The Howling By Gary Brandner

The Howling
By Gary Brandner
1977 Fawcett
Paperback, 223 pages

Yes, we’ve all seen the movie The Howling (Joe Dante, 1981) but who has read the source material? I never had, so I thought it was about time to correct that. If you plan to take a first read of this novel, do yourself a favor and forget the movie completely. John Sayles’ script for the film bears almost no resemblance to this book. I can’t imagine what the folks who bought this after seeing the film thought of it, especially Fawcett’s reprint with the movie poster art.

 

Karyn and Roy Beatty are the perfect California couple; blonde, wealthy and happy, with a little bun in the oven. All is well until Karyn is sexually assaulted in her home and she loses the baby and, obviously, develops some serious post-trauma problems. Loving Roy rents a place far enough away from Los Angeles, in the town of Drago, to help his wife recover in relative safety. The tiny town is peculiar, but Karyn tries to make the best of it. The Beatty’s sex life is in shambles, though, as you might imagine. Roy, who is a scumbag after all, soon succumbs to the dark charms of Marsha, a shop owner in town. Meanwhile, Karyn keeps on hearing… something howling.

 

Sure that it is a wolf she is hearing, she orders a stack of books from a neighboring town’s library, and they are delivered to her by Inez, a woman who knows quite a bit about wolves and, more importantly, werewolves. Could someone in town actually be a werewolf? Eventually, Karyn shoots at a wolf-like figure in her yard and blows off its ear. Seems like it should be easy to figure out who is a werewolf now, but the long list of suspects and the speed at which werewolves heal are two things that make the investigation difficult. And Roy is no help because he’s getting laid on the side and feeling quite canid himself.

 

The book is slathered with plenty of gore, attacks and sex. The rape scene is particularly rough and, of course, hiding away the victim and keeping her drugged might not be the best treatment. Karyn’s isolation is well established; she doesn’t drive, it’s a two mile walk into town, and Roy isn’t any help after he goes Marsha-crazy. Karyn and Inez are a team worth rooting for.

 

Brandner was back with two sequels to this one with The Howling II (1978) and The Howling III (1985) (both Fawcett), the first of which continues this storyline. The third entry goes back to the olden days. A film was eventually made that was closer to this first book, Howling IV: The Original Nightmare (John Hough, 1988). The British editions of the three books, all published by Hamlyn, have great covers and different titles for the two sequels; The Return of the Howling and The Howling III Echoes.

             Hamlyn's 1978 edition                                                      Hamlyn's 1983 movie tie-in

                                                                           

Ogre By Mark Ronson

Ogre
By Mark Ronson
1980 Hamlyn
Paperback, 198 pages

 

 

    Forget Shrek and all of that fairy-tale ogre bullshit. This ogre is a massive blob with reaching tentacles that would eat that green goofball and never look back. This is actually a Celtic wormlike deity called the Ooga but the folks involved call it the ogre so they won’t sound quite so stupid.

    Richard Finlay moves from the city into the rural farmhouse in Cumbria that he inherited from his all-but-unknown relative. Why does this happen so often in horror fiction, yet it still has never happened to me? Anyway, the townsfolk hate him, and a kid went missing on his property so he’s not the most welcome resident. There’s also a serial killer on the loose in that part of the country. Finlay and his hot houseguest Patricia have to endure a home invasion scene straight out of Sam Peckinpah’s film Straw Dogs (1971), complete with throwing boiling water onto the drunken villagers.

    Like in Mark Ronson’s (New Zealand author Mark Alexander) previous two horror novels and the subsequent one, an ancient evil is unleashed by way of modern means. This time around, a pipeline being laid through Finlay’s property opens up the mineshaft that the giant blob was preserved in. The ogre itself is a fun beastie, similar in form and action to the aquatic blob in Ruby Jean Jensen’s The Lake (1983), with little tentacles reaching from the ever-changing main blob. As with all good blobs, the more it eats, the bigger it gets.

    The book slowed down a bit for me at around the three-quarter mark when scientists and ministry members set up shop in the Findlay house (because they finally believe the people who say they have seen the ogre). No problem, though, as every time the ogre shows up, fun happens. The characters are pretty basic, a few affectations but otherwise straightforward cookie-cutter folks, but the story moves quickly and pulls you in, even if most of it has been done before and since. I liked Ronson’s Plague Pit from the following year a bit more, but this one is good, and I heartily recommend it. The Hamlyn paperback has a nice gnarly cover of a mannequin head covered in green gunk that looks like it might be a photograph.

The Desecration of Susan Browning By Russell Martin

The Desecration of Susan Browning
By Russell Martin
1981 Playboy Press
Paperback, 254 pages

 

                This is Martin’s second foray into the world of Satan and his loyal followers, hot on the heels of 1980’s Rhea. His writing is crisp and fluid and I even had to look up a few words! Educational! While this isn’t an entirely satisfying read, it is quite good, and it moves by quickly.

 

                Marty and Susan Browning are two Hollywood up-and-comers who have a wonderful marriage. On the way to their car after a movie date, they witness a woman being assaulted in the parking lot and Marty comes to her rescue. Three days later, the Browning’s get a visit from the victim, Wanda Carmichael, with an invitation to a swank party at her mansion. From there on, the desecration begins.

 

                Wanda takes over Marty, makes him (willingly?) divorce Susan and grinds Mrs. Browning’s life to dust. Just what does Wanda have that enthralls Marty so much? Susan’s friend Max tries to comfort her but soon his constant presence starts to be annoying… until she becomes his willing sex slave. Yeah, things are in a weird slide for poor Susan! Why is all of this happening? Perhaps the sleazy private dick will find answers, or perhaps the cute, young Father Crabbe can help her sort things out.

 

                Yes, this is like an X-rated soap opera and that’s exactly why it is so much fun. None of the characters are particularly likeable; Susan herself has many flaws, so we just sit back and watch the shitshow. While God and faith do come into play, it is never heavy handed. My only real complaint story-wise would be that I wanted more Satan!! Rituals are fine but gimme some Ol’ Scratch!

 

                Being that one of the main characters is transsexual and this book was written in 1981, there is a lot of dated transphobia that will make the modern reader cringe a bit, but that’s the way things were (or are for some of the shit slices out there). It’s all part of 80s Hollywood where life is cheap, property is expensive, and Satan brings good things to evil people.

 

                I found this in the children’s books section at a thrift store!

When Darkness Loves Us By Elizabeth Engstrom

When Darkness Loves Us
By Elizabeth Engstrom
1986 Tor Books
Paperback, 249 pages

 

                What an extraordinary book! Writing that flows as smoothly as a gentle stream, weaving tales of angst, horror and heartbreak with such compelling prose that the book is nearly impossible to put down. Iconic sci-fi author Theodore Strugeon, with whom Engstrom took a writing course, provides a forward here where he says he saw her greatness early on. And boy, was he right! The two stories contained in this book are unlike anything else I have ever read and both of them satisfied me one hundred percent.

 

                “When Darkness Loves Us”, the first story, clocks in at around 70 pages but effectively covers a huge timespan. Newlywedded Sally Ann is watching her husband plow the fields and slips down some stairs into a tunnel below the woods, a place where she played as a child. While down there, someone closes and locks the safety doors at ground level, leaving her lost in complete darkness. And she is pregnant. What happens from there is an amazing story of adaptation, loyalty, fear and evolution, all expressed brilliantly within that short page count.

 

                Clocking in at 164 pages, “Beauty Is…” tells the story of Martha, born without a nose, shunned and abused by her father, loved by her mother (a healer) and left mentally challenged after an incident during her childhood. Now an adult living on her own, she is childlike in a small town of people who look out for her. But Martha has a drive and despite her disabilities, she has a will to learn and love and be loved. When young Leon comes by to help fix up her house and stays on, she develops a closeness with him that seems to open up new feelings and lost abilities. But surely that creepy asshole who knows she has some money in the house will louse things up for our protagonist.

 

                I must admit that both stories reeled me in completely and held me tight. I got all of the emotions while in Sally Ann’s and Martha’s bleak worlds. I felt all of their pain and their triumphs, their determination, and plenty of heartbreak. Engstrom is an incredibly effective writer and she pulled me in hook line and sinker. I find her writing in this book right up there with Michael McDowell in her ability to transport me into another place completely. I can’t recommend this book highly enough.

 

                Luckily, Valancourt reprinted this book as part of their Paperbacks from Hell line and kept Jill Bauman’s amazing cover from the Tor paperback (which illustrates “Beauty Is…” rather than the titular story). According to the author via her website (http://www.elizabethengstrom.net/), both Spanish and German translations are forthcoming. Muy bueno! Sehr gut!

The Resurrected By Guy N. Smith

The Resurrected
By Guy N. Smith
1991 Grafton
Paperback, 223 pages

                This book is dark. I’ll admit to having squirmed in my seat a few times. At first, I thought it might go a little bit like Johnny Craig’s amazing story “Till Death” in EC Comics’ Vault of Horror #28 (Dec. 1952) which has a somewhat similar set-up but no, GNS takes things into even darker territory.

 

                Merryn is dying of a brain tumor at 28 years old. Wanting to get in as much as possible before her end, she marries her boyfriend Bernie. Together, they face the end with love and commitment. Bernie knows a white witch who can offer no help but an ex-colleague of hers gives him a call and offers an ominous chance. Bernie must take that chance. Enter Richie Howe, another witch. But his magic is far darker than the white witch’s. His work begins right after Merryn dies.

 

                Careful what you wish for, Bernie. Richie sure does bring Merryn back, but she isn’t quite the same woman anymore. She is distant, a little smelly and super horny. If Bernie can’t handle it, Richie can. In fact, Richie becomes quite close to Merryn, and she is his showpiece; a “living” example of his power. Richie’s boss is Old Scratch, and he likes what’s being done but would like a few lives sacrificed in his name as well. What the hell have you done, Bernie?

 

                Bernie had the best intentions but what he got back is a cold, uncaring whisp of an undead wife whose only function seems to be to cause him pain. Merryn is a wonderfully off-putting character. She’s beautiful but slimy, delicate but hard. She is just a pretty vessel full of selfish lust and hatred. Bernie holds out romantic hopes, but he knows it is far too late. GNS plays both sides beautifully. The early pages shows a devoted couple with heartbreak hanging over them and with limited time. Their “after” lives are filled with tension, torture, regret and fear and it all revolves around Richie and his master.

 

                This is absolute top-shelf GNS in my opinion. He could have played it easy and just schlocked away a good idea with cheap, gooey scares, but he makes it much more; a tragic relationship story from hell with enough pathos and both hope and hopelessness mixed in with the sleazy scenarios and demonic doings to really push this one into greatness. Luis Rey’s cover is just beautiful, too, giving this one my highest recommendation.

Incubus By Ray Russell

Incubus

By Ray Russell
1977 Dell
Paperback,251 pages

 

                Ray Russell will always have a place in my heart for writing the story ”Sardonicus” and adapting it for the screenplay to Mr. Sardonicus, William Castle’s 1961 masterpiece. That story first appeared in Playboy where Russell was the fiction editor. Fifteen years later, it seems that Russell may have drawn on some of the more salacious elements of his Playboy gig when he was writing this novel. Incubus is, as the Washington Star reviewed it, “not for the squeamish”.

 

                A series of brutal rape/ murders are terrorizing the small coastal California town of Galen. The victims have been torn apart down yonder, bludgeoned by a massive member and covered with semen. Well, yuck! Police investigations turn up nothing and the local doctor rules out many of his male patients as suspect because he knows they aren’t packing that kind of heat. Only Julian Trask, an anthropologist who is back in town (he was a Galen teacher) to help figure the crimes out, has an inkling as to what is happening. His theory is supernatural and is not taken seriously by most. Until there is no alternative. As in many books of the era, much Scotch is consumed throughout the proceedings.

 

                Sound sleazy? Sound perverted? It is both but Russell’s prose are so polished and readable that it really doesn’t read as lascivious as it sounds. It is a mystery story, trying to figure out just who the incubus might be. The cast of characters are all well fleshed out and while many are not very likeable, they still convey enough emotion that I got invested in them. Many of the adults seem like real prudes (BJs are the devil’s work!) and despite many strong female characters, a story like this can’t help but have a thread of misogyny going through it. The attacks are brutal, gory and disgusting and even locking up all of the women in protective custody (see what I mean?) doesn’t keep out the sexual evil spirit.

 

                In 1981, the book was adapted into a film directed by John Hough. Some key changes were made to the story making it stupid, like the incubus attacking males as well. Kind of makes the whole “male demon raping women to prolong its bloodline” part of being an incubus obsolete. The movie is lame, the book is great (if you have the stomach for it) and I highly recommend it to purveyors of putrid pulp.

Entombed By Guy N. Smith

Entombed
By Guy N. Smith
1986 Arrow Books
Paperback, 191 pages

 

                              

           Arrow, 1986. Art- Les Edwards                                             Dell- 1987. Art-?

                When I was a kid, my mum took me to Howe Caverns, a 150 foot deep hole in the ground in Schoharie County, New York. It is a massive underground cave with a subterranean river and there is a lovely tour that you can take. The rock formations are lit with beautiful colored lights, yet the scenery (and cool air) can feel a bit sinister. I loved it so much, I took my own kid there when she was 10 or 11. With that, I think I might have gotten a little more out of Entombed than I might have had I never been that far underground.

 

                Priest Simon Rankin has been questioning his faith after a failed exorcism. To clear his mind, he packs up with his girlfriend Andrea and heads to Cwmgilla in Wales. The town’s claim to fame is a retired slate mine that has been opened as a show cave, taking tourists down into the caverns for tours. Rankin wasn’t keen on taking the trip down but acquiesces to Andrea’s suggestion. While down there, he senses an evil presence, and it all goes to hell (quite literally!) from there. His faith, whether or not he knew it, is enough to shake up the evil in town.

 

                A kid wanders off and disappears in the mine. Workers going to look for him have the roof cave in and trap them. Mysterious children’s voices, visions, and Satanism all rear their evil heads. Andrea is demonically raped and possessed and Rankin’s faith had better be damn strong to fight the kind of nastiness that now runs rampant in Cwmgilla! The power to the mine is gone so nobody gets in or out unless you happen to know a spelunker. Luckily, Rankin does.

 

                Obviously, the claustrophobia is massive in this book. The scenes in the mine, with its uncharted depth and underground lakes is a labyrinth of dark, airless fear. There are many chilling moments of anxiety and agitation. That said, at about the three-quarter mark, the narrative started to slow a bit for me. But I never doubted that GNS would pick it back up and, holy shit, he sure did! The prose approaching the climax is amazing, especially when the Satanist group is gorging on the blood of a sacrificial victim. “Like maggots in a jar, a grotesque entwinement of all that was vile.” It doesn’t get much better than that.

 

                Obviously, if you have read the Sabat books, some of this might sound familiar. Rankin seems to be a tryout for Mark Sabat, whose first book came next from GNS. (The first publication of this one was from Hamlyn in 1982.) Both are ex-priests and exorcists, there is a violated church, a body exhumed for Satanic reasons and other similarities. Overall, Rankin is a more likeable hero than Sabat. As much as we all love our Hamlyn Horrors, hold out for any of the Arrow reprints to relish the amazing Les Edwards cover.