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Subterranean
Blackheath is a desirable area—a good place for flying kites and family picnics. But at its centre is a dark pool of water which holds no life. And something centuries old, terrifyingly evil, is buried in its filthy residue.
One summer's day, disturbed schoolboy Sebastian Lee calls from its depths the ancient evil, welcoming it into his body. And soon a chain of inexplicable carnage is unleashed on the area.
Only Cherie Simpson knows the truth, revealed to her in a horrifying dream. But she cannot believe that her nightmare is about to come true...
One summer's day, disturbed schoolboy Sebastian Lee calls from its depths the ancient evil, welcoming it into his body. And soon a chain of inexplicable carnage is unleashed on the area.
Only Cherie Simpson knows the truth, revealed to her in a horrifying dream. But she cannot believe that her nightmare is about to come true...
- GenresHorror
288 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1989
19 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 24, 2016
Subterranean is the first of four horror novels produced by author James Buxton. If I had to classify this book I would say it leans more towards the supernatural with a hint of possession.
What surprised me most about this is the way the author wrote some quite complex scenes. As it is a supernatural horror novel, there are quite a few dream-like sequences which verge on psychedelic at times. In other horror novels I have read, these sorts of scenes can be a bit a tiresome but they are written really well here and are actually some of the more interesting parts of the story.
I really liked the character of Cherie who has just enough back story to make her interesting and develops into a great victim for all of the bad things happening. The author also does a good job of introducing some quite unpleasant sub characters who meet their demise which is quite satisfying. I wasn't a big fan of the policeman, Willis, as he seemed a bit shallow and just seemed to tag along.
The story itself is quite well paced but I felt it was about 50 pages short of really tying up some of the loose threads. The ending could of had a bit more impact and adding a bit more of the local history would have enriched the story as well. Overall, it was a good read and I will definitely be checking out James Buxton's other works.
What surprised me most about this is the way the author wrote some quite complex scenes. As it is a supernatural horror novel, there are quite a few dream-like sequences which verge on psychedelic at times. In other horror novels I have read, these sorts of scenes can be a bit a tiresome but they are written really well here and are actually some of the more interesting parts of the story.
I really liked the character of Cherie who has just enough back story to make her interesting and develops into a great victim for all of the bad things happening. The author also does a good job of introducing some quite unpleasant sub characters who meet their demise which is quite satisfying. I wasn't a big fan of the policeman, Willis, as he seemed a bit shallow and just seemed to tag along.
The story itself is quite well paced but I felt it was about 50 pages short of really tying up some of the loose threads. The ending could of had a bit more impact and adding a bit more of the local history would have enriched the story as well. Overall, it was a good read and I will definitely be checking out James Buxton's other works.
April 15, 2022
By all means better written than most horror of its time, but suffers from adding too many characters and incidents, leading to an unsatisfactory ending.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews