Customer Reviews

The WYRM

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

 

 

I have only recently decided to get into the modern horror genre. Most of my reading has been centered on nonfiction (history), philosophy, science fiction, and historical fiction, even though as a teenager I read a handful of Stephen King novels. I like the ideas of Lovecraft and Shelley's Frankenstein is one of my favorite novels, I heard Stephen Laws was good so I went to the local used bookstores and searched for Darkfall, wasn't there, bought this and a couple of others. I say all this to clarify that I am no horror aficionado, and at this point I couldn't tell you what is considered "A-List" from personal experience relative to the horror genre.

This is a book about a vile beast (the title character, the Wyrm, which I guess is pronounced either "Weerm" or "Vyrm") that emerges from w/in the earth after the sacred seal that secured the beast is broken. The protagonists are a broken down horror novelist, a shy young woman, and her father who has a secret regarding the Wyrm, plus a couple of kids and dogs and cops. The monster is blatantly Lovecraftian, which I liked, but the monster also talked too much, bragging about how horrifying and evil he is. That's sophmoric writing. The book has deformed zombies, Hellhounds, and a deadly fog. In other words, it takes villains from about 4 different 50s movies and combines them into one threat.

At times the writing is inspired, particularly through some of the "horror" sequences, at times it's insipid and cheesy. "He recoiled in terror"...as opposed to recoiling in joy? At times the characterization hits the mark, at other times, it's cliched. At times the monster is creepy (particularly the final form), at other times it's like he's singing, "I'm, too sexy for my decapitations, too sexy for my decapitations, so sexy it hurrrrtss...." The first couple of attacks by the creature are a bit unnerving, but by the end...been there, seen that. This is not a bad book, although it starts off a bit slowly (mind you, to develop the characters) and I imagine pretty standard fare for the horror genre. If you want to read a modernized, gory version of a Lovecraftian tale, w/ a slight Christian bent, this book would make an adequate read.

If you're sensitive to doggies, I warn you, a doggie that you grow attached to gets killed in it.

Two-and-a-half stars, really.

Michael Lambton is a jittery, retiring young horror writer, in the rustic little sideroad English town of Shillingham. He's taking something of a break from his work, to exorcize personal demons. His neighbor, solitary barmaid Christy Warwick, has a few demons of her own to exorcize - her father's the town loony, possessive, overprotective, obsessive and not a little bizarre. The two meet and hit it off fairly quickly, and would probably have a textbook boring romance if it weren't for recent goings-on. Seems the Shillingham town council is ready to tear down that four-hundred-year-old gallows that is the only local tourist attraction, and modernize a bit. Christy's dad is downright homicidally opposed to the idea, for some reason. He's arrested for chasing off the bulldozers and diggers with a shotgun, but that's the least of Michael, Christy and Shillingham's problems - the gallows was the only thing keeping a bad man down, and now that it's removed, all hell's starting to break loose.

This book is nothing you haven't read before, and you've probably read it better. Laws is a talented writer - his more recent Darkfall is especially good - but The Wyrm is one of his earlier efforts, written seventeen years ago, and it shows. It's a tad derivative of Lovecraft and Bram Stoker, and a little juvenilistically over-the-top. The writing is undisciplined, the plot telegraphed and the finale fairly predictable.

However, the seeds of Laws' more mature style of later years are in evidence. The first third of the book is especially good in atmosphere and development of genuinely likeable characters. After that highly promising beginning, it all starts to fall apart and become a less than believable supernatural melodrama, the preceding careful weaving of plot giving way to special-effect variety non-stop action. There's a semi-clever twist to the ending, which you're likely to skim quickly to if you've read books of this type before (and plainly you will have, if this is your cup of tea).

Open to the middle of the book and read a couple of pages first, before buying. If you like what you see there, you'll like the rest of it. If it all seems terribly over-familiar, you'll want to look elsewhere. Even if The Wyrm isn't what you want, though, something else by Laws probably will be. He's definitely an author worth watching.

A small Scottish town in the countryside becomes a living hell when an ancient gallows pole is removed and thus releases an ancient, centuries-old evil which seeks revenge for its imprisonment and brings horror to everyone within this small society. Fast, violent, creepy tale with good characters and an evil both dark and terryfing. If you like horror with monsters and mystery, you will like this one.

The Wyrm isn’t really anything original, and nothing that Laws did with it was that unique, but it still managed to keep up an interesting string of events.

The atmosphere was dark enough to serve its purpose for a horror novel, I enjoyed the characters, the pace was steady overall, and the ending was dynamic. The “fight” itself lasted awhile and then abruptly exploded.

While not an award winner, The Wyrm is a book worth hunting down. It tells the story of an ancient creature letting loose its havoc on a small town, killing and terrorizing many. The Wyrm speaks of pure evil, and, while done with a one-dimensional touch, manages to entertain after all.

Unable to maintain even a shred of thrill or excitement, I felt the plot was ill conceived and sophomoric. With a story that has been recycled to the point of extinction, Laws adds neither appeal nor originality to a vintage tale. Had the pen fell more on the fleshing out of the idea instead of rushing to the end, the turn out may have been much different. Which leads me to the pace, which was rapid to say the least. Ever moving, the story reads as if in a race, leaving the reader flushed and slightly ill.

The atmosphere was intended to be mysterious and filled with an illusion of security. It missed the mark. Instead, foreshadowing with a 2 million watt spotlight! The characters were transparent, prearranged, and unfortunately felt like a second thought. With only a passing glimpse into their past, you never get a true insight into these people we are supposed to rally for. The style of writing was weak and uninvolved. Throughout the book, Laws needlessly appoints blinking signs along the way.

On the flip side, I did enjoy reading U.K. gutter slang. With my ever-growing list of inappropriate catch phrases, I'll be sure to add those few to my list of "Things to say when ...". My mother and I thank you.

IF you have this book or see it on the shelf in your local book store I would recommend picking it up for a read during a plane or bus trip. But start reading the book at page 99 since the first 98 pages are charater development and sort of drags along as you are introduced to all the 'main' charaters and how the secondary charaters view and see them. The story picks up on page 100 when the Gibbet is FINALLY unearthed from the ground. Then the action and the storyline goes from slow and boring to a faster and interesting pace.

This is a really fun read and highly recommended. One of those few horror books that have made me not want to put down the book after Ive been reading it for awhile. I will look forward to reading other books by this excellent writer. Ive been into the horror genre since the early 70's and highly recommend this one. I hope this gets turned into a movie eventually it would make a good one.