The Bargain

Dark Forces #5

by Rex Sparger

A mysterious man named Chort offers the Coastals, a high school rock band, a chance at wealth and fame for an undisclosed price

Genres: Horror, Young Adult, Paranormal, Fiction

160 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published June 1, 1983

Reviews

[Grady Hendrix]

"The Coastals played The Beatles, Air Supply, sure," Mike's father said. "But never that hard stuff I heard on the radio."

"Yes," Penny's mother added. "The Coastals played the music they call 'adult contemporary.' It had a real nice sound."

[Paula Brandon]

Kip, Penny, Mike, Roy and Sue are a small-town band on the road to nowhere. But then they receive a visit from a mysterious man named Chort, who offers them their wildest dreams of success. When they are unexpectedly dropped from their current gig, they travel to visit him and take him up on his offer. After sessions with Chort, their music begins to improve dramatically. But what about those marks on their faces? Why is Chort so open about the fact he practices witchcraft? Willfully blind to the fact their situation is too good to be true, the kids go along with the bargain they have struck with Chort, which will clearly involve their souls!

Short, blah 80s YA possession story. The five kids are all interchangeable as characters, and there's no sense that they're slowly being corrupted by an evil influence. Despite knowing something hinky is going on, they continue to pursue fame and wealth and even complain that it's not happening enough to their liking! It was very difficult to get on board with the protagonists, so I didn't really care that they were being possessed, or if they would get out of it. As such, the story was a bore, with a minor little exorcism involving the kids' parents to cap things off. It's all very mild and ho-hum, and even its eightiesness can't do much to save it.

[Erica Leigh]

Formulaic Dark Forces installment (demonic possession! A priest shows up! Very long exorcism scene where they over explain the process!) but I didn’t mind because it was also unintentionally hilarious.

No spoilers, but I was disappointed that we got the explanation behind Chort’s (terrible) name, yet no back story for those embarrassing song lyrics.

Also, I wish there were more song lyrics.

[Terri LH]

Must give this one 5 stars. My favorite Dark Forces book of all time. It's cheesy and it's fun! What can top demonic puking in front of St. Patrick's Cathedral? I wish it was made into a TV movie.

[Meen]

I read all of the books in this teen horror series over and over in junior high and high school. I'm sure if I read them now I would find them hideous (in the bad way), but because I loved them so much then, I'm giving them all five stars!

[N.S.]

I read this series as a teen and loved all of the books in it, but this one was my favorite. I was crazy about this book, and have often searched for it online. (I still have the books, but they are packed away in the eaves.)