Bibliography

MIRROR

(1988)

A screenwriter becomes obsessed with a Hollywood child star murdered in the 1930s. Fifty years after his death he has the idea of making a movie that will bring him back to life. But the mirror he buys from his idol's house is possessed and those who tamper with it risk unleashing a terrible evil that threatens to overwhelm everything in its path...
A fascinating tale, full of decadence, obsession and grotesque imagery. Alongside several well staged scenes of horror, there's an intriguing examination of what it might be like to step inside your own mirror-image. An engaging twist on Lewis Carroll's Through The Looking Glass.

RITUAL

(1988)

When restaurant critic Charlie McLean and his son, Martin visit the little town of Allen's Corners in rural Connecticut, little do they realise what they're letting themselves in for. In the mood to try something different they stop at Le Reposoir, unaware that most of the meals on the menu are not the a-la-carte range they're used to, but more a mixture of mundane dishes and human d'oves.
Ritual is a horror book with a novel slant, and though well written, is at times stomach-turning. One of the most infamous scenes in the book witnesses Charlie being forced to cut off his own finger - and then cook and eat it!

WALKERS

(1989)

It didn't take long for Jack Reed to decide to convert the huge gothic mansion in the woods into an idyllic, up-market country club. But the building's chequered past is anything but idyllic. It was once a mental asylum, home to several psychopaths, all of whom disappeared one night, never to be seen again. It's only when Jack's son is dragged into the walls of the mansion that he realises what really happened sixty years previously - and just where the inmates have been residing all this time.
An horrific (but exciting) tale set against a background of Druidism, and full of graphic killings.

BLACK ANGEL

(1991)

A ritual killer - nicknamed 'Satan' on account of his exceptional cruelty - stalks the city, killing in terrible ways with no apparent motive. Enter Lieutenant Foggia who, assisted by a spiritualist medium, must discover the reason for the slayings. But the truth he unearths is beyond anything he's encountered in the real world - for the killings are paving the way for a force so powerful that the lives of a few innocents will appear unimportant in comparison...
Perhaps his most brutal novel, Black Angel contains some of the most horrendous scenes of violence Masterton has ever committed to paper. It also features several of his favourite themes, such as spiritualism and demonology, and moves at a fast pace from the stomach-churning opening to the exciting final confrontation between man and demon.

THE HYMN

(1991)

As Lloyd Denman looks forward to his wedding, the news that his fiancÈ, Celia is dead leaves him stunned. In fact she calmly immolated herself in a fast-food joint's parking lot ... and smiled as the flames leaped around her. Celia's death is followed by that of a bus-load of innocent people. As time passes, things really begin to heat up for all concerned.
As Lloyd investigates he comes across a group of immortal beings called The Salamanders - their task, to supernaturally invoke the Fourth Reich in America.
Fantasy novelist, Charles De Lint, summed it up when he described this book as a rollicking good read with some of the most inventive touches he'd ever read.

NIGHT PLAGUE

(1991)

The third book in the Night Warriors series opens with the horrific rape of American concert violinist, Stanley Eisner whilst on a visit to London. Eisner is infected with the night plague, a disease which twists men's souls into madness. Once again, the Night Warriors come to the rescue. Their task, to protect humanity from evil. This time they come up against Isabel Gowdie, witch and mistress of Satan, entombed in the English countryside for three centuries.
Night Plague is an intense read, and just as fascinating as Night Warriors and Death Dream. A self-contained novel which, like each of its predecessors, can be read as a stand-alone.

PREY

(1992)

Prey is Masterton's out-and-out tribute to H.P. Lovecraft, and features one of Lovecraft's elementals, Brown Jenkin. Recently divorced David Williams sets about restoring a dilapidated Victorian orphanage on the Isle of Wight. As the story progresses, and as events become progressively stranger, he finds himself asking the question: does Fortyfoot House exist in today, or yesterday, or tomorrow - or all
three?
Prey is a multi-layered, and at times, complex book, and one of the few Masterton novels not set in America. Despite this it's well written and flows along at a brisk
pace.

BURIAL

(1992)

The third in the Manitou series, Burial features popular character Harry Erskine, once again on the trail of the evil Indian Medicine Man, Misquamacus. Mass devastation is wrought on the American people in revenge for the desolation they wrought on his.
A big, apocalyptic book, full of destruction on a big scale. The most adventurous of the Manitou books, full of horrific set-pieces and doses of Masterton's trademark black humour.

THE SLEEPLESS

(1993)

A helicopter crashes with a young judge on board. The wreckage reveals his and his wife's mutilated bodies - but not their daughter's. An insurance investigator attempts to resolve this bizarre case - and to his cost discovers a merciless race of beings who never sleep...
Fast-moving and highly readable, this features some very graphic violence and is definitely not for the squeamish. Masterton utilises the American setting well, managing to conjure up a genuinely scary portrait of an alien-like race which should - quite literally - get your adrenaline pumping.

FLESH AND BLOOD

(1994)

Out in a field, deep in the heart of Iowa hog-farming country, Terence Pearson beheads his own children, apparently without reason. But appearances are deceptive, and what the reader doesn't realise however, is that Terence is saving his children from a fate far worse: The Green Traveller, a strange mummer dressed in leaves, who with his companions, The Surgeon and The Witness, bring terror and pain to those who cross him. Terence knows his children are descendants of The Green Traveller, and he's returning for them - the consequences of which will be devastating...
This is a complex novel which features genetics as its theme, alongside a story involving the insertion of human genes into a monstrous pig. Steeped in legends, Flesh & Blood is a fascinating - if convoluted - read with eviscerations and decapitations aplenty.

SPIRIT

(1995)

Two young girls are haunted by the spirit of their dead sister, Peggy, tragically drowned in a swimming pool. Peggy had always imagined herself as Gerda, the lead character in Hans Christian Anderson's The Snow Queen. Now, in the dead girl's imagination, the fictional Snow Queen has been resurrected in the form of Hel, the legendary being supposedly responsible for the Black Death and death by freezing. Anyone who threatens or even gets close to the sisters risks a - literally - chilling death...
Another eerie account of myth impinging on the real world. It starts off at a gentle pace but soon transforms into a typically brutal Masterton tale. Lots of guts are wrenched and characters suffer some terrible fates throughout. However, the grisly parts are always in context - and in Spirit, these are grisly indeed. Best read next to a roaring fire.

THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT

(1996)

Craig Bellman, a successful young lawyer is badly injured in a street mugging. As part of his convalescence he and his wife, Effie head out to the country where they stumble across a derelict mansion called Valhalla. Against Effie's advice, Craig decides to buy the house, and it's only then that he learns it was built by legendary gambler, Jack Belias, and that every owner since Belias has been dogged by tragedy.
The House That Jack Built is a terrifying psychological thriller set in a house which, like the dwelling in Prey, seems to exist within alternate worlds where nothing is as it seems.

ROOK

(1997)

Jim Rook teaches a remedial class in a high school in the San Fernando Valley. As a child he nearly died of pneumonia, the strange outcome being that Jim is now able to see ghosts and spirits. When one of Jim's students is arrested for murder, Jim is certain he saw the young man's uncle Umber at the scene of the murder. But Umber has a water-tight alibi. Soon Jim's investigations lead him into a world of voodoo where he has to face new fears and learn strange new techniques to challenge Umber.
Rook is another book steeped in myths and legends, a theme which runs through many of Masterton's books. It is also the first in a compelling new series of supernatural thrillers featuring Jim Rook.

TOOTH AND CLAW

(1997)

The second in the Rook series sees Jim Rook learning the culture of the Navajo Indians. Susan White Bird is beautiful but well protected by her brothers. So when one of Jim's students is found mutilated, her brothers are arrested. But then a second murder takes place, and Jim Rook eventually finds himself pitted against the most horrific creature known to Navajo myth, Coyote.
The Sunday Times praised this book, saying, 'It's like all good horror stories, moving from the familiar and credible to the fanciful and disturbing ... the drama (is) tense, the writing good.'

THE CHOSEN CHILD

(1997)

A radio presenter is found beheaded beneath a hotel building site in Warsaw. Further savage murders occur, and hotel executive, Sarah Leonard, aided by Polish detective, Stefan Rej, do their utmost to solve the case before it ruins their careers - not to mention their lives...
The Chosen Child hinges on a powerful Polish legend involving a strange and terrifying presence which stalks the sewers, collecting the heads of its victims. The real evil, however, isn't provided by 'the Executioner' (as he's nicknamed) but by ordinary human beings - people capable of violence every bit as unpleasant as the mysterious killer. A stylishly written novel, thick in fascinating research.

Review - Publishers Weekly, November 2000.
Masterton (Prey, The Manitou) serves up a lethal combination of skillfully written detective story and intense horror, as the citizens of contemporary Warsaw begin finding headless bodies all over town. Is the perpertrator a deranged serial killer or a legendary monster living in the city's sewers? Komisarz Stefan Rej is stumped. When the seventh victim, a radio reporter critical of the Senate Hotels chain is found in the sewer under the construction site of the chain's newest project, Rej thinks he finally has a motive for the gory events. He meets his testy match in a vice-president of the Seante chain, Sarah Leonard, an American of Polish descent who has a rapport with the Polish workers. They say that the reporter was killed by a demon that lives in the sewers - a Warsaw legend since the 17th century - and they refuse to work until it is eradicated. Frantic when the German replacement workers are butchered, Sarah asks her Chicago cop dad for help. He sends retired police inspector Clayton Marsh, who proposes a se·nce with a Warsaw medium and hears frightening revelations. Sarah's life is further complicated by an apparent connection between her boss (and ex-lover) and the Polish mafia. Using flashbacks, Masterton weaves the horrors of Nazi occupation (real-life SS General Erich von Bach Zewski has a surprising role) and use of the sewers by the home Army in the Warsaw Uprising into a highly atmospheric tale. Fans of horror, mystery buffs and afficianados of WWII stories will all enjoy this dandy thriller, whose clever protagonists find enlightenment and a little romance through their pursuit of the monster.

THE TERROR

(1998)

This is the third in Graham Masterton's Rook supernatural horror series. The Terror sees a new student joining Jim Rookís Special Class II for remedial English, a young Mexican boy called Rafael Diaz. He seems pleasant enough at first and fits into the group nicely, but this is probably due to the fact that heís offering to rid the other pupils of all their deepest, darkest fears (such as spiders and the dark) by way of an ancient Mayan cleansing ritual.
Unfortunately Rafaelís dabbling backfires, and when some of the kids end up dead, Jim Rook has to try and figure out why. Actually itís not all that difficult, as he discovers when the physical embodiment of all these ècleansedí fears pays him a visit at his flat - and tears the place apart. Now the race is on for Jim to find a way to destroy this creature only he can see before it claims yet more lives, making itself more powerful in the process (courtesy of www.terrortales.org)

HOUSE OF BONES

(1998)

It's young John's first day in his first job at Blight, Simpson and Vane, an estate agency owned by Mr Vane. John thinks houses are happy places, where you can live happily-ever-after. He has no idea about the hidden forces inside Mr Vane's properties, but he's about to find out. When he witnesses one of his colleagues sucked into the walls of one of the houses his nightmare takes on new proportions...
House of Bones is a well plotted, milder version of 1989's Walkers, that relies heavily on the myths and legends surrounding the Druids for its entertainment value. It's also Masterton's first attempt at writing for a teenage horror market, as part of Scholastic's Point Horror Unleashed label.

SNOWMAN

(1999)

When Jack Hubbard enrolls in West Grove Community College, he's assigned to Jim Rook's remedial English class. Soon the California campus and student body, sweltering in a torrid June, are experiencing mighty strange goings-on. A water fountain freezes solid; a men's room is coated with giant ice crystals; a classmate wearing Jack's sweatshirt is frozen to a handrail and can be removed only minus his arms; the school pool completely freezes, trapping several in its depths and killing one. What's behind the freaky weather? Spirit-sensitive Rook (Tooth and Claw, 1997 etc.) and his Tarot-reading cat (don't ask) concur that it's a vengeful Inuit spirit who was promised Jack's soul by his dad in exchange for leading him to safety from a crisis-stricken Alaska expedition, only to see the old man renege on the deal. Rook takes off for Alaska with both Hubbards, his cat, a magic mirror, and a supply of Snickers - just the equipment that will allow him eventually to confront the spirit demon in Dead Man's Mansion, a northern folly built by a survivor of the Titanic, who may have made his own pact with the hood-shrouded, ice-spewing spirit. If you think Snickers will sustain you on a trek through the tundra, you'll undoubtedly think Rook is the most beloved teacher since Mr. Chips.
A blend of jaunty dialogue, floridly chilling demises, and preposterous phenomena.
*Taken from Kirkus Reviews, January 1, 2000.

THE DOORKEEPERS

(2001)

When missing Julia Winward's mutilated body is found, her brother is determined to discover what happened to her, but nothing makes sense. Julia had been working for a company that shut down 60 years ago, and living at an address that hadn't existed since World War II...
Classic parallel world Masterton! (courtesy of www.amazon.co.uk)
Also read the Horror World review and this blog review by Carl Alves.

HAIR RAISER

(2001)

Kelly has just started as a trainee hairdresser at Sizzuz, working for the sinister, but creative, Paul. One evening, having swept up the hair from the salon floor, she has a nasty experience disposing of it in the basement. Could there be something living down there, something hairy? (courtesy of www.amazon.co.uk)

SWIMMER

(2001)

It enters the water, and takes on the shape of The Swimmer... He recognises her voice, but she is hysterical. She has no one else to turn to. Her son has been killed, drowned, but the murderer has left no trace. Her distraught tears shake him to his core - he must help, if he can. She says that the child was a victim of a vengeful spirit. She says that the police believe she is insane. Jennie Oppenheimer was once a student in Jim Rook's Special Class II in '91. And she knows about his psychic powers, that he feels demons running through the streets, that he sees dead people, with their sad, bewildered faces reflecting in windows. So she is convinced that he will have an answer for her - and for her dead son, Mickey. But soon the angry, restless spirit of The Swimmer claims one victim after another - all friends or students of the gifted Jim Rook - and he realises that her hatred is directed at him. One person knows why she is seeking revenge, but only Rook has the strength to fight against the destructive forces of The Swimmer and the ally she has found in water... (courtesy of www.amazon.co.uk)

TRAUMA

(2001)

Review - Publishers Weekly NY, December 19 2001.

Within the span of a couple hundred pages, prolific horror writer Masterton (Spirit; The Manitou etc.) successfully spins an entertaining, fast and disturbing read packed with dramatic tension, tightly drawn characters and realistic dialogue. Bonnie Winter sells cosmetics for Galomorex of Hollywood Inc. and runs her own business cleaning up domestic crime scenes. The creepy task becomes even worse after she discovers infestations of maggot-like, black caterpillars at her clean-up sites. A local etomologist confirms that the caterpillars grow into Clouded Apollos - large butterflies with white, black-veined wings. In Aztec culture, the insect is considered the daytime disguise of a demon named Itzpapalotl, who drives people to kill their loved ones. Indeed, each of the scenes at which Bonnie finds the insects involves family members killing each other. Masterton's descriptions of the grim crime scenesare intoxicating (a man's blown-off head had 'fallen backward so that, juglike, it had emptied its blood all over the floor') yet never gratuitous, and he neatly interwines the Clouded Apollo story line with the saga of Bonnie's lackluster home life and budding affair with her Glamorex boss. As the novel draws to a close, the two plot threads converge, triggering a sequence of events that is both chilling and tragic.

A TERRIBLE BEAUTY (AKA KATIE MAGUIRE)

(2003)

There are things I need to know...
On a farm in southern Ireland, the dismembered bones of eleven women are found in a common grave, buried eight decades ago. Detective Superintendent Katie Maguire is used to bloodshed, but this ivory litter of human remains is unimaginable butchery.
Of other worlds apart from this...
In isolated darkness not far away, an American tourist is at the mercy of a serial killer. His tools are a boning knife, twine, and a doll fashioned from nails and fishhooks. The murder of his victims is second only to the pleasure of their pain.
Darker places inhabited by evil monstrosities...
As an eighty-year-old mystery unfolds, so does a modern-day ritual that's marked Katie Maguire as its next victim. For what happened once in this small picturesque village is happening again. It's more than a series of horrifying crimes. It's tradition.
Take me there. (courtesy of www.amazon.co.uk)

THE HIDDEN WORLD

(2003)

When Jessica's parents are tragically killed in a car crash, she goes to live with her grandparents in their big old house in Connecticut. Bullied at her new school because of the injury she suffered in the crash, Jessica finds solace in her favourite fairies and the pictures she loves to draw. One day she suffers bad concussion after falling downstairs at school, and while recovering at home she hears the strange sound of children's voices calling for help. At first Jessica cannot work out where the voices are coming from, but eventually she discovers from a mysterious but kindly old neighbour that they are in fact coming from inside her bedroom wallpaper. Attempting to overcome her own disbelief, Jessica and some friends venture into the world inside her wall where they find an extraordinary land where everyday household objects like spoons and hats take on a life of their own. But there is great danger to be found inside this hidden world, and it is up to Jessica to rescue the strange children whose voices she had heard, before it's too late.(courtesy of www.amazon.co.uk)

DARKROOM

(2003)

A spate of unexplained fires spreads across Los Angeles, killing indiscriminately, tearing up the city, destroying people's faith. There seems no probable cause for the fires - arson and murder are not suspected - but surely they can't have been started by something as fanciful as spontaneous combustion. Can they? (courtesy of www.amazon.co.uk)

THE DEVIL IN GRAY

(2004)

A young woman brutally hacked to pieces in her Virginia home - with a weapon over a hundred years old. A retired Army officer butchered-by an invisible attacker. A young man blinded in his bathtub-then boiled alive. What do all the victims have in common? What malevolent nightmare stalked them? He is not dead, but not truly living. He cannot be killed, only trapped. And for years he was trapped, buried alive in a desperate attempt to end the terror. But now he is free again, free to complete his ghastly mission-free to slaughter the unsuspecting. Is he a spirit? An immortal madman? Was he ever human? What is...the devil in gray?

UNSPEAKABLE

(2004)

Masterton's all-too-real psychological thriller takes readers on a terrifying journey into the Portland, Ore., child welfare system, the mysterious world of Native American superstition and the thick web of deceit that friends can weave around one another. Holly Summers, a strong and attractive woman who happens to be deaf, is a talented lip-reader, which makes her a priceless asset to the Portland Police department. Holly moonlights by eavesdropping on suspected criminals' discussions and helping thwart trouble before it happens. But her unusual skills aren't enough to protect Holly in her daytime job as a child welfare officer after an angry and abusive father puts a Native American curse on her. Masterton (Prey, etc.) draws on the experiences of a real-life lip-reader whose work has led to many criminal convictions, and he also incorporates elements of his work with the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. His graphic depictions of child abuse are both sickening and tragic, though his portrayal of Holly as a skilled conversationalist doesn't ring true. Unfortunately, this immensely readable novel builds to a conclusion so disappointing that it may incense some readers. (Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

INNOCENT BLOOD

(2005)

When a terrorist bomb devastates an exclusive junior school in Hollywood, killing the sons and daughters of many famous TV and movie actors and producers, all hell breaks loose. Among the many dead is Danny Bell, the son of successful comedy writer Frank Bell. Responsibility for the blast is claimed by a group who say that they want to put the decadent Western media out of business for good.

MANITOU BLOOD

(2005)

A bizarre epidemic is sweeping New York City. Doctors can only watch as victims fall prey to a very unusual blood disorder. They become unable to eat solid food, are extremely sensitive to daylight-and they have an irresistible need to drink human blood... As panic, bloodlust and death grip the city, a few begin to consider the unimaginable: Could the old folktales and legends be true? Could the epidemic be the work of...vampires? Their search for the truth will lead them to shadowy realms where very few dare to go. They will seek help from both the living and the dead. And they will realize that their worst fear was only the beginning.