Oh man, I love the 80's! 80's mass market paperback horror to be more specific!
Continuing with my dark and twisted journey into the devilish depths of retro horror, I recently finished reading a 'gem' I'd previously discovered wasting away in a back corner of a dusty secondhand bookstore, Lyrica by Thomas F. Monteleone (the same Thomas F. Moneteleone of Night Train fame).
Published in 1987, the story holds up remarkably well, this despite the need for the reader to suspend their grip on reality, especially when the title character effortlessly inserts herself into the lives of Mozart and a host of other prominent historical figures only to greedily consume their genius for her own form of self preservation. After all, a beauty beyond measure's gotta keep herself in prime condition otherwise she's gonna turn into a serpent-like creature once a month. Without those killer looks she's just a serpent who, well, kills...
The modern-day (circa 1980's) story line is pretty good in all honesty; there's mystery, a hint of intrigue, an omnipresent sense of danger, plenty of steamy sex, and, do I dare say, romance? Yeah, there's a little before Lyrica absorbs her partners' life force, sorry, 'genius' in a brutal coupling reminiscent of the female spiders who eat their mate.
This book is quite a departure from The Night Train, but then again, horror as a genre is incredibly diverse so it's no real surprise that the author would mix things up a little in the spooky stakes here.
I'd rate Lyrica 3.5 (out of 5) stars. Well worth grabbing a copy if you find one in a secondhand bookstore.
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