Bugged! By Donald F. Glut

 

Bugged!
By Donald F. Glut
1974 Manor Books
Paperback, 192 pages

 

                To me, Don Glut has always been a true Renaissance Man. Filmmaker, actor, screenwriter, director, musician, and dinosaur expert. It is his comic book writing that first made his name familiar in my life. He wrote for Warren’s seminal horror mags in the early Seventies (Creepy, Eerie, and Vampirella) as well and countless stories for Gold Key, including creating Dr. Spektor and Tragg, two familiar titles in my house when I was growing up. I was excited to finally catch up with this pulpy horror novel from back in the day, written concurrently with much of his comic work that I’m most familiar with.

 

                Members of a college fraternity show up for their 20-year reunion. The meeting place is one member’s home, deep in the swamp. What could possibly go wrong? Well, first off, one by one, the members get devoured by various insects. Could the member they called “Bugs” be behind the nefarious deed? And if so, just how is he accomplishing this sordid feat?

 

                Glut’s comic book sensibility is on full display here and it works well, pushing along the quick pace of the book. The characters aren’t deep and Glut sets ‘em up and knocks ‘em down. You have a mad scientist, his hulking henchman and plenty of victims that deserve their fate. The short novel plays like an old mystery more than anything; it would have fit well into Popular Library’s Frankenstein Horror Series. But never fear… Glut ladles on huge dollops of gore to keep things from reading too antiquated.

 

                Bugged! Is back in print now in both paperback and as an audiobook. It’s a fun way to spend some time relaxing with an old fashioned, good ol’ pulp horror book. It will fit nicely in between the Glut-penned Star Wars novelizations on your bookshelf. Yes- he is a true Renaissance Man.

 

Manor actually gives the cover illustration a credit. It is by Robert Owens. Thank you, Manor.

‘Gator By George Ford

 

‘Gator
By George Ford
1976 Award Books
Paperback, 170 pages

 

                Take a ragtag team of unmatched characters- criminals, moneymen, and a crooked cop, put them in a defunct, deserted motel deep in the Everglades and have them there to receive and then distribute 5 million dollars’ worth of cocaine. Add to the mix one 12-foot alligator who is wounded by one of the men and is very pissed off. What could possibly go wrong?

               

                I must admit that I had a ton of fun with this book. Every one of the characters in it is a complete moron except an innocent cocktail waitress who followed one of the palookas along for kicks. Bad decisions, idiotic moves and really dumb choices abound. Once the big boss and the cocaine arrives, there are almost Rube Goldberg-esque chains of bad events that occur.

 

                The wounded ‘gator doesn’t get as much ink as one might like in this type of story, but he is actually well-written and the only truly sympathetic character in the book. The slimy, buggy swamp is a character unto itself, as well. Except for a Water Moccasin eating a fly on the first page, the reptile science is all pretty cogent, and Ford paints the atmosphere on in thick strokes.

 

                Justin Marriott’s Pulp Horror #8 suggests that George Ford is a one-off nom-de-plume for Paul Fulford. I can’t find any more books under either name that look like they’d be of any interest to me, unfortunately, because this one is a great deal of fun, and I would love to read more like it. Ford/ Fulford must have read a lot of comic books and delivered at least one super-fun paperback.

Satan’s Snowdrop By Guy N. Smith

 

Satan’s Snowdrop
By Guy N. Smith
1980 Pocket Books
Paperback, 256 pages
                                            

                My love of Guy N. Smith is well known. As an addict of nature-strikes-back novels, many of his books are near and dear to my heart. Some of his non-animal books can be hit or miss with me but he always weaves an interesting story. Satan’s Snowdrop is an excellent book by anyone’s standard and there aren’t even any killer crabs in it. It is a hard-core haunted house tale.

 

                A rich American dude buys a picturesque Swiss mansion that had been the stomping ground of a Nazi torturer. Within the walls walk not only the tortured souls of the victims but the very evil that made all of the shit go down. Even moving the house, brick by brick, to America doesn’t quell the spirits. His family falls victim to the house and he finally sells it… to a new buyer who fares no better.

 

                The story is told in two parts, essentially from the viewpoint of two young boys who are forced to live there by their fathers, one after the other. Smith doesn’t blink when it comes to putting children in harm’s way and that is a welcome change from a lot of horror literature. Normally, I’m not into creepy kid novels but when the kids are innocents and the supernatural threatens them, I’m in.

                Satan’s Snowdrop is a haunted house book that works; there are many unnerving passages and Smith toys with the reader, setting up scenes that he knows will mess with you, and he succeeds. This sits in my top-5 of non-animal Guy N. Smith books. For now.

Cat’s Cradle By William W. Johnstone

Cat’s Cradle
By William W. Johnstone
1986 Zebra
Paperback, 412 pages

 

                Oh, William Johnstone, how I hate to love you. But I just can’t help myself! We would never agree on anything in real life but you sure can write an entertaining horror novel.

 

                Every 25 years, a small girl and her cat, born of the same mother (so I guess they are twins), emerge from hiding to devour a few people and get ready to invoke the big guy… Satan. They are awakened early this time, but the murderous rampage begins anew. Their victims age rapidly, mummify, and dead or not, become instruments of evil themselves. Large groups of cats gather to shred the population. One of the mummified arms starts spewing forth millions of huge, flesh-eating maggots. Pools of curdled blood are passageways for the Old Ones, demon minions of the big guy himself. Man, Ruger County is fucked.

 

                As you can see, this is typical Johnstone kitchen-sink storytelling but by god it never gets dull. When the government (The OSS, Office of Special Studies) gets involved and begins a cover-up, it makes things even more difficult for our manly-man cop hero Dan. With so much going on and a lot of characters, many chapters tell the tale with short paragraphs checking in on different situations happening around the county. I kind of liked this, it kept my lazy brain up to date with the turmoil.

 

                This book doesn’t utilize all of Johnstone’s usual tropes. The action takes place in Virginia, rather than Louisiana, and Dan is ex-CIA rather than a Viet Nam vet. Most of the right-wing viewpoints are saved for picking on an intrepid female reporter; one of the OSS crazies is even called a right-wing fanatic for his overt, dangerous patriotism. But Christianity is still big and is called on in hopes of saving the day. Admittedly, I got confused by all of the characters a few times, but you can’t deny Johnstone’s gory, eyeball melting, flesh-shredding madness. If one bonkers horror scene doesn’t tickle your fancy, the next one will. Or the one after that. Richard Newton's lovely cover has nothing to do with the narrative but it might as well!

 

                Oh, and there’s a phone call from Satan. In the days before caller ID, that was possible.

The Accursed By G.S. Burdick

 

The Accursed
By G.S. Burdick
1982 Playboy Press
Paperback, 256 pages

 

                I’d had this book on my shelf for over a decade. One night, I just grabbed it and dug in. Hey, wait… no gore? No lurid sex? No dinosaurs? Am I going to like this? Yes, I did.

                More medical thriller than horror, the story follows a pair of divorced (from each other) plastic surgeons whose high-end clinic is having an unlucky streak. A nurse going ballistic on a patient, unexpected heart failure, the woman half of the team, Dr. Rebecca Meehan, getting assaulted, and more misfortunes befall the clinic. Rebecca thinks they are all related but that couldn’t be! Could it? Her partner, Dr. Nicholas Christoff thinks not, but after a few more incidents, even he starts to wonder.

                I’m not sure who G.S. Burdick is; I can find no information or other books by him/ her. The female characters, like Dr. Meehan and Detective Anita Lopez, are brilliantly written, so I’m leaning towards a woman writer. So many nuances, warts and all, are believably written. The re-budding romance between the estranged doctors is handled delicately and with sensitivity.

                So, the cover. A 3-headed dog. Cerberus. Obviously, that’s why I bought the book. Well, he does figure into the story a little, as does a large helping of other Greek Mythology, but it’s not heavy-handed and Burdick makes it work. Not as much suspension of disbelief is needed as you might think when I mention ancient Gods and their descendants, a Cyclops and good ol’ Cerberus.

                Stepping outside of my comfort zone gave me an excellent read and a palette cleanser between nature-strikes-back novels. But yeah, I bought it for that kick-ass cover. I admit it. No idea who painted it, though.

  Midnight Magazine