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Spawn of Satan
Paperback
First published January 1, 1970
98 people want to read
About the author
Charles Birkin
49 books16 followersSir Charles Lloyd Birkin, 5th Baronet of Ruddington Grange (24 September 1907 – 1985) was an English author of horror short stories and the editor of the Creeps Library of anthologies. Mostly working under the pseudonym Charles Lloyd, Birkin's tales tended towards the contes cruels rather than supernatural fiction.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
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July 5, 2015I don't always go to Lifeline Bookfest, but when I do, I always choose 60s-80s sci-fi/ horror/ spec-fic books based solely on their cover art.
Spawn of Satan has hooded figures, standing stones, a skull, a winged helm - surely it's going to be excellent!
No.
Average stories, the true horror factor of which they finished about 80% of the way through the plot. No completion, nothing. IRRITATNG. I promptly finished reading the book about 80% through - I couldn't face another unfinished story.
Spawn of Satan has hooded figures, standing stones, a skull, a winged helm - surely it's going to be excellent!
No.
Average stories, the true horror factor of which they finished about 80% of the way through the plot. No completion, nothing. IRRITATNG. I promptly finished reading the book about 80% through - I couldn't face another unfinished story.
November 22, 2015
An unrelentingly grim set of stories. Best to read them one at a time--otherwise, you'll sometimes think "Gosh, that could have been WORSE" after finishing an otherwise nasty nugget.
Spawn of Satan: The title tale sets things rolling nicely, although it's a bit over-written and the pay-off is more grim than outright sadistic. Nice and tense though.
Wedding Presents: The Girl Next Door by way of Thomas Hardy. Again, it doesn't have quite the E.C. payoff I was hoping for, but on further reflection, Birkin's working on a more mature and refined level of cruelty. And it's well done.
Traces of Lipstick: An entertaining, albeit by-the-numbers, "seance gone wrong" tale. Feels like an updated Ambrose Bierce piece.
A Lovely Bunch of Coconuts: BOOM. Headshot. The main reason to buy the collection.
A Right to Know: References to how Americans have better teeth than Brits, lurid gang-rapes and witch-burnings, and a hideously frightening ending. It's all here, folks.
Souer Celeste: Good fun with nuns; Birkin sets up his scenario well and it's fun to watch all the parts move to the inevitable conclusion, Final Destination-style.
The New Dress: Haunting story as bitter and as good as rich dark chocolate.
The Beautiful People: Frankly, I found this one more hideous than the notorious Coconuts. If you like crime fiction so bleak as to be nightmarish (cf. A Simple Plan), then this is a must.
Child's Play: Overlong filler that combines weird, half-assed sci-fi with a gratuitously sadistic setpiece.
Au Clair de Lune: Ghoulish little bit of doggerel that doesn't even have the decency to give us the grisly details of the woman eaten alive by rats.
Spawn of Satan: The title tale sets things rolling nicely, although it's a bit over-written and the pay-off is more grim than outright sadistic. Nice and tense though.
Wedding Presents: The Girl Next Door by way of Thomas Hardy. Again, it doesn't have quite the E.C. payoff I was hoping for, but on further reflection, Birkin's working on a more mature and refined level of cruelty. And it's well done.
Traces of Lipstick: An entertaining, albeit by-the-numbers, "seance gone wrong" tale. Feels like an updated Ambrose Bierce piece.
A Lovely Bunch of Coconuts: BOOM. Headshot. The main reason to buy the collection.
A Right to Know: References to how Americans have better teeth than Brits, lurid gang-rapes and witch-burnings, and a hideously frightening ending. It's all here, folks.
Souer Celeste: Good fun with nuns; Birkin sets up his scenario well and it's fun to watch all the parts move to the inevitable conclusion, Final Destination-style.
The New Dress: Haunting story as bitter and as good as rich dark chocolate.
The Beautiful People: Frankly, I found this one more hideous than the notorious Coconuts. If you like crime fiction so bleak as to be nightmarish (cf. A Simple Plan), then this is a must.
Child's Play: Overlong filler that combines weird, half-assed sci-fi with a gratuitously sadistic setpiece.
Au Clair de Lune: Ghoulish little bit of doggerel that doesn't even have the decency to give us the grisly details of the woman eaten alive by rats.
June 22, 2007
Some great, creepy short horror stories.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews