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The Witching Night
Written early in the bestselling author's career, Waller used the pseudonym C. S. Cody to distinguish this novel from the crime fiction and international intrigue he would later become famous for. Groundbreaking in its approach, The Witching Night pits medical science against a relentless, malignant force. Dr. Loomis-a young, well-grounded MD who operates a small clinic in Chicago-draws on his medical training by using pharmaceuticals to keep himself buoyant and lucid in the midst of a direct attack by a malicious entity . . . or is it a curse? Nameless, indefinable . . . one thing is certain: it's a killer, and likes to torture before it kills. Leslie Waller wrote such memorable novels as Dog Day Afternoon and Hide in Plain Sight. He also collaborated with Steven Spielberg on the novelization of Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Too long neglected, The Witching Night was chosen to launch Bruin Books' new line of weird fiction, Bruin Asylum. Introduction by Jonathan Eeds. Welcome to the Asylum.
360 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1952
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 28, 2016
(This is the 1968 Lancer mass-market edition I'm reading.)
January 22, 2016
For an early 50s novel this book is quite far ahead of its time. It's a potent mixture of horror, sci-fi, occult, mystery, suspense and crime but where each ingredient is used in such a subtle way to give the result a warm but powerful effect.
I have to say it's not what I expected. It's more punchy and unputdownable than the short synopsis might let you think.
The narrative is so gripping and the language is very clever that it's a pleasure to read. You stumble on a couple of almost unbearably eerie passages and scary episodes but the atmosphere of the whole book is not in-your-face stuff. Even today I find the story and the writing quite refreshing and original. It's a shame the author did not write more books of this genre. I would have been so eager to read more.
It has a few quirky but very enjoyable elements (i.e. the chapter titled 'I'll remember her in my will' was such a fun to read, or the character of the secretary - I wished she had played a bigger part in the story!) and one small imperfection towards the end but all in all a big surprise and a truly welcome addition to my bookshelf.
This is the type of books I want to read.
I have to say it's not what I expected. It's more punchy and unputdownable than the short synopsis might let you think.
The narrative is so gripping and the language is very clever that it's a pleasure to read. You stumble on a couple of almost unbearably eerie passages and scary episodes but the atmosphere of the whole book is not in-your-face stuff. Even today I find the story and the writing quite refreshing and original. It's a shame the author did not write more books of this genre. I would have been so eager to read more.
It has a few quirky but very enjoyable elements (i.e. the chapter titled 'I'll remember her in my will' was such a fun to read, or the character of the secretary - I wished she had played a bigger part in the story!) and one small imperfection towards the end but all in all a big surprise and a truly welcome addition to my bookshelf.
This is the type of books I want to read.
May 2, 2021
This little gem was first published in 1952 and Waller (AKA C.S. Cody) serves us a tasty little occult/noir thriller. Our main protagonist, Joe Loomis, is a doctor in Chicago starting a new solo practice after he was discharged from the armed forces during WWII. One day and old college buddy stops by and after a short reunion, he tells Joe that he is suffering from a killer, non-stop headache. Joe tries everything he can think of, all to no avail, as his buddy dies a few months later. Well, it turns out his buddy left Joe his estate (such as it is)-- a small beach house in the 'Dunes' of northern Indiana on the lake.
Joe starts receiving his buddy's mail and it turns out he was a member of the 'dune-drifters'-- a club of sorts of people who live on the dunes during summer. Joe also finds in his buddy's sparse apartment what seems to be a 'black host', e.g., one used in black mass. Puzzled with this, along with a few cryptic comments his buddy made about someone named Abbie, Joe starts looking into what what going on with his buddy before he came in with his headache. While Joe is not a private detective, his inquires take a noir like quality as he pokes around. He links Abbie with the black host and it turns out Abbie is also a member of the dune-drifters. When he finally heads out to the beach cottage on the dunes, he finds some strange things-- mistletoe hanging around the cabin, some high powered binoculars and an old .22 pistol. To make a long story short, Joe heads out one night and sees some strange activity on top of a dune and investigates with his new binoculars; he sees Abbie and a few others engaged in some strange rite where Abbie kills and drinks the blood of a kitten and then has sex with one of the other robed figures.
Meanwhile, Abbie is definitely coming on to Joe, but Joe, after witnessing the strange rite, does not want anything to do with her; yet she keeps calling every day! Finally, Joe, with a head and stomach full of scotch, heads to her place and tells her off (being drunk, he forgets exactly what he said, but it turns out he basically told her he does not want sloppy seconds after the rite). The next day, Joe comes down with a wicked headache-- it seems he has been cursed as well!
TWN is a first person narration presented something like a journal, as Joe wants to leave the facts of the matter down on paper before he too succumbs to the curse. Nonetheless, the prose moves right along as Joe decides to fight the curse and undermine the cabal that laid it on him; his machinations here give it a noir feel. It is hard to believe this was published almost 70 years ago and it far preceded the 70s horror boom, yet stands up there with other horror classics. 4 solid stars!!
Joe starts receiving his buddy's mail and it turns out he was a member of the 'dune-drifters'-- a club of sorts of people who live on the dunes during summer. Joe also finds in his buddy's sparse apartment what seems to be a 'black host', e.g., one used in black mass. Puzzled with this, along with a few cryptic comments his buddy made about someone named Abbie, Joe starts looking into what what going on with his buddy before he came in with his headache. While Joe is not a private detective, his inquires take a noir like quality as he pokes around. He links Abbie with the black host and it turns out Abbie is also a member of the dune-drifters. When he finally heads out to the beach cottage on the dunes, he finds some strange things-- mistletoe hanging around the cabin, some high powered binoculars and an old .22 pistol. To make a long story short, Joe heads out one night and sees some strange activity on top of a dune and investigates with his new binoculars; he sees Abbie and a few others engaged in some strange rite where Abbie kills and drinks the blood of a kitten and then has sex with one of the other robed figures.
Meanwhile, Abbie is definitely coming on to Joe, but Joe, after witnessing the strange rite, does not want anything to do with her; yet she keeps calling every day! Finally, Joe, with a head and stomach full of scotch, heads to her place and tells her off (being drunk, he forgets exactly what he said, but it turns out he basically told her he does not want sloppy seconds after the rite). The next day, Joe comes down with a wicked headache-- it seems he has been cursed as well!
TWN is a first person narration presented something like a journal, as Joe wants to leave the facts of the matter down on paper before he too succumbs to the curse. Nonetheless, the prose moves right along as Joe decides to fight the curse and undermine the cabal that laid it on him; his machinations here give it a noir feel. It is hard to believe this was published almost 70 years ago and it far preceded the 70s horror boom, yet stands up there with other horror classics. 4 solid stars!!
January 16, 2026
Brooding and atmospheric post-war horror that feels like a Val Lewton production - certainly easy picturing Kent Smith as Dr. Jim Loomis, Jean Brooks as Abbie Cowper with Bela Lugosi as Dr. Khereniev and Lon Chaney Jr. as Sebastian Kelk.
December 10, 2014
Urban fantasy in the sense of being a tale of magic set in the modern world. An old friend drops by the doctor protagonist to ask for help with a murderous (literally, as it turns out) headache. The doctor discovers a coven of Satanists targeted the man and guess who the next victim is? Well written, but the supernatural elements are too restrained for my taste.
October 23, 2018
Good, pulpy devil worship story (though it's really more like black magic than Satanism, as Satan himself is never brought up).
June 18, 2019
I'm just after finishing this one, and it's going to take a bit of consideration before I decide what I really think of it, but at this stage I am very, very surprised at how good this book was.
October 19, 2023
Okay not great. Spooky at times but the characters are flat, the main character especially, and the way the author continuously harps on ugly and especially fat characters is frustrating and nauseating. Also feel I should mention that the copy I read had a fairly racist depiction of a black man on the front even though there was not a single non white person in the book. This one is very much a product of its time.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews