(pb; 1977: first book in The Howling trilogy)
From the back cover:
"Karyn and her husband Roy had come to the peaceful California village of Drago to escape the savagery of the city. On the surface Drago appeared to be like most small rural towns.
"But it was not.
"The village had a most unsavory history. Unexplained disappearances, sudden deaths.
People just vanished, never to be found."
Review:
Howling is a waste-no-words, excellent read, one of my favorite werewolf works in the horror genre. It illustrates, in a cinematic, lycanthrophic and terror-toned manner, the disintegration of a marriage in the wake of a brutal, no-one-is-safe-anywhere rape, even as the husband and wife (Karen and Roy) change in startling ways.
At the time of this writing, this type of story has become common (with varying degrees of quality) in the horror genre. What sets Howling apart from other shape-shifter-based tales is Brandner's superb focus and editing, which keeps its storyline entertaining and palatable, without sacrificing the efficacy of its underlying, disturbing and personal themes.
This standout work is worth owning, one of the best furs-&-fangs genre entries of recent memory.
Followed by The Howling II.
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The loosely linked, resulting film was released stateside on April 10, 1981. Joe Dante directed it, based on a script by John Sayles and Terence H. Winkless.
Dee Wallace played Karen White. Christopher Stone played R. William 'Bill' Neill. Dennis Duggan played Chris. Belinda Balaski played Terry Fisher. Kevin McCarthy played Fred Francis.
Patrick Macnee played Dr. George Waggner. John Carradine played Erle Kenton. Slim Pickens played Sam Newfield. Elisabeth Brooks played Marsha Quist. Robert Picardo played Eddie Quist. Don McLeod played T.C. Quist.
An uncredited Roger Corman played "Man in Phone Booth". An uncredited John Sayles (mentioned earlier as the film's co-screenwriter) played "Morgue Attendant". An uncredited Jonathan Kaplan played "Gas Station Attendant".
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For those interested in the entire book series, all of the The Howling novels have been collected into one omnibus volume, The Howling Trilogy.
(hb; 1975)
From the inside flap:
"At the center of [this] story are two very different heroes: the nervous, elegant and deadly master of triggernometry who has come to the Wyoming Territory in the wake of General Custer under an assumed name and who is really Wild Bill Hickok -- scout, gunman, a living legend -- in pursuit of his last adventure; and an Indian, 'Worm,' Nadonaissioux mieyebo, soon to be called Crazy Horse, one day to fight at Little Big Horn.
"The two men share the same dream: to kill (or be killed) by the last of the great white buffaloes, whose mystical presence haunts them both. Their search for this fabulous (and all too real) creature takes both men through the lonely highlands of the West in its last days of wildness; to small towns full of impoverished gold rushers, whores and killers; to Army camps; to the high mountains and grassy plains and Indian settlements, until finally the two most legendary figures of the West -- Hickok and Crazy Horse -- meet in a stunning and terrifying climax before the maddened charge of the White Buffalo himself."
Review:
Sale intertwines legends, great characterizations, action and an exciting -- if dying -- era into resonant and unique storyline. Making this story even more thrilling is Sale's use of semi-poetic turns of phrase and interesting Old West-related facts (which don't slow the pace of the story one whit). This is, hands-down, one of the best (and most original) Westerns I've ever read.
By all means, check this out.
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The resulting film was released stateside in May 1977.
Charles Bronson played Wild Bill Hickok (aka, James Otis). Jack Warden played Charlie Zane. Will Sampson played Crazy Horse (aka, Worm). Clint Walker played Whistling Jack Kileen. Slim Pickens played Abel Pickney. Kim Novak played Mrs. Jenny Schermerhorn (aka, Poker Jenny). John Carradine played Amos Briggs (an undertaker). Shay Duffin played Tim Brady. Ed Lauter played Tom Custer. Martin Kove played Jack McCall.
J. Lee Thompson directed the film, from a script by source-book author Richard Sale.
