back-country cottage when they start hearing afternoon screams from a nearby, empty field. When Tony looks into the possible source(s) of the screams, thing get really weird. Unpredictable, original, classic. (Selected by Poppy Z. Brite)


13.) "The Tell-Tale Heart" - Edgar Allan Poe: A murderer, wracked with mad guilt, waits for arrest -- or death. Famous, intense, wow-worthy.. of course, it's Poe. (Selected by Joyce Carol Oates)

This story has been filmed twenty-four times, for theatrical and video movies, as well as television shows. The first version was lensed in 1928; currently, two new versions are due to be released, the first in 2008, the second in 2009.


14.) "An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge" - Ambrose Bierce: Famous story about a Civil War-era Federal scout who's about to be hanged. Shocking at the time of its publication (1891), its incredible end-twist has been done to death by countless hacks since then. Still, an effective story. (Selected by Dennis Etchison)

This story has been filmed five times. The first time was in 1929 (The Bridge); the most recent version, in 2005.


15.) "The Human Chair" - Edogawa Rampo: Odd, fascinating tale about a man who makes an oversized plush chair, large enough to comfortably house a man within it, and takes up part-time residence in it after it's shipped to a distant hotel. Crazily memorable, with an off-beat finish. (Selected by Harlan Ellison)

Ningen-isu (the Japanese translation of the story's title) was filmed in 2007 in Japan. Keisako Sato co-scripted and directed, with help from co-scriptor Aya Takei.