Guy N. Smith - Return of the Werewolf

[dem bones]

"It's a body all right ... And its all been chopped up into small pieces. Look there's a hand, a foot, that must be the head covered with soil in that corner"

Guy N. Smith - Return of the Werewolf (Nel, April 1977)

Blurb:
The werewolf that had scourged the Black Hill was long since dead. The villagers who lived nearby no longer listened on nights of the full moon for its chilling howl, no longer had need to bar and lock their doors against the supernatural strength of the half-man, half-beast.

Until the grave of the werewolf was found ripped open, despoiled, and the body gone! Gordon Hall, who had hunted the creature before, returned from London, but too late. Already mutilated sheep had been found, and a man attacked.
Had the werewolf returned - or was some other ravening menace loose on the hills?


A body-snatching from the most famous grave in Llanadevy churchyard, that of Philip Owen, 'the Shropshire werewolf. Familiar footprints in the wet soil suggest the culprit - a second werewolf!

Scotland Yard again turn to action man journalist Gordon Hall for assistance. For all that he rid them of the monster in Werewolf by Moonlight, Hall is persona non grata with the local community. Gwynn Owen blames him for the deaths of both wife Blodwyn and their abomination of a son; Vic Gunn will never forgive him a torrid affair with his wife, Margaret; the infamous local poacher known as 'The Lurker' can think of no man on earth he'd rather kill. "You remember what I used to tell you about the Black Dogs," Gwynn blasts P.C. Winter. "Well he's like that. Wherever he goes death will follow. Mark my words."

Since last he hit the headlines, Hall has remarried. With wife Jean now six months into her pregnancy, steamy sex is temporarily off the menu, so he takes to shooting on Black Hill, trusty yellow Labrador Remus in tow. On one such occasion, Hall returns to his car to find the bodywork clawed. It is as though the recently resurrected man-beast is taunting him!

Driving home from a frustrating night's bird-pulling at the dance, Wal Morris is forced off the road by a huge, hairy slobbering jaywalker. The werewolf does such a thorough job on the lad's corpse that grown cops vomit in the bushes.

A dismembered corpse buried on Vic Gunn's land is revealed as that of Philip Owen, hacked to pieces with a meat cleaver! Just as the werewolf intended, Gunn is taken into police custody overnight, leaving the coast clear to indulge his bestial desires on Margaret. Furious at her absence, it first tears apart the dog then sets the farmstead ablaze ....

P. 64 of 112. Solid 'Spot the werewolf' mystery with no prime suspect as yet. Lurker has let on to the butcher that he's in with the werewolf, but we're not sure the beast is of the same mind. Hall is the identikit GNS hero (think Mark Sabat minus the involuntary frantic masturbation). The gore is low key by Smith standards, but obligatory bad sex interlude compensates. With our handsome hero not getting enough at home, it's no surprise when he and Margaret take up where they left off in the previous novel.

[dem bones]

With the discovery of Philip Owen's jigsawed corpse, a two month lull through Christmas and the New Year as the new Werewolf goes to ground. Nothing to see here. Detective Chief-Inspector "Master of sarcasm" Ford considers returning to London.

But Gwynn Owen has discovered the awful truth about Werewolf #2 and, fearing the loss of more innocent lives, heads for the police station to raise the alarm. His poor health fails him and he dies in the interview room raving that the monster is his son. As if this is news! Unless he means ...

Tom Davies, Gwynn's young buck-toothed hired hand, is distraught at the old man's passing and takes over the day to day running of the farm. Everyone feels sympathy for him, even if he is a smarmy long-haired creep.

The Lurker is never idle. His all consuming hatred of Hall sees him prepare a pit of stakes in the pine wood. It is now just a simple case of luring the journalist to his doom!

The werewolf strikes again. Margaret Gunn is abducted in just her nightdress and Wellingtons, tied to a bed in a secret cave on Black Hill. Prior to ravishing her, the man-beast doffs his wolfskin and lethal metal-tipped gloves. Great Scott! It's ....

Meanwhile, having finally figured what old man Owen was trying to tell them, a frantic Hall leads the police to the sex-fiend's lair.

A rare instance of GNS forsaking his masterly of the piss poor ending in favour of an all-action finale worthy of a Hammer horror. Have no idea if Guy is familiar with the shudder pulps but Return Of The Werewolf sure reads like a 'seventies equivalent.

Very recommended.