Customer Reviews

Nightmare's Disciple

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

It seems like a winning idea: combine the serial killer novel with the Lovecraftian horror story. But the author may have been a bit too ambitious in writing his first book as a 400-page novel with a wide variety of viewpoint characters.

One of the key failures is the title character, the serial killer driven by his belief in Lovecraft's Old Ones. We're told that he commits his murders without leaving a scrap of evidence. But the character comes across more as a raving nutbar than as a cold and calculating killer. It's hard to believe that this character could have so easily eluded capture.

The dialogue is also weak. The characters infodump at each other. (Not actual quotes, but close: "Have you heard of this book?" "Yes, it was written in 1569 by a Jesuit priest, Guillermo O'Brady. Jorge De Nada, in his masterwork De Rerum Spatula, discusses O'Brady's retelling of the arrival of G'Brish and the cult activities performed in its name. Few copies still exist of the book; its contents are summarized, though in censored form, in the Acta Studia of Peccata Mundi," he replied.)

The in-jokes are also occasionally obtrusive, knocking the reader out of the flow of the story. When I stop to notice that a couple of cops are named after members of the MC5, I have to make an effort to get back into the story.

There are some intriguing characters in the book, and some reasonably well-written passages. It's enough to make me wish that Pulver could have had the help of a sympathetic but merciless editor to make a leaner, more powerful, less comic-bookish novel from this story. As it is, it reads like promising but unpolished fan fiction.

I liked this book alot, because in many ways it put a more palpable spin on the whole Cthulhu Mythos. Where Lovecraft's protagonists were, in part, pallid and sort of ponderous---and almost always male---Nightmare's Disciple was a story with sterner, stronger heroes. Characters with flaws and believable virtues. The tale's villain is singularly vile, though also sympathetic only in the sense that he believes himself to be a messiah with a genuine cause. The introduction of a new Mythos entity, Kassogtha, I also liked, though she struck me as a kind of alternate identity for Shub-Niggurath. And, moreover, I was able to experience the evil majesty of the monster, as opposed to obscure references and last minute passing glimpses. Others, such as Cthulhu and Ithaqua and Yog-Sothoth, were of course mentioned, which was also very cool. All in all, though, the writer viewed his tale through fresh eyes. I think H.P. would have been proud. My only complaint was the overabundance of uneccessary references to music and movies and even other writers that shared little or no connection with the Mythos. Less deadwood and more monsters---that's my motto. Still and all, I recommend the book highly. It'll grab you and keep you until the last page, whether you're a Lovecraft buff or not.

As a fan of longer fiction as opposed to short stories (and also a fan of Lovecraft's Mythos tales) it's always great to find full length stories like this.

Nightmare's Disciple is a great tale about a Mythos-mad serial killer in the present day. It was fun guessing throughout the whole novel: 'Is Lovecraft's Mythos real or is it just this killer who thinks it is?"

The only thing I had a hard time with and disliked more and more as the novel progressed was the amazing amount of space dedicated to pop-culture. As a Lovecraft fan I am used to his references of ancient texts and so forth. However, in Pulver's novel he seems to use it as a showcase for everything he knows about pop-culture. Characters discuss for page after page about Lovecraft and his disciples, authors like Lumley, Howard, even Rice and King. All kinds of music and musical styles (even lines from songs are used as prose in the novel, while cute at first, it becomes a major distraction later on in the novel) horror movies, models, posters, art, comics, just about every little thing you can imagine.

Sort through all of that and you have yourself a good novel that I really enjoyed. An excellent debut story from Mr. Pulver whom I hope continues on with more full length Mythos work. It appears the publishers 'Chaosium', while not accustomed to publishing full length Mythos work should have assigned a tougher editor for this novel. If some of the redundant information was cut it Would have made a much tighter and suspenseful story. It should not have been left up to Pulver alone on his first major work.

Overall Mr. Pulver should be commended for his work on his first full length novel! Hopefully as he produces more work, he will stick with fewer topics and not branch off into all of his interests.

I have read this novel three times, and enjoyed it more with each new reading. There simply are not enough well-written Cthulhu Mythos novels to be read, and this one is so unusual and well done that it makes one wish that Joseph Pulver would try his hand at a new Cthulhu Mythos novel every two or three years. His imagination is unique, and there are many voices in this book -- each voice coming across as strange yet authentic. Nothing is cliche, and the novel enhances the genres that spawned it. The Mythos lore itself is great and reveals that Pulver knows his Lovecraftian stuff:

"So, let's see, the mad Arab, Abdul Alhazred, was butchered by invisible claws and devoured during broad daylight in Beled el Dijinn, the city of devils. Alhazred wrote his book in the 8th-century A. D. The most often quoted line from the book is, 'That is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange aeons even death may die.' That's your couplet. It refers to Cthulhu himself, who lies dreaming of reconquering the world while in a sunken city under the Pacific. The NECRONOMICON is about a thousand pages long. Of all the forbidden books in the Mythos it is the most complete. It contains histories, spells, prophecies, etc. Just about every author who has contributed to Lovecraft's demon-filled genealogy has quoted from it once or twice."

I've always considered it a problem when writers include both the fiction of H. P. Lovecraft and the lore of that fiction as equally existing in the "real" world. With Pulver, there is no problem whatsoever. This novel is written by a true fan, yet it never comes across as "fannish" in any way. The prose style is rich and strange, at times poetic and at other times sounding like it comes from a straight detective novel. Pulver's imagination is at times extremely brutal -- we never forget that this is a book about an extremely violent psycho-killer, n'est-ce pas. The book's one critical error comes on page 108, where Edgar Poe's middle name is misspelled. The characters in this book are fascinating, and each one is extremely well developed and believable, strange as they may be. There are also portions of humor that are quite delightful. There's wisdom about buying Arkham House books such as Gary Myers' sensational THE HOUSE OF THE WORM. There's some delightful tips on trying to pronounce Mythos names:

"...After reading about the two barrel-shaped, star-headed figurines on the counter, Elder Things they were called, he memorized the Mythos prehistory of Earth and was working on the pronunciation of Mythos names.
"Nyarlathotep, NIGH-ar-LATH-oe-tep. Nyogthat, nee-AUG-thah."

Both of those are incorrect, Joe. It's Nigh-arr-lae-HO-tep and Nie-AUG-thah.

There simply aren't enough really good Cthulhu Mythos novels around these days, and for the wee price being charged here at Amazon, you would be an eldritch fool to pass this one up. Buy it, and be amazed! Those who say the book is badly written are proved wrong here at Amazon, for the first six or seven pages of the novel may be read by clicking on the book's cover -- and they are extremely WELL-written! Ia!

When I first read this book a few years ago I was put off by the amount of digression on the author's interests-music, comics, art etc. I really thought, and still do, that this book needed really good, ruthless editing. Cut out about 30% of the wordage and this book would be a near classic addition to the Mythos.

That said, I just read it for the second time and did a bit of self editing/skipping ahead. I found that this book was much better the second time around. Make the effort, and you will find this book a truly rewarding experience.

_Nightmare's Disciple_ is a delightful piece of suspense building off the premise that the Cthulhu Mythos is real and its cultists are active here and now. That being the case, how might the creatures of the Mythos manifest themselves in the modern world?

Like with many of Lovecraft's own stories, we are left unsure how much of this nightmare is a product of the characters' own madness and how much is "really" there. Especially striking are the characters who own the horror shop, who gradually come to realize that their hobby is more than just fun and games.

I don't want to say too much more, lest I give any spoilers. Mr. Pulver's novel doesn't perhaps have the *cosmic* feel of Lovecraft's best mythos stories, but it is an admirable (and I think successful) attempt to suggest how near terror may be to what we naively think of as our everyday life.

Nightmare's Disciple by Joseph S. Pulver was enjoyable and was so creepy, I started seeing things while reading in to wee hours of the morning. Mr. Pulver takes you into the realm of the unbelievable and makes it very very real. The villain is a modern day Jack the Ripper, who sacrifices his victims to the Great Old Ones (GOO). Namely Kassogatha (Cthulhu's consort demon goddess). Pulver's knowledge of Lovecraftian arcania is wide and deep. I particularly enjoyed learning about some of the music associated with the Mythos of Lovecraft. The book would easily make a fantastic movie. The only draw back (a minor one), is that the story could have been edited down by about 100 pages as much of the dialoge was too much fluff to the story but fun to read anyway.

I was introduced to Nightmare's Disciple a little over a year ago when I had the good fortune of meeting the author. Intrigued by the concept of a full length modern adaptation of the Cthulhu Mythos I acquired a copy and eagerly devoured its contents. What a book what a story, the masterful combination of the mystery as to whether or not the Great Old Ones were real, the psychology of the characters, and the modernization of the mythos genre by the inclusion of Mythos references that refer to individual who are not yet worm food made for a highly enjoyable reading experience. Nor does it hurt that Pulver is one of those author with whom the English language can be made to paint any picture, set any scene, narrate any story. All of which leads me to the conclusion that this book is one of the best if not the best modern adaptations of the Cthulhu Mythos genre yet written.

The potential of Joe "Da Beast" Pulver as an author has been woefully overlooked. Looks like that will soon be changing, however; look for a first collection of short tales by Pulver in 2009.

He's somewhat self-indulgent in this novel, getting a bit too much into his favorite topics of music, books, films, etc. for some mainstream readers, but there's no way this drags the book down. With some editing, this could be a bestselling thriller without any problem whatsoever! The bestselling horror authors today write 900 page books one after another, each luring the reader along with the expectation of something great to come; problem is, the climax withers on the vine and leaves the reader pissed at having been tricked into wasting all that reading time for nothing. The other reviews here make it sound as if Pulver's novel does the same thing, but it doesn't!

S.T. Joshi didn't like this book but loves Pulver's recent short fiction. So look out, folks, Pulver's up and coming! And he deserves it!

This is the best kind of book that has an obscure premise. It assumes that you know nothing and will bring you up to speed in a very plausable and thorough way. At it's core it is a horror/serial killer novel, that is very well plotted and compelling to read. In a nutshell itis a story about a serial killer in a small american city, of course this serial killer believes very deeply in the Cthulhu Mythos, and through a very well rendered changing of viewpoints you get to see inside his sick world along with those who are trying to catch him . . . a group as diverse as some horror shop owerns, rock musicians, the police, a voodoo ??? or whatever, the owner of a restrant, a librian, and the assorted journilists and politicians the always seem to pop up around these kinda things.

This is a great read for anyone who likes well written horror/crime/occult books.