Sabat 2 : The Blood Merchants

[franklinmarsh]

This one's for Demonik! Sabat 2 : The Blood Merchants
Spoiler alert!!!
If ever a tacky 160 page horror novel screamed Marsh-O-Rama (or possibly Franklin-A-Go-Go) at you its this little beauty. Vampire murders in London? The Yard are baffled (Aren't they always - where's Corner when you need him). There's only one man who can help - Mark Sabat - ex-priest,ex-SAS - his enemy is the eternal principle of evil made flesh! He's tough,sensitive, fond of a hand shandy and can carry a gun in the UK with impunity. He's also got a bit of a problem in that although he physically killed his brother Quentin (a man so evil he was known as 'Satan's Henchman') Q's spirit seems to have insinuated itself within Mark - and can pop up at times of stress,doubt and in the middle of a punch-up with evil. Just call him Mr Inconvenient. The CID Inspector is old pal of Sabat's from the SAS - as is the villain Colonel Vince Lealan. It was his gorgeous,pouting blonde wife Catriona's dishing out of a little S&M to Sabat that got him booted out of the regiment. Booted! Anyway, Chapter One lasts from page 5 to page 12 and contains two gruesome murders, a sallow-faced punk with a corpse-like appearance and a nutcase spouting drivel about The Apostles Of Lilith before he attacks a lady of the night. Whew! It seems Col. Vince sees himself as a reborn Hitler (even shaving his moustache to toothbrush proportions) and is a big noise in the Liberation (read National) Front. There's more than a touch of occultism about their meetings (attended incidently by shaven-headed youths and long-haired,bedenimmed drug addict layabouts) . But what is their ultimate purpose? Can Sabat do anything to prevent this cloud of evil spreading throughout Britain? I'll have to keep reading.

On a more sobering note, there's some exceptionally nasty stuff in the middle of this, with a group of fascists murdering a man (and his baby) in broad daylight at the entrance to a shopping mall before an almighty set-to between the neo nazis and the Old Bill in the name of a freedom of speech demonstration. Considering this was written in 1982 it has more than a dash of headlines about it. We're soon back to the supernatural and Sabat's dodgy sexuality. Smith's idea of an eternal battleground between Good and Evil (visited by Sabat in astral form) is a nice change of pace.

[killercrab]

DEAD MEAT The Complete Books of Sabat by Guy N Smith - Creation books , 1996.


Compilation of SABAT: Graveyard of Vultures , Blood Merchants , Cannibal Cult and Druid Connection. Also included for completists are two tasty sounding shorts - Vampire Village and Hellbent.

Price .. not cheap!

ade

[jkdunham]

Right, I can't put it off any longer... I have to start (and very possibly finish) a Guy N. Smith book tonight. The Question is; do I go for one of the Sabats, or do I give Bats Out of Hell another go..?

[killercrab]

Batty quotes:


'Bleedin' flyin' mice,' Armless but 'orrible.

or

'Who's bats?'
'I don't know who they bloomin' well belong to.'

or

'Let go of me , stupid boy!'
( Capt. Mainwaring ??)

or

'... there's a bat in the credit house!'


and the immortal :

' Christ alive!' he muttered , glancing back. ' Bats !'


ade

[benedictjjones]

I REMEMBER WHEN I WAS ABOUT 10 i had a thin short story collection with a mark sabat story in it. about a town down up like it's haunted and it actually is haunted by vampires! can't remember what it was in but for some reason i think it was something to do with the BFS...

[justin]

I would guess you're referring to the paperback editions of Fantasy Tales which were put out by Robinson Publishing at 99p a throw. Weighing in at a 100 pages an issue, as well as the Sabat short Vampire Village in issue 1, it carried fiction by Bulmer and Campbell (The Man Who Collected Barker what I can remember) ABout 6 issues appeared.... Over to the rest of the board for more info I reckon....

[dem bones]

Can't help with issue 1, but I'm sure you're on the right track, Justin. Ken Bulmer certainly features in #2 and The Man Who Collected Barker shows up in #4. Great little mags, these. 104 pages, 99p a time. Guess they should really have their own thread.

Stephen Jones & David A. Sutton (ed's.) - Fantasy Tales #2 (Robinson, Spring 1989)

Les Edwards

Ken Bulmer - Ice And Fire
Torr and Tora Vorkun battle a legion of undead warriors!
William F. Nolan - The Cure
He would do anything to stop killing
Joel Lane - The Dispossessed
Could the runes reveal to him the secret of power?
Brian Lumley - The Man Who Felt Pain
His body withered beneath the world's torment
Neil Gaiman - Vampire Sestina (verse)
Will Johnson - Stepping Out
A demon confronts the powers of black sorcery

The Cauldron: Your letters and comments, news and views from the fantasy field, plus a profile of cover artist Les Edwards.

Stephen Jones & David A. Sutton (ed's.) - Fantasy Tales #4 (Robinson, Spring 1990)

J. K. Potter

Stephen Gallagher - The Drain
A formless terror pursued them through the darkness.
Charles L. Grant - Alice Smiling
Can a mother's love save her daughter?
Darrell Schweitzer - Into The Dark Land
He braved Death to restore a kingdom's soul.
Kim Newman - The Man Who Collected Barker
The ultimate collector reveals his horrific prize
Steve Eng - Sea-Reverie (verse)
Don Webb - Initiation
If he failed the test his soul would be forfeit
Steve Rasnic Tem - In The Trees
He embraced his fears and lost everything.
C. Bruce Hunter - The Death And Afterlife Of Sam McKay
Deadlines can be Hell!

The Cauldron: Your letters of comments, profiles and articles plus news and views from the fantasy field.

[benedictjjones]

^YEP! it was issue one i had. some kind of evil looking blokey riding a horse in a full face helmet was the cover. might be floating about in my mums garage i'll have a look at the weekend.

[benedictjjones]

still havent found it. i remember being vaguely dissappointed after i bought - bcause i thought it was going to be 'fantasy' tales...as in heroic epics, dungeons, knights, dragons...
do remember that i enjoyed the sabat one although my ten year old self did find it a bit racy!!! i really want to find it now.

[benedictjjones]

^^finally found it (sort of...) - our very own david a riley also had a story in it which i remember!! (writers cramp)

**so i blame him fully for corrupting an eight year olds mind with a tale of lovecraftian terror!!

[andydecker]

Guy N. Smith - Sabat 2: The Blood Merchants (NEL, 1982, 160 pages)