Horror's masters meet again

Mark Graham, Special to the News

Published September 14, 2001 at midnight

Text size

More Books

In 1984, the two biggest names in horror literature joined forces to produce one of the best-selling books of the decade. The Talisman combined the literary style of Peter Straub with the "Everyman" appeal of Stephen King. The result was a sometimes terrifying, but more often whimsical, journey into the "Territories," a fantasy land that has become as real to lovers of the genre as Frank Baum's Oz and J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle Earth.

In the original novel, 12-year-old Jack Sawyer (the similarity to the name of Mark Twain's Tom is no coincidence) makes a metaphorical journey across the country in search of a magical cure for his mother's cancer. Once he has touched the "Talisman," he will never be the same.

To the surprise of most of us, The Talisman was considerably less graphic and nasty than the previous works of either of the masters; it was more similar to King's The Eyes of the Dragon than to books like King's Salem's Lot or Straub's Ghost Story.

Don't expect another fairy tale this time. Like its title, Black House is a dark and disturbing book. I loved it.

Just as in real time, 17 years have passed, and Jack has almost completely forgotten his boyhood adventures. The inheritance from his movie star mother and extraordinary luck in investments have made Sawyer independently wealthy, and, after a spectacular but short career as a Los Angeles police detective, our hero has settled in the small Wisconsin town of French Landing. His idyllic retirement is short lived, however, because the bucolic village is torn apart by a serial killer who is kidnapping and eating children.

Because of his similarity to Albert Fish, who terrorized the East Coast by cannibalizing youngsters in the 1920s (read Harold Schechter's Deranged for more about this real-life monster), Wisconsin's bogyman is dubbed "the Fisherman."

The town sheriff, an Andy-of-Mayberry type, realizes he is in over his head and that Jack is the only hope for stopping the Fisherman. Reluctantly, Sawyer joins forces with the locals, only to discover that the past he has tried to forget must come to play if French Landing is to be brought back to normalcy.

As the investigation continues, the authors introduce a marvelous cast of characters: Henry Leyden, the sheriff's blind uncle, who plays the parts of four different disc jockeys on various radio stations; Beezer, the father of one of the victims and the leader of a college-educated motorcycle gang; Judy Marshall, the telepathic mother of a missing boy; her son, Tyler, who is being held in a really bad place and has powers of his own; the Fisherman, one of the most evil beings either writer has created; and his boss, Mr. Munshun, who is even worse.

Jack visits the Territories again in Black House, but most of the story takes place in Wisconsin, and we find out in the last third of the book that there are other dimensions that are nowhere near as pleasant as either of the above. It is in these dark places that the supernatural and the mundane come together for an unexpected and satisfying conclusion.

Although readers new to King and Straub can enjoy Black House on its own merit, it will be a momentous event for those well versed in their previous works. Obviously, The Talisman provides important background, but the world of the Territories is also tied to the Gunslinger series as well as several other King books, and there is even passing reference in the new book to Don Wanderly from Straub's Ghost Story.

In addition to an addictive plot, the authors treat us to a unique narrative device that makes the reader part of the story. And the writers' own distinctive styles are blended much better than they were in their earlier collaboration. Just as in The Talisman, there is little indication that there will be a sequel to Black House. But we can only hope that King and Straub find time to work together before the next 17 years have passed.

Mark Graham teaches English at Ralston Valley High School. His Unreal Worlds reviews appear weekly in Weekend@Home.

Subscribe to the Rocky Mountain News