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The Unblessed
IT CAN WRENCH THE WILL FROM YOUR SOUL, AND WRING THE LIFE FROM YOUR BLOOD.
- GenresHorror
398 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1982
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 26, 2023
Total cheese fest by Richards, the only horror novel by him I believe, and first published by Zebra in 1982. For some reason, this is set in 1970 and starts off in Africa. Some English and American archeologists stumbled across an ancient temple to the 'spider god' or something that has been abandoned for thousands of years. References to the 'spider god' appeared in several ancient civilizations, but this temple seems to be the oldest.
Our main protagonist, journalist Chris Collin, is also in Africa when the temple is discovered, working on the illicit ivory trade. Chris is stuck in some tiny village in Zaire waiting for the rest of his party to return; they were due days ago. When he wants to go after them, the local 'Ranger' takes him to an even smaller village and he learns the lore of the spider god. It seems the 'god', also called 'Anansi' can read your mind and directly possess you if it so desires and you come in range. Hence, a good chuck of the rain forest is off-limits. Unfortunately, that is where Chris' party went...
Well, long story short, but the spider god gets out and heads to the USA and the gist of the story is Chris and friends trying to track it down and kill it. This is one of those novels that is really so bad it is almost good. If you can ignore the gaping plot holes and clichés, The Unblessed becomes entertaining in a strange, 80s horror way. The problem with tracking down Anansi is that he can read you mind from afar and knows what you are up to! Chris, however, is the latest incarnation of some avenging angel or something and he has fought the creature before; in fact, many times in prior lives. What is special about Chris (besides being a reincarnated angel) is that the 'demon' cannot read his mind!
Richards never really describes the spider god in any length, except that is gives off colors and assumes many forms (energy being?). It also likes to suck people's brains out through their eye sockets. Oh, it also has an assistant, the so-called 'guardian', who starts the novel as a devil worshiper in Denver but somehow transforms into the age old guardian after a ritual. I found this curiously compelling, but I did have to start it a few times. If you have a high tolerance for cheese, give this a go, but do go in with low expectations! 2.5 spider stars!
P.S. Still not sure where the spider god moniker came from, as the entity does not look like a spider; maybe because it lures people into its lair (which always seems to be an underground grotto...
Our main protagonist, journalist Chris Collin, is also in Africa when the temple is discovered, working on the illicit ivory trade. Chris is stuck in some tiny village in Zaire waiting for the rest of his party to return; they were due days ago. When he wants to go after them, the local 'Ranger' takes him to an even smaller village and he learns the lore of the spider god. It seems the 'god', also called 'Anansi' can read your mind and directly possess you if it so desires and you come in range. Hence, a good chuck of the rain forest is off-limits. Unfortunately, that is where Chris' party went...
Well, long story short, but the spider god gets out and heads to the USA and the gist of the story is Chris and friends trying to track it down and kill it. This is one of those novels that is really so bad it is almost good. If you can ignore the gaping plot holes and clichés, The Unblessed becomes entertaining in a strange, 80s horror way. The problem with tracking down Anansi is that he can read you mind from afar and knows what you are up to! Chris, however, is the latest incarnation of some avenging angel or something and he has fought the creature before; in fact, many times in prior lives. What is special about Chris (besides being a reincarnated angel) is that the 'demon' cannot read his mind!
Richards never really describes the spider god in any length, except that is gives off colors and assumes many forms (energy being?). It also likes to suck people's brains out through their eye sockets. Oh, it also has an assistant, the so-called 'guardian', who starts the novel as a devil worshiper in Denver but somehow transforms into the age old guardian after a ritual. I found this curiously compelling, but I did have to start it a few times. If you have a high tolerance for cheese, give this a go, but do go in with low expectations! 2.5 spider stars!
P.S. Still not sure where the spider god moniker came from, as the entity does not look like a spider; maybe because it lures people into its lair (which always seems to be an underground grotto...
March 4, 2020
The first third is a creepy, deep dark jungle of cosmic horror that I willingly forged into with a dreadful sort of happiness. However, once the stage is set, the story devolved into a mishmash of karate, guns, a vampire, Satanic cults, heroes hanging from helicopters, and spy-novel-level hypnotism flim-flammery. It's sad that such a great concept seemed to get lost in what I can only presume was editing-per-committee and wandered irrationally all over the place.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 11, 2021
This book is bonkers. This is one of those books that you have to go into knowing it's not a good book so you can enjoy it for what it is. Which is silly, cliched and all over the place. But it's not boring.
May 19, 2025
This review may be a little harsh, so please keep that in mind before reading. I just had to get my thoughts out somehow.
I enjoy a good dose of bad stuff, I enjoy fun bad stuff. I like having a fun time. I can't even begin to describe how this book made me feel when I read it and how I feel like I'm going insane when I talk about it because nobody has ever heard of it.
I love horror, I love a good monster story, I love hidden gems, I also love a good, classic cover. When I saw the monster on the cover of The Unblessed, I thought "hey, that looks cool!"
No disrespect meant to Mr. Richards, but what in Dolly Parton's green Earth did I even read.
Reading the "teaser" that they put into Zebra books at the beginning was off-putting enough, describing something that's going to happen to a character we meet literally on the third page, so there's no sense in getting attached to him. Then I read the forward insisting that this was a "true story of a monster that terrorized Central Africa, Anansi."
Anansi.
That immediately set off alarm bells in my head and I'd understand if it doesn't for any other reader, buuuuut: Anansi by my best knowledge in what I've read about him from a quick jaunt to Wikipedia is not demonic, nor is he from ~Central Africa~ (we don't have specific countries to name, huh?) He originates from the Akan people that are from what's Ghana today and appears in folklore of African American culture, West Indies, and Afro-Carribean cultures among others. Where's Ghana again...?
Oh right. West Africa. That seems a little off from the center, huh?
Further on about Anansi, he's more of a trickster being that takes the form of a spider with human features (or a human with spider features).
He's also sometimes called "Aunt Nancy." Truly terrifying.
It's the direct opposite of how he's depicted in the book which is more akin to some Eldritch abomination that...eats the brains of his victims and enslaves their wills that way? I would say he's some knock-off of Pennywise, except The Unblessed predates IT by a few years.
How the book is laid out feels more like a script for a movie pitch that was never realized since, Anansi and inaccuracies there aside, our story's hero is a white American guy named Chris.
Yes, indeed, they were doing the "pushing a white dude named Chris at the forefront of a story, especially at the expense of what is explicitly a conflict that originates from and involves non-white people, so he can save the day" thing even in the early 80s.
Here's what you need to know about Chris:
1. His girlfriend/fiancee doesn't matter, she's expendable (as you do)
2. For some reason, he's immune to Anansi's mind control (Anansi can't read his thoughts). This is never explained, though they half-ass a story about him being descended from an "ancient warrior" (think Grecian or Roman days) that was also immune. It is also never explained how Protagacus (not really his name but may as well be) is immune.
3. He's a weenie at first (understandably, he's a journalist, not a fighter) but after the horrific deaths of everyone expendable in his life from their first go around of trying to kill Anansi (they switch between calling him Anansi and a really really dumb name that Anansi is never referred to as in his lore, the author likely made it up) he gets an upgrade in badass off-screen and is so hardened but also...cries? And apologizes? For losing his temper and hitting someone, because he is so afraid of losing people he cares for? Things are just sort of hand waved and inconsistent with Chris.
4. New love interest lady instantly falls in love with him and he with her even though he has to do the brooding pushing away of the love interest for...a tenth of a minute. I genuinely thought the story was going to end with Chris dying and her being pregnant as an implication that ~the cycle continues~ in the fight against Anansi.
But no, Chris actually storms the base that Anansi is in with his cultists (who I think are the "unblessed" the title is referring to, maybe) with guns a-blazing (as you American-do) and blows up the entire thing.
I didn't know dangerous demonic beings (oops I mean "spider gods" [Anansi is also not a god!]) weren't immune to TNT but hell, what do I know, I'm not a white guy named Chris.
I kept reading because I thought "maybe it'll get better. Maybe I'll have it click and I'll be scared or have fun" and by all the Golden Girls in Heaven watching over silly gals like me, it did not get better. There is a random guy that has been doing a ritual for years to get Anansi to possess him, and when he does he...takes the form of an apostle for Anansi. Which is effectively a Tumblr sexyman in a suit that then proceeds to seduce other people over to the cult (he's not interested in seduction in a sexual sense, though the cultist do engage in those stereotypical hedonistic behaviors, so okay unexpected sex-repulsed ace rep??)
He does show interest in New Love Interest Girl just...randomly, though. Don't worry, that doesn't really go anywhere, it's just a means of false tension.
The writing style leaves something to be desired as well, even in all of this nonsense of accidentally awakening Anansi, being hunted by Anansi, then blowing up Anansi with bombs and guns (like a real Ameri-). I can't believe I didn't put down the book the instant I read the narrative describing characters by their skin colors.
And no, I'm not implying that the author was racist, it's very frank and clinical, though I'm just saying, describing an African man who is bald as having a "...black skull..." is really weird. Equally so considering this character is described otherwise as very intelligent and likable. Hell, I would have rather had him as the main character, but sadly he got sacrificed on the altar of Chris's manpain. No, no, when I read him describing Chris himself as "the white man" and I got the image of Jerry Seinfeld as a bee shouting "THE WHITE MAAAAAN?" I instantly knew I couldn't take this book seriously.
And yet I continued. Please do not make the same mistake as me, do not read this book if by some miracle you manage to find a copy of it. I'm keeping my copy regardless because it feels like a weird piece of history, or like the Jumanji board and I need to make sure the curse doesn't spread.
PS: There's a ridiculous love triangle between Chris, New Love Interest, and Tech Weenie that's so inconsequential and low stakes that it really didn't need to be there, like there was never a question New Love Interest would end up with Chris. Though tbh Chris showed more feelings towards Tech Weenie I figured in a better world they could just be poly.
PPS: I just read another review stating that the "explanation" is Chris is the reincarnation of an angel. (Thank you for that, because I legitimately did not catch it). And I thought the Christ allegory was just accidental!
I enjoy a good dose of bad stuff, I enjoy fun bad stuff. I like having a fun time. I can't even begin to describe how this book made me feel when I read it and how I feel like I'm going insane when I talk about it because nobody has ever heard of it.
I love horror, I love a good monster story, I love hidden gems, I also love a good, classic cover. When I saw the monster on the cover of The Unblessed, I thought "hey, that looks cool!"
No disrespect meant to Mr. Richards, but what in Dolly Parton's green Earth did I even read.
Reading the "teaser" that they put into Zebra books at the beginning was off-putting enough, describing something that's going to happen to a character we meet literally on the third page, so there's no sense in getting attached to him. Then I read the forward insisting that this was a "true story of a monster that terrorized Central Africa, Anansi."
Anansi.
That immediately set off alarm bells in my head and I'd understand if it doesn't for any other reader, buuuuut: Anansi by my best knowledge in what I've read about him from a quick jaunt to Wikipedia is not demonic, nor is he from ~Central Africa~ (we don't have specific countries to name, huh?) He originates from the Akan people that are from what's Ghana today and appears in folklore of African American culture, West Indies, and Afro-Carribean cultures among others. Where's Ghana again...?
Oh right. West Africa. That seems a little off from the center, huh?
Further on about Anansi, he's more of a trickster being that takes the form of a spider with human features (or a human with spider features).
He's also sometimes called "Aunt Nancy." Truly terrifying.
It's the direct opposite of how he's depicted in the book which is more akin to some Eldritch abomination that...eats the brains of his victims and enslaves their wills that way? I would say he's some knock-off of Pennywise, except The Unblessed predates IT by a few years.
How the book is laid out feels more like a script for a movie pitch that was never realized since, Anansi and inaccuracies there aside, our story's hero is a white American guy named Chris.
Yes, indeed, they were doing the "pushing a white dude named Chris at the forefront of a story, especially at the expense of what is explicitly a conflict that originates from and involves non-white people, so he can save the day" thing even in the early 80s.
Here's what you need to know about Chris:
1. His girlfriend/fiancee doesn't matter, she's expendable (as you do)
2. For some reason, he's immune to Anansi's mind control (Anansi can't read his thoughts). This is never explained, though they half-ass a story about him being descended from an "ancient warrior" (think Grecian or Roman days) that was also immune. It is also never explained how Protagacus (not really his name but may as well be) is immune.
3. He's a weenie at first (understandably, he's a journalist, not a fighter) but after the horrific deaths of everyone expendable in his life from their first go around of trying to kill Anansi (they switch between calling him Anansi and a really really dumb name that Anansi is never referred to as in his lore, the author likely made it up) he gets an upgrade in badass off-screen and is so hardened but also...cries? And apologizes? For losing his temper and hitting someone, because he is so afraid of losing people he cares for? Things are just sort of hand waved and inconsistent with Chris.
4. New love interest lady instantly falls in love with him and he with her even though he has to do the brooding pushing away of the love interest for...a tenth of a minute. I genuinely thought the story was going to end with Chris dying and her being pregnant as an implication that ~the cycle continues~ in the fight against Anansi.
But no, Chris actually storms the base that Anansi is in with his cultists (who I think are the "unblessed" the title is referring to, maybe) with guns a-blazing (as you American-do) and blows up the entire thing.
I didn't know dangerous demonic beings (oops I mean "spider gods" [Anansi is also not a god!]) weren't immune to TNT but hell, what do I know, I'm not a white guy named Chris.
I kept reading because I thought "maybe it'll get better. Maybe I'll have it click and I'll be scared or have fun" and by all the Golden Girls in Heaven watching over silly gals like me, it did not get better. There is a random guy that has been doing a ritual for years to get Anansi to possess him, and when he does he...takes the form of an apostle for Anansi. Which is effectively a Tumblr sexyman in a suit that then proceeds to seduce other people over to the cult (he's not interested in seduction in a sexual sense, though the cultist do engage in those stereotypical hedonistic behaviors, so okay unexpected sex-repulsed ace rep??)
He does show interest in New Love Interest Girl just...randomly, though. Don't worry, that doesn't really go anywhere, it's just a means of false tension.
The writing style leaves something to be desired as well, even in all of this nonsense of accidentally awakening Anansi, being hunted by Anansi, then blowing up Anansi with bombs and guns (like a real Ameri-). I can't believe I didn't put down the book the instant I read the narrative describing characters by their skin colors.
And no, I'm not implying that the author was racist, it's very frank and clinical, though I'm just saying, describing an African man who is bald as having a "...black skull..." is really weird. Equally so considering this character is described otherwise as very intelligent and likable. Hell, I would have rather had him as the main character, but sadly he got sacrificed on the altar of Chris's manpain. No, no, when I read him describing Chris himself as "the white man" and I got the image of Jerry Seinfeld as a bee shouting "THE WHITE MAAAAAN?" I instantly knew I couldn't take this book seriously.
And yet I continued. Please do not make the same mistake as me, do not read this book if by some miracle you manage to find a copy of it. I'm keeping my copy regardless because it feels like a weird piece of history, or like the Jumanji board and I need to make sure the curse doesn't spread.
PS: There's a ridiculous love triangle between Chris, New Love Interest, and Tech Weenie that's so inconsequential and low stakes that it really didn't need to be there, like there was never a question New Love Interest would end up with Chris. Though tbh Chris showed more feelings towards Tech Weenie I figured in a better world they could just be poly.
PPS: I just read another review stating that the "explanation" is Chris is the reincarnation of an angel. (Thank you for that, because I legitimately did not catch it). And I thought the Christ allegory was just accidental!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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September 29, 2020Full review: https://supermonsternovels.com/2020/0...
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