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Night Plague
by Graham Masterton
A deadly plague from the world of dreams threatens humanity.
Satan's witch, Isobel Gowdie, is threatening humanity from a shadowy
dimension of dreams. Her dire influence infects the unwary through the
spreading of a horrific disease: the Night Plague. When Stanley Eisner, a
leading American violinist, realizes that he has fallen victim to a
terrible condition that is warping his whole personality, he is forced to
embark on a bizarre adventure into a world of which he had no imagining.
More, he is a great warrior in this dream world and his unlikely companions too have been transformed into creatures from a distant, mystical past.
Graham Masterton has developed a reputation as a leading writer of horror
and Night Plague helps to explain why. His characterization and the
portrayal of the relationships between the characters is complex and adult;
his heroes, although stronger than they believed possible, are still
vulnerable and indecisive. Above all, perhaps, his descriptions of pain and
suffering (de rigueur for this genre) are rendered in loving, almost
obsessive detail. The forensic nature of being burned alive (as in The
Hymn) or having one's flesh stripped from the bones (in A Terrible
Beauty), is also evident here in the approach to sex, which occupies an
important, but not overwhelming part of the characters' sensibilities.
The conventions of the horror genre are nicely satisfied in this book: a
group of people are drawn into a dangerous and frightening world and
isolated from all that is familiar and comforting. Necessarily, therefore,
they must be removed from communication with the rest of the world. When we now look at the world around us, with the increasing use of mobile
telephones and personal communications devices, the stretch to achieve the
willing suspension of disbelief becomes ever more strenuous. It is to the
other's credit, therefore, that we are able to immerse ourselves in an alien landscape without too many jarring notes.
Fans of horror literature should enjoy this book and it is recommended for them.
Title: Night Plague
Author: Graham Masterton
Publisher: Dark Trails Publishing
ISBN: 0974036609
Review written by: John Walsh
Reviewer's Rating:8.5
Reader's Rating: 0
Reader's Votes: 0
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