Customer Reviews

The Kolchak Papers Grave Secrets

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Before the X-Files came Kolchak, The Night Stalker. Over the course of two books, two TV movies and twenty-plus television episodes, Carl Kolchak investigated and dispatched a variety of evil entities (including two vampires, a werewolf, a renegade android and a muck monster suspiciously similar to Marvel's Man-Thing), simultaneously fencing with secretive public officials and his irascible editor, Tony Vincenzo. Kolchak, memorably portrayed by Darren McGavin, was my hero--for a long time, I wanted to be a reporter simply because he was.

Well, I grew up (yes, I know that's a matter of opinion) and forgot my dreams of becoming a journalist, but I never forgot good old Carl. CBS reran the series on late night TV a few years back, and the two movies, entitled The Night Stalker and The Night Strangler (both screenplays written by Richard Matheson!) popped up on a regular basis, so I wasn't without a Kolchak fix for long. The series was then collected and released on VHS, then DVD--like any good fanboy, I spent money on both versions, but I always pined for some new stories.

In the early nineties, FBI agents Mulder and Scully filled the void left by Kolchak's absence. In 1994, however, a new glimmer of hope appeared in a local bookshop: Grave Secrets, the first in a planned series known as The Kolchak Papers.

Author Dawidziak does an admirable job of catching Kolchak's voice--I actually could almost hear McGavin's scratchy rumble as I read. He knows the supporting characters well, and injects a good dose of humor amidst the grim goings on, as Carl investigates the grisly murders of four participants in a shady real estate deal. Although the denouement was not quite as action-oriented as I would have liked, I enjoyed the book and looked forward to future installments.

I don't know if any sequels ever appeared (I recall that one, titled Grand Inquisitor, was planned), but I do know that this book kept the idea of The Night Stalker alive during a slow period in the early nineties. Since that time, we've been "blessed" with a so-so comic book series, the failed update of the television show a couple of seasons ago, and the recent Kolchak: The Night Stalker Casebook anthology. My fondness for the character continues unabated, and so does my hope that someone will take another stab at reviving the franchise on film or television.

(P.S.: Just wanted to recommend Dawidziak's excellent tribute to the series, called Night Stalking: A 25th Anniversary Kolchak Companion before I sign off. Filled with inside information, it's an excellent introduction for newcomers and a welcome trip down memory lane for long time fans.)