Wolfsbane By William W. Johnstone

Wolfsbane
By William W. Johnstone
1982 Zebra
Paperback, 268 pages

                         

                 Art by William Teason

                William Johnstone? Werewolves!?! Hell yes I want to read that! I mean, I have to space out my Johnstone reading because all of his books are pretty similar but I had never seen him address werewolves. Well, it turns out that even his werewolves are Satan-spawned demons but that’s OK. To be honest, the first 80 pages or so didn’t grab my attention and I was missing the usual Johnstone constructs like perverted sex, over the top gore and humor. But when it came (!),  it came in buckets (!!).

 

                In Ducros Parish, Louisiana, 1934, a man is put to death by the villagers for being a loup-garou. His widow, Madame Victoria Bauterre, goes back to their home 40 years later with revenge on her mind. Madame’s granddaughter, Janette Bauterre Simmons, also a widow thanks to Viet Nam, is forbidden by Madame to leave her home in Paris and visit the estate, even though they share ownership. She goes anyway, pissing off her granny, but she has to find out what this family secret is. And just what are those hideous hairy beasts roaming in the garden?

 

                What? A Johnstone book with no Viet Nam vet to save the day? Oh, he’s here, but he’s in South Carolina and he’s a drunken, fat mess named Pat. Until one day he miraculously decides to clean up. By the time Janette goes to find him (based on a photo of him with her late husband), he is a fit and mean fighting machine. And, of course, they fuck like mad upon their first meeting. But he is the chosen one and he returns to Ducros Parish with Janette, armed to the teeth, to help her find out what’s going on and kick some monster and zombie ass and protect his new lover.

 

                Yeah, after a slow beginning, the sex comes in hard and perverse. The Granny, a devil worshipper, seduces a couple of guys in stomach-churning fashion. I pictured Mom  from Futurama, all naked, wrinkled and saggy, grinding on her poor victim. I am also a fan of Johnstone’s humor and once that kicks in, you’ll either love it or hate it. I laughed out loud a number of times. Satan using baseball cliches, a Shakespeare spouting milquetoast saying motherfucker and Pat’s endless ribbing of Madame B. and Satan (who is just a voice bubbling in the bayou). You’ll be happy to know that the loup-garou are tough to kill but if you unload enough firepower into them, you can do it.

 

                As usual, Johnstone introduces too many characters to keep track of. I didn’t bother going back to see who they were, I just enjoyed the stream of conscious storytelling and the endless gore. God is mentioned plenty but Pat manages the good versus evil angle with no divine intervention. As for the titular plant, wolfsbane is mentioned once or twice but has even less to do with the story than the nursery does in Johnstone’s The Nursery (1983). This book’s first printing had a decent werewolf cover but I prefer William Teason’s skeletal artwork for the 1987 reprint even if it makes little sense to the narrative. Hell, the narrative doesn’t even make sense to the narrative! It’s a Johnstone book! Pure idiotic bliss!

Shadoweyes By Kathryn Ptacek

Shadoweyes
By Kathryn Ptacek
1984 Tor
Paperback, 314 pages

                Gila! is one of my all-time favorite books so when I found out that the book’s author Les Simons was actually Kathryn Ptacek, I decided to keep an eye out for more of her work. This is the first one that I encountered and I picked it up. While not as satisfying for me as Gila!, there is much to enjoy in this one despite a few drawbacks.

 

                Chato Del-Klinne is an Apache who gave up shaman tribal studies as a teen, gave up being a college teacher as an adult and has returned to Albuquerque, New Mexico to find himself. While killing time before an interview, he stumbles on a grisly murder scene in the mountains, people have been massacred and mutilated. He sees a shadowy presence in the bushes. Other mutilations have taken place as well. Chato also gets attacked by ball lightning while searching the hills. The only person who will believe his story about the shadowy evil is reporter Laura Rainey.

 

                Meanwhile, the city preps for a Hot Air Balloon festival where the Mayor will hand over a (stolen) Native American fetish statue to the Senator to give to the Smithsonian. Both men and the local monsignor have used the fetish to gain power. What could possibly go wrong at such a huge gathering of important people and local New Mexicans ready to have a good time? Let me introduce you to the Shadoweyes… glowing golden eyes, sharp teeth and talons in a nondescript, shadowy body with a thirst for bloody revenge. I must confess that I pictured them as a kind of McDonald’s Fry Guy Goblin, but with more teeth and vengeance. Your take might be a bit more horrific; descriptions remain… shadowy.

 

                Chato was a character in my beloved Gila! and he would also return in 1990’s Ghost Dance. They say men have trouble writing female characters but Ptacek has no problem writing men. Chato forms a relationship with Laura, they have sex, he decides she’s really not his type, he rescues a woman (from the monastery) who survived a Shadoweyes attack, fucks her in Laura’s apartment with Laura in the next room (after she survives a harrowing Shadoweyes attack) and shows no guilt. This is our hero. But putting his thinking-with-the-wrong-head aside, he is a capable protagonist who must recall his younger  days, his spiritual teachings to try to defeat the monsters. To be fair, most of the characters are quite flawed, but that is not a problem in a horror novel.

                Naturally, the Hot Air Balloon picnic is the highlight, when a balloon returns to the ground filled with Shadoweyes. Between the creatures and a massive fire as one balloon burns, there is a great deal of action. Sadly, things slow down towards the ending but it’s all worth it for an explosive climax. This was Ptacek’s first novel published under her own name. Recommended reading.

The Foundling By Frank Lauria

The Foundling
By Frank Lauria
1984 Pocket Books
Paperback, 284 pages

                Online reviews of this one are mostly harsh, but I tore through it quickly, enjoying it as I read. The thing is, as I sit here to review it two hours after finishing it, I’m having trouble remembering it. I guess it is a bit “meh” when all is said and done but I liked it while reading it, and that’s really the point of reading, is it not?

 

                Jeff and Ruth Austin have a crumbling marriage. They lost their four-year-old daughter and had a miscarriage years ago and are unable to conceive again. He is a rich jingle producer and former rock star, and she is a teacher. Money is no problem, so they agree to adopt a child. They meet 12 year old Dani, a smart, talented, beautiful and polite child. Mature beyond her years. They foster her and a trial run is set up and everything is great. The Austin's marriage is repaired, even in the bedroom. Too bad they didn’t read the 36 page prologue.

 

                Dani, great though she is, is the offspring of a prostitute and was raised by nuns. She excelled in school and was the apple of Sister Rose’s eye. The good Sister gave Dani a camera and the youngster became very adept with it. Sister Rose also caught her taking dirty pictures of her girlfriend. This made Sister Rose very confused, and she wound up killing herself. But the Austins don’t know all that. They do have to deal with Dani’s emerging womanhood, though, and things can get fiery if they’re not careful. Literally.

 

                Jeff builds a studio on his property and is coerced into recording a new album for fading rock star Eric Jordan. Not only does Dani impress everyone with her soul-capturing photos but she is a capable studio engineer and songwriter. Needless to say, all of the attention to Dani messes with her mind and things blow up and she has to drown her sorrows. Lauria has sexualized the child to such an extent that everyone seems to hit on her in one way or another. That shit is creepy, no matter how mature she is written.

 

                Another thing is how two adults in the story are absolutely aghast that Dani would have lesbian tendencies. Maybe it was crazy and wild in 1984 but in today’s world, I doubt there are many teens who wouldn’t try a few things on for size. I kind of rolled my eyes as her new Mom was in tears over her adopted daughter’s preferences. Grow up, Ruth, and take your medicine!

 

                With Carrie and Firestarter rips and look for a Charles Manson reference. And lots of nipples. So, yes. The book is good, an easy read and has a great cover (by whom, I do not know) despite the pseudo-Telecaster’s bizarre set-up. I doubt I will ever read it again, though.

Elizabeth By Jessica Hamilton

Elizabeth
By Jessica Hamilton
1978 Sphere
Paperback, 157 pages

                This is one of the most brilliantly written books that I have ever read. Every word is perfection, every paragraph a work of art. Yes, I also enjoy reading Grade-Z tripe but when I come across something like this, it is a truly magical experience. This book also goes a long way towards proving to me that I’ll always have a lot more in common with an evil 14-year-old girl than with men who are supposedly my peers.

 

                Elizabeth is fourteen and on vacation with her parents when she first sees Frances in a mirror. Frances is a long dead witch who wants Elizabeth to know of her bloodline… and her powers. After her parents die that same day (hmmm, how’d that happen), she is taken to live with her grandmother, her uncle James, his wife and child, and a tutor. Frances is there too, in the mirrors. Elizabeth’s powers grow and people who get in her way have a habit of disappearing.

 

                Jessica Hamilton is a pseudonym for Ken Greenhall, and this was his first novel. The short novel is filled with despicable characters and uncomfortable situations for the reader. As Elizabeth wields her powers, her sexuality being one of them, she puts her uncle under her spell and keeps him under her thumb with favors. None of the incestual pedophilia is spelled right out, nor is much of the violence or other sexual situations in the book, but you know it’s there. The story is told by Elizabeth in first person and her mind is complex, calm and indifferent to everyone except Frances. Her asides to the reader can be humorous or chilling, often at the same time. I guess it says something about my own disturbed mind that I felt a solid kinship with the cold and empathy-free Elizabeth throughout the narrative.

 

                An absolutely stunning piece of literature. I went back to admire some lines again and again. I wish I had the power to write something so powerful. Forget the online reviews by myopic cretins who didn’t understand it. They don’t deserve Elizabeth or Greenhall. This book is brilliant. Thanks to the good folks at Valencourt Books, it is back in print.

Crooked Tree By Robert C. Wilson

Crooked Tree
By Robert C. Wilson
1981 Berkely Books
Paperback, 324 pages

 

                Robert C. Wilson can write. Every sentence is well-planned, his word choice impeccable. His knowledge of his subject is second to none. Unfortunately, he rams every bit of research into this overlong, tiny print novel and it took me over two weeks to slog through it. Too bad, because it’s a really interesting premise.

 

                In Northern Michigan, there has been a rash of Black Bear attacks, certainly not a common occurrence as they are normally docile animals. Lawyer Axel Michelson and his wife Janis live on the edge of Crooked Tree State Forest where the attacks occur. She is of Ottawa Indian heritage, as are many of their friends. In fact, those friends grow to suspect that an old Ottawa legend, the bear-walk, is what is happening. An evil sorcerer’s spirit is said to inhabit the bears, also taking over a human to be his pawn. Funny… Janice has been acting very weird lately.

 

                Axel is a lawyer (as is the author) and I hate the name (I also hate Guns n’ Roses) and he isn’t the most likeable would-be-hero in the world. That aside, Janice is a great character and the changes she goes through tug at the reader’s heartstrings. The secondary characters are all well-defined and not too off putting. The bear attacks are gory and fun. It’s just that as a whole, the damn book is so over-written.

 

                I know Wilson wanted to paint the whole cultural picture for the reader, and that’s fine, but when he goes so far as to explain the geological movement of glaciers that formed Northern Michigan, I feel that’s more than I could possibly ever give a shit about. Each descendant from the Ottawa tribe speaks like they’re reading encyclopedia entries about their history and beliefs and that gets wearing quickly. Worst off, with about 100 pages to go, and I did have interest to see how things would turn out, ol’ Axel drives around the state searching for information from multiple libraries. A man of action. I realize that finding said info easily wouldn’t have been believable, but it also would have made me less twitchy. GET TO IT, ALREADY!!!

 

                Your mileage may vary but I found this book to be padded to the gills and tedious, despite a very good start and storyline. I will not be revisiting it.

The Elementals By Michael McDowell

The Elementals
By Michael McDowell
1981 Avon
Paperback, 292 pages

                McDowell strikes again with another fascinating, impeccably written gem of a horror book. While perhaps not on the level of the previous year’s Cold Moon Over Babylon (but then, what is?) this is a brilliant slice of Southern Gothic with quirky characters, unnerving tension and a sandy, haunted house.

 

                The Savages and the McCrays are two rich white families, joined by marriage, in southern Alabama who share a vacation property called Beldame out on a sandspit on the Gulf of Mexico. Yes, the Gulf of MEXICO. Each family has their own Victorian summer house there and a third house stands unoccupied, being consumed by a sand dune. After the Savage matriarch dies, the families take a June holiday to the property. Luker McCray and his daughter India come down from New York, joining his mother Big Barbara and his sister Leigh, who is married to Dauphin, the deceased woman’s son. Everyone has been to Beldame many times over the years except India; this is her first time. Also on hand is Odessa, the longtime housekeeper for the families.

 

                India gets very interested in the third house and finds that members of both families have a fear of it. This makes her even more obsessed and when she starts seeing things like doors closing and apparitions crawling through the sand, she is determined to learn more despite her own fear. Her photos show things that weren’t there when she took them. She finds out more from Odessa and between the two of them, they try to stop the Elementals, the force that is trying to take them over from the third house.

 

                McDowell’s characterization and dialogue is pure perfection, with a cast of mostly selfish, yet somehow likeable people. Everyone calls their parents by their first names, Luker and 13 year old India skinny-dip together, and Big Barbara finds everything easier to deal with being inebriated. Not your typical family gathering, but they are all fairly tight and when the supernatural starts acting up, their plight is all the more terrifying because of that. Odessa is easily the most grounded character. Sadly, McDowell points out countless times that she is “black”, like we wouldn’t remember that from the other dozens of times it was mentioned. That does fit the rich white folk narrative, however.

 

                The book is a slow burn, meeting and getting to know the families and their history along with the history of Beldame and that third house. When the horrors start taking over, it is pure McDowell mastery, with flowing sand and banging doors and many things going bump in the night. Despite a few things that might not have aged well, it’s impossible not to recommend this book. Nobody wrote horror better than McDowell.

Cat’s Eyes By Lee Jordan

Cat’s Eyes
By Lee Jordan
1983 Signet
Paperback, 216 pages

                Lee Jordan is mystery writer Alan Scholefield and his wife, author Anthea Goddard. Together they wrote a handful of books under the Jordan pseudonym and this one is a taut thriller that keeps up a quick pace for the entire running time. Even necessary flashbacks to fill in plot points do not slow down the narrative and I blew through this short book in just a few sittings. Don’t forget, I’m an extremely slow reader. Not really a horror book, more of a thriller/ mystery, but the authors manage to convey the characters’ fear and discomfort in a way that should please horror buffs.

 

                American Rachel Chater returns to her and her husband’s new home in Sussex Downs, England after a hospital stay, recovering (mostly) from a car accident. She is plagued by dreams featuring a large black cat peering through the window, the cat she swerved to avoid, causing her accident. Her husband has to go to the US for work, leaving Rachel alone with their infant and a part-time caregiver in the secluded house. Strange things happen, like scary phone calls, broken ornaments and the ever-present black cat that keep Rachel in constant anxiety. With a damaged, painful leg and very few friends to help her, every acquaintance becomes a possible threat and Rachel feels that her and her daughter’s lives are in danger. Especially after a suspect near fatal accident with the baby.

 

                Rachel is an extremely paranoid person. She thinks the impossible of the cat and she suspects all of the humans in her life, including her husband, of being out to get her. Of course, she has every right to feel some of that. She harbors guilt for the death of the town fix-it man who she was driving home the night of the accident. As well written as Rachel is, I still got mad at her for being such a cat-hater. The poor cat, also injured in the crash, is just trying to survive and I felt so bad for it. Of course, I had a large black cat resting on either side of me as I read this one. But the authors really did crank up the suspense and Rachels terror felt very real in certain spots.

 

                Despite a slight lapse in credibility at the ending (do villains really ever reveal the entire scheme with convenient exposition as they go in for the kill?), I have no problem recommending this book. It’s a page turner with plenty of suspenseful passages and an easy to absorb writing style. A nice cover (by Shaw? Looks like it) completes the package and this book can still be found fairly cheap. It’s a good way to spend a few hours.