The Piercing

by John Coyne

Betty Sue is an innocent young girl who acts out the agony of Christ once a week. It is haunting and fascinating to millions. The TV says it's a miracle. The Church says it's fake. But this is no charade — from her head, hands, feet and side pours her blood. Witnessing this agonizing phenomenon is Father Stephen Kinsella, a Catholic priest whose faith is already unsteady. Is she divine? Or damned?

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Religion

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1978

About the author

John Coyne (born 1937) is an American writer. He is the author of more than twenty-five nonfiction and fiction books, including a number of horror novels, while his short stories have been collected in "best of" anthologies such as Modern Masters of Horror and The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror. A former Peace Corps Volunteer and a life-long lover of golf, Coyne has edited and written a number of books dealing with both subjects, the most recent two novels areThe Caddie Who Knew Ben Hogan and "The Caddie Who Played With Hickory".

Reviews

[Grady Hendrix · Rating 1 out of 5]

Coyne studied The Exorcist hard before writing his own version and the sweat stains show. Blucky Catholic sex obsessions, gay secrets, and a whole lot of nonsense.

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

End of 70s classic. This is the real stuff. If you think stigmata as a sign of holiness you'll read different here. Credible characters, absolute page turner, lots of background information on stigmata, a man torn between to women... this masterpiece has it all. Get ready to read!

[Tome Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hell yes! This is up there with Koontz’s The Key to Midnight for book of the year for me! I’ve never heard of John Coyne until I found Grady Hendrix’s Paperbacks from Hell earlier this year. Hendrix was actually shit talking Coyne and this book saying it was a rip off of The Exorcist. So naturally I had to read it. One of the first books that I completely went blind into and didn’t read the synopsis or anything about it and hot damn this book was fucking awesome! Characters were well written and believable. Story was fast paced and entertaining. The whole thing was just a fun thrill ride page turner. I highly recommend this book! 5 stars.

[Trevor · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I was about 10 years old, I remember seeing a commercial for a movie. In this commercial it alternates between a woman sleeping on a bed and a spider dropping from the ceiling. It ends with the girl sitting bolt upright and gasping, as if the spider had just jumped down her throat. When I found this book, which shows a woman in bed with a fearful look on her face, I thought I had found the novelization of the movie in question. I have since learned that the movie in question was "Deadly Blessing's" by Wes Craven and starring Sharon Stone (her first movie I hear).

This book is actually a typical 'b-rated' horror novel of the seventies. It covers one of my favourite sub-genres, which I refer to as the 'questions of faith' horror novel.

The story revolves around a young girl in the Appalachians, who is a member of an extremely poor family living in a shack and two priests of a small Catholic parish near by. She is experiencing the 'stigmata' (the wounds of Christ (whippings, crown of thorns, nails through hands and feet, stab to the side)) and the two priests are trying to help/minister her through these tumultuous moments. And as it typical of this subgenre, the priests are both flawed. The elder priest is to ready to accept this as an act of God and the younger priest is unable to fulfill his vows of celibacy (he's having sex with a college student from the college parish he used to run, and to just add more fuel to the fire she happens to be Jewish).

Needless to say the book if full of bad times for everyone involved.

Every once in a while it is good to read some mental bubble gum, and this was one of those times.

I would recommend this book to those who sometimes feel the need to sometimes read a 'b-rated' novel, just for the pure escapism of it.

[Keith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just your average naughty Catholic priest tempted by college coed and stigmatic jail/soul bait, Satan induced drama with a bit too much sexually explicit material for the writing quality to carry it off well type of book. As an extra special bonus, it is easy reading, serving well as a break from more challenging texts. If you're into that this one is for you.

[Aimée Marie Bejarano · Rating 1 out of 5]

I've had enough. When you have to skip parts because there's sex it's just a turn-off. From what I've read, a priest with a hidden secret of breaking his vows lol is enough for me. But it keeps veering off from the possession to his naughty life. Jeewiz!

[Stella Allsopp · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not sure what to say really. It’s like a knock off Exorcist, with added sexy times. The actual story of Betty Sue was over shadowed by Stephen flip flopping about everything all the time. Holy crap make up your mind please.

[Lisa · Rating 1 out of 5]

it was....ok, until the end. ending seemed rushed.

[Laura Wright · Rating 1 out of 5]

This has to be one of the worst books I've read in horror. The characters were stereotypical, flat, and few were even likable. I expected a far greater work.

[Stunatra · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was okay. I didn't expect it to be about a stigmatic. Entertaining enough but could have been better.

[Steve Messerer · Rating 5 out of 5]

In horror fiction the devil takes many forms. In John Coyne’s The Piercing, that form is of an Appalachian family’s “hired hand” named, Rufus Tainter, a mysterious blonde-haired magician who anally rapes Betty Sue Wadkins, the family’s twelve-year-old daughter. This assault somehow causes Betty Sue to experience all of Jesus Christ’s “Stations of the Cross” sufferings culminating in his death, complete with stigmata (profuse bleeding from all five crucifixion wounds). Betty Sue undergoes this painful ritual every week, starting on Friday and ending on Sunday. The family does a lot of laundry.

Five years later, Betty Sue is seventeen-years-old and news of this “miracle” reaches two local priests in the form of an anonymously written letter from which gallons of blood literally surge. The priests visit Betty Sue and witness the girl’s stigmata. One of the priests has an arthritic leg; the leg suddenly becomes pain-free and the priest believes it is a direct message from God. The other priest is secretly dating a Jewish girl while battling a crisis of faith and, now, wanton desire for Betty Sue.

The media soon gets wind of this miraculous mountain maiden and Betty Sue becomes a tourist destination.

The Piercing is a dark but intense read for those who love the horror genre. It is also a fascinating look behind the veiled curtain of the Catholic Church and what is expected of men of the cloth. There is much religious rhetoric but that only adds an authenticity to the story and to the readers’ understanding of the chaos the characters are facing. I really enjoyed it and recommend it to horror hounds.

[Richard K. Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reliving this classic and vintage horror from 1980 was SO worth it! Again! This author really needed to publish more horror in his days. Are you ready to see Christ?

It has been since 1981 that I first read this, and I decided to pick it up again this week, since it has been a long time having read anything by Coyne. Wow! I completely forgot how disturbingly graphic and gory this was. I remember when I first read 'The Exorcist' in 1975 and never having thought it was really that scary, I so remember when this book also came out. Seeing the cardboard stand up display in my local B. Dalton Bookseller; I knew I had to read another horror book after reading his 'The Legacy'.

Betty Sue Wadkins at the time of only being 12 years old starts to experience the 5 wounds of Christianity and Jesus Christ himself. Being the daughter in a poor white Appalachian family, her parents do nothing about it. When a catholic priest hears about this now almost 18 year old 'Miracle' child of God; he and a news reporter decide to do a story about this girl....is she really a true divination of God and a true Stigmatic? You decide.
The book is actually more terrifying I always thought than the Exorcist. And not really being a religious person, this was very scary.

I highly STILL to this day recommend this vintage, Horror classic!
4.5 drops of blood
Warnings: Disturbing sexually violent scenes of child rape, and gore.

[John Ulrich · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love John Coyne. The Piercing has great character development for as short as it was for his first novel. This definitely falls into the supernatural horror genre but it isn't about monsters and goblins. It was a clever ending but it did feel a bit rushed. Although I like straightforward texts that are easy to read, if this had been maybe 75-100 pages longer he could have explored some things more in detail and increased the drama but it was very easy to read and you can tell the Exorcist was hot at the time.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was really impressive. I wouldn't say it's terrifying or suspenseful, but it works great as a character study, and the gnarly material at the end is pretty shocking. And the sex scenes are the some of the most explicit I've ever read.

Now I'm curious about The Legacy - it's gotta be better than the Sam Shepard movie version!

[Jacob B · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the book version of every gratuitous European Exorcist ripoff that came out in the 70s. Boobs and blood and a Catholic priest who is using his faith to repress his bisexual urges. The writing is surprisingly good for the route the author took. But again, super trashy and gratuitous.

[Scott Oliver · Rating 4 out of 5]

When a young mountain girl starts to exhibits the signs of stigmata it falls to a young priest to find out if she is really blessed by God or a tool of the Devil

Started a bit slow but built up as it went on. A good engaging story

[Bob Box · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read in 1979. Horror novel about a young innocent girl who acts out the agony of Christ once a week.

[AnnaLovesJelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like hot troubled priests, satanic possession and hillbillies (and let’s be honest, who doesn’t?) then look no further, you are in for a treat!

[Oliver Clarke · Rating 2 out of 5]

Less nuts than The Searing.

[Justin Holley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the literary bent of this book, the prose sharp and smart, especially for a genre often thought of for thrills rather than craft. John Coyne is a ridiculous-good writer. The book's plot device of stigmata seems to put a fresh spin on a much-used trope, the characters, especially Father Stephen's Jewish concubine, ring true and involve themselves in interesting predicaments that thoroughly test their convictions. My only concern with this book comes with the last sexual act. I found it unlikely, especially after all the tragic events which led to it. All in all...a solid 4 stars for Mr. John Coyne.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you like old school 80's horror stories this story is for you. Quick read with an open ending. Found this in a Goodwill and thought the cover looked bizarre enough to earn a read. It was worth the dollar.

[Christy Nobles · Rating 5 out of 5]

one of my favorite books, i would recommend to anyone interested in supernatural events such as, stigmata.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a novel that I stole from my dad when I was a young bibliophile.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good old 80s (actually '79) style religious horror. Great writing.

[Donna Girouard · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty standard for this genre. Predictable ending.