The Night Boat By Robert R. McCammon

The Night Boat
By Robert R. McCammon
1988 Pocket Books
Paperback, 346 pages

                Robert McCammon was one of the titans in the Golden Age of Paperback Horror. His books were everywhere and unanimously praised. I even bought Mystery Walk back in my youth but I never got around to reading it. His books are long, between 350 and 500 (or more) pages and that usually puts me off. I do have a bunch of his books in my “To Be Read” pile so I picked the slimmest one with which to break my cherry. First published in 1980, I had the 1988 Pocket Books first print paperback of The Night Boat sitting there and went for it. Pretty damn good book. I love when that happens.

 

                David Moore is diving in the water outside of Coquina, a Caribbean island that he’s adopted as home, exploring the deep, when he sets off an old depth charge. This uncovers and releases an old World War II Nazi U-Boat which rises to the surface and sticks on the rocks there. Coquina is a small island that was almost burned to the ground during the war and the villagers are not happy to see the boat. They know… it is evil.

 

                They’re right. Moore and the local constable Kip go into the boat and discover the mummified crew. Did they actually see one move? Damn skippy, they did. The skeletal crew go on nightly raids in Coquina, seeking human blood and flesh. This is where the book really worked for me. McCammon’s gory descriptions are fabulous and I was wiggling my feet as I read about the carnage. Drinking blood from bite wounds… “They broke open new rivulets of fluids, like dark wine from fleshy casks.” Oh yeah, that is my kind of poetry! The attacks are pretty chilling and a few times I wondered if skeletons with dried, brown flesh and tattered clothes were standing in the dark outside my bedroom door as I read.

 

                The book is not without its problems, though. Until the halfway mark, every woman is a prostitute, then we get a woman who researches wrecks and seems pretty courageous and capable but she never really gets to shine and she becomes little more than a love interest for Moore. Many of the islanders are referred to only as “the black” by the narrator which just feels wrong in today’s world. (I know, this was written 40+ years ago.) With 100 pages to go to an exciting and fiery climax, a new character is introduced for nothing more than exposition and a barely mentioned character becomes the top dog in the fight against the zombies. It seemed to me that the book could have used some editing or rearranging, but overall I enjoyed it a lot and I look forward to my next McCammon book. Luckily, all of the ones I have on deck have beautiful covers by Rowena Morill, like this one does.

The Curse of Loch Ness By Peter Tremayne

The Curse of Loch Ness
By Peter Tremayne
1979 Sphere
Paperback, 230 pages

                The horror novels of Peter Tremayne (nee Peter Berresford Ellis) are really hit or miss with me. Some have been a real chore to get through (Kiss of the Cobra, Zombie) while some have been excellent and fun reads (Swamp, Snowbeast). With The Curse of Loch Ness, I have finally found my (new) favorite, an exciting tale of family curses, back-stabbing locals and a big lake monster that is more than meets the eye.

 

                Being the last remaining member of her family, Jeannie Millbuie inherits the old family castle situated overlooking Loch Ness. It’s not an entirely welcoming old pile of stones; there are weird sounds, endless shadowy corridors and the weird caretaker Mrs. Murdo obviously hates her. Most of the old-timey locals seem to have ulterior motives when it comes to Jeannie’s presence, while others just tell her to leave. Just what is going on in Balmacaan Castle?

 

                The tale is told in two parts. The first is Jeannie’s arrival, her exploration of the castle and the area and then, her abduction. The second part involves her boyfriend Tim, who was summoned to meet her in Inverness but now she has disappeared. Granted, things slowed down a tad with the start of the second part. The first section has you guessing and wondering what the curse is, the secret is, then it backtracks while Tim catches up. But he does so quickly enough and the story charges forward.

 

                The monster? Yeah, he’s in there but he’s unlike any theory of the Loch Ness Monster that you’ve ever heard of. First off, in the chapters from the monster’s own point of view, he is referred to as the intelligence. No dumb dinosaur here, though he is a leftover from prehistoric bloodlines. He is the single most sympathetic character in the book, though Jeannie, Tim, and a handful of other interesting humans are also engaging.

 

                Tremayne’s usual flaw of over-explaining and too much exposition are kept in check this time by having the history of the area and the curse told by a few different people at different times. While one of the baddies is explaining it to Jeannie, the narrative is broken up with her being bored and disinterested in the history lesson. Kind of how I felt reading some of the above-mentioned novels. But this one moves quickly and for the most part kept my interest throughout, making for a very satisfying read. The cover art (some say by Terry Oakes, and I can’t see anything to make me disagree) alone is worth the price of admission.

The Tribe By Glenn Chandler

The Tribe
By Glenn Chandler
1981 Hamlyn
Paperback, 187 pages

                This is Chandler’s second and final novel in the horror genre and, hot on the heels of his book The Sanctuary, and the second one of his to earn Hamlyn’s “nasty” designation. I can’t tell you how much I love the fact that Hamlyn has “nasty” as a category! Does this one earn the right to be called a nasty? Yes. Yes it does. Much more so than his previous book.

 

                A bizarre string of cannibal murders have been popping up across England and Detective Chubby Holroyd is put in charge of the perplexing investigation. Trying to find a connection between these homicides is no easy task. A woman eats her fiancé, a man eats his brother, a man kills and cooks his daughter and force-feeds her to his wife… these are the cases that Chubby has to figure out. Looks like a good time to go on that diet; at least give up meat.

 

                Meanwhile, Herbert and Maggie Gunter are at the end of their vacation and back in England. They find themselves in a small village in Kent whose name is familiar to Maggie; a lovely man they had met while on expedition in New Guinea lives there. She calls their daughter and grandson to say they might drop in on him, but they’ll be back home in time for the grandson’s birthday. They don’t make it. Neither of them ever leave anthropologist Allen Briathwaite’s mansion ever again.

 

                With no main characters except for Chubby and his fellow investigators, the first half of the book tends to be a little confusing. You meet a number of characters, but they’re all just set-up for their descent into cannibalism. And what’s with the leering, seemingly alive shrunken heads? After the Gunters get involved, it starts tying together, for both the reader and dear Chubby. It’s a good thing Maggie called her daughter because when they start to investigate as well, you know you’re going to get an explosive ending. And you do.

 

                This is top-shelf gory pulp horror, and it is the very thing we all love about 80s gross-out books. This one is certainly next level (though I would say it is less vile that L.A. Morse’s The Flesh Eaters, 1979 Warner Books) and Chandler’s descriptions hold nothing back. The man roasting his brother’s head and peering “down at the golden brown face” is a scene that stays with you. Nasty for sure. This book gets quite expensive these days, but it is worth the extra dough. You just don’t get books that are this brutal very often.

Return of the Living Dead By John Russo

Return of the Living Dead
By John Russo
1979 Hamlyn
Paperback, 176 pages

                           

                This is the true sequel to George Romero’s classic film Night of the Living Dead (1968). Russo had written the novelization for that film in 1974 from his and Romero’s screenplay and this book is adapted from a proposed screenplay by Russo, Russell Streiner, and Rudi Ricci (credited as Ricci Valentine in the book) that never got made. This is not a novelization of Dan O’Bannon’s 1985 zombie comedy Return of the Living Dead, although Russo did eventually write that in 1985. Confused? Don’t be. The film was a comedy and this story is bleak and deadly serious. It carries Night’s grim tone throughout its pages.

 

                Ten years after the original zombie epidemic (which has ended), Bert Miller and his three daughters (one of whom, Karen, is expecting) are heading to a funeral. In this area, it is common to drive a spike into the skull of the deceased, because nobody wants a repeat of the previous decade’s trouble. While there, the mourners learn of a bus crash nearby and Bert takes his daughters with him to retrieve the bodies and spike them in the noggin. When the cops show up, the Millers screw out of there only half done. Guess what happens! Bert barricades the farmhouse but one daughter runs away, leaving the door unlocked and Bert becomes Zombie Chow.

 

                A group of looters (and rapists, we’re reminded of numerous times) show up at the farmhouse and settle in with two tied up prisoners. Dressed as cops, two of them give orders to the daughters but the two bound prisoners are the real cops. The daughters are taken with the gang (except Karen who is in labor) and the cops are left to feed or be fed upon. Who will survive this pickle? Will the kid be born healthy, or at all? Will the looters (and rapists) get their come-uppance? You will read this one with dizzying speed to find out. I am a slow reader and read it in two sittings.

 

                Don’t worry; in that short time, you’ll get everything you want. Flesh eating, corpse bonfires, good ol’ boys having too much fun, and bad guys using the outbreak to their advantage. “Warm human flesh was the only kind that could nourish the living dead.” The story stays in a rural farmland area and, even though it is more spread out than Night, Russo achieves the same claustrophobia. Of course the real danger here is humanity, or lack thereof. The looter (and rapist) gang are more bloodthirsty than the ghouls, proving again that man is the scariest monster.

 

                First released in the US by Dale Books in 1978, I, as always, prefer the first UK edition from Hamlyn because their covers always rule. Two different covers were available, one for Australia, and they’re both great. The green ghoul cover even has a rare photography credit for one Ken Adams, which makes me wonder if he was responsible for all of Hamlyn’s great photo covers. The book has also been reprinted many times, most recently by the reliable Fathom Press. If you’re a fan of Romero’s first foray into zombies, this book will check all of the right boxes for your zombie loving soul.

The Death of the Führer By Roland Puccetti

The Death of the Führer
By Roland Puccetti
1973 Arrow Books
Paperback, 224 pages

                First published in 1972 by St. Martin’s Press (in hardcover!), this book wasn’t on my radar until I saw the magnificent (and spoilery) Arrow paperback cover. Reading a few reviews forced me to find the book (the Arrow edition, of course) and it has changed my life for the better. Another death-bed-bookshelf tome. They saved Hitler’s brain, all right, and had a lot of fun with it!

 

                The story is told by an elderly Karl Gisevius, who had been given private information that Hitler did not commit suicide in his bunker, that the Russians had found his body, but without a brain. So, twenty years after the war ended, in the interest of a spectacular news story, Karl heads to Berlin to get into the bunker and have a look around. Seems reasonable. Miraculously, he does get in and gets a clue as to who might have taken the brain… his old pal/ rival Willi Tränger. Now, to find him.

 

                Cut to the chase. He did. To get into Tränger’s well-guarded castle, Karl has a motorcycle accident, and his old pal recognizes him (this would be many years since they’d last seen each other) and lets him convalesce in the castle. That’s certainly more good luck! There, he meets a crazy cast of characters who refuse to let the Third Reich die, including the hot Baroness. She is so attracted to Karl that they have a romantic rendezvous in her room. While screwing, at the point of their simultaneous orgasm, she screams “Ich ben der Führer!”. And then it starts to get really crazy.

 

                This sci-fi/ horror/ hysterical history novel just keeps chugging along, with Karl performing the most amazing stunts, including self-brain surgery, and he never gets flustered in the least. Puccetti actually made me squirm claustrophobically a few times, like going down the Bunker’s airshaft and climbing the castles’ chimney for espionage reasons but I knew Karl was going to survive. He was telling the story. And telling it in such a matter-of-fact way that it seemed that having his life in danger was a mere inconvenience.

 

                Stupid, hilarious, visionary and actually pretty well-written (except for confusing time-lines), this book is a gem of balls to the wall insanity. This is the kind of pulp novel that only comes along once in a blue moon and you have to grab it, read it and treasure it always. Now go listen to legendary Boston punk band Unnatural Act’s song “They Saved Hitler’s Brain” and thank me later.

    A much needed reprint is forthcoming from the great Fathom Press in 2026.

The Possession of Jessica Young By Russ Martin

The Possession of Jessica Young
By Russ Martin
1982 Tor Books
Paperback, 316 pages

                Russ Martin is back with another Satanic mind-control saga, the first one for Tor Books. Tor picked up the slack from Playboy Press who had just been sold. This one is another male wish-fulfillment fantasy if the male happens to be a total misogynistic asshole weakling.

 

                The book opens with Jessica Young, a whip-smart and beautiful woman, who has broken free from her captors. Among her credentials, she has psychic abilities. The story is told in chapters from “Then” and “Now”, unraveling a sordid tale of sexual abuse, degradation, betrayal, slavery and greed. Jessica’s captor is one Stephen Abbott, a rich, good-looking man who holds a prominent position in The Organization. His boss? It seems to be Old Scratch himself.

 

                Jessica’s escape from Abbott’s clutches are but a bump in the road for The Organization who are looking to steal her powers for the great good of mankind and Satan. Read that as MAN-kind. Abbott and his male cronies own their women. Maids, slaves and sex toys. In order to find the missing Jessica, Abbott seduces her 17-year-old sister Heather to help find her in Los Angeles. Jessica has a cop friend that she has been seeing so she seems safe. But is she?

 

                Jessica is a good character; a smart woman who can easily take care of herself. It is therefore very uncomfortable to watch her be reduced to a family-murdering trophy by Abbott in the “Then” chapters. Admittedly, I cringed quite a lot watching her, and later her sister with her teenage “boyfriend”, getting used and abused. I’m not comfortable with rapey scenes and this book has many.

 

                That said, Martin (whoever he really is) weaves a compelling story throughout, with the flashbacks and current scenes keeping the pages turning, hoping to see Jessica decimate her adversaries. This is a much more uncomfortable narrative than some of his other books with a similar subject matter. The cringe-factor is high, unless you really are a weakling man who needs to see women “put in their place”. It makes you wonder what kind of person Martin was (is?). This appears to be the first in a kind of trilogy that use some of these same characters. On deck is The Obsession of Sally Wing.

Mystery Walk By Robert McCammon

Mystery Walk
By Robert McCammon
1984 Ballantine
Paperback, 419 pages

                            
                                                                                                  Art by Jim Thiesen

                This is another one that I bought way back when it first came out and never got around to reading. That’s fine because if this had been my first McCammon, I might not have gone on and read any other books by him. Not that this one is bad, it’s just not very satisfying to me for a lot of reasons. One reason is not the writing. McCammon is an excellent writer, even when the story isn’t super engaging. That’s how I was able to finish this behemoth of a paperback.

 

                Hawthorn, Alabama is where John and Ramona Creekmore and their 10-year old son Billy live. Ramona is one quarter Choctaw and has the ability to not only sense someone’s impending death (a black aura surrounds them) but she can take on the pain of wandering spirits and put them to rest. Of course, in racist Alabama in 1962, this makes her the Hawthorn Witch and she is ostracized by the community. Now, Billy is showing signs of having similar extraordinary abilities and churchgoing John and the local shitheads are mad that there are two of them. At a tent revival in town, with charlatan J. J. Falconer and his son Wayne (who is a faith healer), the Mother and Son cause a real scene and are forced to leave.

 

                The story follows Billy as well as Wayne, two kids of the same age, both seeming to have special abilities. It follows them to their teens and high school, up through their late teens and into their early twenties. It is a good versus evil thing going on but Billy, despite being unchristian, is not the evil one. The Falconers have been all about the money all along, being the crooked Evangelicals that they are. Once both boys are fatherless, their true emotional boundaries are revealed and they hitch up with very different groups of people who “help” them on their way through their personal Mystery Walks.

 

                It is an epic tale, for sure. Unfortunately, it reads as though McCammon thought up the next part each time he got to it, stringing together a bunch of different ideas and scenarios with the characters playing along. I guess it all fits by the end but there’s so much extraneous exposition that I was getting fidgety. The typeface is small and dense (41 lines per page) and the book just went on and on. I stayed with it thanks to McCammon’s excellent writing style but the story meandered and the characters, even though the story is about the boys’ personal growth, never really develop. Incredible things get accepted too rapidly and, well… it made me sigh a lot, wishing I was finished.

 

                This was McCammon’s first book to be published in paperback, the Ballantine book coming out a year after its hardcover from Holt. The first edition Ballantine cover pretty much sucks but later printings had a nice crawling corpse cover by Jim Thiesen.