REVIEW: Carnosaur by Harry Adam Knight

Ferocious predators, which should have long been extinct, break free from their confines and go on the hunt in search of prey. No human, caged chicken, or family pet is safe! No, this isn’t a Jurassic Park inspired spin-off, Carnosaur (1984) by Aussie author John Brosnan (writing as Harry Adam Knight), is on a different level of pulp-tastic horror.

 

Published some six years prior to Michael Crichton’s well known Dino-blood splatter romp, Carnosaur explores the test tube dino element much like Jurassic Park did, however the science is generally left to the footnotes as this story is all about killing off characters in the most gruesome way possible with little care for plausibility – it’s all part of the fun.

 

David Pascal, a journalist at a small town rag is the lead character who sniffs a good story from the smell permeating from the massacred chicken inside their demolished coup and smushed human bodies. He comes across as a bit of a wimp and has a tendency to whinge about everything in life, namely his ex with whom he ended the relationship with because she was destined to be more successful than him and he couldn’t possible stand that! Not to let his whinging ways deter him, David can sense that there’s something not right about the death and destruction and uses his powers of deduction to weasel his way into the secure compound of the resident bad guy, thanks mostly to catching the eye of the cougar nympho wife of said bay guy.

 

From that point forward, it’s all about survival of the fittest (or survival of those with the biggest guns) as the inevitable dinosaur escape ensures rendering the modern dominant species a little less dominant…

 

Carnosaur is a blast, chock block full of fun and inventive scenes of destruction which leave nothing to the imagination and with just enough tension to make you think for a split second the characters actually stand a chance against the supposedly extinct reptiles. The only downside to Carnosaur is that a sequel wasn’t published – there’s certainly more room for mayhem; sadly with the author having passed away sometime, the story starts and ends here.

 

The 1984 paperback is pretty scarce these days (I was super lucky to stumble across a copy in the wild), but never fear for the fine people at Valancourt Books have published a fresh new edition in 2022! Here’s the link to their website for more detail: Carnosaur by Harry Adam Knight, with a new introduction by Will Errickson. 

REVIEW: Gwen, In Green by Hugh Zachary

It was the plants that made me do it! I swear, it was the plants!!! 

Gwen and Gordon are a madly in love couple, living in a secluded homestead complete with a personal pond filled with clear water for swimming, plentiful plant life surrounding their compound, and woodland to get lost in. Its peace is something Gwen cherishes, until her world is turned upside down by greedy developers hellbent on destroying everything she's come to love. 

The change in Gwen's mood is apparent on a number of levels but the most surprising for Gordon is Gwen's attitude towards sex. She's insatiable, almost like she's been possessed by another woman, not that he's complaining, and aside from a few strange outbursts here and there (Gwen randomly talking nonsense for instance), he largely remains in a state of ignorance until the axe Gwen bears falls squarely on his shoulders... 

From prude to sexpot, the change in Gwen is a culmination of a strange allure to the flora surrounding her secluded home and the need to 'feel alive' as parts of the land are cleared by developers. Dead wood must be replaced by wood of another kind! In me! (paraphrased of course). 

The sexual tones of the novel are pitched perfect at adolescent teens and honey old men looking for a summer score - from nothing sexual to nympho; Gwen's wanton ways are a lure for many a horny male, which often ends in death. 

However, Gwen, In Green, is more than a book about voyeurism and weird married nymphomaniacs; there's a bigger picture at play - cosmic even! Yep, Gwen's ties with the soil, flora and fauna for that matter, go deeper than a strange kinship with plants, such as the Venus Flytrap being touted as an extraterrestrial, the seeds of which having traveled light years to Earth from, you guessed it, Venus! But only if the other characters in the book would understand...sadly they don't.

Gwen, In Green, is a lot of fun. It reads as a B-grade horror novel with some comedic overtones (not sure if by design but nevertheless it works) and colorful characters (primarily Gwen) who are a joy to read. I strongly recommended adding this Paperbacks From Hell re-issue to the collection. 

REVIEW: Imp by Andrew Neiderman

"He crawls. He climbs. He calls to me through the floor," she said in that loud whispering voice. "He blows through the boards and touches my hand. He touches my hand!"

Mary lives with a dark secret birthed from an even darker past. The ‘secret’ sleeps beneath the surface of her fictional reality in a dormant state, waiting for a crack in the façade to break through the veil and bring forth Satan to disrupt Mary’s ignorant bliss. Peaking up through the floorboards, poking through holes, dirty fingers reaching out to torment Mary, the ‘secret’ is nothing short of resilient and resourceful – until Mary beats the living crap out of it…
 
Faith, Mary’s adolescent daughter, is a victim of circumstance. Forced to live within the same walls as her mother’s secret, enduring Mary’s harsh way of life, always fearing holy retribution for mistakes not yet made; said mistakes often coming in the form of male students at the high school she attends. Faith’s upbringing isn’t that of a typical teenager – until a boy takes notice of her…then things get real interesting.
 
Imp shines a light on crazy and amps it ups with a side dose of unthinkable horror. The characters, primarily Mary and Faith are chalk and cheese, yet are so ingrained in their way of life it’s interesting to see how they interact with situations out of the norm; the Imp’s short reign of terror for instance really throws a spanner in the works – Satan is free and he’s three feet tall!

While horror is the name of the game, it doesn’t come in the form of the Imp, rather the all-too-crazy characters who subject the Imp to an inhumane way of life. Author Andrew Neiderman (of V.C. Andrews fame) does a great job at emphasising the good verse evil narrative while also presenting some b-grade horror fun for the enthusiasts. 

This isn’t your typical horror novel, it could easily get lost in the more serious side of things, however I enjoyed it and strongly recommend it for paperback from hell collectors (if just for the awesome cover alone!). 

REVIEW: The Nightmares on Elm Street, The Continuing Story Parts 1, 2, 3

Freddy Krueger was born amidst a raging fire in the old insane asylum on Elm Street, the bastard son of a beautiful young schizophrenic who died alone and unattended in the agony of childbirth. 

    Raised from infancy by a succession of ax murderers, rapists, and arsonists, young Freddy was adopted at an early age by a lonely pimp who hoped that the strange-looking boy might make himself someday useful... 

With an upbringing like that, Elm Street stood little chance of evading the permeating nightmare that is Freddy Krueger. Colleting the first three stories, The Nightmares on Elm Street are faithful renditions of the cult films, complete with cheesy one-liners, over-the-top gore, and colorful characters out of their minds on no-doze. 

Nancy Thompson is the tie that binds the stories; from victim in Part 1 to Dream Warrior in Part 3, Nancy's character adds continuity to the random acts of nighttime violence. Freddy for his part, is well written and true to form - morphing from car to bed, to other characters; his comedic chameleon qualities are ever present across all installments.  

Plot-wise there's not much going here; Freddy, horror personified simply attacks teens in their dreams, sometimes he breaks through the veil to spill his terror in the real world, but largely he just wants to hurt somebody. Said teens, however, are a tenacious bunch, who, at least while alive, don't make it easy for Freddy, fighting back by putting on their big person boots and confronting the burnt-headed-fedora-wearing-freak, um, head on... 

The steady evolution from scared teens to kicka$$ superheros is a theme which comes to fruition in Part 3 when the story takes a different turn from the preceding parts. No longer are the Elm Street teens at the mercy of Freddie's finger knives, they're taking the fight direct to him in a bloody and gore-filled battle across multiple dreamscapes. 

Along with the catchy rhyme, these stories are pretty memorable; Freddy snatching a sleeping teen from within the mattress is horror gold and the Dream Warriors banding together x-men style to take down Freddy in the boiler room is great stuff. 

Short, sharp and super fun - The Nightmares on Elm Street, The Continuing Story Parts 1, 2, 3 is a must have in the paperback horror collection.

One, two Freddie's coming for you.

Three, four, better lock your door.

Five, six, grab your crucifix.

Seven, eight, gonna stay up late.

Nine, ten, never sleep again!

REVIEW: Fleshbait by David Holman and Larry Pryce

 

Mark Nelson, a zoologist and Kathy Wilding, a marine biologist are at the epicentre of a radioactive spill which threatens to turn evolution on its head; mankind’s reign as the dominant species is in danger thanks to some muscled up and brain bursting aquatic creatures!

Set in the British county, Cornwell, Fleshbait poses the often asked heavily debated question of; What would fish do if the hook, line, and sinker were on the other gill?

And the answer?
 
Well, they’d murder every human they come into contact with, using their superior school of muscle to drown those air breathing, land-dwelling a##holes and then they’d take their remains to an underwater hideout to be kept as crustacean coated trophies until the meat was all eaten away, leaving the skeletons to blend in with the coral.
 
The story won’t appeal to the masses but it sure is entertaining, if only for the weird and wonderful characters – no, not the humans (honestly, they suck),  I’m referring to Bobby, the dolphin who manages to keep a young and vulnerable deaf child out of harms way by safely nudging her to shore before a killer shoal of fish can submerge her and take her to their evil lair deep beneath the waters surface.
 
Spoiler alert, Bobby, like his aquatic brethren doesn’t hang around much longer, thanks to the government’s answer to the fish threat by bombing the living hell out of every mass gathering of aquatic wildlife it possibly can.
 
Fleshbait is an unadulterated hate filled story of revenge with the creatures of this feature kicking a## and taking names until their super enhanced brains, muscles and voice boxes (they scream fear into the hearts of man all along the shoreline) explode in a pulpy fish chowder thanks to the ticking time bomb thrusted upon them due to radioactive exposure (or that of the government’s clean-up crew).
 
I might refrain from eating tuna for a while after reading this one.

REVIEW: Entombed by Guy N. Smith

 

Simon Rankin is a priest struggling with a wavering faith. After losing his wife to another man and having his children disown him, Rankin is at the crossroads. This is where we find him on his latest mission to rid the world of demons at a haunted (do demon’s haunt?) mansion.
 
The exorcism doesn’t go well and he’s soon questioning his belief in the higher power; is he strong enough to believe? Did he believe hard enough? Did he use holy water or tap water in the exorcism (that’s in jest but you can start to get a feel for the book from this…)? 
 
Fast forward and Rankin is now deeply in love with a women who accidently drove her car into his. After knowing each other for a total sum of five minutes, Andrea is paying Rankin’s way, supplying food, accommodation and her womanly delights – anything to pave the priests way to enlightenment.
 

The madly in-love couple then find themselves embarking on a holy mission to exercise a demon who is terrorising the townsfolk in a long abandoned mine. From the depths of the darkness comes a maddening story sticky-taped together by a character who is just as strange as the plot pieces themselves.

 
Author Guy N Smith is one of my go-to authors for horror. His books are short, straight to the point, and generally entertaining. Entombed is no different, only that it’s chock block full of crazy; somewhere along the line, plot points were meshed together without a lot of rhyme or reason; satanic cults, creepy kids, ghosts, man-eating beasts, and Satan himself all intertwined without really coming together in a logical way – but that’s part of the fun I guess.
 
Entombed isn’t high end horror literature, rather a sugar-high of a fast food snack for the mind. Don’t take it too seriously and you’ll have a lot of fun with this one.