|
|
Post by nightreader on Apr 20, 2008 7:21:00 GMT
Night of the Griffin by Raymond Giles (NEL 1971) This is a pretty straightforward gothic romance with all the traditional elements you’d expect. Even for a reader who doesn’t know this genre it follows a fairly predictable pattern. Beth St. Dennis is the heroine. She is encouraged by her far more glamorous flatmate Nina to accompany her to a Halloween party at her wealthy friend’s mansion, Griffon House, a suitably grand but spooky location. Griffon House is the family home of the Griffon family, in residence are the strikingly beautiful but wicked Maretta and her moody but attractive brother Robert. Maretta is a witch, a white one she says, and wants Beth to view a Sabbat that is being held later in the evening. Maretta is interested in Beth because she has shown a talent for the Tarot and may be a gifted psychic. At the Sabbat Beth is charmed by Robert who persuades her to leave the Sabbat and spend time with him. Robert is a troubled man, he has scars on his wrists from a suicide attempt and is prone to deep and dangerous depressions. Naturally Beth falls in love with Robert and he asks her to marry him. That is when things start to go wrong. Robert and Beth marry and this seems to be the catalyst for things to change. Beth begins to sense a great evil in the house, the stirring of the griffin perhaps, then Robert’s depression returns and he wants Beth to leave but wont say why. It eventually emerges that Maretta is the leader of a coven called the Children of the Griffin, whose members worship the Griffin as a manifestation of Satan himself. A sceptical Robert once pledged himself to the cult which demands that a member should never marry one outside the cult. Maretta now wants Beth to be initiated into the cult… Sadly there isn’t a big satisfying Wheatley-esque finale but a kind of soppy cop-out, as Robert attempts to sacrifice himself to save Beth. Like I said this is all fairly predictable stuff, but apart from the weak ending, there are some good moments in the book. I liked the Children of the Griffin idea, the classic coven of hedonists, all prospering from their nefarious doings. Maretta is a good baddie, cool and sophisticated and scheming. But in the end it’s not as good as ‘Night of the Warlock’… |
|
|
|
Post by dem bones on Apr 20, 2008 8:00:42 GMT
Thanks for the lowdown, nightie. I'll be opening up the 'NEL' tentacle of the Vault site once the new Paperback Fanatic has reared it's ghastly head, so I'll be using this as the ... Griffin review if that's OK by you? I don't have a copy but here's the cover of an undated Magnum edition when it was still called Children Of The Griffin and by 'Elizabeth Giles'. There were Prestige and Lancer editions under the same title and author in 1971. Here's Steve from Vault Mk. I As far as I can gather the three Night of... books were the only horrors to come out under the name of Raymond Giles... was originally published in the US in 1971 under the name Children of the Griffin ("An invitation to the Devil's Holiday traps Beth St. Denis in a world of utter evil !") as by 'Elizabeth Giles'. There was also another Elizabeth Giles "gothic" published the following year, As Darker Grows the Night ("A strange and deadly presence turns Carol Maxwell's refuge of love into a mansion of fear.") Bearing in mind the above, these books - published between 1990 and 1997 - look interesting (and here I'm indebted to a Mr Robert P. Beveridge of Lakewood, Ohio who posted these reviews on Amazon); John R. Holt, The Convocation
...Beth Tremaine's mother was killed, while she watched, by a convocation devoted to a supernatural entity called the Griffin. Just what the Griffin is is debatable; Satan's minion on Earth, Satan himself, Lucifer who never became Satan, take your pick. While still a child, she was taken in by an aunt and uncle, and after they died, she became the ward of another uncle, Nicholas, a Catholic priest who has devoted his life to being God's judgment upon the Children of the Griffin, including hunting down and exterminating every member of the convocation that killed Beth's mother. Beth, now older, is a young professional living in New York City with the brightest of futures. She's only got one problem: her boss is a member of the Children of the Griffin, the head of a different convocation. And he wants Beth to head it up. Worse yet, her childhood boyfriend is also a member...
John R. Holt, Wolf Moon
...John Holt's third novel is sort of a continuation of his second, The Convocation; it's another Children of the Griffin novel, this one set in the small upstate New York town of St. Claire. The town's two most important families, the St. Claires and the Balthazars, have been waging quiet war against one another for generations, and are down to two St. Claires and an unspecified (at the beginning) number of Balthazars, along with each side's various allies. A few characters from The Convocation pop up now and again, but you can't really call Wolf Moon a sequel to The Convocation in any real sense; it's more another novel set with the same parameters, a number of years later, with almost an entirely new cast of characters. One of those new characters is Freya Kellgren, an ally of the Balthazar clan who is an entity all her own who adds another dimension of oddity to the plot. Holt never quite reveals the true nature and powers of Kellgren's character; it's almost as if he's setting us up for a third Children of the Griffin novel (which has not, to date, materialized)...Anyone read any of these or know any more about them? |
|
|
|
Post by andydecker on Apr 20, 2008 10:18:03 GMT
I bought this after "Night of the Vampire" ans was a little bit disappointed as it was a true gothic. Rather tame stuff. But it was written nicely and had some true interesting and funny period bits. And the names of course are hilarious. I mean, what´s not to like about Beth St. Dennis or Maretta?`  |
|
|
|
Post by killercrab on Apr 20, 2008 16:32:21 GMT
I have Night of the ...Vampire , Warlock and Griffin. Is there an order these should be read in?
ade
|
|
|
|
Post by dem bones on Apr 20, 2008 18:04:40 GMT
I don't think it makes any difference, ade. Despite the uniform titles, they're not a series. Haven't read ... Griffin, but you're sure to have fun with ... Vampire and the unforgettably repulsive Hugo Knox in Night Of The Warlock is surely one of the most evil and least camp NEl villains of all.
|
|
|
|
Post by nightreader on Apr 20, 2008 20:39:57 GMT
Ade - I'd go for Warlock if I had a choice. By far the best of the three I think. Vampire starts out well but loses it later on...
|
|
|
|
Post by killercrab on Apr 21, 2008 0:36:55 GMT
Thanks boys for the heads up. Gotta finish off Ronson's OGRE first is which pretty damn good - product placement ( Babycham?) yep - Santana - yep - disgusting thing in an old lead mine - yep - local drunks in a Straw Dogs siege ( for a chapter) - yep - whiskered bartender - yep .. need I go on? Sorry to vear off the beaten track - I contribute so little these days - that when I'm reading a good 'un - I need to mention it.  Ade |
|
|
|
Post by dem bones on Apr 25, 2020 19:03:45 GMT
Raymond Giles - Night of the Griffin (NEL, Dec. 1971; originally Lancer 1971, as Children of the Griffin, as by Elizabeth Giles) Blurb: An invitation to Griffon House put Beth St. Denis in a world of total evil!
She who sups with the devil ..... risks losing her immortal soul. But Beth didn't believe in His Satanic Majesty. Oh, there were hints of strange talents within her, of dark powers forcing through her blood ... but this was the twentieth century, and tales of witchcraft belong in the realms of children's fables. Or do they?
"Night of the Griffin" is the third in Raymond Giles soul-chilling series which began with "Night of the Warlock" and continued with "Night of the Vampire."Can't remember a thing about this novel - not ever sure I read it - but so love everything about the cover.
|
|
|
|
Post by andydecker on Apr 25, 2020 20:00:26 GMT
I never realized how mean the griffin looks. Clifton-Dey was a genius.
|
|
|
|
Post by jamesdoig on Apr 26, 2020 0:34:04 GMT
Raymond Giles - Night of the Griffin (NEL, Dec. 1971; originally Lancer 1971, as Children of the Griffin, as by Elizabeth Giles) Can't remember a thing about this novel - not ever sure I read it - but so love everything about the cover. I never realised before, but it's a great piss take of the standard gothic romance cover. |
|
|
|
Post by andydecker on Apr 26, 2020 12:55:23 GMT
I never realised before, but it's a great piss take of the standard gothic romance cover. Lol, you are right. Never realised this either. She really has a reason to run |
|
