By Guy N. Smith
1989 Arrow
Paperback, 191 pages
A word to the wise. If you ever
find yourself in a Guy N. Smith novel and you’re thinking of leaving the
bustling city life behind for a new, relaxed life in a remote area of England,
do not follow your dreams. As the Great Scribbler has shown us over and over
again, it is a bad idea.
Mike and Holly Mannion have made
such a decision. Mike is an artist, and they have spent every last dime on Garth
Cottage because of Holly’s desire to leave the rat race. With very tight
expenses, they lose their running water due to a drought; the water pumps in
from a stream that is very low. They decide to have a well put in behind the
cottage and a dependable company comes in to drill the borehole. They have to
go very deep and, unknown to anybody, they drill through a diseased carcass of
a man buried there centuries ago.
It starts with the stink. It
continues with festering boils that pop up and spew foul custard. It imbues it’s
victims with madness and sexual deviations. It ends with death. The work crew
is the first to succumb, being closest to the contagion. With water unfit to
use, a sludge covered yard, and that permeating stench, the Mannions aren’t
pleased with their situation. And wait a minute, aren’t the two of them acting
a bit overly amorous with the wrong people?
This is GNS at his most visceral
best. The seclusion, the hopelessness, the smell and the discomfort are
beautifully portrayed on every page. We get everything we want in a great pulp
horror novel: weeping sores, bursting pustules, pointless inappropriate sex, nasty
characters whose suffering you can’t wait to witness, and a breathless narrative.
And lots of pus and oozing liquids. Two of my favorite words, squelch and
slurry, are used numerous times. I smiled as I winced. Perfection.
This has become a tough book to
find (and afford) these days due to the fact that it has had but one printing
from Arrow Books (though Black Hill books put it out on Kindle in 2012). Add the
amazing Terry Oakes cover to the scarcity and you have a collector’s item worth
doling out the big bucks for.
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