The Folly
By David Anne
1978 Corgi Books
Paperback, 156 pages!!!
This is an example of the way
horror novels should be written: fast, dumb, zero characterization and lots of
action and gore. I had previously read David Anne’s Rabid (reprinted as Day
of the Mad Dogs), so I was eager to read this one, the only other book of
his that I know of. It did not disappoint.
Part of England is once again laid
to waste by nature, this time by mutant rat-rabbits. If mutant rat-rabbits
don’t get you excited, then I don’t know what to tell you. A little bit of
legit science is mixed in; it is likely that Anne read an article on the bunny
virus myxomatosis and took it from there. In addition to rat-rabbits, you get a
mad scientist, descriptive gore scenes, human pus-balls, semi-graphic sex, and
hateful, paper-thin characters doing idiotic things… all in just 156 pages!
I read the Corgi reprint from 1980 which has a shitty cover. If you can find it, I suggest the original W.H. Allen print from 1978. It not only has an artist’s rendition of the rat-rabbits on the cover, but it runs 168 pages, a full 12 pages more than the reprint. Extra gore or larger print; either way, it’s a win-win with that cover.
This review originally appeared in Midnight Magazine #8, July 2021.
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