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Moondeath
1980 Zebra Books horror paperback by Rick Hautala
- GenresHorrorFictionWerewolves
448 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1981
18 people are currently reading
386 people want to read
About the author
Rick Hautala
137 books125 followersAKA A.J. Matthews
Rick Hautala has more than thirty published books to his credit, including the million copy, international best-seller Nightstone, as well as Twilight Time, Little Brothers, Cold Whisper, Impulse, and The Wildman. He has also published four novels—The White Room, Looking Glass, Unbroken, and Follow—using the pseudonym A. J. Matthews. His more than sixty published short stories have appeared in national and international anthologies and magazines. His short story collection Bedbugs was selected as one of the best horror books of the year in 2003.
A novella titled Reunion was published by PS Publications in December, 2009; and Occasional Demons, a short story collection, is due in 2010 from CD Publications. He wrote the screenplays for several short films, including the multiple award-winning The Ugly Film, based on the short story by Ed Gorman, as well as Peekers, based on a short story by Kealan Patrick Burke, and Dead @ 17, based on the graphic novel by Josh Howard.
A graduate of the University of Maine in Orono with a Master of Art in English Literature (Renaissance and Medieval Literature), Hautala lives in southern Maine with author Holly Newstein. His three sons have all grown up and (mostly) moved out of the house. He served terms as Vice President and Trustee for the Horror Writers Association.
Sadly, Rick died on March 21, 2013.
Rick Hautala has more than thirty published books to his credit, including the million copy, international best-seller Nightstone, as well as Twilight Time, Little Brothers, Cold Whisper, Impulse, and The Wildman. He has also published four novels—The White Room, Looking Glass, Unbroken, and Follow—using the pseudonym A. J. Matthews. His more than sixty published short stories have appeared in national and international anthologies and magazines. His short story collection Bedbugs was selected as one of the best horror books of the year in 2003.
A novella titled Reunion was published by PS Publications in December, 2009; and Occasional Demons, a short story collection, is due in 2010 from CD Publications. He wrote the screenplays for several short films, including the multiple award-winning The Ugly Film, based on the short story by Ed Gorman, as well as Peekers, based on a short story by Kealan Patrick Burke, and Dead @ 17, based on the graphic novel by Josh Howard.
A graduate of the University of Maine in Orono with a Master of Art in English Literature (Renaissance and Medieval Literature), Hautala lives in southern Maine with author Holly Newstein. His three sons have all grown up and (mostly) moved out of the house. He served terms as Vice President and Trustee for the Horror Writers Association.
Sadly, Rick died on March 21, 2013.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
October 15, 2020
This may be Hautala's first published book and I can see why he got such a reputation early in his career. Published by Zebra in 1980 with a glowing Stephen King blurb on the cover, Hautala gives us a rather bizarre werewolf story set in the small New Hampshire town of Cooper Falls. Our main protagonist Bob recently moved to Cooper Falls to assume a teaching position at the high school. He resigned his teaching position in Mass after a scandal-- he was accused of raping one of his students, but it never went to court. Nonetheless, it lead to a divorce and him fleeing to a new place.
Cooper Falls is populated with the typical array of small town characters-- Lisa, the abused wife who works at the library, a smart hick sheriff and his deputies, various students, and the beautiful but, lets say, promiscuous Julie who dabbles in witchcraft on the sly. Not much of a spoiler here, but it seems Julie, in trying to summon some dark force to rid her of a drunken, abusive boyfriend managed to in fact transform her boyfriend's brother Ned into a werewolf! Ned is kinda nerdy, teased at school for being such a hick and generally friendless. When people start dying and reports of a large wolf being the culprit, Bob starts thinking about werewolves; his suspicions are further fueled when the beast attacks him in his house and is driven off by a silver cross. Can Bob convince anyone that Ned is indeed a werewolf? Can he do anything about it? The tension slowly builds...
This was a fun read and I have always liked Hautala's prose. Grade A pulp fiction to be sure! I do have some gripes. First, the copy editing is very poor which I always find annoying and distracting. I also did not like how quickly Bob centered on Ned being a werewolf, but so it goes. The ending was a surprise I must admit, and I did not see it coming. Over all-- 3.5 furry stars rounding up!
Cooper Falls is populated with the typical array of small town characters-- Lisa, the abused wife who works at the library, a smart hick sheriff and his deputies, various students, and the beautiful but, lets say, promiscuous Julie who dabbles in witchcraft on the sly. Not much of a spoiler here, but it seems Julie, in trying to summon some dark force to rid her of a drunken, abusive boyfriend managed to in fact transform her boyfriend's brother Ned into a werewolf! Ned is kinda nerdy, teased at school for being such a hick and generally friendless. When people start dying and reports of a large wolf being the culprit, Bob starts thinking about werewolves; his suspicions are further fueled when the beast attacks him in his house and is driven off by a silver cross. Can Bob convince anyone that Ned is indeed a werewolf? Can he do anything about it? The tension slowly builds...
This was a fun read and I have always liked Hautala's prose. Grade A pulp fiction to be sure! I do have some gripes. First, the copy editing is very poor which I always find annoying and distracting. I also did not like how quickly Bob centered on Ned being a werewolf, but so it goes. The ending was a surprise I must admit, and I did not see it coming. Over all-- 3.5 furry stars rounding up!
January 25, 2022
I'll admit that even though I own a good handful of Hautala's novels, I was always afraid to pick one up. Not because the books themselves were daunting or seemed bad, but because, for some reason, Hautala's name isn't one that seems to garner much praise.
In the stable of Zebra authors, few wrote as many books as Hautala, and few seemed to have such a divisive cloud swirling around their name. Mention him and the arguments start coming from either side of the camp and there is very little middle ground: you love him or you hate him. And while I am purely speculating at this point, I think it is because, despite his vast collection of like 20 something books, he was never able to find consistency. Too many times he had a great novel and then one that was universally derided. Too many back and forth works left a bad taste in readers' mouths.
Anyways, knowing this, I had my trepidations of starting Moondeath. On one hand I wanted to see how one of Zebra's most famous authors wrote, but on the other, I didn't want to waste time on a book that might end up sucking.
The good news is that Moondeath doesn't suck. In fact, it's actually pretty darn good.
At 448 pages, this book isn't exactly short, but it never feels bloated or overdone. Honestly, it's more simplistic than anything, though this works in its favor as its fast, lean, and to the point. Hautala never bogs the story down in pointless exposition or useless backstory. Think more along the lines of Richard Laymon, but without the prevalent and disgusting pedophiliac undertones.
I wouldn't argue with you that Moondeath's cover is kooky as hell, looking like a werid mashup of Harrison Ford and Sylvester Stallone, but I would argue that the take on the werewolf mythos is fun and moderately original. I'm not usually huge fan of this creature-feature trope in horror, however Huatala makes it work. And the twist ending is one of the better ones I've seen in a while.
Basically, when you cut all the fluff away, this is a fun read and I only hope the next Huatala novel I read is this enjoyable.
In the stable of Zebra authors, few wrote as many books as Hautala, and few seemed to have such a divisive cloud swirling around their name. Mention him and the arguments start coming from either side of the camp and there is very little middle ground: you love him or you hate him. And while I am purely speculating at this point, I think it is because, despite his vast collection of like 20 something books, he was never able to find consistency. Too many times he had a great novel and then one that was universally derided. Too many back and forth works left a bad taste in readers' mouths.
Anyways, knowing this, I had my trepidations of starting Moondeath. On one hand I wanted to see how one of Zebra's most famous authors wrote, but on the other, I didn't want to waste time on a book that might end up sucking.
The good news is that Moondeath doesn't suck. In fact, it's actually pretty darn good.
At 448 pages, this book isn't exactly short, but it never feels bloated or overdone. Honestly, it's more simplistic than anything, though this works in its favor as its fast, lean, and to the point. Hautala never bogs the story down in pointless exposition or useless backstory. Think more along the lines of Richard Laymon, but without the prevalent and disgusting pedophiliac undertones.
I wouldn't argue with you that Moondeath's cover is kooky as hell, looking like a werid mashup of Harrison Ford and Sylvester Stallone, but I would argue that the take on the werewolf mythos is fun and moderately original. I'm not usually huge fan of this creature-feature trope in horror, however Huatala makes it work. And the twist ending is one of the better ones I've seen in a while.
Basically, when you cut all the fluff away, this is a fun read and I only hope the next Huatala novel I read is this enjoyable.
December 19, 2019
I read the Evil Jester Press edition of MOONDEATH, signed by Rick Hautala.
July 9, 2018
Loved it, fast paced. Haunting atmosphere. Great characters. Good old fashioned werewolf tale. Enjoyed it immensely .
November 14, 2018
Poor Bob.
This book gets a lot of loving in reviews, despite the consistent criticism surrounding the main protagonist, Bob. More on Bob later. Firstly, the novel as a whole is a solid piece of classic frights from the early heyday of pulp horror paperbacks. It is quite flawed, largely due to mistakes typical of a new young writer. This was Hautala's debut, which fellow Maine novelist Stephen King tried to promote both during its preliminary drafts as "The Dark Brother," and then later after its publication by Zebra. But as brilliant as King often is, his judgment about the work of others is at times questionable, so take his endorsement with a grain of salt.
The novel IS quite scary at times, filled with well-described scenes that build an air of loneliness and suspense, monster kills executed with a master stroke, and pacing that held interest despite the frustrating bits.
And boy, this story could be frustrating. Characters are constantly changing their tune within just a page or two so that you want to see them killed off before they say another stupid word. People get told to stop worrying one moment, then get nagged and encouraged to panic without anything else changing in the narrative. Characters remain persistently stubborn about a wolf being responsible for the murders, and even suspect human foul play despite obvious evidence of the deaths all being due to canine attacks, and then change their minds again with no explanation. A widow is even given preliminary sympathy then quickly told to "loosen up" at the funeral of her own husband who had just been mauled to death.
The last example was delivered by our main character Bob. Yes, Bob is always saying the most absolutely thoughtless and selfish things at the worst possible moments. But here is where my thoughts differ from other reviewers. I kind of think Bob works.
What often makes a character attractive in media is that they display traits the consumer fancies having in themselves. But Bob is just Bob. He doesn't make funny quips in the face of the monster, or display physical prowess against his foes. He behaves like many of us would under stress. He snaps at people. He holds grudges. He wants attention. He chain-smokes and nervously drinks too much coffee. He runs away. He whines about his rotten luck. He falls on his ass and misses the money shot in a fight. Bob is just never in the pole position despite being the center of the "hero" role. As such, he comes across as a bitchy Bill Bixby. Below is an excerpt that captures the essence of this character:
"Bob was up in the attic... when the telephone began to ring. He stuck his head down through the trapdoor and glared at the phone as it jangled again. 'Damn!' he whispered harshly, shifting his body around so he could drop down to the floor. He hurried... It seemed perfectly timed; as soon as his feet hit the floor, the phone cut off in mid-ring. He stared at the silent phone for a minute, then went to the kitchen for a cigarette before heading back up into the attic. The phone started ringing again, and Bob dashed over to it quickly and picked it up. 'Hello,' he snapped, exhaling smoke into the receiver."
As with most good horror outings, the story is not just about a monster, and Bob is perfect for the overall bleak theme and mood of this novel. Bad things happen to decent people all the time, and we don't know what to do with those traumas, those secrets. We try to pick ourselves up, move on from our history, and pray that God will open new doors. But that doesn't always happen. The plans of the Universe are not our own. And that can make us needy, frustrated, fearful, selfish. That's Bob. He moves to the small town of Cooper Falls to escape a reputation he didn't deserve after being (supposedly) falsely accused of rape. But people in his new home find out about the accusation, and soon, every action he commits is judged with suspicion. He has no honor, no trust in the community, and he in turn has no support or investment in the community either. So he is fragile, just as the town of Cooper Falls proves to be fragile, just as the main antagonists and other characters are like bruised fruit about to spoil for their own reasons.
The novel references the seasonal changes in a way that mimics the characters' struggles. Winter is death, but people wait anxiously for the promise of new life in Spring. Bob even tries one last escape from death and loss by moving to Florida to avoid the Winter. But the truth is that the seasons never end. They cycle. Life's little deaths never stop and can't be avoided. Like the experiments in witchcraft in this novel, or the unpracticed Christianity of the town, or the escape into alcoholism by other characters, the results are often not what was expected, if not disappointing and destructive.
So, I believe this novel has a lot to say, but unfortunately, there were some missed opportunities to fully engross the readers in these more sober and literary elements. But overall, a great effort, a good first novel, and a classic werewolf thriller.
A quick read that will deliver a solid 3 stars or more of entertainment for your time.
This book gets a lot of loving in reviews, despite the consistent criticism surrounding the main protagonist, Bob. More on Bob later. Firstly, the novel as a whole is a solid piece of classic frights from the early heyday of pulp horror paperbacks. It is quite flawed, largely due to mistakes typical of a new young writer. This was Hautala's debut, which fellow Maine novelist Stephen King tried to promote both during its preliminary drafts as "The Dark Brother," and then later after its publication by Zebra. But as brilliant as King often is, his judgment about the work of others is at times questionable, so take his endorsement with a grain of salt.
The novel IS quite scary at times, filled with well-described scenes that build an air of loneliness and suspense, monster kills executed with a master stroke, and pacing that held interest despite the frustrating bits.
And boy, this story could be frustrating. Characters are constantly changing their tune within just a page or two so that you want to see them killed off before they say another stupid word. People get told to stop worrying one moment, then get nagged and encouraged to panic without anything else changing in the narrative. Characters remain persistently stubborn about a wolf being responsible for the murders, and even suspect human foul play despite obvious evidence of the deaths all being due to canine attacks, and then change their minds again with no explanation. A widow is even given preliminary sympathy then quickly told to "loosen up" at the funeral of her own husband who had just been mauled to death.
The last example was delivered by our main character Bob. Yes, Bob is always saying the most absolutely thoughtless and selfish things at the worst possible moments. But here is where my thoughts differ from other reviewers. I kind of think Bob works.
What often makes a character attractive in media is that they display traits the consumer fancies having in themselves. But Bob is just Bob. He doesn't make funny quips in the face of the monster, or display physical prowess against his foes. He behaves like many of us would under stress. He snaps at people. He holds grudges. He wants attention. He chain-smokes and nervously drinks too much coffee. He runs away. He whines about his rotten luck. He falls on his ass and misses the money shot in a fight. Bob is just never in the pole position despite being the center of the "hero" role. As such, he comes across as a bitchy Bill Bixby. Below is an excerpt that captures the essence of this character:
"Bob was up in the attic... when the telephone began to ring. He stuck his head down through the trapdoor and glared at the phone as it jangled again. 'Damn!' he whispered harshly, shifting his body around so he could drop down to the floor. He hurried... It seemed perfectly timed; as soon as his feet hit the floor, the phone cut off in mid-ring. He stared at the silent phone for a minute, then went to the kitchen for a cigarette before heading back up into the attic. The phone started ringing again, and Bob dashed over to it quickly and picked it up. 'Hello,' he snapped, exhaling smoke into the receiver."
As with most good horror outings, the story is not just about a monster, and Bob is perfect for the overall bleak theme and mood of this novel. Bad things happen to decent people all the time, and we don't know what to do with those traumas, those secrets. We try to pick ourselves up, move on from our history, and pray that God will open new doors. But that doesn't always happen. The plans of the Universe are not our own. And that can make us needy, frustrated, fearful, selfish. That's Bob. He moves to the small town of Cooper Falls to escape a reputation he didn't deserve after being (supposedly) falsely accused of rape. But people in his new home find out about the accusation, and soon, every action he commits is judged with suspicion. He has no honor, no trust in the community, and he in turn has no support or investment in the community either. So he is fragile, just as the town of Cooper Falls proves to be fragile, just as the main antagonists and other characters are like bruised fruit about to spoil for their own reasons.
The novel references the seasonal changes in a way that mimics the characters' struggles. Winter is death, but people wait anxiously for the promise of new life in Spring. Bob even tries one last escape from death and loss by moving to Florida to avoid the Winter. But the truth is that the seasons never end. They cycle. Life's little deaths never stop and can't be avoided. Like the experiments in witchcraft in this novel, or the unpracticed Christianity of the town, or the escape into alcoholism by other characters, the results are often not what was expected, if not disappointing and destructive.
So, I believe this novel has a lot to say, but unfortunately, there were some missed opportunities to fully engross the readers in these more sober and literary elements. But overall, a great effort, a good first novel, and a classic werewolf thriller.
A quick read that will deliver a solid 3 stars or more of entertainment for your time.
April 14, 2013
The fact that I didn't discover Rick Hautala until after his untimely death is a crying shame. I missed thirty years of great reading, but I will catch up. He begins this book at the end. That was intriguing in itself. I was totally captured by his prose, by the story line, by the development of his characters. This is a book about werewolves and witches. It is difficult to find a good book about witches. It seems that it is not PC to make a witch look like anything except a lovely, plant cultivating, peace loving hippy these days. I know all about white witches and they hold little interest for me as far as fiction goes. I want to read about the dark woman who seizes her power and uses it for her own selfish reasons. Hautala gave me that witch in the totally believable character of Julie Sikes. She was experimenting and wasn't sure what she would get, but she knew what she wanted. Ned becomes the ultimate victim in this story, being abused and bullied by his peers, his mother and his brother. When he finds power, it still isn't his but belongs to someone else entirely. Bob isn't so much heroic as he is present in a situation that he hates but has little power to control. There is always that little bit of foreboding that things will not end well for Bob. He's just a little too frightened of his own shadows to conquer anyone else's demons. The small town mentality of the Chief of Police keeps Bob tied firmly to his inactivity. The least interesting person in this novel is Lisa. She is important as a vehicle but she doesn't hold much interest beyond that. Bob's love for her is seen not so much as a grand passion but as a safe haven. She is anything but dangerous or frightening. This is a scary book. The werewolf is horrifying and so is the witch. The townspeople are shocking in their closed mindedness and the preacher is alarming in his inability to listen. But most of all it is Hautala's ability to construct a sentence that is the most unnerving.
"His scream was cut off as she pressed her cold, dead lips against his mouth." It doesn't get much scarier than that.
"His scream was cut off as she pressed her cold, dead lips against his mouth." It doesn't get much scarier than that.
April 21, 2012
Moondeath takes place in the picturesque little tourist town of Coon Falls New Hampshire and follows the story of divorced teacher Bob Wentworth. Bob is looking to make a fresh start and has just moved to town to take a job as a teacher. Bob meets an unhappily married woman named Lisa and starts a relationship and things look good for Bob.
Things change though when a car with a young man and a woman he was having an affair with, goes off of a bridge and into the river. To the people in town it looks like an accident but the young man was married to a woman named Julie and Julie has some dark secrets. After the accident people start dying on nights when the moon is full. The local sheriff and townspeople think there is a large dog or a wolf doing the killing, but Bob believes the deaths are the work of a werewolf.
Like Julie, Bob also has a dark secret and the townspeople are not willing to believe his story. The townspeople try to hide the fact that they have a werewolf problem but the bodies keep stacking up and secrets don’t stay buried forever. There is something evil in Coon Falls and there may not be a way to stop it.
If you read Moondeath remember that it is a product of the early 80's because the story seems a little dated. For one thing there is a scene where a werewolf is terrorizing a man in a phone booth. Also the story reminded me a lot of the slasher movies that were so popular in the early 80’s. You have people dying off in a beautiful small town one by one and no one in town seems to worry about it, until the bodies really start to pile up.
Another thing that makes Moondeath a little dated is the lack of strong women characters. One of the villains in the story is a woman named Julie. She comes across as slutty and very one dimensional, I think if the story focused on her more and how she feels, it would have made the story better. The other main female character, Lisa comes across as hateable because she is married to an abusive alcoholic and does nothing about it even though she knows who her husband is cheating with. I also didn't like how she wouldn't believe what is going on in Coon Falls despite the evidence that is in front of her.
I can forgive Moonfall for having weak characters because in a lot of books and movies in the early 80's, women were not presented as strong unlike today. My other complaints was that the book was a little slow moving and there was a couple unanswered questions that annoyed me.
That being said there was a quite a few things that I did like about Moonfall. Rick Hatula does a great job of using forshadowing. For instance when Bob and Lisa meet for the first time, you see Lisa playing with her wedding ring which tells you right away that this couple is going to be more then friends. Also there is a point after a fight between two boys in a high school takes place and after being beaten up, one of the boys stomps down the hallway, you know we haven't seen the last of him. Another scene that I liked was one day when Bob is showing up at the high school he sees an ominous looking cloud passing over the school and he thinks that something evil is coming.
I loved how Rick Hatula describes the death scenes in the book and the parts where black magic is being performed. I also thought it was a nice touch how there we're scenes in the church where what the preacher was saying was a metaphor for what was going on in the book. Lastly, I did like all of the male characters in the book but would have liked to have seen more from the villains point of view. All in all I did enjoy Moonfall and would recommend it to anyone who liked horror in the early 80's.
Things change though when a car with a young man and a woman he was having an affair with, goes off of a bridge and into the river. To the people in town it looks like an accident but the young man was married to a woman named Julie and Julie has some dark secrets. After the accident people start dying on nights when the moon is full. The local sheriff and townspeople think there is a large dog or a wolf doing the killing, but Bob believes the deaths are the work of a werewolf.
Like Julie, Bob also has a dark secret and the townspeople are not willing to believe his story. The townspeople try to hide the fact that they have a werewolf problem but the bodies keep stacking up and secrets don’t stay buried forever. There is something evil in Coon Falls and there may not be a way to stop it.
If you read Moondeath remember that it is a product of the early 80's because the story seems a little dated. For one thing there is a scene where a werewolf is terrorizing a man in a phone booth. Also the story reminded me a lot of the slasher movies that were so popular in the early 80’s. You have people dying off in a beautiful small town one by one and no one in town seems to worry about it, until the bodies really start to pile up.
Another thing that makes Moondeath a little dated is the lack of strong women characters. One of the villains in the story is a woman named Julie. She comes across as slutty and very one dimensional, I think if the story focused on her more and how she feels, it would have made the story better. The other main female character, Lisa comes across as hateable because she is married to an abusive alcoholic and does nothing about it even though she knows who her husband is cheating with. I also didn't like how she wouldn't believe what is going on in Coon Falls despite the evidence that is in front of her.
I can forgive Moonfall for having weak characters because in a lot of books and movies in the early 80's, women were not presented as strong unlike today. My other complaints was that the book was a little slow moving and there was a couple unanswered questions that annoyed me.
That being said there was a quite a few things that I did like about Moonfall. Rick Hatula does a great job of using forshadowing. For instance when Bob and Lisa meet for the first time, you see Lisa playing with her wedding ring which tells you right away that this couple is going to be more then friends. Also there is a point after a fight between two boys in a high school takes place and after being beaten up, one of the boys stomps down the hallway, you know we haven't seen the last of him. Another scene that I liked was one day when Bob is showing up at the high school he sees an ominous looking cloud passing over the school and he thinks that something evil is coming.
I loved how Rick Hatula describes the death scenes in the book and the parts where black magic is being performed. I also thought it was a nice touch how there we're scenes in the church where what the preacher was saying was a metaphor for what was going on in the book. Lastly, I did like all of the male characters in the book but would have liked to have seen more from the villains point of view. All in all I did enjoy Moonfall and would recommend it to anyone who liked horror in the early 80's.
April 5, 2025
This was my first Hautala book, and I can’t say it was a good experience, sadly. I’ve been excited to try this author for some time, but maybe I should have picked something from later is in his ouvre, rather than his debut novel. At first it was fine, a tad simplistic but it was giving me straight forward, cozy John Saul and Ruby Jean Jensen vibes, but as the book progressed I became more and more disenchanted with it. My biggest gripe is with the characters. First of all, none of them are terribly likeable - in fact they’re all tedious and irritating - but this would be forgivable if they were at least interesting. Unfortunately that is not the case, all of the characterizations are skin deep at best, and the dialogue between them is grating and constantly peevish. There doesn’t seem to be much consistency to how they behave from one moment to the next, and I found myself dreading every interaction between the two main characters, as they were always bickering and sniping at each other while still proclaiming their supposed love for one another. For all of that I still plan on trying more Rick Hautala in the future for two reasons:
A.) I own every single one of his mass market books
B.) This was his debut and I’m hoping he gets better down the road
Which of his novels would anyone recommend?
A.) I own every single one of his mass market books
B.) This was his debut and I’m hoping he gets better down the road
Which of his novels would anyone recommend?
April 30, 2013
This was the first book I've read by the late Rick Hautala. I liked it. It wasn't incredible or mind blowing, but it was a solid, well written early 80s horror novel. Fans of King will definitely like it. The book could have been slimmed down quite a bit, but back in the 70s and early 80s, authors liked to take their time with a story. The main faults with the book had to do with relationships I just couldn't really buy. None of the man/woman stuff really rang true, and there was alot of it. That said, this was his first novel, and its great for a first novel. I'll definitely be reading more of Mr. Hautala's work.
January 30, 2025
I’m not too sure what this book really accomplished. There was never much mystery; we were essentially given the answers to the main plot almost immediately while many of the tertiary plot lines ultimately ended without resolution. Also, many of the characters we met died before being able to develop. Shockingly little personality from our “afflicted” character, which is where I think this book could have greatly benefited. Giving our “monster” a human element would’ve added a level of depth to the story and made the reader challenge the morality/actions of our protagonists.
Overall it’s a solid-enough horror novel, basically a mindless page-turner. The writing at times is clunky (i.e. the same adjective being used in the same sentence/subsequent sentences) and I could’ve done without some of the sexual exploitation of women that seemingly didn’t advance the plot.
Overall it’s a solid-enough horror novel, basically a mindless page-turner. The writing at times is clunky (i.e. the same adjective being used in the same sentence/subsequent sentences) and I could’ve done without some of the sexual exploitation of women that seemingly didn’t advance the plot.
March 26, 2020
This is Rick Hautula’s first novel and it shows. It is a good story but I just don’t like these characters. People just don’t act like that. So many fun story lines that just aren’t fleshed out. Also, I read the Evil Jester Press printing of this book and there were so many spelling mistakes it was distracting. I thought having the book with Glenn Chadbourne’s cover art would be cool but the typos were aggravating
July 20, 2022
This book was written before I was born and it shows. I can appreciate some classic horror tropes and elements--but I don't always love them.
It's a straight forward werewolf story around a new teacher in town named Bob.
It's fine, predictable, and pretty flat. That's not really my thing, but I know some people love this stuff.
I probably could have skipped it. For me it's pretty forgettable
It's a straight forward werewolf story around a new teacher in town named Bob.
It's fine, predictable, and pretty flat. That's not really my thing, but I know some people love this stuff.
I probably could have skipped it. For me it's pretty forgettable
December 28, 2011
Rick Hautala's first book, originally published by Kensington/Zebra in 1980, is a werewolf and witchcraft tale set in the small New England town of Cooper Falls, New Hampshire. All of Rick's work is terrific, and if you haven't read him, MOONDEATH is where you want to start. The story is cinematically paced, the characters are real and easy to care for, and the world-building is first rate - you feel the bite of the cold wind and hear the howl of the wolf in the woods! But don't take my word for it; when Stephen King read the book in 1980, he called it, "One of the best horror novels I've read in the last two years." Check it out!
January 6, 2021
The Finnish-American Maine author Rick Hautala, whose last name in the Finnish language actually has a grave in it, wrote many horror paperbacks for Zebra beginning this one, a werewolves in New Hampshire setup that subtly emulates that other horror author's somewhat more successful "vampires in New England" premise. Still, that other author, one Stephen King, must've liked what he read since he provided a nice blurb for the cover and helped Hautala kickstart his career as a novelist.
Moondeath is drenched in smalltown atmosphere, with the main character, Bob the teacher, entering the community after a scandal drummed him out of Massachusetts. There're the rednecks with their guns and their cars, a school with the bullies and the bullied, a librarian stuck in a marriage with a drunken lout and a promiscuous woman who moonlights as a witch. It's through this witchcraft that the small hamlet begins to experience brutal killings attributed to a particularly large dog. Or a wolf.
The rate at which the bodies accumulate should probably shut down the town, but these New Hampshire folks were made of sterner stuff. Unlike in Jaws, they keep their town open for business and tourism. It's not necessarily even a bad idea, since the dog/wolf/quadruped only seems to hunt and kill local people and Bob soon figures out who the culprit is.
The best part of Moondeath is its atmosphere. The beginning is solid stuff, the town and its inhabitants have a nice heft to them. Once the killings start the writing becomes more formulaic, especially dialogue. Hautala himself commented on his low self-esteem in his autobiography, and sadly it often shows, the writing isn't nowhere near the gregariousness of early King, for example. The words and expressions feel tentative and at worst Hautala seems to resort to a sort of simplified moviespeak. Many of the characters also seem to lose their personalities to the overall narrative.
Despite its failings Moondeath is a passable debut novel. Although Hautala often seems timid and unsure as a writer, he does possess an admirable amount of enthusiasm, and that alone helps keep the story afloat for the duration; many scenes are filled with an almost childlike glee. Hautala doesn't contribute anything radically new to the literary character of the werewolf, but as B-movie storylines go, this is as good as any.
Moondeath is drenched in smalltown atmosphere, with the main character, Bob the teacher, entering the community after a scandal drummed him out of Massachusetts. There're the rednecks with their guns and their cars, a school with the bullies and the bullied, a librarian stuck in a marriage with a drunken lout and a promiscuous woman who moonlights as a witch. It's through this witchcraft that the small hamlet begins to experience brutal killings attributed to a particularly large dog. Or a wolf.
The rate at which the bodies accumulate should probably shut down the town, but these New Hampshire folks were made of sterner stuff. Unlike in Jaws, they keep their town open for business and tourism. It's not necessarily even a bad idea, since the dog/wolf/quadruped only seems to hunt and kill local people and Bob soon figures out who the culprit is.
The best part of Moondeath is its atmosphere. The beginning is solid stuff, the town and its inhabitants have a nice heft to them. Once the killings start the writing becomes more formulaic, especially dialogue. Hautala himself commented on his low self-esteem in his autobiography, and sadly it often shows, the writing isn't nowhere near the gregariousness of early King, for example. The words and expressions feel tentative and at worst Hautala seems to resort to a sort of simplified moviespeak. Many of the characters also seem to lose their personalities to the overall narrative.
Despite its failings Moondeath is a passable debut novel. Although Hautala often seems timid and unsure as a writer, he does possess an admirable amount of enthusiasm, and that alone helps keep the story afloat for the duration; many scenes are filled with an almost childlike glee. Hautala doesn't contribute anything radically new to the literary character of the werewolf, but as B-movie storylines go, this is as good as any.
July 28, 2019
Well if I were to do a very quick review it'd be: "Werewolf kills townspeople then gets hunted by main protagonist." However, there's a lot more to this story and it's written very well. Short chapters means a quick paced read too. Lots of deaths, over 10, and suspicions as well.
Story centers around the town of Cooper Falls and takes place from August 23rd to April 18th (1979-1980 I'm assuming). We have a lot of characters but we're mainly concerned with a teacher named Bob who moves to Cooper Falls only to start doing a self investigation of a werewolf attacking people.
There's lots of teens sleeping around with each other and there's your usual small town slut named Julie too. Julie ends up being a major character as well.
This novel had great action, good dialogue, and some fairly ok gore. If you want a quick werewolf read that's written well check this out.
Story centers around the town of Cooper Falls and takes place from August 23rd to April 18th (1979-1980 I'm assuming). We have a lot of characters but we're mainly concerned with a teacher named Bob who moves to Cooper Falls only to start doing a self investigation of a werewolf attacking people.
There's lots of teens sleeping around with each other and there's your usual small town slut named Julie too. Julie ends up being a major character as well.
This novel had great action, good dialogue, and some fairly ok gore. If you want a quick werewolf read that's written well check this out.
September 9, 2021
Wow, did I love this book? I have always loved Rick's writing and style but this one was the most enjoyable for me. I love anything related to werewolves as they usually are linked to the woods and I love a horror dealing w/ the woods. So, combine that w/ small town NH and this is such a joy to read. I love how it all played out and all of the characters were very real. The protagonist, Bob, does leave a lot to be desired (why is he not seeing his kid?) but the story did not detract from that. He is committed to ending the werewolf's reign of terror and that is great. Also, what about that ending? I knew it was coming given that the white cat was seen around but still SO GREAT. I highly recommend this one.
March 4, 2019
Small New England town horror
There must be something about New England; those little towns with their Congregational Churches just attract horror. King's got Maine covered; Hautala has New Hampshire.
Horror isn't my favorite genre; I'm trying to broaden my horizons. I think that if I liked horror more, I would have rated this book more highly - it had decent writing and a strong plot, but not good enough to convert me to a horror fan. The female characters were rather weakly characterized; I think there are a lot of strong New England women who wouldn't be that dithery and wishy-washy.
There must be something about New England; those little towns with their Congregational Churches just attract horror. King's got Maine covered; Hautala has New Hampshire.
Horror isn't my favorite genre; I'm trying to broaden my horizons. I think that if I liked horror more, I would have rated this book more highly - it had decent writing and a strong plot, but not good enough to convert me to a horror fan. The female characters were rather weakly characterized; I think there are a lot of strong New England women who wouldn't be that dithery and wishy-washy.
October 21, 2021
This was a lot of fun, a little long but definitely a page turner that never bored me. My only issue was that the two main protagonists weren't very likable and their relationship was a little difficult to buy. I definitely liked the small town and New England atmosphere, Cooper Falls seems like a beautiful idyllic town to host a werewolf murderer. I'm now officially a fan of Mr. Hautala and already ordered two more of his books.
October 26, 2021
Werewolf horror
This book was actually a pleasent surprice, much better than i thought when buying it and if you like werewolf horror this is right up your alley, the story and caracters aint bad and it has some twist and turns, im not giving away the story or spoilers but this aint a romance novel like many of these stories, no, it is blood, some sex and gore as the werewolf torments a small town, just like a horror should be
This book was actually a pleasent surprice, much better than i thought when buying it and if you like werewolf horror this is right up your alley, the story and caracters aint bad and it has some twist and turns, im not giving away the story or spoilers but this aint a romance novel like many of these stories, no, it is blood, some sex and gore as the werewolf torments a small town, just like a horror should be
October 17, 2022
I give it an unenthusiastic "okay". None of the characters were likable or relatable, especially Bob, the protagonist of the story. Dialogue was just ridiculous as were most of the characters. The middle of the story was painfully stretched out for way to long. The werewolf should have died about three quarters of the way through and the story then pick up with the ending and explore that storyline for the last part of the novel.
November 3, 2021
I picked this book up at a library sale. I had never heard or read this author before.
This was a very good horror story. It did not drag at all. Well written and well outlined. It is a well organized story and would make a great movie. I will definitely read more books by this author. Sorry to hear that he has passed away.
This was a very good horror story. It did not drag at all. Well written and well outlined. It is a well organized story and would make a great movie. I will definitely read more books by this author. Sorry to hear that he has passed away.
December 6, 2021
Fun werewolf story, set in the Northeastern US, by Rick Hautala. The werewolf lore is changed slightly here, allowing for transformation 1 day before and after the full moon, as well as the entire month of February, and the requirement of that werewolves must be burned rather than shot by silver bullets to kill them. Black magic, world-class police incompetency, and revenge make for a fun read.
March 25, 2023
I have read a few of Hautala’s books before-The Mountain King was fun- but this one was tough to finish. The werewolf scenes were good enough, it was the characters that populated the narrative that was the problem. There was not a likable one in the bunch, especially the main character. Disappointing.
May 3, 2023
The 80s-90s produced a lot of horror that was just generic, formula trash, I love it, but there was a few that stood miles above the rest of the genre, Rick Hautala was one of them, do not let the cheesy covers throw you off, this dude could write suspenseful novels well worth still reading today.
August 3, 2018
An OK werewolf story but with a very annoying lead male character called 'Bob'. The guy was just plain unlikable, I was rooting for the wolf!
June 24, 2022
Not horrible. No likable characters, in my opinion. The dialogue was choppy. The characters were easily angered all the time. Could have easily been shortened. Just an ok read.
June 27, 2023
A perfectly entertaining pulp horror novel. Moondeath gets a little silly at times but I had a really good time with it.
December 9, 2012
Moondeath was Rick Hatula’s first novel and was originally released by Zebra books. From 1977 to 1994 Zebra books was a major publisher of horror novels, but as the horror boom of the 80’s died down, Zebra books died with it. So for several years you probably couldn’t find a copy of Moondeath until late 2011 when Evil Jester Press re-released Rick Hatula’s Moondeath.
Moondeath takes place in the picturesque little tourist town of Coon Falls New Hampshire and follows the story of divorced teacher Bob Wentworth. Bob is looking to make a fresh start and has just moved to town to take a job as a teacher. Bob meets an unhappily married woman named Lisa and starts a relationship and things look good for Bob.
Things change though when a car with a young man and a woman he was having an affair with, goes off of a bridge and into the river. To the people in town it looks like an accident but the young man was married to a woman named Julie and Julie has some dark secrets. After the accident people start dying on nights when the moon is full. The local sheriff and townspeople think there is a large dog or a wolf doing the killing, but Bob believes the deaths are the work of a werewolf.
Like Julie, Bob also has a dark secret and the townspeople are not willing to believe his story. The townspeople try to hide the fact that they have a werewolf problem but the bodies keep stacking up and secrets don’t stay buried forever. There is something evil in Coon Falls and there may not be a way to stop it.
If you read Moondeath remember that it is a product of the early 80′s because the story seems a little dated. For one thing there is a scene where a werewolf is terrorizing a man in a phone booth. Also the story reminded me a lot of the slasher movies that were so popular in the early 80’s. You have people dying off in a beautiful small town one by one and no one in town seems to worry about it, until the bodies really start to pile up.
Another thing that makes Moondeath a little dated is the lack of strong women characters. One of the villains in the story is a woman named Julie. She comes across as slutty and very one dimensional, I think if the story focused on her more and how she feels, it would have made the story better. The other main female character, Lisa comes across as hateable because she is married to an abusive alcoholic and does nothing about it even though she knows who her husband is cheating with. I also didn’t like how she wouldn’t believe what is going on in Coon Falls despite the evidence that is in front of her.
I can forgive Moondeath for having weak characters because in a lot of books and movies in the early 80′s, women were not presented as strong unlike today. My other complaints was that the book was a little slow moving and there was a couple unanswered questions that annoyed me.
That being said there was a quite a few things that I did like about Moondeath. Rick Hatula does a great job of using forshadowing. For instance when Bob and Lisa meet for the first time, you see Lisa playing with her wedding ring which tells you right away that this couple is going to be more then friends. Also there is a point after a fight between two boys in a high school takes place and after being beaten up, one of the boys stomps down the hallway, you know we haven’t seen the last of him. Another scene that I liked was one day when Bob is showing up at the high school he sees an ominous looking cloud passing over the school and he thinks that something evil is coming.
I loved how Rick Hatula describes the death scenes in the book and the parts where black magic is being performed. I also thought it was a nice touch how there we’re scenes in the church where what the preacher was saying was a metaphor for what was going on in the book. Lastly, I did like all of the male characters in the book but would have liked to have seen more from the villains point of view. All in all I did enjoy Moondeath and would recommend it to anyone who liked horror in the early 80′s.
Moondeath takes place in the picturesque little tourist town of Coon Falls New Hampshire and follows the story of divorced teacher Bob Wentworth. Bob is looking to make a fresh start and has just moved to town to take a job as a teacher. Bob meets an unhappily married woman named Lisa and starts a relationship and things look good for Bob.
Things change though when a car with a young man and a woman he was having an affair with, goes off of a bridge and into the river. To the people in town it looks like an accident but the young man was married to a woman named Julie and Julie has some dark secrets. After the accident people start dying on nights when the moon is full. The local sheriff and townspeople think there is a large dog or a wolf doing the killing, but Bob believes the deaths are the work of a werewolf.
Like Julie, Bob also has a dark secret and the townspeople are not willing to believe his story. The townspeople try to hide the fact that they have a werewolf problem but the bodies keep stacking up and secrets don’t stay buried forever. There is something evil in Coon Falls and there may not be a way to stop it.
If you read Moondeath remember that it is a product of the early 80′s because the story seems a little dated. For one thing there is a scene where a werewolf is terrorizing a man in a phone booth. Also the story reminded me a lot of the slasher movies that were so popular in the early 80’s. You have people dying off in a beautiful small town one by one and no one in town seems to worry about it, until the bodies really start to pile up.
Another thing that makes Moondeath a little dated is the lack of strong women characters. One of the villains in the story is a woman named Julie. She comes across as slutty and very one dimensional, I think if the story focused on her more and how she feels, it would have made the story better. The other main female character, Lisa comes across as hateable because she is married to an abusive alcoholic and does nothing about it even though she knows who her husband is cheating with. I also didn’t like how she wouldn’t believe what is going on in Coon Falls despite the evidence that is in front of her.
I can forgive Moondeath for having weak characters because in a lot of books and movies in the early 80′s, women were not presented as strong unlike today. My other complaints was that the book was a little slow moving and there was a couple unanswered questions that annoyed me.
That being said there was a quite a few things that I did like about Moondeath. Rick Hatula does a great job of using forshadowing. For instance when Bob and Lisa meet for the first time, you see Lisa playing with her wedding ring which tells you right away that this couple is going to be more then friends. Also there is a point after a fight between two boys in a high school takes place and after being beaten up, one of the boys stomps down the hallway, you know we haven’t seen the last of him. Another scene that I liked was one day when Bob is showing up at the high school he sees an ominous looking cloud passing over the school and he thinks that something evil is coming.
I loved how Rick Hatula describes the death scenes in the book and the parts where black magic is being performed. I also thought it was a nice touch how there we’re scenes in the church where what the preacher was saying was a metaphor for what was going on in the book. Lastly, I did like all of the male characters in the book but would have liked to have seen more from the villains point of view. All in all I did enjoy Moondeath and would recommend it to anyone who liked horror in the early 80′s.
February 23, 2016
Rick Hautala is another writer I remember from my horror days, and after I gave up on Richard Laymon last week, I figured I would move on to Hautala. I remember liking him a bit more than the other authors, and I distinctly remember how he managed to frighten me with something as innocuous as a croquet mallet in Dark Silence, so I figured I should give him another shot. I've read Moondeath before, but I figured where else should I start revisiting the author but at the start?
The cover and the title of the book tell you everything you need to know about the story -- werewolves! Werewolf fiction, in general, doesn't do much for me. They tend to follow the same general structure, where the bulk of the story is in determining who it is. Hautala does manage to avoid that being the heart of the story (most of the people in the town don't believe in werewolves, and it's pretty clear from early in the story who it is), but it was still just outside my interest level to keep me fully engaged. Neither did I feel like I was going to give up on the novel, though.
Hautala's style is clean and crisp, but he has a habit of having his characters stutter and trip over words when they get nervous. I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, it captures their anxious state of mind without having to tell us they're anxious, but on the other hand, I would sometimes get stuck on thinking it was a typo in the book (which, I should note, had several). I never quite got used to that part of his style.
The novel also feels too long. The first and second acts move along at a pace that makes sense, but the third act gets drawn out by a lot of incidental details. I wasn't sure why Bob, the main character, moved to Florida right in the midst of the attacks. I mean, Hautala set up a good enough reason, so it didn't just come out of left field, but I didn't understand why it was necessary to have that part in the story. Plus, there sure were a lot of people in the town who just disliked Bob right from the start. It reminds me of that old adage: If you run into one jerk a day, that person was probably a jerk, but if you run into several, maybe it's you who's the jerk.
In the end, Bob isn't a very sympathetic character. For much of the novel he's the only one in town who believes that a werewolf is the cause of the problem, so he's definitely the protagonist, but his behavior doesn't make us want to like him that much. I've seen some reviews that praise Hautala's characterization, and while I think it works well enough, it didn't strike me as noteworthy. There's only one significant female character, and she's not developed much outside of being Bob's love interest. Still, this was Hautala's first novel, so I'm willing to let some shortcomings go.
Moondeath is actually reminiscent of Richard Laymon, even though the authors were writing at about the same time. It has the same sort of style, and even has a similar style of characterization. The obsession with sex is absent (which is not to say it's a chaste book, but it's not a main focus like it was in Laymon's fiction), but there's a bit of a sexist overtone to how the female characters are portrayed. On the bright side, I don't see anything as overtly misogynistic as I did in Laymon's books.
Interestingly, I've seen a number of reviews and descriptions of the book that refer to the small town of Coon Falls, but in the edition I read (the e-book version of the Evil Jester printing), the town is called Cooper Falls. I don't have a problem with the change (the reason for it seems fairly obvious), but it struck me as notable.
Moondeath is an okay novel, but then again, it's also the author's first novel. Because it's a first novel, and because Hautala does manage to capture the fear of his characters, I'm not quite ready to give up on the author. This was another re-read for me, and like my other horror re-reads, I didn't remember much detail about it. That scene from Dark Silence that I mentioned above, though, will keep me reading.
Unfortunate Musical Connection: "Moonchild" by Iron Maiden
The cover and the title of the book tell you everything you need to know about the story -- werewolves! Werewolf fiction, in general, doesn't do much for me. They tend to follow the same general structure, where the bulk of the story is in determining who it is. Hautala does manage to avoid that being the heart of the story (most of the people in the town don't believe in werewolves, and it's pretty clear from early in the story who it is), but it was still just outside my interest level to keep me fully engaged. Neither did I feel like I was going to give up on the novel, though.
Hautala's style is clean and crisp, but he has a habit of having his characters stutter and trip over words when they get nervous. I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, it captures their anxious state of mind without having to tell us they're anxious, but on the other hand, I would sometimes get stuck on thinking it was a typo in the book (which, I should note, had several). I never quite got used to that part of his style.
The novel also feels too long. The first and second acts move along at a pace that makes sense, but the third act gets drawn out by a lot of incidental details. I wasn't sure why Bob, the main character, moved to Florida right in the midst of the attacks. I mean, Hautala set up a good enough reason, so it didn't just come out of left field, but I didn't understand why it was necessary to have that part in the story. Plus, there sure were a lot of people in the town who just disliked Bob right from the start. It reminds me of that old adage: If you run into one jerk a day, that person was probably a jerk, but if you run into several, maybe it's you who's the jerk.
In the end, Bob isn't a very sympathetic character. For much of the novel he's the only one in town who believes that a werewolf is the cause of the problem, so he's definitely the protagonist, but his behavior doesn't make us want to like him that much. I've seen some reviews that praise Hautala's characterization, and while I think it works well enough, it didn't strike me as noteworthy. There's only one significant female character, and she's not developed much outside of being Bob's love interest. Still, this was Hautala's first novel, so I'm willing to let some shortcomings go.
Moondeath is actually reminiscent of Richard Laymon, even though the authors were writing at about the same time. It has the same sort of style, and even has a similar style of characterization. The obsession with sex is absent (which is not to say it's a chaste book, but it's not a main focus like it was in Laymon's fiction), but there's a bit of a sexist overtone to how the female characters are portrayed. On the bright side, I don't see anything as overtly misogynistic as I did in Laymon's books.
Interestingly, I've seen a number of reviews and descriptions of the book that refer to the small town of Coon Falls, but in the edition I read (the e-book version of the Evil Jester printing), the town is called Cooper Falls. I don't have a problem with the change (the reason for it seems fairly obvious), but it struck me as notable.
Moondeath is an okay novel, but then again, it's also the author's first novel. Because it's a first novel, and because Hautala does manage to capture the fear of his characters, I'm not quite ready to give up on the author. This was another re-read for me, and like my other horror re-reads, I didn't remember much detail about it. That scene from Dark Silence that I mentioned above, though, will keep me reading.
Unfortunate Musical Connection: "Moonchild" by Iron Maiden
January 15, 2009
Junior high Tommy LOVED this book. I haven't read it since about 1981, so I can't vouche for this novel (but from what I can remember, the plot is killer-- as for the writing quality, who knows.) If I ever see this in a used book store, I will buy it imediately and give it another spin.
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