Customer Reviews

The Attraction

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A group of young folks has some car trouble while traveling across the country. They are not particularly good friends but the bonds get tested on the trip. At one point their car breaks down almost in the middle of nowhere. This puts them in position to view a roadside attraction of a strange little beastie said to be from South America. Although it appears to be mummified a sign warns not to feed it.

When the creature is accidentally fed it becomes animated and begins to fulfil its purpose of taking the skin off the living. It is fast, brutal, and intelligent. Is there any way to stop it? The dwindling cast must find an answer and find it quickly. Things move quickly all the way to an acceptable and believable ending. A very good read.

Also in this volume is a short novella of Clegg's Harrow stories called The Necromancer. This tale tells the story of the very beginning of Mr. Gravesend and how he first becomes familiar with the occult and its mysteries. As part of a larger story it is quite good. As a stand alone tale it is a little dry and slow at the beginning. But if you have read any of the Harrow novels, you will surely want to read this one.

Delirium Books has achieved a justifiable reputation as a publisher of superbly crafted science fiction/horror fantasy titles for the true connoisseur of book that conjures nightmares to life! The latest title offered to horror fantasy enthusiasts is Douglas Clegg's The Attraction. A desiccated corpse from the Aztec era is displayed in a glass case for anyone to see. When it is deemed to be a counterfeit, just the remains of a small child with some glued on fake fingernails, Griff says to his friend Ziggy by way of a practical joke, "Let's feed it!". That's when the the horror awoke and the Flesh-Scraper is loose! Douglas Clegg blends a unique and macabre imagination with a genuine gift for developing his characters and presenting the reader with a vivid story that will separate the timid from their sleep and the bold from their complacency whenever they next visit a sideshow or museum mummy display!

Five college friends decide to take a road trip cross country to California for spring break. They want to get away from their little private college in the Virginia mountains and see the country. They start noticing road signs in Arizona that say "Come see the Attraction! The unspeakable unknowable Mystery!" They end up having a breakdown in the Arizona Desert and a trucker gives them a lift to a local gas station.

It is called the Breakdown Palace and it is the very place where the "Mystery" is kept. They decide to go have a look and see what it is all about. Located in the back of the store in a glass case with a sign above it saying "Do not feed" is a small, mummified corpse with long, sharp fingernails. It is called a Flesh-Scraper. The ancient Aztecs used it to scrap the flesh off the bones of sacrifices. One of the friends thinking it is all a stupid hoax decides to steal it, but when they have another breakdown in the desert they soon realize that Flesh-Scraper is a lot more than just a road side attraction hoax. They have awaken an Ancient Evil with one thing on its mind. "Human Flesh"

I had never read any of Clegg's work before so I wasn't sure what to expect when I started. I am kicking myself now for not giving his stories a chance sooner. I couldn't put this book down. It grabbed me on the first page and wouldn't let go. I ended up reading most of the night away. I had a stiff neck and only got a few hours sleep, but it was worth it. The Attraction has a original plot and very believable characters. The story moves at a incredible rate and never lags. The only complaint I have is that it was a little short. I thought it could have been at least a lot longer than 175 pages, but that aside The Attraction is worth every cent.

There is also a Novella called The Nercomancer in this book. It is a prequel to the Harrow House novels and it is mainly drawn from the diaries of a young Justin Gravesend. Fans of the Harrow House books will love this story. I have got to read the Harrow House trilogy now.

To sum up The Attraction is one of the best stories I've read this year. I got a whole lot more than I expected, and I am now a Clegg fan.

5.5" x 8.5" hardcover, limited edition of 500 copies. 154 pages.

"Please Do Not Touch Glass. We at the Brakedown Palace have nicknamed this special ancient mummy, Scratch, and he has been good luck to us all these years. We must warn any who view it that there is a legend that once Scratch gets fresh human skin under its fingernails and the taste of blood, he'll come back from oblivion to reap the human harvest. Do Not Touch. Do Not Feed."

While a sign that reads the above would be slightly ominous yet silly, if you were watching a movie about a bunch of college-aged kids standing in-front of this mummy then you'd be screaming 'Don't touch the mummy! Don't feed the mummy!' just like you'd yell 'Don't go into the basement!' or 'Don't hide in the closet!' There are certain conventions to slasher films and we all know them.

Douglas Clegg certainly knows them. He even admits it in the Afterword: The Attraction was meant as Clegg's "own version of the Slasher Movie" -- "a homage to them, without being an exact replica." And he certainly succeeds. Leave it to the man who re-imagined the haunted house in his Harrow series to be as creative when re-envisioning the slasher film.

The Attraction is fun; a bloody and gutsy and fun read. The reader is given an experience akin to watching a good slasher film. Can you remember the first time you watched Texas Chainsaw Massacre or Halloween, A Nightmare on Elm Street or Friday the 13th? You'd probably seen slasher films before, so you knew how it would all turn out because you knew the 'rules' that the genre obeyed. But you were still scared at times and, more importantly, you wanted to know how the story played out.

You know those stupid kids will touch and feed Scratch and you probably even know what the aftermath of that foolish maneuver will be, but the heart of this book -- like the film counterpart -- is not in the twists and turns of the plot but rather in the gory details. And Douglas Clegg's The Attraction delivers.

Both The Attraction and The Necromancer were originally released as limited edition novellas. They're expensive for readers who are not collectors or die-hard Clegg fans. This edition is great because both are amazing stories and together make a great book for those new to Clegg or fans.

Clegg has a knack for creating compelling characters, sinister stories, and intriguing histories. Douglas Clegg is a master of the genre and perhaps one of the most reliable authors in the business.

With this Leisure release, the reader has an opportunity to get their hands on the stories at a less expensive price. Although I highly recommend the beautiful limited editions, this mass market paperback is much easier for the general reader and this book will give two excellent stories the exposure they deserve.

My personal favorite is the Necromancer because I love Harrow. I have gone on at great lengths about Harrow as more than a house. The world Clegg has created is staggering.

Kudos to Clegg.

The first time I became acquainted with Clegg's work was through this Harrow series with a novel called "Mischief" and let me tell you, the man can write! I still remember reading the book through the night and simply being unable to put it down. Just as with the other book, his writing is very smooth, easy to digest and simply impossible to put down. This book is really two short novels in one. The first being a 170 page story about an Aztec monster out for fresh blood in the desert and the second, an introduction to the Harrow series, about a man who was reborn as a monster with insatiable appetite for lust and sacrifices. Each one is so very different but it showcases Clegg's intense way of conjuring ideas and his ability to translate them into books that are easy to read. He's slowly becoming a staple on my bookshelf and I can always count on him for a fantastic mix of horror and fantasy that somehow feels real.

The first story is called "The Attraction" and its strength relies on the sharp and spot on character development. I adored the relationships he build between the five friends who went on a road trip though the dry, hot desert, somehow getting stranded in middle of nowhere, close to danger. I got to like some, dislike others and then I got to read about them coming across an ancient Aztec mummy, said to be the scraper of the bones who drank the blood and danced for rain in the ancient times on top of the pyramids. Its no secret that something happens and the monstrum comes to life, what happens next is the real beauty of the story. Be prepared for some gruesome devouring, the tale is good but ends a little tame for my tastes. Overall I love the characters and enjoyed the imaginative new nemesis that I have never read about before.

The second novel is about a very bad man who gets entangled in some very dark magic; it's a little intro to the wonderful Harrow series, about a haunted private school with many skeletons in its closet. It was a really dirty and intense story but really good at the same time, perhaps it's a good thing it was short because it was immensely dark and rich with truly horrific ideas.

I engulfed this book over the weekend and can't wait to get back to reading some more of Clegg, he's a real diamond in the rough and his stories entertain both the mind and the imagination.

- Kasia S.

The Attraction, story #1, is a great little piece about 1970's teenagers opening an Aztec Pandora's box when they smash a glass case open and release a little mummy (Scratch) with a BIG mean streak. There are the teenage archetypes: the Stoner, the Intellectual, the Regular Guy, the Bimbo, the Jock and each gets time trying to escape the blood-thirsty mummy. This is a fun read and the development of characters, feel of the times, is great. The story, captivating at first, petters a bit out at the end and, would have liked to see MORE! MORE SCRATCH! The second part is a short intro into the Harrow series. It was an interesting character development, hero to villain type of story. I have read some of the Harrow stories and find it does not add that much, but a good little story nevertheless. Clegg again dishes out the entertainment for horror fans with these two offerings.

The Attraction attracted me through the first half, but then fell off in a hurry. The Necromancer, however, attracted me from page one and left me wanting more. I could not have written a better story myself. The Necromancer is a definite 10 on my all-time short list of tens.

Not the worst book in the world, but just pedestrian horror fare. The book is about college kids on a road trip that run afoul of an ancient mummy or curse or something. It was really too short to be called a novel but the publisher did add a little novella at the end to keep us from feeling truly ripped off. They shouldn't of bothered. This was much worse than Attraction. Called Necromancer, it was just plain dull. Truth be told, I couldn't finish it. I'm sure Clegg is capable of much better and I did read enough to give another book a chance. But this one was kind of a thowaway.

ok Douglas Clegg strikes again with an hit. Although it really should be classified as a novella, it starts typically with college students on a road trip to Cali. They stumble across a roadside attraction that they accidently bring to life.Kind of reminiscent of the killer doll short trilogy with Karen Black (does anybody know what im talkin about?).Not really too in-depth of the how or why and the ending is kind of blah but overall quite a good read and recommended for Douglas Clegg fans.Bonus novella of Justin Gravesons'beginning of Harrow but lefting with a thirst for more.