Customer Reviews

Prey

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

David Williams with his young son Danny move into Fortyfoot House, a run down 19th century orphanage in Bonchurch to restore it. He hears scuffling and scratching in the walls and attic that could be a rat and in reality is more like a rat monstrosity. Locally the town has a history of children who disappear, never to be seen again. They are taken where the clock can't find them, taken by this rat/boy creature, Brown Jenkin. He starts to see spirits of people long dead, yet are not dead. He learns the history of the house, which is still happening yesterday, now and tomorrow. The house not only has a sinister past, but an equally sinister present and future. This time travel tale is unsettling, and engrossing. It's an uneasy read. I cannot stress to you enough just how good Masterton is, and if you can only pick up one or two books at a time, let this be on your list.

David Williams is not having a good year. His wife leaves him and his son, Daniel, for another man, taking most of his money in the process. In his emotional distraction he loses his business. It is only by happenstance that he finds a position restoring Fortyfoot House, a century old deserted orphanage. No sooner does he settle in but he starts hearing spooky scratching and rustling in the attic. And he sees ghostly presences in the garden and bedroom.

The only good news in David's life is the appearance of Elizabeth, an attractive college student, who moves in while on a summer job. She helps with the cooking and provides needed companionship. As David investigates the strange goings on about Fortyfoot House he discovers that the strange noises and lights are blamed by the villagers on a strange rat-like creature called Brown Jenkin. He is associated with the original owners of the house. In 1886 a terrible disease struck the orphanage and all the children died. In some fashion Brown Jenkin had something to do with the deaths.

Soon the haunting turns into killing, as first a rat killer, and then a neighbor, are horribly slaughtered. David discovers that the house isn't quite where it appears to be. The horror builds until the lives of both Daniel and Liz are threatened and David is drawn into an insane ritual that promises the end of the world. David must face inhuman evil if he wishes to end the nightmare.

Graham Masterton, less known that writers like King, Straub and Koontz, is still one of our best contemporary horror writers. "Prey," written in 1992, is something of a tour-de-force. Masterton makes use of both legends and occult mythology to craft a tale that draws the reader in and keeps him or her reading to the very end. Masterton has the ability to build the horror of a scene so that is has real impact. His narrative flows naturally and his use of internal dialog contributes to the dark atmosphere. "Prey" is a classic of top-notch spookiness.

I have been a fan of Graham Masterton's fiction for a number of years now, since I first came across his work when just a schoolboy. This is certainly a very entertaining horror read, and engages the reader on many levels.

Masterton is a master of mood and setting, and here he perfectly captures the air of an English summer on the Isle of Wight, in the midst of which stands Fortyfoot House with all it's menace...

The evil presence of a being known popularly to locals as Brown Jenkin, part giant rat, part human, scurries through the walls of the house, twittering and calling in the darkness. Strange lights and sounds come from the attic at night. Why did so many children die in the space of a few days at Fortyfoot House in November 1886? Why is the roof constructed in such a bizarre fashion, so that it's angles appear...impossible?

Masterton has drawn heavily from the Cthulhu Mythos originated by classic writer H. P. Lovecraft for this story. At first I was dismayed that he did this, as I am thoroughly versed in the original canon. My fear was that he would take such liberties as to ruin my enjoyment of this book, despite being such a Masterton fan. However, with reflection I do not see it as a problem at all. Sure, he has taken huge liberties with Cthulhu Mythos lore, but why not? Too many people are too precious about it. Besides, the constant addition and taking of liberties only serve to enhance and contribute further to the cycle. While this novel is certainly fringe-Mythos, it is still a fantastic read. And you cannot ask for more than that.

With plenty of gory detail to satisfy without overpowering you, Masterton has written another great horror tale. A classic horror page turner.

I think this is one of the best page turners I have read in along time. I definately think it's better than "Jack Built". It is very twisted and makes you think about time and space. Worth your money on all counts. If you like horror...this is a good one!

I have only read four of Graham Masterton's novels to date-"The Burning," "The House That Jack Built," "Spirit," and "Prey"-and all four have left a lasting impression on me. I don't understand why this author does not receive more praise from horror readers. Why does an overrated writer like Richard Laymon sell thousands upon thousands of mass-market reprints, receiving laudatory accolades the likes of which haven't been seen since Roman generals celebrated triumphs and ovations in the streets of Rome, while Masterton remains in the shadows? Beats me. I'll take a Graham Masterton novel over the vast amount of hash that passes for horror any day. His novels literally burst with energy, extreme gore, and intriguing plots. For instance, this author took the old haunted house theme and reworked it in a new, intriguing way in "Spirit" and "The House That Jack Built." With "Prey," Masterton fleshes out H.P. Lovecraft's story "The Dreams in the Witch House" into a lengthy novel loaded with soul numbing horror. While I agree with many other reviewers who state that this book is not Masterton's best effort, I disagree when they say it's an unworthy read. Even an average effort from this storyteller is a cracking good yarn.

"Prey" takes place on the Isle of Wight, a location known to me primarily as the site of one of the best live performances from Emerson, Lake, and Palmer. But forget about hearing "Pictures at an Exhibition" here. Masterton introduces us to Fortyfoot House, a monolithic structure with a past so horrifying that it's continuing presence instills great dread in the natives. David Williams, an interior decorator plodding through a shattered marriage and catastrophic financial difficulties, moves into the house with his son Danny to renovate the decaying abode in an effort to resuscitate his ill fortunes. Right from the start weird incidents occur. Father and son witness through the windows of a shattered chapel a ghostly man clad in black moving across the lawn. An old painting of an evil, red headed woman in the same chapel scares both of them. And then there are the scratching noises in the attic, noises that David first attributes to common rats until he hears the local myth about Brown Jenkin. According to the hysterical tales floating around the island, Brown Jenkin is a dangerous supernatural creature of frightening size and shape. Moreover, there is talk about local children disappearing whenever strange lights appear in Fortyfoot House. David Williams considers this talk nonsense and begins renovating with the help of a young woman named Liz who turned up to squat at the abandoned house.

After the local exterminator dies in an extremely grotesque manner while searching for Brown Jenkin, Williams begins feeling real dread. Despite increasingly bizarre occurrences, however, he refuses to leave Fortyfoot House. After all, he needs the money the job will bring in. Still you would think the apparitions moving across the lawn and in the picture hanging on a wall in the house would cause the most stouthearted to head for the hills, especially when one's child is in danger. But Williams stays as things get weirder. More deaths occur, as do more malefic hallucinations. David learns about the history of Fortyfoot House from a local woman and the local vicar, learns about the family that lived there and ran the place as an orphanage, about a wicked woman named Kezia Mason and her alleged ties to witchcraft. And he learns more than he ever cared to know about Brown Jenkin and the purposes of the house when he opens a trapdoor in the attic only to stare into a nightmare beyond all known conceptions of time and space. "Prey" goes well beyond the bare bones story created by H.P. Lovecraft, turning "The Dreams in the Witch House" into nothing less than an apocalyptic tale where the eldritch horrors of the Cthulhu mythos put in a personal appearance.

I ultimately liked "Prey," especially Masterton's skillful creation of a detailed backstory explaining the origins of Fortyfoot House. I enjoyed the gory sequences as well (check out what happens to the vicar when he and David decide to step through that trapdoor). What I couldn't help but notice were the numerous plot holes threading their way through the story, plot holes so huge you could lob the planet Jupiter straight through them without touching the edges. What in the heck is this guy doing staying in the house after these nightmares start unfolding on a regular basis? And with a kid? No way, Jose. Masterton occasionally does an effective job of overcoming this problem, at least in the beginning, but after a time the continued presence of these people in Fortyfoot House just doesn't ring true. And while I thought the ending exciting and properly disturbing in the grand tradition of Lovecraft, I didn't buy for a second how Williams suddenly got another chance to avoid the disastrous effects of the house. Doesn't that sort of negate the events of the entire novel? And why not just grab Liz and run off instead of letting her go?

Yes sir, there are more than a few problems with "Prey." Are they enough to ruin the book? Hardly. The pace moves at lightening speed once Masterton establishes the plot elements, the creative history of the house is massively entertaining, and there is enough bloodshed to warm the black hearts of the gorehounds. I can't give the book five stars though, both for the issues listed above and the lack of the distinctive Lovecraft narrative voice. One of the things I love about good old H.P. is the ornate (some would say overblown) prose, which always seems to add an additional gravitas to the shrieking horrors. Masterton writes in plain old English, effective enough for a good story but not comparable to the master. An entertaining read.

I know Masterton has some rabid fans out there that will blast me for this... but this book should have been much better than it turned out to be. First the short spoiler free synopsis:

Man gets divorced, loses business, takes son and gets a job renovating a house that is for sale. According to local towns people the house is both haunted and the home of a rat type creature that has something to do with disappearing children. Random squatter girl shows up to squat in the haunted house, man and child invite her to say, scary things start to happen. End Synopsis

Masterton has an excellent way of inducing panic in the reader, he is very good at making the house creepy, the sounds scary, and to make the hair on your arms prickle up. This is my first Masterton book, and I am very impressed with his handle on atmosphere. He also has a fairly good story here with the ability to draw on some of the Lovecraftian themes that he seems to be going after. Between the atmosphere and the plot this book should have been 4-5 stars no problem.

But we do have a problem... for all of Masterton's talent in the areas of atmosphere and plot... he is severely lacking in the intelligent character department. First off, there is no way that anyone would have stayed (keep in mind there is a small child here) in that house after people started dropping dead. Second... this entire book takes place in less than a week, which, I'm sorry the relationships that develop and are apparently so important to the story, cannot have developed in that time frame. 17-18 year old girls don't immediately fall in love with mid 30 year old guys with no money, no real job, and a kid just so they can squat in a house. The choices the characters make border on ludicrous, almost as if they have all completely lost their minds. They are like lemmings chit chatting before leaping off the cliff...

My second grip is that the ending was extremely rushed, Masterton had been so careful with the atmosphere and the mood that I was almost able to forgive the idiot characters, until we hit the homestretch in the book... from there it seems like he jammed about 150 pages worth of material into 50, and his strong points of atmosphere and plot lost out.

Still, despite my complaints, this book does have merit. I do plan on reading another by him in the near future. He has a tremendous grasp on manipulating the reader through atmosphere... I hope that in his other books his characters will be stronger. I give this particular novel 3 stars but it should have by all rights been a much better book.

This was my first Masterton book; I remember getting a copy of it in my language ( I'm Polish) from another fellow Polish student in 9th grade. That's all it took for me to be hooked on Graham forever, just this one book.

That was ten years ago, now my bookshelf is crammed with Masterton, I pretty much bought everything he wrote, and let me tell you, there wasn't one book I haven't like, from what I read all ready. I treat his book like precious jewels, because he doesn't write that much, and hopefully he has new things coming out so I can immerse myself in him again.

Prey was a fascinating read. This was beyond a haunted house story. I still remember vividly reading this into the wee hours of the night, sweaty, with matted hair over my head, not daring to turn the lights off and go to sleep.
This story will suck you in, its scary, deep, well written, and its insanely entertaining!

Briefly why I loved this book: We have two main characters, David and Danny who move in to the creepy Fortyfoot House on an Isle, far away from people and help, with scary noises in the attic, graveyard full of kids of suddenly all died and ghost nurse sightings, photos that change all the time, and a mystery that will knock your socks off in the end. This is a Horror with a heavy dose of adrenaline pumping terror, be ready to stay up with this baby a few nights in a row.

Excellent, he's my favorite writer, and I don ever see that changing.

Masterton's Work has never been for all people. He has a style that brings the other world into reaching distance of this world. He creates works that lovers of the surreal side of horror enjoy. In many respects that is what his horror novels have in common, since none of them are consistently.
As usual, Masterton creates a vivid first person narrative, and shows the person a picture of a dark and foreboding place in the other side of the world of "reality". I have never been disappointed by a Masterton Horror novel, and whilst I also wonder why he has not received more wider acclaim than he has, it is very evident that he has influenced the film world of horror either implicitly, or explicitly. I sometimes suspect maybe that he has done a script under a Nom De Plume, especially since Masterton's Books have appeared under the names of "other authors".
PREY is a rather vivid example of Masterton's many books that I have seen all too many times. He can paint a brilliant picture of a lush, beautiful island, as well as the house in the book, and then push us " through the looking glass" to the other side, and in many ways, have the other side come slithering into our world. Very few writers create the kind of atmosphere that Masterton can, and yet, when he does , the "elite" horror fans continue to pan his work in the worst possible way.

Overall, with Masterton's works, I would much prefer to buy hardback copies of Masterton's material, and on occasion I have, but they are mostly in the rather short lived "trade paperbacks" which have enough acid to cause them to give the book the PH level of a Kitty Litter tray.

I only have a couple of words for this book. First it is a interesting read and enjoyable to a point. The "point" is that the chracters are so INCREDIBLY STUPID that you want them all to just get maimed and murdered. God i did not know that dialogue could be this terrible. And another thing the ending was absolutely horrible, i mean after going through this whole book and putting up with the [bad] dialogue and finally the suspense it barely manages to build you would think you would get a explosive and entertaining climax. You would be wrong, completely and utterly wrong. The ending is pointless and the author obviously ran out of ideas or didnt really care. He should be ashamed of himself. H.P. Lovecraft Mythos tie ins deserve better and the stupid sex scenes make me want to vomit. ...

A HORROR BOOK CANNOT GET BETTER THAN THIS;G.M HAS A WAY WITH WORDS TO SCARE THE BEJEE'S OUT OF YOU. HIS STYLE , PROSE AND CHARACTERS ARE ALWAYS REFRESHING , ENTERTAINING AND NEVER LACKS TO GRASP YOUR ATTENTION AND INTREST. ANY LADIES THINKING G.M IS A GREAT AUTHOR WRITE TO ME VIA E-MAIL.