Incubus

by Ray Russell

Rubbing & edgewear; creases; small chips; scratches; date written inside; yellowing; otherwise overall clean & tight. 250 pages

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Halloween, Classics, Paranormal

250 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1976

About the author

Ray Russell was an American editor and writer of short stories, novels, and screenplays. Russell is best known for his horror fiction, although he also wrote mystery and science fiction stories.

His most famous short fiction is "Sardonicus", which appeared in the January 1961 issue of Playboy magazine, and was subsequently adapted by Russell into a screenplay for William Castle's film version, titled Mr. Sardonicus. American writer Stephen King called "Sardonicus" "perhaps the finest example of the modern gothic ever written"."Sardonicus" was part of a trio of stories with "Sanguinarius" and "Sagittarius".

see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Russell and http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-ent...

Reviews

[Addy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! Thanks to the good reviews I couldn't pass up this book when I found it. Now, that I've read it, I consider this book a little treasure that I stumbled upon. It's basically about an incubus who is reining terror on the women of Galen as it only has one thing on its mind....to procreate. So of course you can imagine the horrible death these women have suffered. The men of Galen are running around trying to figure out who it could be. The ending will surprise you as it did me. A lot of great lore as well was found in this book....books made out of human skin, daggers dipped in, well, I'll let u discover that on your own. 5 stars! I plan on getting Ray's Haunted Castles this Christmas.

[David Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having originally read this many, many years ago, I was recently fortunate enough to acquire a second hand copy for £1. A bargain.

I remembered it as being a truly creepy and horrific read, which is full of sizable monsters (check the title, you'll work it out!). I was not wrong!
Strangely, most of Ray Russell's books now appear to be out of print, which is A:a travesty for horror fans everywhere. and B:a serious error on the part of whichever body retains the copyright.

Some of his work may now seem tame when compared to the more modern trend of schlock horror. But take it from me, Ray Russell was a ground-breaker for his time.
With such an outstanding back-catalog - which includes Incubus, The Case Against Satan, Unholy Trinity, Haunted Castles, Sardonicus, - this is a writer who is up there with Matheson, Bloch, Campbell and the best of them.

I was going to end by suggesting that you might want to do yourselves a favor, and go hunting around for some old copies of Russell's works.
Instead, I have a modicum of good news!

Penguin Horror have just released a new and updated edition of Haunted Castles, which is the first in a six-volume series of classic horror stories, edited by Guillermo del Toro.
Haunted Castles(1) is dedicated to the works of Ray Russell. So do yourselves a favor and trust me, this is one for the Christmas wish-list!

[Bandit · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was actually a surprisingly good book, despite its ridiculously cheesy cover. It wasn't all that dated for having been written in 1976 and it held the suspense throughout. Pretty well written, a very quick read and much of it reads like an old fashioned "who done it", I more or less figured out who it was, but I don't think it was because they book made it obvious (it's probably just because I'm such a genius :) ). Fairly raunchy, but Russell keeps it surprisingly classy. Overall, I'd definitely recommend this one.

[June · Rating 5 out of 5]

Galen seems to be typical of small town America, with a population who are familiar to each other and also aware of each other's generational history. However, when a mysterious spate of rapes and murders begins, everyone starts to doubt those they thought they knew.
The brutality of the crimes is staggering, but Julian Trask, who is a former lecturer at Galen University, and also a student of the occult, strongly suspects the perpetrator to be something other than human.
Ray Russell's Incubus is a story straight out of the 70/80's pulp fiction cabinet, but with a strong dose of good prose. Genuinely creepy. This was a good read.

[Netanella · Rating 2 out of 5]

Typically I enjoy classic horror novels, but this one, about a small California town that's terrorized by a sex demon, was a little too 1970's sexploitation for my current tastes. My brother now - he would love it!

[Hayden Gilbert · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’d been wanting to read this for a while. I loved the movie (as it turns out, a *very* loose adaptation that I’d like to revisit soon) as well as Ray Russell’s famous story “Sardonicus”. I wasn’t sure how this novel would read, but I expected more.

Just about every trigger warning you could imagine for a horror story about a sex-demon, the subject matter is obviously disturbing, but shockingly not in as poor taste as it could have been. The moments of horror featuring the monster and its, um, “Monumental masculinity” are appropriately scary. Fear of ghosts and the supernatural always plays on the anxiety of violation, and I can’t think of anything much scarier than a sex demon. But the book itself just doesn’t feel all-there. Somethin’s missin’!

A little paperback from hell like this should really be read over the course of a day, and I fear my prolonged stay in “Galen” gave me a lot more time to focus on poor pacing and things that just didn’t make sense, but there was a lack of character and place that kept me from devouring this thing. It’s hard not to compare it to the stuff Stephen King was churning out at this time. Galen is no Jerusalem’s Lot, and these characters have nothing on King’s. The only character here with any sort of personality to him is the doctor, and he’s so lame he literally has a “What Grinds My Gears” column in the newspaper, and we get several chapters devoted to his excruciatingly unfunny diatribes about pet peeves. Also, 70s King definitely had a habit of describing women “boobs-first”, but the objectification here is so over the top. If you really wanted to make the excuse, you could say it serves a purpose since the book is literally about an incubus, but there were a lot of times where I was like…damn Ray really?

Idk. I didn’t hate it, but I understand how someone else would. The horror worked for me, all the stuff that makes you care about the horror didn’t so much.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

2014 review - Galen is an ordinary, peaceful small town. Until horrendous terror strikes … and strikes again and again, each time claiming a female victim in a fashion too hideous to contemplate. Julian Trask, student of the occult, is used to thinking the unthinkable. As he works towards the solution of the soul-searing mystery, Galen trembles in mortal dread. For no woman is safe from the lethal lust of THE INCUBUS. This is unashamedly pulp and all the more fun for it. Ray Russell is a genre writer with a great pedigree (amongst many other things, he wrote the screenplay for “X: The Man With the X-Ray Eyes”) and this novel (first published in 1976) works a treat so long as you enjoy it for what it is, a quick and cheesy novel (though curiously coy when dealing with sex, which is ironic considering the subject matter). Characterisation is brisk - Trask, English, handsome and Porsche driving, is drawn back to the town where he once taught briefly; Laura Kincaid was a student he fancied back then, now she edits the paper he subscribes to, which is where he found out about the killings; Dr ‘Doc’ Jenkins is the town physician (I couldn’t tell how old he was supposed to be) who’s well respected and good at his job, even if his alcohol intake is prodigious (and he & Trask make for a fun double-act) and Hank Walden is the town Sheriff, a man at his wits end trying to figure out what’s going on. There’s a big supporting cast too, with plenty of “it could be him” characters and the attack set pieces are well enough constructed that it could be anyone who turns into the monster - and what a monster the Incubus is, never really seen clearly but identifiable from his extremely large penis (which is what kills his victims - he wants to mate and rapes them to death). With a decent small-town atmosphere, a great MacGuffin (The Artes Perditae spell book, covered in human skin so that the “i” is dotted by a navel), some great set pieces (though the section in the dormitories could have been better realised I think and the writer missed a big chance for a stalking sequence) and nicely used gore (making up for the coy sexual references), this does exactly as it’s supposed to. As ever, your enjoyment will depend on your tolerance for (relatively well constructed) pulp, but I enjoyed it a lot and would recommend it for fans of the same.

original review (from the 80s) - Great fun, a proper "shocker" of a horror novel that grips from start to finish. If you love the sleazier end of the horror spectrum, with plenty of scares (like I do), this is a must-read!

[Shane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful novel. This is the story of an incubus, a creature that basically rapes women to death, and he does a very good job of it too when all's said and done. It all takes place in a small town called Galen, and the whole tale revolves around the search for the rapist who at first is thought to be nothing more than a very well endowed man. It soon becomes clear though that they're dealing with a much more dangerous creature than that, and so the search is on.

The sex, as you'd imagine is quite frequent but not too graphic surprisingly, given the subject matter. It begins to take up more and more of the novel towards the end but is never gratuitous(if you're the type to be bothered by such things) and is well written, as are the characters.

I took too long in reading this, and read it along with a few other books. I'd like to go back at some stage and re-read it over a much shorter time period and while reading nothing else at the same time since by the time I reached the end, I needed to flick back through the first half to remind myself of various details.

Oh well. A re-read certainly isn't going to be a chore with this one.

[Red Haircrow · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the few books I've read which truly presented a creepy mood which made me look up from reading and actually think about myself being placed in the story. I realize a lot of people rated this book as "ok" only, but obviously their expectations were different than my own. I don't mind graphic content when it fits the story, and what was written (certainly is no longer "over the top" with the graphic details writers include these days even in simple romance novels)...increased your horror if you didn't immediately reject it because you didn't like the image placed before you.

Incubus is a true horror tale. The suspense and anticipation is carefully built and the characters defined. The end was expected but I found myself breathing a sigh of relief because the whole had been brought to a satisfying end.

[Mika Lietzen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Death by penis is the name of the game in this 1976 novel from Ray Russell. Galen, a cozy little New England town somehow located in California is beset by a series of violet rapes, committed by an inhuman but clearly male creature with a particularly large and lethal member.

Luckily for Galen, a flashy know-it-all anthropologist called Julian Trask arrives with a grimoire and some arcane knowledge, and soon figures out that the perpetrator is an incubus, a man who involuntarily shapeshifs into a creature endowed with king-size goods. The creature's only instinct is to breed in order to continue its ancient bloodline, like an animal in heat, so it's not really murderous, just unusually horny. There are of course some suspects, mainly Tim, a descendant of the town's founders who happens to have some connection to witchcraft by blood.

The novel was written in the seventies, which fortunately makes it closer to silly than sordid. There's a heavy dosage of pulp in the mix, especially towards the end when even the elements (Earth, Wind and Fire or some other nonsense) begin attacking the good people of Galen. Trask's interest in the supernatural is almost cartoonish, and I'm guessing the whisky-sipping, curmudgeonly town doctor is the last call when all other medical professionals have declined to accept your health insurance.

The rapes, of course, are very nasty, especially in the second part, and there's mercifully nothing silly or cartoonish about them. One can only imagine how bad it would be if the novel was written by some horn-dog like Richard Laymon. As it is, Incubus is a strange mix of gruesome and cozy. It's far too boyish to really register as something more than a fast-paced adventure novel - even if it does have a monster with a big dick. Incubus is alright, but that's all.

The novel got an unmemorable Canadian film adaptation of the same name in 1982. The California location was changed to a town in Wisconsin and the Trask character was combined with that of the town doctor (played by John Cassavetes). The New York Times said the incubus of the film resembled "a large, shaggy, extremely mean E.T. with bad teeth", so I'm guessing it won all the Academy Awards that year.

[Brian Francis · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book because I remember it from when I was a kid. Someone in our house had a copy, but no one’s fessed up to owning it. In a nutshell, this is the story of a small town terrorized by a sex demon equipped with an extremely large, uh, appendage.

Is it a work of high literary art? Nope. It includes lines like “Her nightgown had crept up around her waist and her curl-crowned cleft returned his stare.” But I wasn’t picking this up for a deep analysis of the human condition. Sometimes, it’s fun to go back and read the books that captivated you in your youth, if only to try and understand not what the book said, but what the book said about you at that point in your life.

[Janith Pathirage · Rating 1 out of 5]

It was a really good thriller until the identity of the murderer was revealed at the end. One of the most ridiculous conclusions I have ever come across. Just one page ruined everything! Even though the story wasn't all that scary, it was suspenseful and kept me guessing all the time. Never thought I would end up giving it just 1 star. Disappointing.

[Andrea Gurtler · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was told about this book by my mother when I was around 13 or so. I hadn't thought much of it, then I found a copy online for $0.01. So what's thhe risk...=) I read it and thought that if it was to be "updated" it would be a best seller...in my opinion. It was very surprising to say the least.

[Ryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm a big fan of the 1982 movie loosely based on this book and, after finally reading the source novel, I have to say the movie was a huge improvement. None of the characters in the book are particularly likable or interesting (except perhaps for the tormented young man and his crazy old aunt who are descendants of the town’s founder) and the action is flat, not suspenseful or surprising. Granted, I basically knew what was going to happen, but that wouldn't have mattered if the writing was more engaging. Russell writes short, snappy chapters that keep you reading, but is unable to build up a believable small town the way Stephen King does, for example. The movie fixes a lot of the issues I had with this book by casting a compelling actor like John Cassavetes as the town doctor, making him the protagonist and removing the superfluous college professor character. Plus, the attack scenes were powerfully filmed and made more of an impression than those in the book. Some stories just work better as movies and Incubus is a prime example.

[Lisa of LaCreeperie · Rating 4 out of 5]

HOLY CRAP! Gripping to the very end. This isn't just a case of "the book is better than the film" it is so much more than that because it's vastly different from the film.

And If you have seen the film then you know one of the main plot points revolves around rape. You should know I don't do rape. But this is different, and that's as much of a spoiler as I'll say.

It's easy to see why Ray Russell was the fiction editor of Playboy, as despite the snickering and eye rolls, Playboy was renowned for its articles, stories and comic illustrations. His writing is so readable. I am a notoriously slow reader, yet I always fly through his books. Dare I liken him to a grittier, and far less verbose Stephen King? Hmmm...

[Bicyclor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, I wish it was 100 pages longer and went into more detail regarding Laura and Tim’s background. I’m going to revisit the movie to see if it does the book any justice, likely will be a cheese fest which I’m not opposed to. The subject matter is interesting so I’d like to read more books like this or from the author himself.

[Ahimsa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this as part of my yearly Halloween reads. It's pretty schlocky and plebeian, but not the worst thing I've ever read. Jadedly, I expected it be a bit more outrageous but it has a nice 70s vibe.

[Williwaw · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hey, this was pretty good! Readers must, of course, suspend their disbelief.

I've read some other stories by Ray Russell: Sardonicus, and one other (Sagittarius, maybe?). They were done up in high Gothic style. Sardonicus was amazing, and I recommend it without reservation.

This book is different. It take place in a contemporary setting (albeit, mid-1970's when it was written -- so you'll probably get some pleasure from a scene with a functioning telephone booth!).

If goodreads would allow, I'd give this book 3.5 stars. That's because it's a bit campy, and the writing is uneven. So it's not a true classic. Nevertheless, there are passages that are quite brilliant. Russell certainly had good writing skills. The dramatic arc is very effective, and there's a decent "surprise ending." I came close to solving the mystery of the identity of the "incubus," but I missed a certain logical clue that would have set me straight.

The cover of my first paperback edition quotes a review which included this comment: "Not for the squeamish." And yes, this book is sexually explicit, so anyone who might be offended by that should take heed.

I keep hearing about a popular book called "Paperbacks from Hell," which is about vintage horror paperbacks. I wonder if it includes a review of this book, and if so, how it might rank with its competition.

[David B · Rating 4 out of 5]

A small California town is terrorized by a string of rape/murders, which only becomes more terrifying when an itinerant British demonologist reveals that the rapist is an incubus, and the murder weapon is a penis as big as a man’s arm.

This is a well-written thriller that features some creepy scenes and wraps up with a pretty good twist. In the early part of the book, there are some harrowing interstitial sections between chapters that detail the interrogation and torture of a woman on the rack for witchcraft and having sex with demons; as good as these sections are, they are never well integrated with the main narrative and they are dropped early on. As a 70s book written by a former fiction editor for Playboy magazine, there is plenty of male chauvinism (to use the vernacular of the time) on display, such as the trope that the brutalization of women serves as a catalyst for men to spring into protective action while the ladies cluck about like hens in the background. At one point, they are even cooped up together for easier guarding. But why be offended when there is so much to enjoy, including a hard-drinking doctor who makes house calls, a harried small town sheriff who is definitely too old for this shit, and the above-mentioned Brit, who is so steeped in arcane lore that I kept expecting him to name check the Necronomicon.

https://thericochetreviewer.blogspot....

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some great horror conventions used here with an evil rapist monster with a giant penis and a built-in mystery. Who is the monster? It could be any of the townspeople, but unlike a good mystery, no real clues are given by the time the mystery is revealed.

Lots of sex and titilation. This is not for the prudish or squeemish. It's a short book, weighing in at about 250 pages, but parts of it felt a bit padded by the obnoxious nonsense spouted by the obligatory country doctor. And this, in my opinion, is the thing that irritated me the most about this story: that annoying country doctor. Doc Jenkins has a personality that is a contradiction. He acts like he is wise and worldly, but manages to say and do some old-fashioned things. Thinks he's a kind of mix between Samuel Clemens and Will Rogers. But when he decribes homosexuality and oral sex as evil perverse deviations, I really just wished he had been written differently. Seems petty to be irritated by one character, but this one just influences so much of the story, that he kind of ruins it a little.

This story is just about the right length for what it is. And my edition has a great pulpy cover. Those are good enough reasons to recommend this to anyone else who wants to read a fun horror book.

[Hugo · Rating 3 out of 5]

A curiosity, this. Far from Russell's earlier Victoriana Gothics, this seems to be a purely pulp exercise, a cynical attempt to cash-in on the 'anything goes' horror explosion of the '70s, coupled with King-style setting and character.

Not entirely unsuccessful: Russell's facility with words sets out the opening of the novel marvellously, making the characters and town of Galen rounded and likeable, but then it settles into a Rape Murder/Male Characters Ruminate/Rinse and Repeat cycle in which many elements (medieval torture flashbacks, family secrets, grimoires and ancient weapons) remain disparate, literally never playing a part in the story - much like most of the characters.

I think I'll stick to Russell's more old-fashioned fare.

[Amber Robbins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easily a new favorite author. This one is intense. I would definitely advise anyone who is bothered by rape, suicide, torture, occult related books, drug and alcohol use or very detailed talks about sex or coitus to stay away. In today's world, this would get rated XXX. Despite all the gruesome-ness, I highly enjoyed the character development, the unexpected twists and turns, the fast paced on the edge of the seat writing style, and the details that make picturing the characters and environment very easy and clear. Clear and precise enough it was like watching a movie. I also found and watched the 1982 film based off this book afterwards. The book and movie are extremely different(got rid of the main character even!) and I would not recommend the movie. No where near as good as this book!

[Rick Powell · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good easy read, even if it is dated for today’s readers. The sex and rape is toned down early in the book, and may seem tame compared to today’s horror novel criteria is some aspects, but that is how Russell’s writing style is. The ending is way different than the movie version, and I prefer the ending of the latter (even though it was a travesty script wise).
A good “popcorn book” for readers who just want to follow the cheesy flow of the novel without thinking about it too much.
Nice character interaction throughout, and some dark torture flashbacks that keep the mood.

[Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

It’s every bit as sleazy and disgusting as you’d expect it to be. There are mild Twin Peaks vibes here, what with the foggy small-town west coast setting and the collection of spirited locals. The ending is a cop-out, but otherwise pretty gripping in a sick sort of way. There’s a comically jarring part near the middle where the story stops for about three pages to rattle off a bunch of trivia and quotes from The Maltese Falcon.

[James S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like this author's neo-Victorian stories quite a bit, so I looked forward to this novel. Unfortunately, after I found a copy (it's out of print and copies of it are rather expensive), it turned out to be something of a disappointment. Whereas Russell's earlier works (e.g. "The Case Against Satan") were models of irony and understatement, this novel goes for the opposite approach: Russell seems to revel in the new allowances the 1970s afforded, lingering over descriptions of explicit and largely gratuitous sex and violence. I detect a note of cynicism in this, as if Russell (who was long a fiction editor at "Playboy") was saying, "OK, you idiots, here you go." Rather than being scary, however, this explicitness borders on the ludicrous; indeed, the final surprise is so grotesque it's actually quite ridiculous. Stick with his work from the '60s instead.

[Matt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reading “Paperbacks from Hell” by Grady Hendrix which is full of old forgotten 70’s and 80’s horror. I saw the cover of this in there and remembered that i’d read it! Wasn’t worth keeping so I must not have liked it. I expect I will find more like this in there.

[Chris Gager · Rating 3 out of 5]

I MIGHT have read this(or some of it) way BITD. I've been searching for a book I read about a serial rapist, but I'm certainly not sure it was this one. I'm not even sure I even finished the book, but I do remember reading it.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sleazy but entertaining little pulp novel. There are scenes of sexual assault as you would expect from the plot, however none of them are written like the author was secretly getting off while writing them which I appreciated, although there were certainly times where I rolled my eyes and muttered, "Oh, come on" to myself. I watched the movie a few years and was deeply underwhelmed by it, especially the ending and found this to be more satisfying.

[Troy Palmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, what a great read! I couldn't put it down. A horror whodunit! A great twist ending that you may or may not see coming. Definitely a quick pleasure read!

[lanna ! · Rating 3 out of 5]

read the paperback that my nan had back in the 70s that scared her shitless and apart from all the grim shit like rape etc it was a good horror book!