Stephen Laws - Daemonic

[andydecker]

Stephen Laws - Daemonic (Hodder & Stoughton, 1995, posted edition NEL, 1996, 488 pages)

Jon Blake

This is Laws 8th novel with another stunning cover by Jon Blake. I don't know how well this sold - there is no American edition which is never a good sign - but it must have been unfortunate that this appeared a few years before Haunted Houses became a topic in the cinema. The amusing House on Haunted Hill (1999), the surprisingly adult 13 Ghosts (2001) and the godawful The Haunting (of Hill House remake) (1999).

This belongs also in the Film Crews in Peril category, as there are quotes from imaginary articles from Cinefact to movie books about the villain of the novel. This is a large novel, 488 pages of microscopic print in the NEL version. I wonder if the story can sustain this.

[bluetomb]

From dim memory this doesn't quite hold together to the end. Best when characters are being stalked and killed by creatures from Draegerman's films, slips a bit when his grand scheme is revealed, fortress comes alive and so forth. Something like this, I read it in 1998 I think. But it didn't tire me, I always enjoyed Laws for his abundant grisly imagination and gusto even when I thought some books weren't quite as strong as others. And this had the advantage of the film angle, which I've always really enjoyed as a horror subject. I still remember of the films within, Speed Demon, possibly inspired by the great Dolph Lundgren film I Come In Peace / Dark Angel. I guess this didn't do too well, as after his next one, Chasm, he went on a break for nearly 10 years and I think only wrote one book since. Shame, as I read all except Macabre and The Wyrm and the most recent I think, and enjoyed all to some extent, thinking Spectre was particularly good. Must be hard keeping it up in the genre when you're not a big name though. Expect there were a fair few in similar positions.