Horror World Book Reviews
September, 2005
ASHES by H.R. Howland
Reviewed by Nate Kenyon
H.R.
Howland's fast-paced debut novel begins at a South American
anthropological dig, and slips briefly through Western
Honduras before hitching a ride on a freighter ship full
of frozen meat, and ultimately settling in the small Pennsylvania
town of Aronston. The thread tying these seemingly mismatched
locales together is the spirit of an ancient Mayan leader,
released after centuries of confinement and intent on
wreaking havoc on anything or anyone in its path. As it
jumps from host to host, this spirit leaves nothing behind
but smoking piles of gray ash.
The
town of Aronston has its own history and demons, namely
one Aaron Moyer, who helped found the town many years
earlier and who also happened to be a sadistic psychopath
known for torturing animals, setting fires and beating
up women. Colette Walls, a beautiful local girl with dreams
of getting out of the small town for the big city, quickly
becomes the target of the last living descendent of Moyer,
Roger Phillips. There the action really begins as the
cast of characters all converge, and Colette finds herself
fighting for her life against an ancient power greater
than she can imagine.
The
strength of Ashes lies in Colette, a strong-willed and
determined young woman who is searching for a purpose
as the book opens, and who is dramatically different by
the final chapter. While at first she seems hard-as-nails,
intent on screwing her way to the top of the corporate
ladder, she is eventually revealed to be a much more sympathetic
and likeable character. Her transformation is one of the
most satisfying and well-done aspects of a novel filled
with unexpected twists.
While
the cast seems at times to be too large to handle, Ashes
keeps the pages turning quickly. Howland writes with confidence,
and shows real promise.
Penguin
Books
*********************************
H.P.
LOVECRAFT: AGAINST THE WORLD, AGAINST LIFE by Michel
Houellebecq. Translation from French by Dorna Khazeni.
Translated & published in 2005
Reviewed by Steve Middaugh
Readers
should know that this book is comprised of three parts:
a long essay by Michel Houellebecq, and two novellas by
H.P. Lovecraft; "Call Of Cthulhu" and "The
Whisperer In Darkness". This should be worth the
price of admission for anyone being introduced to the
works of H.P. Lovecraft for the first time, and, of course,
for anyone who's familiar with works of Houellebecq.
There
are very few literary critics who are willing take stock
of Lovecraft seriously like that of Joyce Carol Oates,
S.T. Joshi, Donald Burleson, August Derleth, and Lin Carter.
Even Lovecraft now has most of his works of weird fiction
in nice hardbound editions compliments of The Library
of America. H.P. Lovecraft's works will live on despite
the misconceptions and the lambasting from the critics
like L. Sprague DeCamp, Edmund Wilson, and Colin Wilson.
Houellebecq
is now an addition to those who argued that Lovecraft
deserved serious scrutiny and the written works, mainly
the weird fiction, be given a second or third look.
Houellebecq wrote a sympathetic bio of Lovecraft to further
his arguments.
He
argues that even though Lovecraft had a lot of xenophobic
tendencies, that's what propelled him to pen the "great
texts" as Houellebecq calls it. It's not just his
xenophobia that propelled them however, but also his puritanical
dread of sex, and his anti-capitalism. All these were
the stuff of Lovecraft's weird fiction.
Stephen
King was quite right in his intro that Houellebecq's essay
would certainly create controversy and a lot of arguments
among Lovecraft fans and detractors alike. Even yours
truly would dispute most of Houellebecq's insights.
As
much as I liked the essay, it hasn't broken any new ground
in my humble opinion. Much of the interpretations of the
tales were nothing new if you read a lot of S.T. Joshi's
work on that subject. Houellebecq's sympathetic bio has
left much to be desired. Even though Lovecraft proved
to be xenophobic, much from his experience in Brooklyn,
New York, he's not as reclusive as was originally thought
to be. Houellebecq, I think, left out the fact that Lovecraft
did do some traveling later on: Quebec, Richmond, Charleston,
St. Augustine, & New Orleans. It's an interesting
essay by Michel Houellebecq for those not familiar with
H.P. Lovecraft and his weird fiction, but it didn't break
new ground for me. So, a marginal thumbs up for this book.
Believer
Books
*********************************
SPECIES
by Michael McBride
Reviewed by Nate Kenyon
A
refreshing twist on the zombie/apocalyptic horror sub-genre,
Species starts fast and rarely lets up. When meteorites
hit the earth, civilization is quickly and efficiently
destroyed. Clouds of dust and toxic gas cover the globe.
The few remaining survivors are faced with a bleak new
landscape littered with the dead. As they struggle to
find each other amid the ruins, they discover that they
are not alone; something has come down out of the sky
looking for a host, and human remains are the perfect
fit. These creatures are of one mind, one purpose, and
they will destroy anything standing in their way.
This
may all sound like a hundred other plots from recent novels,
but McBride does a masterful job of reinventing the zombie
thriller. Species is loads of fun and full of surprises.
The alien swarm that reanimates the dead is chillingly
believable and painstakingly detailed. McBride has clearly
done his biology homework, and he has included just enough
of it to make the plot sing.
The
characters are well-drawn, and the story itself moves
so fast it practically sets the pages on fire. McBride
is a fine writer, and his vivid descriptions are movie-like,
involving all the senses, occasionally going a little
overboard but always engaging.
As
the book wrapped up there were a few points of frustration
(how many times does a clairvoyant little boy have to
prove himself before the adults start to listen?), and
the ending was not really an ending at all, but simply
a break in the action (see Species II: The Hive). Ultimately,
Species is an intelligent thriller with enough action
and gore to make both suspense and horror fans hungry
for the next installment.
Black
Death Books
*********************************
SPECIES
II THE HIVE by Michael McBride
Reviewed by Dennis Duncan
Species
II The Hive is the second installment in Michael McBride's
apocalyptic trilogy. I was blown away by Species so my
expectations were very high when I started this story.
Michael did not disappoint me in the least. The Hive takes
off early and never lets up.
The
story picks up exactly where the first book finished.
The survivors are holed up in the town of Sanctuary. The
snow and brutal cold have them in a miserable state. Some
of the group are starting to feel like the situation is
hopeless. That is until one of the members discovers a
way to destroy the Alien Organisms that infect the bodies
of the dead. There is only one catch. They will have to
return to Denver to get what they need to fight the creatures,
and the city is infested with millions of them. The creatures
are also starting to evolve to their environment and are
becoming more dangerous than ever.
I
found myself staying up to the crack of dawn immersed
in the world Michael created. He has a way of making the
words jump right off the page. You feel like your right
there experiencing everything the characters are going
through. I was completely absorbed in this story, and
hated to see it come to an end. I am really looking forward
to seeing how he is going to conclude it all.
Michael
also turns the intensity up a notch in The Hive. There
is more suspense, carnage, and a lot more gore in this
installment. There were scenes that had my heart pounding,
and stomach churning. The Hive is not for anyone with
a weak heart or stomach. Michael pulls no punches this
go around.
To
sum it all up I think The Hive is Michael's best effort
yet. Its fast, and very furious. He is really starting
to perfect a writing style all his own. He is one of the
most promising new Horror Authors out there, and I look
forward to seeing what he gives us in the future.
Black
Death Books
*********************************
SHREDDER:
IRON ANGEL by Karen Koehler
Reviewed By Patricia Snodgrass
Welcome
to Morningvale Kansas, a small innocuous hole in the wall
Midwest town squatting on the prairie. The only two things
Morningvale has going for it is the wax museum and the
Iron Angel, a local teen hangout with a nasty secret.
A secret buried deep in the tunnels underneath the club
that was once part of the Underground Railroad.
Secrets
like the one beneath the Iron Angel doesn't stay buried
for very long, and when it arises the town will suffer.
There is a savior of sorts in the form of 17 year old
Bane Amy Perry but nobody including herself knows if she's
up to such an awesome task. And deep down she probably
doesn't care. Nothing really matters except for Charles,
the young brother she raised; the younger brother that
disappeared along with the horror down in the tunnels.
Koehler
writes a compelling story of intrigue and failed romance
intertwined with suspense and horror. And it's not concluded.
Koehler leaves you with a cliffhanger guaranteed to make
you scream in utter frustration. Now that I'm hooked,
I've got to know what happens next. The next novel can't
come out quickly enough.
Black
Death Books
*********************************
VAMPIRE
HUNTER D, written by Hideyuki Kikuchi, illustrated
by Yoshitaka Amano, and translated by Kevin Leahy.
Reviewed by Steve Middaugh
It's
been a long time coming since the hit anime film, Vampire
Hunter D showed up in both Japan and America. The novel
of the same name had been unavailable in United States
for more than a decade. So now it is for the first time,
compliments from Dark Horse Press.
The
novel is a very fast read, like a popcorn movie. Kikuchi,
I think, modeled this after the Hammer films like Captain
Kronos, Vampire Hunter. The type of storytelling in this
book gave you the impression of being at a campfire during
the night of the full moon and listening to Hideyuki Kikuchi
as he relates another of the dark exploits of D.
The
setting was the bleak future of the Earth, the year 12,090
A.D. The human remnants survived the aftermath of nuclear
wars that had scorched most of the planet. Most of the
knowledge of science and technology were largely forgotten.
What the humans didn't know, at first, was that the vampires
had survived the holocaust alongside them as well.
However,
the vampires never forgot the civilizations nor did they
forget the science and the technology. They've been breeding
strange mutants and other monsters with their knowledge
of genetic engineering. Unbeknownst to most of humanity,
the vampires were veering toward their own extinction
despite their best efforts with technology. There's the
use of space travel but most vampires never bothered to
go anywhere else in the galaxies except in their own home
world.
Still,
most vampires had accepted the inevitability of their
extinction. However, there are vampires who refused to
lie down and die. So, they ruled and tyrannized humanity
over the centuries. They took advantage of humanity's
old medieval superstitions of vampires and werewolves
and various other monsters, just to subjugate them in
fear. But that didn't really stop humans from taking up
arms to rebel against the immortal tyrants. That's when
the Hunters came into play.
Hunters
were mercs paid by the villagers for their specialized
hunting skills & killing of the vampires, werewolves,
and other mutations that plagued the rural areas. In other
words, they're licensed to kill.
D
was one of the Hunters. A dhampir like himself, half human
and half vampire, could never find menial work normally
reserved for humans. So they sell their services as Hunters
to make whatever living.
The
novel opened with Doris Lang, a seventeen year old girl
who'd been bitten by a vampiric count, Magnus Lee, challenging
D on the hillside. She was very lethal with the use of
the electric whip. D managed to shrug off her onslaughts
without so much as a twitch or shifting in his saddle
of his cyborg horse.
When
she realized D was a genuine article of the vampire hunters,
she pleaded with him to help deal with the count with
certain payments. D agreed. But before he could start
work, the villagers along with the town doctor, the sheriff,
and the mayor wasted no time showing up at Doris' farmstead.
That's
when things get complicated as the story develops further.
Greco, mayor's son, wanted Doris but only to get rejected
again & again. Magnus Lee's vampire daughter Larmica
wanted to kill her for fear of Doris bringing about the
ruin of the Lee's lineage with her father's hand in marriage.
Unthinkable! Then other mutant players showed up on stage
complicating things even further. Wait till you meet up
with Rei Ginsei and his deadly "shrike-blades"!
That's
all I would tell you. This'll be enough to wet your appetite.
Now
is this book scary? Well, for yours truly, not really.
But hey! It IS a fun dark fantasy book to read. Otherwise,
I would never bother to finish the rest of it. It's atmospheric,
fast paced as a popcorn movie with campfire feel for storytelling
and three dimensional characterizations. You can be sure
I'm definitely looking forward to the second volume of
Vampire Hunter D that's coming in August, "Raiser
Of Gales." In fact, there's a chapter of the second
volume at the end of this book.
Dark
Horse Press
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