The Unholy
Paperback, 158 pages
When I think of John Halkin, my mind goes immediately to his
trio of Slither, Slime, and Squelch and, to a lesser
extent, Bloodworm. All worthwhile reads, especially Slither which
is a masterpiece of the genre. Little did I know that right after that book,
he’d written another horror novel; not about slimy, killer worms, but about a
mummified, severed arm that crawls to life, attaches itself to poor,
unfortunate victims and possesses the fuck out of them.
It’s the ol’ religious artifact thing again, but the
possession angle is new and modern-day Paris is fucked. The surprisingly spry,
lifeless arm squeezes its victim at the elbow, hard enough to pop it
off, then grafts itself on, taking over the mind and body of the new host.
Pages and pages of bloody killing ensues. Set ‘em up and knock ‘em down. Just
how I like my 80’s pulp horror.
At 158 pages, the book has no chance to get boring. The pace
is rapid, the characters are good enough to hold your interest and the gore is
plentiful. The ending is a kind of abrupt and there’s a bit more religion than
I usually go for (being a religious relic, the arm needs to be explained a
little bit, I guess) but I wholeheartedly recommend this one for fans of
grisly horror paperbacks.
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