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The Third Grave by David Case (1-Feb-1981) Hardcover
When Thomas Ashley is invited to accompany the archaeological expedition of Sir Harold Gregory, he travels beyond the Great Cataract to enter a realm of endless sand, windswept cliffs, and the Egypt of the pharaohs. The expedition is visited by a mysterious intruder, Lucian Mallory, who lures the young scholar to his residence in England, where Ashley learns that his host is seeking ancient Egyptian secrets of resurrection and immortality.With the beautiful Arabella Cunningham, Ashley strives to use this arcane knowledge to redeem the life of a present-day man but then encounters the ultimate horror in a curse that comes down the ages to haunt the modern world.
Unknown Binding
First published February 1, 1981
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About the author
David Case
30 books13 followersDavid Case (1937-2018) was born in upstate New York. Since the early 1960s he lived in London, as well as spending time in Greece and Spain. His acclaimed collection The Cell: Three Tales of Horror appeared in 1969, and it was followed by the novels Fengriffen: A Chilling Tale, Wolf Tracks, and The Third Grave. His other collections include Brotherly Love and Other Tales of Trust and Knowledge, Pelican Cay & Other Disquieting Tales, and an omnibus volume in the 'Masters of the Weird Tale' series from Centipede Press. In recent years, his selected short horror fiction has been reprinted by Valancourt Books as The Cell & Other Transmorphic Tales and Fengriffen & Other Gothic Tales.
A regular contributor to the legendary Pan Book of Horror Stories series during the early 1970s, as well as a handful of westerns and pseudonymous porn novels, his powerful zombie novella “Pelican Cay” in Dark Terrors 5 was nominated for a World Fantasy Award in 2001.
(Bio adapted from Valancourt Books)
A regular contributor to the legendary Pan Book of Horror Stories series during the early 1970s, as well as a handful of westerns and pseudonymous porn novels, his powerful zombie novella “Pelican Cay” in Dark Terrors 5 was nominated for a World Fantasy Award in 2001.
(Bio adapted from Valancourt Books)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
May 21, 2023
I don’t write reviews.
“It was evocative, a train in the night, with the yellow windows and passengers peering out. For them the land was receding and they were stationary. Their destinations closed on them and they had only to wait while their lives were guided as carefully through time as the train was guided through space. The points of human affairs are predetermined. We make our flawed decisions to no avail, for the manifold tracks of life stretch to buy one terminal. Man can be distressed by this certainty or he can be consoled. That is our only choice.”
Thomas Ashley, expert of ancient Egyptian writing, materialist and pragmatist, is called by Lucian Mallory, philosopher, anthropologist, eternal-life obsessed, mad scientist(?), to an estate in disrepair in a small rural hamlet, to translate his newest find. Ashley learns of “murder most foul” which took place just preceding his arrival.
“It came to me then that the poor gentleman meant me no harm, that in fact, he was no longer living. Death now, is a different matter. A man can’t be scared of death, as it is the proper end of all things. Except, of course, his own death, which a man is entitled to be scared of, proper or not.”
As understanding dawns on Ashley, we reach an interesting denouement, trapped in Mallory’s decrepit house of horror.
“Why will they not understand, Ashley?”
This book is a Hammer film or a pre-cert 30’s flick like Doctor X. It’s creepy, moody and downright charming. I really enjoyed Case’s style. Abundant bits of well-crafted writing make me happy.
“Plum drew his watch from his waistcoat, a laborious process, the gold chain reflected in the tips of his shoes. ‘We have time in hand,’ he said. I wondered if he meant it literally for he seemed to be balancing the watch in his palm, perhaps suddenly doubting the weight of gold.”
“It was evocative, a train in the night, with the yellow windows and passengers peering out. For them the land was receding and they were stationary. Their destinations closed on them and they had only to wait while their lives were guided as carefully through time as the train was guided through space. The points of human affairs are predetermined. We make our flawed decisions to no avail, for the manifold tracks of life stretch to buy one terminal. Man can be distressed by this certainty or he can be consoled. That is our only choice.”
Thomas Ashley, expert of ancient Egyptian writing, materialist and pragmatist, is called by Lucian Mallory, philosopher, anthropologist, eternal-life obsessed, mad scientist(?), to an estate in disrepair in a small rural hamlet, to translate his newest find. Ashley learns of “murder most foul” which took place just preceding his arrival.
“It came to me then that the poor gentleman meant me no harm, that in fact, he was no longer living. Death now, is a different matter. A man can’t be scared of death, as it is the proper end of all things. Except, of course, his own death, which a man is entitled to be scared of, proper or not.”
As understanding dawns on Ashley, we reach an interesting denouement, trapped in Mallory’s decrepit house of horror.
“Why will they not understand, Ashley?”
This book is a Hammer film or a pre-cert 30’s flick like Doctor X. It’s creepy, moody and downright charming. I really enjoyed Case’s style. Abundant bits of well-crafted writing make me happy.
“Plum drew his watch from his waistcoat, a laborious process, the gold chain reflected in the tips of his shoes. ‘We have time in hand,’ he said. I wondered if he meant it literally for he seemed to be balancing the watch in his palm, perhaps suddenly doubting the weight of gold.”
February 12, 2008
scary stuff! Only 184 pages, but they are of the very old classic type of horror...the kind that more builds in your mind rather than in the gory details present in modern horror fiction. The Third Grave was written in 1981, but still preserves the type of horror writing of older days. I like my horror cerebral rather than filled with gore so this one was perfect.
The book begins in Egypt, on an archaeological dig, where Thomas Ashley is working with Sir Harold Gregory. Ashley is an expert on hieroglyphics and this is what he is doing on the dig. One day, Sir Harold and Thomas receive a strange visitor, one Lucian Mallory. He stays only a short time, and sneers at the archaeological work before moving on. Some years later, when Thomas was at home and doing some independent translations, he receives a letter from Lucian Mallory, who tells him of an opportunity for Thomas to view some previously untranslated hieroglyphs on papyrus scrolls taken from a necropolis in Egypt. Thomas, always interested in discovering something as yet untranslated, decides to take Lucian up on his offer, and leaves his home for a place called Farriers Bar in Devonshire where Mallory is to meet him. When he arrives, there is no Mallory, but there have been two murders. He is questioned by the police, and eventually Mallory appears to take him to his home. When Thomas arrives and begins to work on the translation, he hears a horrifying account of Mallory's life work - but may never live to tell the tale.
Very cool, very fun and a chilling story. This one stays in my collection of books from Arkham House; if you want a good creepy story to read by a blazing fire, this may be the one.
The book begins in Egypt, on an archaeological dig, where Thomas Ashley is working with Sir Harold Gregory. Ashley is an expert on hieroglyphics and this is what he is doing on the dig. One day, Sir Harold and Thomas receive a strange visitor, one Lucian Mallory. He stays only a short time, and sneers at the archaeological work before moving on. Some years later, when Thomas was at home and doing some independent translations, he receives a letter from Lucian Mallory, who tells him of an opportunity for Thomas to view some previously untranslated hieroglyphs on papyrus scrolls taken from a necropolis in Egypt. Thomas, always interested in discovering something as yet untranslated, decides to take Lucian up on his offer, and leaves his home for a place called Farriers Bar in Devonshire where Mallory is to meet him. When he arrives, there is no Mallory, but there have been two murders. He is questioned by the police, and eventually Mallory appears to take him to his home. When Thomas arrives and begins to work on the translation, he hears a horrifying account of Mallory's life work - but may never live to tell the tale.
Very cool, very fun and a chilling story. This one stays in my collection of books from Arkham House; if you want a good creepy story to read by a blazing fire, this may be the one.
May 17, 2019
A personal favorite "classic" of mine, now back in print thanks to Valancourt Books!!
October 8, 2023
What a delightful little book by Case. I have the first edition hardcover with lovely artwork by Stephen Fabian on the cover and several illustrations throughout the text. While The Third Grave is set in England post WWII, it possesses a gothic tone associated with much older works. Our lead, Mr. Ashley, is an Egyptologist specializing in the written text of ancient Egypt. The novel starts with him on a dig in Egypt where one day he meets Lucian Mallory, who came riding up on a camel with his man servant one day. Mallory is our mysterious antagonist, who seems to know quite a bit about ancient Egyptian lore, but his arrogance irks Ashley on first sight.
It comes with some surprise, therefore, that one day Ashley receives a letter from Mallory, asking him if he could pay a visit to his home in the English countryside as he has some ancient Egyptian writings that need to be deciphered. More out of his personal interest than any feelings for Mallory, Ashley accepts and heads toward the little town via train...
The gothic overtones permeate The Third Grave, especially as the story become more macabre as it goes on. At the town, Ashley quickly finds out that a 'madman' is roaming around via the gossip of a barmaid/owner of the inn he finds lodging at. There are no cars around and the inn looks to be hundreds of years old, boasting a medieval pub with the only modern features an incongruous jukebox in one corner. Ashley sits in his room deciphering the copies of ancient text looking over the ancient little town; if he did so via candlelight it could have occurred centuries ago.
What really sets this apart resides in the lovely, erudite prose animating the novella. I am not sure what audience this was targeted at. In a way, it reads like an old Hammer film-- nicely made production with a few macabre scares. This is slick, polished and makes for compulsive reading. Looking for a treat this spooktober? Check this one out. 4.5 gothic stars, rounding up!!
It comes with some surprise, therefore, that one day Ashley receives a letter from Mallory, asking him if he could pay a visit to his home in the English countryside as he has some ancient Egyptian writings that need to be deciphered. More out of his personal interest than any feelings for Mallory, Ashley accepts and heads toward the little town via train...
The gothic overtones permeate The Third Grave, especially as the story become more macabre as it goes on. At the town, Ashley quickly finds out that a 'madman' is roaming around via the gossip of a barmaid/owner of the inn he finds lodging at. There are no cars around and the inn looks to be hundreds of years old, boasting a medieval pub with the only modern features an incongruous jukebox in one corner. Ashley sits in his room deciphering the copies of ancient text looking over the ancient little town; if he did so via candlelight it could have occurred centuries ago.
What really sets this apart resides in the lovely, erudite prose animating the novella. I am not sure what audience this was targeted at. In a way, it reads like an old Hammer film-- nicely made production with a few macabre scares. This is slick, polished and makes for compulsive reading. Looking for a treat this spooktober? Check this one out. 4.5 gothic stars, rounding up!!
November 2, 2010
This fairly obscure little book was a surprise in that it sent me to the dictionary ten or twelve times to look up words with which I was completely unfamiliar. It reminded me quite a bit of a Hammer mummy-horror film of fifty years ago. The tone of the novel made me believe the setting was in the late 19th century, but there was a casual reference to a jukebox in the bar with Tom Jones on it. An odd volume, but fun.
November 19, 2022
"Probably lots more monsters lurking about than people give credit for.”
I love this author's writing style so much I named a shelf in its honor: old school. In this case, David Case writes like a movie script from an old Hammer Horror flick, with early 70's sensibilities, correct grammar, and a cheese-tastic story of Englishmen, mummies, and necromantic tablets. There's gypsies, linguists, and a murder mystery or two in a small town where most of the action occurs in the pub ran by the local gossip. The main character, an expert in ancient languages, has a dry sense of humor that caught my fancy.
My favorite conversation, between the linguist and the gossipy tavernkeep:
"You can park your car in the courtyard.”
“I haven’t a car.”
“That so?”
“I came on the train.”
“Well, isn’t that something?”
I agreed it was something.
It's those internal zingers that get me. All the time. The super-smart yet suave linguist becomes criminal detective, engaging with the locals as if he were a man of the common people, yet at the same time capable of achieving amazing feats of ancient textual interpretation:
"Find me the secret of the flesh, Ashley!” he cried. “I have the secret of the mind! Between us we have the key to eternity!”
That's some motivational speech from The Big Boss Mad Man Employer to get the job done. Obtaining the key to eternity is a much better incentive to work at arcane script than Musk's demand to work "long hours at high intensity" to the remains of his Twitter staff. I'll stick with mummification texts, thanks.
Eventually, our intrepid linguist is able to pry the secrets of the mind from his crazy boss, who then describes his discovery of the third grave. (There were two other graves, but they were duds. It was the third grave that held the mind. Literally.)
"...High in the central mountains, deep in brooding mahogany forests where stunted thorn trees claw at barren cliffs and the wind beats at the land with a pulsing rhythm compelling as the voodoo drums, I found the third grave. A mound of earth, no more, unmarked, unhallowed. I stood over it for a long while, certain at last that I’d ...."
Gives me goosebumps when I read that dramatic passage. It needs a rising musical score.
Eventually, linguist Ashley will solve the mystery, learn the secrets to eternity, and reject those secrets in the name of all that decent and good. And also in the name of Arabella, the sweet young thing that has recently started working in the Mad Boss's house. Super smart, super suave Ashley becomes king pimp daddy as well.
Perhaps we were joined for a lifetime. I looked at her. I was older than she, but having stared into the jaws of eternity, I realized that the fleeting years seemed insignificant. One lives a span, one grows old, one dies. That is as it should be. Exactly as it should be. I smiled, and Arabella smiled back.
I'm feeling very macho, very manly, very Ashley, right now. Cue the musical score.
I love this author's writing style so much I named a shelf in its honor: old school. In this case, David Case writes like a movie script from an old Hammer Horror flick, with early 70's sensibilities, correct grammar, and a cheese-tastic story of Englishmen, mummies, and necromantic tablets. There's gypsies, linguists, and a murder mystery or two in a small town where most of the action occurs in the pub ran by the local gossip. The main character, an expert in ancient languages, has a dry sense of humor that caught my fancy.
My favorite conversation, between the linguist and the gossipy tavernkeep:
"You can park your car in the courtyard.”
“I haven’t a car.”
“That so?”
“I came on the train.”
“Well, isn’t that something?”
I agreed it was something.
It's those internal zingers that get me. All the time. The super-smart yet suave linguist becomes criminal detective, engaging with the locals as if he were a man of the common people, yet at the same time capable of achieving amazing feats of ancient textual interpretation:
"Find me the secret of the flesh, Ashley!” he cried. “I have the secret of the mind! Between us we have the key to eternity!”
That's some motivational speech from The Big Boss Mad Man Employer to get the job done. Obtaining the key to eternity is a much better incentive to work at arcane script than Musk's demand to work "long hours at high intensity" to the remains of his Twitter staff. I'll stick with mummification texts, thanks.
Eventually, our intrepid linguist is able to pry the secrets of the mind from his crazy boss, who then describes his discovery of the third grave. (There were two other graves, but they were duds. It was the third grave that held the mind. Literally.)
"...High in the central mountains, deep in brooding mahogany forests where stunted thorn trees claw at barren cliffs and the wind beats at the land with a pulsing rhythm compelling as the voodoo drums, I found the third grave. A mound of earth, no more, unmarked, unhallowed. I stood over it for a long while, certain at last that I’d ...."
Gives me goosebumps when I read that dramatic passage. It needs a rising musical score.
Eventually, linguist Ashley will solve the mystery, learn the secrets to eternity, and reject those secrets in the name of all that decent and good. And also in the name of Arabella, the sweet young thing that has recently started working in the Mad Boss's house. Super smart, super suave Ashley becomes king pimp daddy as well.
Perhaps we were joined for a lifetime. I looked at her. I was older than she, but having stared into the jaws of eternity, I realized that the fleeting years seemed insignificant. One lives a span, one grows old, one dies. That is as it should be. Exactly as it should be. I smiled, and Arabella smiled back.
I'm feeling very macho, very manly, very Ashley, right now. Cue the musical score.
January 21, 2013
David Case's contribution to the horror genre - a couple of novels and two or three volumes' worth of short stories - is relatively unknown, but I find him compulsively readable and well worth the effort of hunting down whichever works are still in print. He writes in an unfussy British manner, with the sort of lean yet lyrical prose epitomised by Ian Fleming - no one has me reaching for the dictionary like David Case - and his stories have that 'Hammer Horror' feel to them; almost quaint, certainly nostalgic, but with the bite of gore or horror never far away.
The Third Grave seems misleadingly from the cover to be an Egyptian Curse tale, though it is set mainly in the English countryside and the narrative veers from vampire, mummy and zombie mythology (taking in werewolves on the way) - all of which adds to the sense of unease and certainly aids in wrong-footing the reader if they think they know quite where the story is heading. Characterisation is broad yet strong, and the prose is a lesson in both brevity and eloquence.
The Third Grave is not without faults: the familiarity of the sort of tale Case tells means that (despite his efforts detailed above) the ending is a little more predictable as the book progresses (although this is a mean criticism, as many less well-realised modern novels do this almost as a matter of course), and the period setting seems slightly amorphous (despite characters mentioning Churchill and WWII, and the presence of a jukebox in a pub), this novel feels like it wants to be set at the very start of the 20th century).
In all, a fine book of the sort they don't write any more, and probably didn't write in 1981 when this was published. This edition, the only one available, is another of Arkham House's beautifully made books of the time; an octavo hardback that fits perfectly in the hands, finely printed and bound, and augmented with a few excellent mood-setting interior illustrations and that wonderful cover painting.
The Third Grave seems misleadingly from the cover to be an Egyptian Curse tale, though it is set mainly in the English countryside and the narrative veers from vampire, mummy and zombie mythology (taking in werewolves on the way) - all of which adds to the sense of unease and certainly aids in wrong-footing the reader if they think they know quite where the story is heading. Characterisation is broad yet strong, and the prose is a lesson in both brevity and eloquence.
The Third Grave is not without faults: the familiarity of the sort of tale Case tells means that (despite his efforts detailed above) the ending is a little more predictable as the book progresses (although this is a mean criticism, as many less well-realised modern novels do this almost as a matter of course), and the period setting seems slightly amorphous (despite characters mentioning Churchill and WWII, and the presence of a jukebox in a pub), this novel feels like it wants to be set at the very start of the 20th century).
In all, a fine book of the sort they don't write any more, and probably didn't write in 1981 when this was published. This edition, the only one available, is another of Arkham House's beautifully made books of the time; an octavo hardback that fits perfectly in the hands, finely printed and bound, and augmented with a few excellent mood-setting interior illustrations and that wonderful cover painting.
July 30, 2024
This book was written in the 80s, but they must have been going through a boom of 20s-nostalgia because this was old fashioned as hell. Read this if you've always thought Mummy stories were stuffy and dull and want to be proven right.
July 25, 2020
“Three graves I found, Ashley, tracing them through squalid villages and sordid towns, asking questions of suspicious squint-eyed men and wretched plague-ridden women, of black sorcerers and wild hermits. They denied, they deceived, they fled, but I never doubted; I pleaded, I bribed, I threatened, and, in the end, I found what I sought. Three graves, Ashley, in the mountain fastness where few white men have ever ventured. They were unmarked, grown over, secreted. I rooted them out like a voracious swine greedily snuffling after truffles."
!!!
This delicious diatribe from the mad scientist (obviously to be played by Peter Cushing) gives a flavor of the consistent thrill of THE THIRD GRAVE. This creepy book is short and tight- I suspect the story of mysterious murders in a tiny English village may have originally been a screenplay. Like so many Hammer movies, this one opens with charm and humor before delivering surprises and action, building to an explosion of ghastly, gruesome horror.
The narrator's curmudgeonly grumblings about "hideous" coffee and intrusive jukeboxes are very funny, the contents of the ancient graves really are disgusting, and the "fate worse than death" is properly disturbing.
!!!
This delicious diatribe from the mad scientist (obviously to be played by Peter Cushing) gives a flavor of the consistent thrill of THE THIRD GRAVE. This creepy book is short and tight- I suspect the story of mysterious murders in a tiny English village may have originally been a screenplay. Like so many Hammer movies, this one opens with charm and humor before delivering surprises and action, building to an explosion of ghastly, gruesome horror.
The narrator's curmudgeonly grumblings about "hideous" coffee and intrusive jukeboxes are very funny, the contents of the ancient graves really are disgusting, and the "fate worse than death" is properly disturbing.
May 2, 2021
I really enjoyed this book. I listened to the audio book which is read by Guy Bethell. He does an outstanding job! This is the tale of a guy obsessed with Egyptology and immortality. Does he latest find hold the secrets? You may think this story is predictable but it got me! Thank you to Valancourt Books for the opportunity to listen to this one. I received the audio book in exchange for a honest review.
December 20, 2019
After listening to David Case's The Third Grave, I was a little surprised to find that it was written in 1981; Case writes and creates an atmosphere that feels as if the story were written much earlier in the century, which is a good thing. There is a definite feel of antiquity to the story that lends itself perfectly to what at first feels like a typical mummy-themed adventure but what quickly turns into something more akin to Frankenstein and the accompanying horrors that can be done to a human body.
Thomas Ashley, an archaeologist, is invited to the home of a passing acquaintance he met in the dessert once, Lucian Mallory. Mallory claims to have discovered some ancient Egyptian scrolls and needs Ashely's expertise to translate them. Unable to resist the chance to work on this new discover, Ashley travels to Mallory's home where he is immediately and inadvertently thrust into a bizarre case of murder; someone, or something, has committed grisly murders in the quiet little town and some think that newcomer Mallory may have something to do with it. What follows is a fast-paced exploration of what it means for the characters to be human and what it means for them to have a soul, while simultaneously trying solve the mystery of the murders going on in town.
Guy Bethell's narration is really quite good, even if his voice is a little bit on the gravely side sometimes and hard to follow. He captures the essence of the characters and really keeps the story moving along thru his narration.
Overall, if you are a fan of a good mummy story, or a fan of Frankenstein, or just enjoy a good tale of the classic supernatural with a modern flair, David Case's The Third Grave is for you.
I'd like to thank Valancourt Books for providing an Audible download of The Third Grave for review.
Thomas Ashley, an archaeologist, is invited to the home of a passing acquaintance he met in the dessert once, Lucian Mallory. Mallory claims to have discovered some ancient Egyptian scrolls and needs Ashely's expertise to translate them. Unable to resist the chance to work on this new discover, Ashley travels to Mallory's home where he is immediately and inadvertently thrust into a bizarre case of murder; someone, or something, has committed grisly murders in the quiet little town and some think that newcomer Mallory may have something to do with it. What follows is a fast-paced exploration of what it means for the characters to be human and what it means for them to have a soul, while simultaneously trying solve the mystery of the murders going on in town.
Guy Bethell's narration is really quite good, even if his voice is a little bit on the gravely side sometimes and hard to follow. He captures the essence of the characters and really keeps the story moving along thru his narration.
Overall, if you are a fan of a good mummy story, or a fan of Frankenstein, or just enjoy a good tale of the classic supernatural with a modern flair, David Case's The Third Grave is for you.
I'd like to thank Valancourt Books for providing an Audible download of The Third Grave for review.
July 31, 2019
I have long harbored a fascination with Egypt: hieroglyphics intrigue me to no end, I love the dusty magic of excavating shiny artifacts, and mummies! Come on. How much cooler does it get? I was in awe that the museum just had straight-up dead people in glass cases. I remember going to see King Tut when I was about ten and I was completely enamored. Take me to the pyramids.
David Case’s The Third Grave is a book I probably never would have found if it weren’t for the intrepid souls of Valancourt Books. Long out of print, this gem was picked up and reissued and I knew I had to have it!
I loved the style of the writing and the progression of the story, which is a slow building mystery of our hero and his encounters with a strange man seeking arcane knowledge that was buried with the ancient Egyptian way of life. There are excellent scenes of creeping dread and descriptions of horror—Case had quite the eye for detail and knew right when to twist the knife.
Though the book is short and focused on the mystery, the author often delves into philosophical ideas about what it means to be alive, the separation between mind and body, and life after death.
David Case’s The Third Grave is a book I probably never would have found if it weren’t for the intrepid souls of Valancourt Books. Long out of print, this gem was picked up and reissued and I knew I had to have it!
I loved the style of the writing and the progression of the story, which is a slow building mystery of our hero and his encounters with a strange man seeking arcane knowledge that was buried with the ancient Egyptian way of life. There are excellent scenes of creeping dread and descriptions of horror—Case had quite the eye for detail and knew right when to twist the knife.
Though the book is short and focused on the mystery, the author often delves into philosophical ideas about what it means to be alive, the separation between mind and body, and life after death.
October 16, 2020
Started off strong, slowed down quite a bit in the middle, but I'm glad I stuck with it because it got good again in the end. It's more of a classic mystery than a scary mummy story, but it does get pretty weird and had spooky vibes.
August 8, 2020
3.5
Good fun, quick read from the always interesting David Case. And yes, werewolves do get a mention
*Spoiler*
There are no werewolves.
Good fun, quick read from the always interesting David Case. And yes, werewolves do get a mention
*Spoiler*
There are no werewolves.
January 10, 2024
Reads like a combination of classic British ghost stories & the original Universal monster movies.
November 30, 2025
Have you ever come upon a book, by an author who was new to you, that so wowed you that you were left wanting to explore everything that particular writer had ever done? It's happened to me many times before, because when it comes to writers, I am admittedly guilty of...well, do you remember that old Frank Sinatra song "I Fall In Love Too Easily"? Enough said. Anyway, yes, it's happened to me yet again, and the new object of my esteem is none other than David Case, who I've become an instant fan of after having read his splendid horror novel entitled "The Third Grave." And if you are not familiar with this particular title, a very brief look at its publishing history might perhaps explain why.
"The Third Grave" was originally released in 1981 as a $10.95 hardcover by the great great publisher Arkham House, which had been started by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei in 1939 to celebrate and preserve the works of H.P. Lovecraft, and which released hundreds of volumes in a similar vein up until 2010. The book had a cover illustration by Stephen E. Fabian, the Egyptian motif of which gave a hint as to the story line within. Case's novel would then go OOPs (out of prints) for 38 years, till the fine folks at Valancourt Books opted to, uh, disinter it in 2019. This second and most recent incarnation of "The Third Grave" boasts a symbolic cover illustration by David Moscati, the horrid significance of which only becomes apparent after one experiences Case's gruesome chiller.
Now, before getting into the details of this novel, a quick word on the author himself. David Case was born in NYC in 1937 but apparently lived most of his life in London. He would ultimately come out with three horror novels--"Fengriffen" (1970), which was later adapted as the Amicus film "And Now the Screaming Starts" in 1973 and starred Peter Cushing; "Wolf Tracks" (1980); and the book in question--three Western novels, and some two dozen short stories that were gathered into several overlapping collections. David Case passed away in 2018 at the age of 80.
"The Third Grave" is narrated to us by Thomas Ashley, one of Britain's foremost experts on Egyptian hieroglyphics, who lives in London and works at one of its major museums. (The British Museum, would be my guess.) As his narrative begins, Ashley is surprised to receive a letter from Lucian Mallory, who he'd met a few times in Egypt, knows only slightly, and has not seen or heard from in four years. Via flashback, we learn of how the two men had met while Ashley was working on a dig in the Egyptian wilderness. Mallory's unpleasant manner and predatory appearance had impressed Ashley very unfavorably, while his bizarre talk regarding time, the human brain, and the possibilities of immortality had reinforced the notion of him being something of an eccentric oddball. Ashley had been quite fond of Mallory's manservant Sam Cooper, however, a genial and hulking ex-soldier. Now, in the present, Mallory is requesting that Ashley come visit him at his home in Devonshire, to help translate an ancient parchment that he'd found in an Egyptian cemetery.
The rest of Ashley's tale is given in two fairly discrete sections. In the first, our narrator travels by train to the quaint little village of Farriers Bar, in Devon. He puts up at the Red Lion inn and learns from its owner, Mabel Sinclair, as well as from one of the local old coots, Melville Coots, that he has arrived during an evil time. A madman has just viciously killed an out-of-towner, crushing the man's bones and tearing away the flesh with his teeth! Coots suspects that a monster is to blame, a suggestion that is supported when a 17-year-old bicycle messenger is likewise slain in the area. While sitting in the Red Lion's pub, Ashley chances to meet his old friend John Cunningham, who is now something of an alcoholic wreck because his daughter Arabella has decided to work as an assistant for Mallory, and live in his creepy old house in the countryside. When Mallory drives into the village with his servant, our narrator discovers that Sam Cooper has, since he last saw them, suffered a terrible accident and is now something of a mindless automaton. Cooper attacks Cunningham and Ashley in the street with incredible strength and ferocity, leading to Mallory's confession that the man must now be kept locked away most of the time in his room. Inspector Peal (presumably of Scotland Yard) tasks Ashley with keeping a sharp lookout when he gets to Mallory's house, the two recent murders having taken place not too far away from its secluded precincts.
And so, in the book's second section, Ashley arrives at Mallory's dilapidated abode in the middle of nowhere. He begins his work on the parchment translation, is shown a mummy that has been preserved in a very unusual manner, learns even more information from the lovely Arabella, and, eventually, discovers the terrible secrets behind the recent homicides, as well as Lucian Mallor'’s incredible project....
For me, David Case's work here was absolutely irresistible, and I just tore through this novel and had a marvelous time doing so. The book is a genuine page-turner; an old-fashioned type of horror story. I can easily see how it would have appealed to the editors at Arkham House, and to their devoted readers. Case's story line here is also reminiscent of those to be found in the Universal horror films of the 1940s and the Hammer films of the '60s, incorporating as it does mummies, zombies, an obsessed scientist and his deformed but obedient servant. The novel should also appeal to fans of the wonderful pulp magazines of the '30s and '40s, and some of the situations and even verbiage do tend to get a bit grisly and pulpish at times. Thus, we get the usually urbane Ashley giving us the line "I stood there in the silence, and my living flesh crawled with maggots of horror"! The settings in Case's book--be it the Egyptian desert, the small Dorset village, or Mallory's crumbling and mildewed abode--are unfailingly atmospheric, and well depicted, to boot. Happily, our narrator is a person who we can like and admire; a highly intelligent, well-mannered and refined gentleman. And his foil, Mallory, makes for a splendid villain, if "villain" is indeed the correct word to use here. Mallory, to be fair, is also highly intelligent, a genius in his way, as well as being obsessed, ruthless, unprincipled and, ultimately, quite bonkers. The debates and conversations between the two men are wonderful to behold.
Despite the occasional lapse into pulpish prose, "The Third Grave" (and yes, that title does ultimately make perfect sense) is actually an elegantly written book, and Case shows himself here to be quite the master wordsmith. At times he reveals the homework that was done before penning this affair, with a line such as "...our specimen had been interred with the customary funerary accoutrements--amulets, canopic jars, ushabtis--and was still faintly redolent of the aromatic unguents applied in his entombment." Or how about this evocative line: "A glimmer appeared in his red-veined eyes, a brief sharp flicker like flint struck on hope." And I love what the village doctor tells our narrator vis-à-vis Cunningham's heavy drinking:
"...I'm afraid he'll find that troubles can't be drowned in alcohol. On the contrary. Troubles, like drowned corpses, become more bloated and hideous after protracted immersion in fluids."
And oh my goodness, the vocabulary that Case employs here to tell his tale! Some choice tidbits that sent this reader scurrying off to the ol' Merriam-Webster’s include "reclame," "djellaba," "marcescent," "exiguous," "minatory," "barm," "quercine," "zymurgy," "postjudice," "cuneate" and "faience"; the word "adumbration," which I knew, must be used at least four times during the course of Ashley's narration. Case's book is nicely compact, with no flab, yet abundantly detailed when it needs to be. And so, we learn that Mallory's workroom contained such junk as "angular figurines of stone and wood, stalking deities and squat gods, twisted serpents and graceful birds, Horus and Isis in worthless representations, modern plaster casts made from ancient molds, a set of orange and black voodoo drums of goatskin, a necklace of crocodile teeth...." In addition to some genuine treasures, to be fair.
"The Third Grave" is the type of book that is difficult to discuss without revealing its manifold surprises, and I don't wish to deprive you of the joy of being gobsmacked by them yourself. I can say that the book features any number of well-done scenes and sequences, including Melville Coots' story regarding his discovery of the first murder victim; the attack that Sam Cooper makes on Cunningham and our narrator; the tale that a band of gypsy (?) vagabonds tells Peal and Ashley about encountering the killer, who they deemed a werewolf, and of how their ferocious pit bull terrier was made to flee in cowering fear; the report that Mallory gives Ashley about his experiences in voodoo-haunted Haiti; and the battle that our narrator and Sam engage in in Mallory's workroom...as exciting a scene as any jaded horror fan could reasonably hope to find. I'm just sorry that I must remain mum regarding Mallory's remarkable discoveries, and just what has been transpiring inside his home. Trust me, you'll want to find out about them on your own!
If I would level one objection to David Case's unusually fine work here it is that the identity of the murderous madman is way too easy to figure out, to the point that I'm not even sure if it was intended to be a mystery; you've probably figured it out yourself already. The real mystery is how did he/she get that way, and the solution to that poser is one that I guarantee you won't see coming. Oh...this reader also thought that the finale of this book was kind of predictable, but as it turns out, I was completely wrong. I'd thought that Mallory would surely be receiving a dose of his own medicine, perhaps at the hands of Arabella, but Case had a completely different idea in mind, and wow, is it ever a doozy! His book is actually quite ingenious, although I'm not sure whether Mallory's grand scheme bears close inspection. Still, the novel does manage to leave the reader utterly flabbergasted, applauding in the privacy of his/her reading room and silently shouting "Bravo!," and really, who could ask for much more of a horror thriller than that? Fortunately for me, Valancourt also has available in its wide-ranging catalog three other books from David Case--the novel "Wolf Tracks" as well as the collections "Fengriffen & Other Gothic Tales" (2015) and "The Cell & Other Transmorphic Tales" (also from 2015)--and I for one can't wait to experience them one day soon....
(By the way, this review originally appeared on the FanLit website at https://fantasyliterature.com/ ... a most ideal destination for all fans of well-written horror fare....)
"The Third Grave" was originally released in 1981 as a $10.95 hardcover by the great great publisher Arkham House, which had been started by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei in 1939 to celebrate and preserve the works of H.P. Lovecraft, and which released hundreds of volumes in a similar vein up until 2010. The book had a cover illustration by Stephen E. Fabian, the Egyptian motif of which gave a hint as to the story line within. Case's novel would then go OOPs (out of prints) for 38 years, till the fine folks at Valancourt Books opted to, uh, disinter it in 2019. This second and most recent incarnation of "The Third Grave" boasts a symbolic cover illustration by David Moscati, the horrid significance of which only becomes apparent after one experiences Case's gruesome chiller.
Now, before getting into the details of this novel, a quick word on the author himself. David Case was born in NYC in 1937 but apparently lived most of his life in London. He would ultimately come out with three horror novels--"Fengriffen" (1970), which was later adapted as the Amicus film "And Now the Screaming Starts" in 1973 and starred Peter Cushing; "Wolf Tracks" (1980); and the book in question--three Western novels, and some two dozen short stories that were gathered into several overlapping collections. David Case passed away in 2018 at the age of 80.
"The Third Grave" is narrated to us by Thomas Ashley, one of Britain's foremost experts on Egyptian hieroglyphics, who lives in London and works at one of its major museums. (The British Museum, would be my guess.) As his narrative begins, Ashley is surprised to receive a letter from Lucian Mallory, who he'd met a few times in Egypt, knows only slightly, and has not seen or heard from in four years. Via flashback, we learn of how the two men had met while Ashley was working on a dig in the Egyptian wilderness. Mallory's unpleasant manner and predatory appearance had impressed Ashley very unfavorably, while his bizarre talk regarding time, the human brain, and the possibilities of immortality had reinforced the notion of him being something of an eccentric oddball. Ashley had been quite fond of Mallory's manservant Sam Cooper, however, a genial and hulking ex-soldier. Now, in the present, Mallory is requesting that Ashley come visit him at his home in Devonshire, to help translate an ancient parchment that he'd found in an Egyptian cemetery.
The rest of Ashley's tale is given in two fairly discrete sections. In the first, our narrator travels by train to the quaint little village of Farriers Bar, in Devon. He puts up at the Red Lion inn and learns from its owner, Mabel Sinclair, as well as from one of the local old coots, Melville Coots, that he has arrived during an evil time. A madman has just viciously killed an out-of-towner, crushing the man's bones and tearing away the flesh with his teeth! Coots suspects that a monster is to blame, a suggestion that is supported when a 17-year-old bicycle messenger is likewise slain in the area. While sitting in the Red Lion's pub, Ashley chances to meet his old friend John Cunningham, who is now something of an alcoholic wreck because his daughter Arabella has decided to work as an assistant for Mallory, and live in his creepy old house in the countryside. When Mallory drives into the village with his servant, our narrator discovers that Sam Cooper has, since he last saw them, suffered a terrible accident and is now something of a mindless automaton. Cooper attacks Cunningham and Ashley in the street with incredible strength and ferocity, leading to Mallory's confession that the man must now be kept locked away most of the time in his room. Inspector Peal (presumably of Scotland Yard) tasks Ashley with keeping a sharp lookout when he gets to Mallory's house, the two recent murders having taken place not too far away from its secluded precincts.
And so, in the book's second section, Ashley arrives at Mallory's dilapidated abode in the middle of nowhere. He begins his work on the parchment translation, is shown a mummy that has been preserved in a very unusual manner, learns even more information from the lovely Arabella, and, eventually, discovers the terrible secrets behind the recent homicides, as well as Lucian Mallor'’s incredible project....
For me, David Case's work here was absolutely irresistible, and I just tore through this novel and had a marvelous time doing so. The book is a genuine page-turner; an old-fashioned type of horror story. I can easily see how it would have appealed to the editors at Arkham House, and to their devoted readers. Case's story line here is also reminiscent of those to be found in the Universal horror films of the 1940s and the Hammer films of the '60s, incorporating as it does mummies, zombies, an obsessed scientist and his deformed but obedient servant. The novel should also appeal to fans of the wonderful pulp magazines of the '30s and '40s, and some of the situations and even verbiage do tend to get a bit grisly and pulpish at times. Thus, we get the usually urbane Ashley giving us the line "I stood there in the silence, and my living flesh crawled with maggots of horror"! The settings in Case's book--be it the Egyptian desert, the small Dorset village, or Mallory's crumbling and mildewed abode--are unfailingly atmospheric, and well depicted, to boot. Happily, our narrator is a person who we can like and admire; a highly intelligent, well-mannered and refined gentleman. And his foil, Mallory, makes for a splendid villain, if "villain" is indeed the correct word to use here. Mallory, to be fair, is also highly intelligent, a genius in his way, as well as being obsessed, ruthless, unprincipled and, ultimately, quite bonkers. The debates and conversations between the two men are wonderful to behold.
Despite the occasional lapse into pulpish prose, "The Third Grave" (and yes, that title does ultimately make perfect sense) is actually an elegantly written book, and Case shows himself here to be quite the master wordsmith. At times he reveals the homework that was done before penning this affair, with a line such as "...our specimen had been interred with the customary funerary accoutrements--amulets, canopic jars, ushabtis--and was still faintly redolent of the aromatic unguents applied in his entombment." Or how about this evocative line: "A glimmer appeared in his red-veined eyes, a brief sharp flicker like flint struck on hope." And I love what the village doctor tells our narrator vis-à-vis Cunningham's heavy drinking:
"...I'm afraid he'll find that troubles can't be drowned in alcohol. On the contrary. Troubles, like drowned corpses, become more bloated and hideous after protracted immersion in fluids."
And oh my goodness, the vocabulary that Case employs here to tell his tale! Some choice tidbits that sent this reader scurrying off to the ol' Merriam-Webster’s include "reclame," "djellaba," "marcescent," "exiguous," "minatory," "barm," "quercine," "zymurgy," "postjudice," "cuneate" and "faience"; the word "adumbration," which I knew, must be used at least four times during the course of Ashley's narration. Case's book is nicely compact, with no flab, yet abundantly detailed when it needs to be. And so, we learn that Mallory's workroom contained such junk as "angular figurines of stone and wood, stalking deities and squat gods, twisted serpents and graceful birds, Horus and Isis in worthless representations, modern plaster casts made from ancient molds, a set of orange and black voodoo drums of goatskin, a necklace of crocodile teeth...." In addition to some genuine treasures, to be fair.
"The Third Grave" is the type of book that is difficult to discuss without revealing its manifold surprises, and I don't wish to deprive you of the joy of being gobsmacked by them yourself. I can say that the book features any number of well-done scenes and sequences, including Melville Coots' story regarding his discovery of the first murder victim; the attack that Sam Cooper makes on Cunningham and our narrator; the tale that a band of gypsy (?) vagabonds tells Peal and Ashley about encountering the killer, who they deemed a werewolf, and of how their ferocious pit bull terrier was made to flee in cowering fear; the report that Mallory gives Ashley about his experiences in voodoo-haunted Haiti; and the battle that our narrator and Sam engage in in Mallory's workroom...as exciting a scene as any jaded horror fan could reasonably hope to find. I'm just sorry that I must remain mum regarding Mallory's remarkable discoveries, and just what has been transpiring inside his home. Trust me, you'll want to find out about them on your own!
If I would level one objection to David Case's unusually fine work here it is that the identity of the murderous madman is way too easy to figure out, to the point that I'm not even sure if it was intended to be a mystery; you've probably figured it out yourself already. The real mystery is how did he/she get that way, and the solution to that poser is one that I guarantee you won't see coming. Oh...this reader also thought that the finale of this book was kind of predictable, but as it turns out, I was completely wrong. I'd thought that Mallory would surely be receiving a dose of his own medicine, perhaps at the hands of Arabella, but Case had a completely different idea in mind, and wow, is it ever a doozy! His book is actually quite ingenious, although I'm not sure whether Mallory's grand scheme bears close inspection. Still, the novel does manage to leave the reader utterly flabbergasted, applauding in the privacy of his/her reading room and silently shouting "Bravo!," and really, who could ask for much more of a horror thriller than that? Fortunately for me, Valancourt also has available in its wide-ranging catalog three other books from David Case--the novel "Wolf Tracks" as well as the collections "Fengriffen & Other Gothic Tales" (2015) and "The Cell & Other Transmorphic Tales" (also from 2015)--and I for one can't wait to experience them one day soon....
(By the way, this review originally appeared on the FanLit website at https://fantasyliterature.com/ ... a most ideal destination for all fans of well-written horror fare....)
May 2, 2022
This was a slow burner and not at all what I was expecting. I was expecting mummies! The Egyptian ones, not yours'! But it eventually ended up to be quite a decent story, so I am compelled to rate it 3 stars.
May 2, 2019
Perfectly creepy story for this dark and stormy Spring night.
October 28, 2025
This was a very enjoyable read. The murderer was pretty obvious, but the journey getting there was worth it.
August 22, 2022
I really enjoyed this.
October 13, 2020
This is very well written on a line-by-line basis, which I appreciated. But the plotting leaves a lot to be desired. From his first appearance, the bad guy is clearly THE BAD GUY to any reader who has ever read a book, yet every character is clueless about him or explains away his EVILness. Stories with people who should be smart acting stupid are not my thing.
In addition, perhaps my fault but I was lured into thinking this was set in Egypt and would feature at least some of the Egyptian horror tropes that I love ... instead the story moved to England within the first few pages and never left.
Thirdly, the audiobook narrator made the main character sound like he was aged between 80 and 100, which I don't think he is.
In addition, perhaps my fault but I was lured into thinking this was set in Egypt and would feature at least some of the Egyptian horror tropes that I love ... instead the story moved to England within the first few pages and never left.
Thirdly, the audiobook narrator made the main character sound like he was aged between 80 and 100, which I don't think he is.
October 25, 2025
This horroresque novella has some fun and interesting ideas but does not quite hold together. The setting and timeline are confusing. It reads and feels mostly like it's set in the 1920s or earlier but some oddball remarks make it clear that the story's supposed to be set in the 1960s. And the story has too many plot points that make no sense, such as why the heroine is supposed to be hanging around with the villain of the piece. The end is a bit awkward, since the hero and heroine are going to have to do a lot of explaining that won't make a lot of sense to anyone.
Still, it's fun to read stories published by Arkham House, and I would not mind trying other works by the author.
Still, it's fun to read stories published by Arkham House, and I would not mind trying other works by the author.
May 24, 2025
4.25 rounded down
In a way, this reminded me a bit of Frankenstein. One mad man trying to achieve someone that unleashes all hell.
Thomas Ashely first meets Lucian Mallory while on a dig in Egypt. A while later, back in England, Ashley receives a letter from Mallory, inviting him to Devonshire to decipher some ancient Egyptian writings. Upon his arrival, Ashley learns that there has recently been a brutal murder in the small hamlet. Of course, as he starts assisting Mallory, the mystery starts unravelling.
It is a very slow-burn horror story which was quite enjoyable.
In a way, this reminded me a bit of Frankenstein. One mad man trying to achieve someone that unleashes all hell.
Thomas Ashely first meets Lucian Mallory while on a dig in Egypt. A while later, back in England, Ashley receives a letter from Mallory, inviting him to Devonshire to decipher some ancient Egyptian writings. Upon his arrival, Ashley learns that there has recently been a brutal murder in the small hamlet. Of course, as he starts assisting Mallory, the mystery starts unravelling.
It is a very slow-burn horror story which was quite enjoyable.
April 5, 2021
This one started really slow and I feel like it didn't really pick up until the last third of the book. It was an interesting idea and I always love mythology elements splashed with my horror stories.
January 1, 2025
This was a thoroughly compelling, and creepy tale! While the aesthetics of the monster(s) were very unsettling, it served more as an avatar for David Case’s mounting crescendo of cosmic horror. Very effective. Excellent prose. Top notch stuff
December 31, 2019
Cartoonish characterization and an ending that can be spotted within the first thirty pages.
July 2, 2023
A pulpy romp. Entertaining, but more risible than scary.
August 28, 2023
An OK, but not great horror story about a madman seeking eternal life by combining bits of secret knowledge from pharaohs with Haiti's zombies.
September 28, 2023
Really, really good.
September 10, 2020
I don’t like scary stuff as a rule but I actually really enjoyed this. I think I liked the writing itself more than the story, but it was quite good.
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