Graham Masterton
Paperback | Pages: 345 pages Rating: 3.89 | 1161 Users | 89 Reviews
Declare Books Toward Walkers
| ISBN: | 0751507318 (ISBN13: 9780751507317) |
| Characters: | Jack & Randy Reed, Father Bell, Quintus Miller |
| Setting: | United States of America |
Relation In Pursuance Of Books Walkers
Ah, Mr Masterton. People think horror, they think King, Straub, Herbert, Barker, etc. I think that Graham Masterton should be up there as a...ahem, master. He constantly writes tight, gripping, balls-to-the-wall horror.Walkers is no exception.
Jack narrowly avoids running down a child in a grey hooded jacket, and pursues the figure into the woods on foot. He there discovers a grand building, unseen from the road and instantly falls in love with it. With plans to covert the dilapidated house into a country club, he starts to inquire about it. Unfortunately, The Oaks used to be a home for the criminally insane, and inside the crumbling walls, the one hundred and thirty five maniacs still reside, despite all the inmates mysteriously vanishing one night in 1926. On an impromptu inspection of the place, Jack finds that his son is missing, like he's vanished into the walls themselves...
This is the perfect amalgamation of two Masterton books I have previously read: The House That Jack Built and Ritual. In Ritual, we have a desperate father trying to save his kidnapped son, and in House, we have the wonderful sprawling haunted house akin to The Haunting. Walkers has elements of both.
First off: gore. Lovely, lovely gore. Masterton sets up a strong cast of supporting characters, which will always prove to be lots of meat for the grinder. He even lets the chaos run free, so that no one in Milwaukee is safe! This gives us plenty of mini stories within the plot were we see everyday characters meeting various sticky ends. I love it when books do this!
I think the biggest plus point in this story is that we start with standard, yet very atmospheric, very creepy haunted house fare. While I appreciate haunted house novels (and as people who follow my reviews will know, they crop up a fair bit) the big reveal is usually...ghosts. While this may be the case here, Masterton gives them a very unique spin on how they exist and how they can attack and kill. The result is an enigmatic blend of, say the movies 1000 Maniacs and Tremors!
I'll admit that some parts may border on the far-fetched, but it all adds to the fun. The pace is on the nose and it never lets up. What I call the squeam-factor is there in spades. Trust you, Graham! The edition I read was part of an omnibus alongside Ritual, one of the most squeamish books I've ever had the pleasure of reading. Together, and due to their refusal to be put down, this is one of my favourites.
Any horror fan should let their hair down, settle in and have some fun with this little gem. Highly recommended.
Present About Books Walkers
| Title | : | Walkers |
| Author | : | Graham Masterton |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Deluxe Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 345 pages |
| Published | : | 1991 by Time Warner Paperbacks (first published September 1989) |
| Categories | : | Horror. Fiction |
Rating About Books Walkers
Ratings: 3.89 From 1161 Users | 89 ReviewsJudge About Books Walkers
A great book to read by the side of a pool on holiday, really entertaining.
A brilliant creepy and crazy book.really liked it.
This is my first Graham Masterson that I've bought and read. I ordered it off of Amazon a few months ago but never really got around to reading it. I had never even heard of him until I had searched for the greatest horror authors. I was NOT disappointed. I read this book in lightening speed. I just couldn't put it down. From page one I loved it. There wasn't a boring part of the book. It was very well written and captivating. This book reminded me of how I felt when I was young and had
Probably one of the creepiest books I've ever read. Pretty gory and gruesome too, yikes!
Okay, to be fair - I couldn't get past page 60. I've read stuff by Masterton that I've really liked, and the writing in this is fine, but the characters - especially the father - make awful decisions that just don't make any sense. It's not even excellent characterization of real mistakes, but stuff that doesn't make any sense. Anyway, we'll come back to more Masterton work later.
I first saw this book at a used bookstore and passed up on getting it only to return and find it gone. I eventually ordered it online and it sat in my to-be-read pile for around a year. When it finally felt like the right time I was charged with excitement from anticipation and from having read favorable reviews. It starts out interesting enough but sort of fell apart for me around page 180. The details started to feel arbitrary, 800 sacrificed people for one soul? whaaa?! Everyone who came into
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