The Wolfen By Whitley Strieber

The Wolfen
By Whitley Strieber
1979 Bantam Books
Paperback, 275 pages

                This is another one of those classic horror books that I’ve seen the movie of, but I never got around to reading. I took the bait recently when I found two different copies in thrift stores. I bought them both, if only to assure myself that I had to read it. Well, I did and I’m glad. It is pretty great.

 

                Two cops are found mutilated in a remote autobody yard in New York. The city’s finest homicide detectives are put on the case; George Wilson, an older, slovenly, misogynistic, racist curmudgeon who makes up for his lack of social skills with a keen detective’s eye, and Becky Neff, a young but proven cop. This odd couple has the unenvious job of trying to figure out who or what killed these two. The bodies look eaten. There are paw prints. Dogs? Could there have been wolves? Werewolves?

 

                The bodies keep piling up and the duo are starting to lean towards the latter, even though they know such things don’t exist. But something is out there, and they are as smart as man, stealthy and incredibly fast. Ferguson, a doctor at the Museum of Natural History is starting to believe them. He has extrapolated what they might look like from a plaster cast of a pawprint. The Medical Examiner is also on board. But how could it be?

 

                Strieber’s werewolf history works for me here. These canids have been around for a long time and yes, the werewolf legends probably derived from them. But they are so stealthy, and they cover their tracks so well that they have gone almost unnoticed for thousands of years. Passages of the book are told from the Wolfen’s point of view, so we understand a lot about their intelligence and the laws of the pack. I buy it implicitly. This species is so smart, they think of wolves as vacant and dumb. And they know that they have to find and remove the two detectives who could reveal their secret.

 

                Everybody has an opinion on older books and this one gets slammed for being misogynistic. Yes, Wilson certainly is. He’s an old-fashioned dope, but Neff is such a strong and capable character that to me, she erases any negativity that the reader might (incorrectly) surmise. In fact, not mentioned in any of the dozens of online reviews that I compared my own thoughts to, is that Wilson and Neff’s relationship changes and corresponds with that of the leaders of the Wolfen pack that is terrorizing New York. (Though Wilson’s revelation of his romantic love for his partner is unneeded.)

 

                The book blows the movie away. The movie could never touch on the inner working of the Wolfen mind, nor could it have survived with the police procedural layout of the book. The film (Michael Wadleigh, 1981) added in extraneous bullshit that takes the souls of the Wolfen away, and that’s one of the book’s most relevant aspects. Good movie, excellent book.

Kingdom of the Spiders By Bernhardt J. Hurwood

Kingdom of the Spiders
By Bernhardt J. Hurwood
Based on the screen story by Jeffrey M. Sneller and Stephen Lodge
1977 Ace Books
Paperback, 180 pages

                Since I adore nature-strikes-back books and movies, I figured I’d better just stick to the novel of this one since I’ve heard that real spiders get injured and squished in the movie. Thousands of Mexican Red-knees were brought to the production and they were not taken care of. I will not watch that. But I do want to read about spiders killing humans, so I grabbed the novelization. I got more- and less than I bargained for with this book. The writing is absolutely abysmal, which caused a few bristling moments but quite a few moments of mirth as well.

 

                Camp Verde, Arizona is readying itself for an upcoming County Fair and the living is easy. Except that a few farm animals have turned up dead. Local veterinarian Rack Hanson and entomologist (rather than arachnologist) Dianne Ashley are on the case and they discover they are dealing with spider bites that are five times more venomous than usual. As the spider population grows, the human population dwindles and the entire town is in danger of becoming tarantula meat. The spiders are hunting in packs (not typical behavior) and are intent on decimating the town. There’s really not much more to the story than this.

 

                OK, first off, Hurwood repeatedly says that the spiders stand there “waving their antennae”, a body part that spiders do not have. Then again, he calls them insects a few times, too, which is also incorrect. It’s hard to know if this gaffe came from the original script by Sneller and Lodge or if it is Hurwood’s non-research. Also, Rack (whose nickname is explained) is played by William Shatner in the film and it reads as though the part must have been written for him. There’s no way to read the character of this bullshit-macho, womanizing letch with a heart of gold in any voice other than Shatner’s. At least he has some sort of characterization; nobody else does.

 

                So, it turns out that I’ve read another Hurwood masterpiece, the cat-horror of Claws written under the pseudonym of D. Gunther Wilde. I enjoyed that one a lot more but this one has its moments, even though Hurwood’s descriptions of the spiders rarely get any more ambitious than “ugly”. The writing is very lazy, perhaps because the author’s scary stories are more suited to children’s books and he isn’t used to flexing his horror muscles. At any rate, this book is pretty crappy but it’s easy to blow through (then forget) in a day or two. There are 16 pages of photos from the movie in the book.

Pitfall By Ronald Kelly

Pitfall
By Ronald Kelly
1990 Zebra Books
Paperback, 320 pages

 

                Don’t be fooled by the lackluster cover. (Whut up, Zebra?) This is a top-shelf animal attack book full of characters that really need to be murdered in the most ghastly ways possible! When a dog-fighting ring is broken up, the lowlife scum that run it go to Mexico to purchase some “pit-devils”, ferocious little killing machines, to bring back to the USA and breed for fights. What could possibly go wrong?

 

                Sulphur Springs, Texas has a whole lot of shitheads for such a small town. Number one asshat is the sheriff who is a letch, a racist, and a potential pedophile. The main pit-devil keeper is a wife- beating drunk with no redeeming qualities. There are a handful of decent folks, however. Bowie Kane, a native American, gets a lot of heat from the small-minded citizens. But not from Lynn Sykes, mother of two, who feels bad for Bowie. Their platonic friendship is, of course, very misunderstood, especially by Lynn’s husband.

 

                Naturally, the pit-devils cannot be contained. What are they? Well, technically, they’re Tasmanian Devils, but Bowie suspects they are more than that, thanks to a fragment of undeciphered Indian parchment. Was this whole thing foretold? Forget anything you might know about Tasmanian Devils. These guys chew through leather, steel, skin and bone and are all but indestructible. The gore flows heavily and with so many shitty people to eat, it’s hard not to cheer for the devils. One thing they don’t eat: eyeballs. Leftover eyeballs sitting in bloody skulls are used a few times to good effect for corpse ID.

 

                This is Ronald Kelly’s second novel, and I give it a huge recommendation. His deep South leanings are on full display here, and you can practically taste the dusty land in and around Sulphur Springs. Unfortunately, there is a fair amount of animal violence in this, as you might expect. The devils are hard to kill but with enough firepower, they can be exploded into mush. Snake collecting and skinning is in there too. It is a sad fact in the real world.

 

                That said, my very favorite part of the book is the opening of Chapter 18, when Lynn’s young daughter Becky is off searching for her missing puppy… “Ruffles! Here, girl! Here, Ruffles!” I literally laughed out loud.

 

                Pitfall was finally reprinted by Macabre Ink in 2023 with a much better cover and a bonus short story, “Last of the Chupacabra”. Since the Zebra original is getting a bit pricey, this is a good way to go.

Mania By Guy N. Smith

Mania
By Guy N. Smith
1988 Sphere Books
Paperback, 234 pages

 

                Another excellent book from the Great Scribbler with another excellent cover by Les Edwards. You just can’t go wrong with that potent combination.

 

                Suzannah Mitchell and her 14 year old daughter Rose are caught in a massive blizzard and have to abandon their car and seek shelter. They wind up at the Donnington Country House Hotel, formerly the Donnington Nursing Home, which was a looney bin, a head farm. The thing is, since the name change, the clientele has remained pretty much the same. Suzannah and Rose feel very uncomfortable the moment they step inside and with good reason. There are loonies living in and running the hotel. Luckily for the Mitchells, Owain Pugh, a young man who is also stranded in the storm, shows up seeking shelter as well.

 

                The cast of characters is the best part of this book. You get a drunk, a flasher/ religious zealot, a chronic masterbator, and a pregnant virgin, among other eccentric and potentially dangerous tenants. The pregnant girl is of the most interest as she is either carrying either the second coming of Christ or the Devil’s spawn. Evil things are afoot in the hotel. A shadow of a beastly hand crawls across the ceiling and warnings of Satan’s presence are proof of that evil. But is there real evil in the hotel or is it just the collective madness of the unfortunate people who call the hotel home, the power of suggestion? And that is the crux of this story to me; is it real or is it craziness?

 

                GNS is ever the romanticist. Once again, he has Suzannah and Owain developing feelings for each other in record time. It works here because it gives them some sort of motivation. You see, with all of the wonderfully wacky hotel inmates, the two leads are pretty dry characters. They hope to save Rose from being a pawn in the plans of the bad guys, like anyone would, but offer little color to the proceedings. The story works much better for this. Also, despite being fourteen, I was reading Rose as much younger.

 

                Top shelf GNS right here; fun, fast paced, ambiguous and nerve-wracking. As an added bonus, one character is a picky book collector and has received a shipment from Black Hill Books, Guy’s own real-life mail-order book business at the time, and mentions that “the bloke was bleating for his cheque”. I always appreciate a little in-joke to lighten the proceedings.

Labyrinth By Eric Mackenzie-Lamb

Labyrinth
By Eric Mackenzie-Lamb
1979 Hamlyn
Paperback, 239 pages

 

                You know that I love me some Hamlyn Horrors! I’ll grab any one that I can find at a reasonable price. This one was unknown to me when I stumbled across it and I couldn’t resist a nice swampy horror. I didn’t really get that with this book but it had a lot more to offer, for better or worse, than a hackneyed ol’ swamp monster.

 

                Tom Davison is taking his University students on a field trip into the Okefenokee. While on the trip, one of his male students, Kirby, is taking core samples and comes up with a couple of Confederate coins (the origin of which is in the prologue) while a female student, Helen Garson,  unsuccessfully throws herself at the teacher.  After the trip, Davison takes the coins to be appraised in Miami and hears about their history and their worth. Upon returning to the University, he learns that Helen had told her father, a rich local businessman, and the authorities that Davison had assaulted her. Good time to head back to the swamp. End of part one.

 

                In part two, we learn more about Helen’s father, how he got rich and the unsavory ways he runs his business. Conveniently, the coin appraiser also deals in illegal migrant workers which Mr. Garson has been hiring and the gig is up. Garson’s top man is also a ruthless killer.  After snuffing the old man while Helen watches, things get crazy. With a heavy heart full of regret, Helen heads out to find Davison in the swamp. Kirby and a friend head to the swamp to find Davison while the gay killer and his gay henchmen head in to find Helen. The swamp is going to be hoppin’.

 

                There is a lot of good stuff in this book. The killer is particularly ruthless and Davison’s reptile knowledge is scientifically accurate. We get lots of native fauna behaving correctly which is a welcome change from a lot of books of the era. And how can you not love a book that goes into great detail about rare coins? But making the bad guys all homosexuals seems like a pretty broad stroke of prejudice. It turns out that Mackenzie-Lamb’s real-life father (explorer and botanist Elke, formerly Ivan, Mackenzie) transitioned in 1971 so I guess the author was still working out some acceptance problems. Women don’t fare a lot better though what Helen lacks in brains, she makes up for with balls.

 

                This is Mackenzie-Lamb’s only novel and it is a fast paced thriller with good points and despite its flaws, I’d have to recommend it for Hamlyn fans. It’s more of an adventure/ crime narrative than a horror, but it should satisfy your bloodthirsty needs.

Feast By Graham Masterton

Feast
By Graham Masterton
1988 Pinnacle Books
Paperback, 448 pages

                Graham Masterton’s cannibal classic has a lot of fans and a lot of detractors. I consider myself a fan, though with some reservations. Masterton is, of course, an excellent writer and storyteller and keeps the narrative flowing forward at a decent tempo. There are portions of the book, however, that slow down a bit and feel like padding, especially in the middle. Some pacing problems and repetition (and dozens of annoying typos in the Pinnacle edition) get in the way of this being a perfectly enjoyable experience. And I say that with the main character being kind of a dickhead. He wasn’t a problem for me.

 

                Charlie McLean (the dickhead) is a traveling restaurant critic going through small town Connecticut with his estranged son, 15 year old Martin, trying to spend some “get to know you” time together. Charlie learns of a secret dining club called Le Reposoir and desperately wants to get into it. All of his attempts are squashed and eventually, he gives up. Until his son goes missing and he learns that Martin has joined a cult, the Célèstines (at Le Reposoir), one that believes that the way to Jesus and spirituality is self-cannibalism. The cult is well-protected legally, as the “victims” are willing participants and there is little that Charlie can do. His attempts to “rescue” Martin get him nothing but trouble. With Journalist/ instant love interest Robyn in tow, he heads to New Orleans to the Célèstines headquarters to try a different way to gain access to his son.

 

                For me, the book got a little overlong while still in Connecticut and as the story became a road trip, but once they reached the Big Easy, things really started to pick up. Charlie’s effort to join the cult by practicing their ways is an unforgettable scene that even had me squirming and the sights and sounds of the New Orleans complex are horrifying yet shown with a spirituality and calmness that makes it feel twice as bad. You see, the Célèstines think that with Martin’s offering, they will bring about the Second Coming and nothing will stop them from making this come to pass, especially not Charlie’s harassment.

 

                So we have a great story by an excellent author but perhaps the scope is too big, dragging things down a bit. There are also a lot of convenient characters in on the whole plot to capture Martin that in retrospect were very much in the right place at the right time. Still, my suspension of disbelief is very strong so I just went with the flow. While the book could have lost 100 pages and should have had an actual proof-reader, I still enjoyed this and will hold it in high regard. Bob Larkin’s step-back cover art is a thing of rare beauty and that alone is worth the high price tag that Feast often commands. That the story is good, all quibbles aside, is icing on the cake.

    In 1989, Sphere released the title as Ritual with a less exciting (but still cool) step-back cover.

The Black Death By Gwyneth Cravens and John S. Marr

The Black Death
By Gwyneth Cravens and John S. Marr
1977 Ballantine Books
Paperback, 354 pages

 

                The Bubonic Plague hits Manhattan! It’s hard to look at older books like this now that we’ve had the Covid pandemic, but this one is well written and is delivered in a fast-moving text for most of its telling, revealing little by little until there is a real shit show happening. A warning: there are some pretty racist assholes in the story and a silly, sexist subplot.

 

                Sarah Dobbs returns from a vacation on the West Coast feeling ill and as she rests in her parents’ luxury home in Manhattan, she gets worse. While hospitalized, it takes a while to figure out what she is (soon was) suffering from but once they discover the contagion, it is a race to find everybody that she might have come in contact with. This part of the book is exciting, and it takes up most of the first third of the narrative. Thinking it was contained, they hear about a hooker that had contacted it and spread it all over, even the nice part of town.

 

                Spanish Harlem is hit hard with the epidemic and here is where class and racism comes into play. Once the government knows it is the plague, they are quick to blame the poor for the disease. Surely this was planted on US soil by Cuba! The president’s top aide, who has delusions of grandeur and a shady past, is planting that seed into the president’s noggin. At about 200 pages in, a lot of meetings and arguments between politicians, bureaucrats, and specialists begin and it starts to bog down the book. Then our hero contracts the bug…

 

                David Hart is a Department of Health official. It is he who identifies the problem and as a hero, he is admirable, trying to save as many lives as possible. I thought that his horniness when he gazed upon his lovely co-worker Dolores was a little bit jarring and out of place, but the romance gives his character motive later on. He does catch the bug after saving thousands and when he wakes up, miraculously cured, the setting is a post-apocalyptic nightmare of gangs, corpses, rats and fear. And, quite honestly, silliness. But it’s exciting silliness.

 

                The authors are very thorough when describing what an invading disease does to the human body as well as what certain drugs do to the invading disease. It gets very scientific at times but never to the detriment of the story. A ton of research went into this thriller, and it all gets you thinking. When all is said and done, the book says as much about what scumbags all politicians are as it does about trying to live through a catastrophic time. Not so much has changed, really.