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Post by dem bones on Dec 8, 2011 12:14:43 GMT
Archie Roy - Devil In The Darkness (John Long, 1978)  Oliver ElmesFifty pages into this, and if the remaining 130 continue in the same vein, the rest of Archie's fiction goes straight to wants-list. The author is an interesting chap. Well respected in Scientific and Psychical Research circles, in 1986 Professor Roy had an asteroid named after him. He still publishes non-fiction, though his macabre work seems to have ended with this novel. Driving to their honeymoon cottage in the remote Scottish Highlands, newly-weds Paul and Carol Wilson are caught in a snow blizzard and have no option but to seek shelter at a dilapidated three-story Victorian mansion in the middle of nowhere. Ardsverk House has stood empty for fifteen years - at least, it had until a few hours ago when a strange crew arrived to conduct an .... experiment. It's clear that the red bearded giant, Jeremy Hunt, who answers their knock isn't exactly enthralled to receive visitors, but courtesy prevails and he admits them to the dismal ruin. Paul and Carol are introduced to the party - nine of them in all, though Paul suspects there are more of them hidden away as he's sure he spotted a figure in a balaclava mooching around - and it's agreed they stay the night. Despite the kindness extended them - a hot meal, drinks, a room with it's windows in one piece - Paul and Carol can't help but realise that their hosts would be happier if they'd retire to bed for the night and keep out of the way. What have they interrupted? And why is it the group insist on pairing up when one of their number has occasion to leave the main hall? What with the sub-zero conditions, no electricity or hot water, small wonder the Wilson's opt to postpone the traditional wedding night hanky-panky until the following day when they are settled snugly at Shona cottage. But despite his exhaustion, Paul can't sleep, a situation not helped by the palaver going on in the room above where some inconsiderate swine is hauling around a trunk. Paul investigates, to find the place empty, the only footprints in the dust those left by his own slippers. The following morning and the Wilson's are desperately relieved to jump in their car and set off for their new home. Their hosts, not such a bad bunch, insist on escorting them through the snow - it's six foot thick in places - to assure they don't fall into difficulty. Hardly have they began on their way than the convoy turns back: the blizzard has totalled the bridge across the single road out. Back at Ardsverk House, it's decided that the Wilson's should be informed what the seemingly disparate group of ex-army types and scruffy corduroy hippies are about. But first, their spokesman, Brian Meredith, a bespectacled fellow with the look of a University Professor about him, explains how Ardsverk House came to be abandoned ....
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Post by dem bones on Dec 9, 2011 9:21:04 GMT
oh joy! matters have taken a turn for the 'Film Crew in Peril'!
Legend has it that Ardsverk House is haunted by a singularly vicious poltergeist, responsible for five suicides that have taken place there since the turn of the century. The mansion acquired its dismal atmosphere in the late eighteen-eighties when it fell into the hands of a certain Arthur Bertram Howard, swindler, suspected multiple-murderer and all round bad egg. When Howard's wife died unexpectedly, he narrowly escaped the gallows due to the prosecution's inability to prove it was he who had introduced the poison into her veins. After the trial, Howard continued at what he did best - turning Hooray Henry's & Henrietta's onto drugs and fleecing them of their inheritance. A maid drowned. Several weekend guests went missing. The locals refused to allow their daughters to work for him. Still no authority did anything to investigate the bounder until he settled with his servants, sent them away on holiday for a month and vanished from the face of the earth, his two trusted cronies with him.
The house has exchanged owners many times over the ensuing decades. No sooner has a party moved in than they've put it back on the market, selling to the first person willing to take it off their hands. The London Psychic Research abandoned an investigation of the property when a student prank on one of their number, ultra posh Lady Diana Spencer-Smith, backfired badly on the perpetrator who ended his days a gibbering basket case.
Which brings us to the mismatched bunch effectively marooned at Ardsverk House until the snow clears and the bridge is repaired. Captain Pollard and Sergeant Ted Smith are here at the request of the current owner, devising the best way to go about demolishing the place in a month's time. Meredith is the chairman of a Mull-based Para-psychological Institute and young Ann Parish his star medium. The condescending Dr. Arnold Bourne is a showbiz neurologist and the main reason a TV crew - the scruff brigade - are here to film the ghost hunt for something called The Exploration Of Inner Space.
more to follow ...
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Post by dem bones on Dec 15, 2011 16:59:15 GMT
Ann Parish is put under hypnosis once again by Dr. Bourne and regressed to the late eighteen-eighties when Mrs. Howard was poisoned in her bed. In her hypnotic trance, she acts as the mouthpiece of Mary Rolfe, a servant at Ardsverk House. Mary confides that she was having an affair with Howard who was as deeply in love with her as she him (yeah, right) - if only that miserable wife of his would grant him a divorce! As it was, the old bag wouldn't even consider a separation and so she had to go. Technically, it wasn't Howard who murdered her , although he couldn't have been more guilty if he'd administered the overdose in person. Soon afterwards, William Metcalfe, Howard's faithful man-servant, developed a convenient overnight crush on Mary and proposed to her while they were boating on the lake. When she refused, she "fell" overboard and drowned.
Back in the "sophisticated nineteen seventies" (© Dr. Meredith) Carol is joined in bed by an vile, icy someone - or something - that most certainly is not her husband. She's only saved from a fate worse than death when Paul bursts in and the intruder vanishes, leaving a deep hollow in the mattress. Paul has been in the tower room with the others, seeking the source of the groans and pitiful cries that fill the empty room. The sound recorder successfully captures the eerie cacophony on tape. Meredith doesn't like any of this - he realises they are dealing with an evil entity of phenomenal power - and suggests that, whatever the weather conditions, they leave in the morning. Even the military men consider this the best policy, but bolshy Dr Bourne won't hear of it. They procrastinate. The phantom strikes, killing two of the television crew with ease. And it's still only warming up .....
There was just something about Devils In The Darkness - the title, the cover, the photo of the professor looking all solemn, couldn't tell you what it was - told me "you'll have a good time with this one!" and so it has proved. Simply put, i've not enjoyed a haunted house novel this much in years. Atmospheric and suspenseful, Devil ... is almost entirely bereft of gore, but there's no lack of horror in the final thirty pages. The - very Edgar Allen Poe - final chapter, told in the form of a confession, would make for a super stand-alone terror tale in itself.
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Post by valancourt on Nov 28, 2012 19:06:56 GMT
Just got my copy -- totally unobtainable in the States, not in a single library, but only four quid ordered online from the UK. I take it from your posts it's worth reading? Did you end up reading any more of his stuff?
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Post by dem bones on Nov 28, 2012 19:54:51 GMT
Well, there's no accounting for taste, and i've the discrimination of a vacuum cleaner, but yes, I think Archie is worthy of your time. As to the rest of his work, still looking,, but the blurbs suggest they're in similar vein and that's good enough for me. Hope you enjoy Devil In The Darkness!
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Post by valancourt on Dec 11, 2012 1:05:24 GMT
I'm enjoying Devil in the Darkness, enjoying it so much, in fact, that I ordered The Curtained Sleep and The Dark Host today online and have been in touch with Archie Roy's family about the possibility of doing a new edition. Have you run across any other fans of his books? I wonder why he is so little known?
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Post by dem bones on Dec 11, 2012 7:09:38 GMT
Am so glad to hear all of that, James, and hope Archie's family give you the go ahead to reprint. Devil In The Darkness deserves a wider readership, and my guess is it wasn't a one off.
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Post by Mike Brough on Jul 1, 2014 17:53:00 GMT
I enjoyed Devil In The Darkness enormously. Valancourt, how did the other titles turn out? Worth buying would you say?
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Post by The Lurker In The Shadows on Feb 27, 2016 15:58:47 GMT
I'm avoiding reading Dem's running commentary on the plot, as the first paragraph, plus Archie Roy's connection to 'The Omega Factor', tempted me into buying the book. About 50 pages into it and really enjoying it. I can see why the BBC consulted him when preparing 'Omega', as it feels like something that would fit in perfectly in that series. So much so that I can visualise it as a BBC Scotland production from the late 70s. It's prompting yet another rewatch of the series on DVD, followed by the Big Finish audio continuation, that picks up 'The Omega Factor' 35 years down the line.
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Post by dem bones on Feb 27, 2016 17:26:16 GMT
I'm avoiding reading Dem's running commentary on the plot, as the first paragraph, plus Archie Roy's connection to 'The Omega Factor', tempted me into buying the book. About 50 pages into it and really enjoying it. I can see why the BBC consulted him when preparing 'Omega', as it feels like something that would fit in perfectly in that series. So much so that I can visualise it as a BBC Scotland production from the late 70s. It's prompting yet another rewatch of the series on DVD, followed by the Big Finish audio continuation, that picks up 'The Omega Factor' 35 years down the line. I'm confident you'll continue to have a good time with this one. A fascinating man and, on the strength of Devil In The Darkness and Sable Night, a criminally neglected master of the supernatural thriller. |
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Post by The Lurker In The Shadows on Mar 5, 2016 18:54:03 GMT
I'm confident you'll continue to have a good time with this one. A fascinating man and, on the strength of Devil In The Darkness and Sable Night, a criminally neglected master of the supernatural thriller. Yes, this was a terrific read. I enjoyed the very matter of fact tone of it all that avoided overdoing the supernatural elements, thereby making them even more plausible and therefore creepier. It has a touch of 'The Stone Tape' about it in that respect, as well as 'The Haunting of Hill House'. I think I'll be looking to add a few more Archie Roy titles to my reading list on the basis of this. |
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Post by Dr Strange on Mar 6, 2016 14:20:35 GMT
I'm avoiding reading Dem's running commentary on the plot, as the first paragraph, plus Archie Roy's connection to 'The Omega Factor', tempted me into buying the book. About 50 pages into it and really enjoying it. I can see why the BBC consulted him when preparing 'Omega', as it feels like something that would fit in perfectly in that series. So much so that I can visualise it as a BBC Scotland production from the late 70s. It's prompting yet another rewatch of the series on DVD, followed by the Big Finish audio continuation, that picks up 'The Omega Factor' 35 years down the line. I think the lead character in BBC Scotland's Sea of Souls (played by Bill Paterson) was also (very loosely) based on Roy. |
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Post by Dr Strange on Nov 24, 2019 15:47:27 GMT
Picked up a 1987 paperback edition of this from local charity shop and am going to start on it soon, so I've avoided reading too much of above. The paperback is published by "Apogee, Glasgow" - given that Roy was Professor of Astronomy at Glasgow Uni and "apogee" is an astronomical term, plus they don't appear to have ever published anything else apart from Roy's books, I'm guessing he was essentially self-publishing these paperback editions. The cover is by "Ian Roy", probably his son, and just shows an old black "gothic"-looking house in the snow.
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Post by profquatermass on Feb 11, 2021 22:47:21 GMT
Did you enjoy it? I've had this on my bookshelf for years and picked it up only recently for a bit of lockdown light relief (!) I was surprised to find it's a signed copy.
The first six chapters are excellent - very atmospheric - and remind me a lot of Legend of Hell House. If the rets is as good I might be looking for more of Archie's work.
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Post by Dr Strange on Feb 12, 2021 0:02:06 GMT
It was OK, maybe just a bit slow for my tastes. But there were some things about it that annoyed me because they seemed to be just lazy writing, like the basic setup of how these different groups of people all ended up in the house at the same time. And the idea that the owners would decide the best way to get rid of an unwanted house (even a haunted one) was by hiring some ex-military types to pack it with explosives and just blow it up seemed... unlikely.
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