Andrew Neiderman - Night Howl

[vaughan]

[glow=red,2,300]Bobby loves his dog, King, a playful German Shepherd...until the day King turns and attacks him, snarling and vicious. The dog is put to sleep, but Bobby still see's him everywhere - in the garden, on the stairs, crouching, waiting. Then the horrific deaths begin - brutal, savage maulings. terror grips the sleepy town of Fallsburg, and doors are nervously locked at night. For through the woods runs a dark shadow with dripping jaws, eluding pursuit with uncanny skill. Now more than ever, the scientists down the road must guard the deadly secret of the monster they've unleashed... NIGHT HOWL.[/glow]

Arrow - 1986 - 277 Pages.

Dogs. As a dog lover they mean something a little special to me. You can't beat them.

And since they're domesticated, and people have such connections with them, it makes sense that they would make good fodder for the odd horror novel. I have three, Dogs by Robert Calder, The Pack by David Fisher, and Night Howl by Andrew Neiderman. Come to think of it, I even have Fluke by James Herbert around here somewhere, though that's not quite the same kind of thing. Stephen King gave us Cujo, and who can forget the heartbreaking tale that is Old Yellow?

Yeah, Dogs rock. Even when they're evil.

I like to read different types of horror, alternating between the different strands. Since I was up for a creature feature it was time to choose a Dog book, and this was the one I went with. And I'm glad I did.

Night Howl is an interesting read, not least of all because passages are written from the perspective of the Dog itself - it's thoughts, dreams, and ambitions. Of course, for this to truly work the dog in question has to be something a little bit special, and indeed Phantom (the dog in question) is something just that little bit special.

Laboratories, gashed throats, bone snapping, and a wild beast in the rubble of New York circa 1985 adds up to quite a journey. Qwen is the tracker, Maggie his dog, and they're on the trail of an animal more human than the people it finds itself surrounded by.

I was not familiar with Neiderman's work prior to this, but a bit of research reveals he wrote Pin, and probably more famously, the novel on which the movie The Devil's Advocate (Pacnino/Reeves) is based. His writing is solid, and despite the rather odd choice of writing from a dogs perspective, makes it work solidly.

The story starts out as a traditional view of a nuclear family - Husband, wife, son, daughter, and dog - and then sets about breaking it down with one tragedy to another. As the scale of the problem grows, so we get to meet Qwen, the scientists, and police, building to a climax in the big city. Excellent stuff.

Having read this single tale, I'd say Neiderman is someone I'd keep an eye out for. He keeps things interesting, and this one is very much worth looking for.

[andydecker]

Andrew Neiderman - Night Howl (Pocket Books, 1986, 277 pages, this edition Arrow Books, 1987, 277 pages)

Cover found on the net. Thanks to the original scanner.

Andrew Neiderman has written more than 100 books. His The Devil's Advocate was adapted as a movie with Al Pacino, also he became a ghost writer for V. C. Andrews.