Enter the New OldUndead: 11 Horror Tales for Halloween

Featuring David Herter, Dan Simmons, and David Wellington

By Karl Siewert, Tulsa City–Cty. Lib., OK -- Library Journal, 09/30/2009

It’s an interesting time to be a fan of horror. Library shelves are bursting with the stuff, but in many cases it’s little more than a gimmick. A vampire romance, a demon mystery, a werewolf Western—they may be excellent stories, but they aren’t horror. This makes finding a good horror story intensely satisfying. Whether it’s a visceral screamfest or something atmospheric and spooky, it’s a relief to see something that just stands there and scares you.

This Short Takes features several good candidates, a few quirky also-rans, and a couple of plain disappointments, but it’s clear to this reviewer that true horror is alive and ripping. One need only look at Publishers Weekly's recent report of the hot deals made at the 2009 Frankfurt Book Fair to see the trend will continue well into 2010. Among the spate of horror and paranormal titles sold was Molly Harper's "Nice Girls" trilogy "about a librarian who becomes a vampire." Enjoy!

Clegg, Douglas. Isis. Vanguard: Perseus. Oct. 2009. c.128p. ISBN 978-1-59315-540-7. $15.95. F
In this classically gothic novella featuring wonderful illustrations by Glenn Chadbourne, protagonist Iris Villiers lives in a Cornish mansion with twin brothers (one beloved, one disliked); a mad grandfather locked away in a forbidden wing; and a crusty gardener full of grisly tales. First published in 2006, this tiny book has a lot of promotional weight behind it. The marketing plan takes up nearly as much space as the blurb on the back cover.   
Verdict Unfortunately, it's all very trite. The illustrations are the only real draw and may attract fans of horror-themed graphic novels.

Gischler, Victor. Vampire a Go-Go. Touchstone: S. & S. 2009. c.288p. ISBN 978-1-4165-5227-7. pap. $14. F
A grad student at Gothic State University gains a reputation as a researcher and is offered a summer internship in Prague with Dr. Evergreen and his strangely alluring wife. Of course, things are not what they seem. This reviewer hasn’t read Gischler’s previous Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse but intends to now that he’s enjoyed this horror spoof. Entertaining and mildly silly, without tipping its hand, it has a remarkably satisfying ending. 
Verdict This might be a book that’s hard to find a reader for. It’s not laugh-out-loud funny, but it doesn’t take itself seriously enough for die-hard horror fans. Definitely purchase if Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse circulates at your institution, and maybe take a chance on it if not.

Herter, David. October Dark. Earthling. Dec. 2009. c.560p. ISBN 978-0-9795054-7-8. $50. F
This book has a distinctive premise. So-called movie magic is real, the special effects masters are its practitioners, and it’s the only thing protecting the world from unspeakable evil. The novel tracks back and forth between Halloween 1931 and that of 1977. For movie buffs, that year could only mean Star Wars, and the film plays a major role here. Amateur filmmakers Will Travers, 13, and his best friend, Jim, capture something on a roll of Super-8. Their search for answers leads them to a reclusive model maker and a battle against dark forces.
Verdict Filled with nostalgia triggers for baby boomers and Gen Xers alike, with an original story and the liberally dropped names of a pantheon of horror moviemakers, October Dark is a delight. Consider recommending it to mature YA readers as well.

Joyce, Graham. How To Make Friends with Demons. Night Shade. Oct. 2009. c.256p. ISBN 978-1-59780-142-3. $24.95. F
William Heaney is beset by demons. Whether they are literal or figurative is never quite clear. He claims that others can see them, but none of the other characters ever does. By trade, he’s a sort of upper-crust Robin Hood, working with and for various charities while secretly dealing in forged antiquarian books and using the proceeds to fund those same causes. He deals with his ex-wife, three kids, and a surprising new woman in his life, and all the time, the reader doesn’t know what’s really going on.
Verdict This is a novel with two different possible plots, and each is completely legitimate. It’s a difficult exercise as well as a fun and absorbing read. Published last year in the UK as Memoirs of a Master Forger, it’s a welcome addition to any stateside library with fans of unreliable narrators as found in Yann Martel's Life of Pi or Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

Little, Bentley. His Father’s Son. Signet: NAL. 2009. c.400p. ISBN 978-0-451-22777-5. pap. $7.99. F
As with Joe Schreiber’s No Doors, No Windows (see below), this story begins with a man’s shocking discovery about his father’s past. In this case, though, the father isn’t dead, only very ill, and the horror is purely psychological. Steve Nye visits his father, Joe, in the hospital after he suffered a stroke and attacked his wife. In his delirium, Joe admits to killing his wife, and Steve is shocked to learn that he refers to a first wife no one knew he had. Tracking down the facts of this long-buried murder leads Steve to dark insights about what his father, and himself, are capable of.
Verdict Horror veteran Little has done a fine job. Readers of serial-killer fiction by Thomas Harris and the like will enjoy this.

The New Dead: A Zombie Anthology. Griffin: St. Martin’s. Feb. 2010. c.400p. ed. by Christopher Golden. ISBN 978-0-312-55971-7. pap. $14.99. F
As with the living dead themselves, the reading public’s appetite for zombies seems insatiable. This anthology covers some ground that wasn’t tackled in The Living Dead (edited by John Joseph Adams), but not much. A few tales stand out, especially Jonathan Maberry’s heartbreaking "Family Business" and Joe Hill’s Blair Witch–ean "Twittering from the Circus of the Dead."
Verdict Here come the New Dead, same as the Old Dead. Zombie fans will likely read it, but it’s not essential.

Schreiber, Joe. No Doors, No Windows. Del Rey: Ballantine. Oct. 2009. c.278p. ISBN 978-0-345-51013-6. pap. $14. F
This slim novel features a book-within-a-book, The Black Wing (Schreiber’s original working title), a half-finished manuscript discovered by Scott Mast after his father’s death. After reading it, Scott learns that the house described within, an architectural oddity built with no right angles, is real and available for rent. Of course, he moves in and sits down to finish his father’s work, which turns out to mean more than just writing.
Verdict Fans of Lovecraftian horror and Stephen King (particularly The Dark Half or Lisey’s Story) will enjoy this exploration of the inheritance of evil.

Simmons, Dan. Carrion Comfort. Thomas Dunne Bks: St. Martin’s. Dec. 2009. c.784p. ISBN 978-0-312-56707-1. pap. $18.99. F
One sometimes wonders if Simmons is capable of writing succinctly. With The Terror, his long-winded style matched the mood and setting admirably. Carrion Comfort, though, is all action. Set in the 1980s, it pits three unlikely heroes against a secret cabal of humans with an ability to control the minds of others. Its fast pace catapults the reader through the book’s first third, but this speed can’t be sustained. The story bogs down, ultimately, in a mess of intrigue among the mind-vampires and preparations for the heroes’ final showdown. The ending is both an anticlimax and a relief.
Verdict Libraries should purchase, as demand will arise from Simmons’s fans, but this should have been a 500-page novel at most.

Twilight Zone: 19 Original Stories on the 50th Anniversary. Tor: Forge. 2009. c.409p. ed. by Carol Serling. ISBN 978-0-7653-2434-4. $24.99; pap. ISBN 978-0-7653-2433-7. $14.99. F
If there’s anything horror fans agree on, it’s The Twilight Zone. It was groundbreaking, subversive, and a launching pad for the careers of dozens of great authors—and more than a few good actors. With the arrival of the show’s 50th anniversary, an anthology like this was inevitable, and it’s remarkable. A-list talent includes Tad Williams, Whitley Streiber, Joe Lansdale, R.L. Stine, and Carole Nelson Douglas. The stories are bracketed with pitch-perfect intros and outros and edited by Rod Serling’s widow, Carol; there’s even an unpublished episode treatment by Serling himself.
Verdict With this slate of authors and the perennial popularity of the show, all libraries should own a copy.

Wellington, David. Frostbite: A Werewolf Tale. Three Rivers: Crown. Oct. 2009. c.288p. ISBN 978-0-307-46083-7. pap. $14. F
Beginning with the zombie novel Monster Island, Wellington established a pattern of gripping, rapidly written reboots of traditional horror tropes. He generally composes them online in blog format, with input from his readers, and then shifts to print (and yanks the online version) once they are polished. This produces fast-paced, gritty works like Frostbite, his first werewolf novel. Protagonist Chey travels to the Canadian wilderness, seeking to exact revenge on the werewolf that killed her father. Instead, she becomes infected. When she finds herself being trailed by hunters, she has to choose sides.
Verdict Aimed at readers who want straightforward, stripped-down monster stories without romance or other fluff, this book delivers admirably.

Wong, David. John Dies at the End. Thomas Dunne Bks: St. Martin's. Oct. 2009. c.384p. ISBN 978-0-312-55513-9. $24.99. F
Eponymous protagonist Dave Wong and his considerable jerk of a best friend, John, are exterminators of demons, hunters of the unknown, warriors for good against evil, but all they really want is to be left alone. Like Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure crossed with Shaun of the Dead, this is a loopy buddy-movie of a book with deadpan humor and great turns of phrase.
Verdict Just plain fun. It was originally published at Cracked.com, and will appeal to readers of Christopher Moore.