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Petrified
ONE LOOK AND YOU'LL BE FROZEN WITH FEAR.
Braydon Harris and Suki, his little girl, are leaving her grandparent's house when a huge truck jack-knifes in front of their car. Suki is thrown from the vehicle and winds up in hospital suffering with terrible burns.
Luckily, cryptozoology professor Nathan Underhill is working on a perfect cure. Underhill breeds mythological beasts, and lately he's been working with the legendary phoenix – whose cells he believes might hold exceptional healing properties against burns.
Despite the treatment, Suki finds that the pain from the burns and this remedy only exacerbates a terrible nightmare she's had for years – one that's becoming realer by the minute, about scary things flying through the sky… and now they're headed straight for her.
Petrified is an original and terrifying fantasy horror thriller from the Master of Horror himself, Graham Masterton.
Praise for Graham
'One of the most original and frightening storytellers of our time' Peter James
'Suspenseful and tension-filled... all the finesse of a master storyteller' Guardian
'One of Britain's finest horror writers' Daily Mail
'You are in for a hell of a ride' Grimdark Magazine
Braydon Harris and Suki, his little girl, are leaving her grandparent's house when a huge truck jack-knifes in front of their car. Suki is thrown from the vehicle and winds up in hospital suffering with terrible burns.
Luckily, cryptozoology professor Nathan Underhill is working on a perfect cure. Underhill breeds mythological beasts, and lately he's been working with the legendary phoenix – whose cells he believes might hold exceptional healing properties against burns.
Despite the treatment, Suki finds that the pain from the burns and this remedy only exacerbates a terrible nightmare she's had for years – one that's becoming realer by the minute, about scary things flying through the sky… and now they're headed straight for her.
Petrified is an original and terrifying fantasy horror thriller from the Master of Horror himself, Graham Masterton.
Praise for Graham
'One of the most original and frightening storytellers of our time' Peter James
'Suspenseful and tension-filled... all the finesse of a master storyteller' Guardian
'One of Britain's finest horror writers' Daily Mail
'You are in for a hell of a ride' Grimdark Magazine
318 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 1, 2011
55 people are currently reading
196 people want to read
About the author
Graham Masterton
423 books1,973 followersGraham Masterton was born in Edinburgh in 1946. His grandfather was Thomas Thorne Baker, the eminent scientist who invented DayGlo and was the first man to transmit news photographs by wireless. After training as a newspaper reporter, Graham went on to edit the new British men's magazine Mayfair, where he encouraged William Burroughs to develop a series of scientific and philosophical articles which eventually became Burroughs' novel The Wild Boys.
At the age of 24, Graham was appointed executive editor of both Penthouse and Penthouse Forum magazines. At this time he started to write a bestselling series of sex 'how-to' books including How To Drive Your Man Wild In Bed which has sold over 3 million copies worldwide. His latest, Wild Sex For New Lovers is published by Penguin Putnam in January, 2001. He is a regular contributor to Cosmopolitan, Men's Health, Woman, Woman's Own and other mass-market self-improvement magazines.
Graham Masterton's debut as a horror author began with The Manitou in 1976, a chilling tale of a Native American medicine man reborn in the present day to exact his revenge on the white man. It became an instant bestseller and was filmed with Tony Curtis, Susan Strasberg, Burgess Meredith, Michael Ansara, Stella Stevens and Ann Sothern.
Altogether Graham has written more than a hundred novels ranging from thrillers (The Sweetman Curve, Ikon) to disaster novels (Plague, Famine) to historical sagas (Rich and Maiden Voyage - both appeared in the New York Times bestseller list). He has published four collections of short stories, Fortnight of Fear, Flights of Fear, Faces of Fear and Feelings of Fear.
He has also written horror novels for children (House of Bones, Hair-Raiser) and has just finished the fifth volume in a very popular series for young adults, Rook, based on the adventures of an idiosyncratic remedial English teacher in a Los Angeles community college who has the facility to see ghosts.
Since then Graham has published more than 35 horror novels, including Charnel House, which was awarded a Special Edgar by Mystery Writers of America; Mirror, which was awarded a Silver Medal by West Coast Review of Books; and Family Portrait, an update of Oscar Wilde's tale, The Picture of Dorian Gray, which was the only non-French winner of the prestigious Prix Julia Verlanger in France.
He and his wife Wiescka live in a Gothic Victorian mansion high above the River Lee in Cork, Ireland.
At the age of 24, Graham was appointed executive editor of both Penthouse and Penthouse Forum magazines. At this time he started to write a bestselling series of sex 'how-to' books including How To Drive Your Man Wild In Bed which has sold over 3 million copies worldwide. His latest, Wild Sex For New Lovers is published by Penguin Putnam in January, 2001. He is a regular contributor to Cosmopolitan, Men's Health, Woman, Woman's Own and other mass-market self-improvement magazines.
Graham Masterton's debut as a horror author began with The Manitou in 1976, a chilling tale of a Native American medicine man reborn in the present day to exact his revenge on the white man. It became an instant bestseller and was filmed with Tony Curtis, Susan Strasberg, Burgess Meredith, Michael Ansara, Stella Stevens and Ann Sothern.
Altogether Graham has written more than a hundred novels ranging from thrillers (The Sweetman Curve, Ikon) to disaster novels (Plague, Famine) to historical sagas (Rich and Maiden Voyage - both appeared in the New York Times bestseller list). He has published four collections of short stories, Fortnight of Fear, Flights of Fear, Faces of Fear and Feelings of Fear.
He has also written horror novels for children (House of Bones, Hair-Raiser) and has just finished the fifth volume in a very popular series for young adults, Rook, based on the adventures of an idiosyncratic remedial English teacher in a Los Angeles community college who has the facility to see ghosts.
Since then Graham has published more than 35 horror novels, including Charnel House, which was awarded a Special Edgar by Mystery Writers of America; Mirror, which was awarded a Silver Medal by West Coast Review of Books; and Family Portrait, an update of Oscar Wilde's tale, The Picture of Dorian Gray, which was the only non-French winner of the prestigious Prix Julia Verlanger in France.
He and his wife Wiescka live in a Gothic Victorian mansion high above the River Lee in Cork, Ireland.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
January 19, 2016
I'm starting to notice a trend in my reading of Masterton novels, and I'm not sure if this is about Masterton or about me. I have not liked the first entry in his series, but have liked the second entry in those series. This is a consistent trend in the MANITOU, SISSY SAWYER, and now the NATHAN UNDERHILL series.
PETRIFIED is a better follow-up to the first in the UNDERHILL series, Basilisk. Again, Professor Underhill is engaging in incredible experiments to recreate mythological creatures that he believes really existed at some point (this time a phoenix), and he's up against a villain with similar goals (in this one, to bring back to life the petrified gargoyles that we see mounted on churches), but he doesn't go over the line this time in trying to make us go along with developments that are just too unbelievable, even in the context of a horror novel (in BASILISK, a guy volunteered to become a slug creature of some kind; it was just too much).
There's just the right balance of cop drama, scientific experiments, mythology, and Mastertonian gore. The only thing that Masterton's regular readers may note is missing is graphic sex, although there's some suggestion that it's happening "off screen" when the professor's assistant compromises herself so he won't lose his funding.
It's good fun. I recommend you skip BASILISK and just go straight to this one.
PETRIFIED is a better follow-up to the first in the UNDERHILL series, Basilisk. Again, Professor Underhill is engaging in incredible experiments to recreate mythological creatures that he believes really existed at some point (this time a phoenix), and he's up against a villain with similar goals (in this one, to bring back to life the petrified gargoyles that we see mounted on churches), but he doesn't go over the line this time in trying to make us go along with developments that are just too unbelievable, even in the context of a horror novel (in BASILISK, a guy volunteered to become a slug creature of some kind; it was just too much).
There's just the right balance of cop drama, scientific experiments, mythology, and Mastertonian gore. The only thing that Masterton's regular readers may note is missing is graphic sex, although there's some suggestion that it's happening "off screen" when the professor's assistant compromises herself so he won't lose his funding.
It's good fun. I recommend you skip BASILISK and just go straight to this one.
August 27, 2015
Meh. Definitely not my favorite Masterton novel but decent. A bit too much fantasy for my horror tastes.
December 5, 2011
A fun book in a horror sort of way.
July 19, 2020
4 Stars. Audio.
September 7, 2023
Actual rating 2.5 stars, rounding up since Goodreads still does not allow half-star ratings.
The phoenix was fire and light and purity, while the gargoyles were unmitigated evil, turned into stone.
I was very excited to read this book, as I love anything in the horror genre. Masterton was a new to me author and I was looking forward to discovering his writing. Sadly, I felt like this novel, while having potential, fell way short of its goal. To start, there was a German character by the name of Theodor Zauber (Zauber meaning spell or enchantment) who, SURPRISE, practiced black magic. As a German speaker, I was honestly appalled by the use of the German language in this novel. It was like the author just Google translated English to German and then decided not to have it proofread. Oh and
As for the other characters; I found most of them to be flat and poorly written. We have Nathan, a Cryptozoologist who was a decent character, but nothing special. Then we have the other people who worked with Nathan in his lab, Aarif, a developmental Biologist, and Kavita, a Biochemist. Both Aarif and Kavita are forgettable, however, Kavita made me rage so hard as There is nothing more infuriating than a female character being used just to help the male main character. Brayden and Suki start off the novel when Brayden kidnaps Suki (parental kidnapping) and gets in a car crash, causing severe burns all over Suki's body. If I am being completely honest the parental kidnapping that starts off the novel, has absolutely nothing to do with the novel and could have been completely left out. The only character I somewhat enjoyed was Jenna, a detective. She was spunky and sarcastic and had a few great comebacks. Otherwise, as mentioned above, the characters fell flat to me.
Moving on to the plot of the novel. I found the idea of the recreation of mythical creatures a cool and interesting idea. However, one thing that was difficult to get into, was the fact that when ordinary people were confronted with said mythical creatures, they almost instantly believed in the existence of them. I feel like it was too easy and somewhat lazy of the writer. Oh and speaking of mythical creatures, hardly anyone recognized what a gargoyle was. It made no sense that people could believe in a phoenix, but completely blank on gargoyles. Lastly, three side characters had some sort of intuition when it came to the gargoyles, however, this was never expanded on in the novel, and did not make much sense why these particular people were able to feel the presence of gargoyles.
Overall I found this book to be disappointing and sadly I will not be reading more of Masterton's work.
The phoenix was fire and light and purity, while the gargoyles were unmitigated evil, turned into stone.
I was very excited to read this book, as I love anything in the horror genre. Masterton was a new to me author and I was looking forward to discovering his writing. Sadly, I felt like this novel, while having potential, fell way short of its goal. To start, there was a German character by the name of Theodor Zauber (Zauber meaning spell or enchantment) who, SURPRISE, practiced black magic. As a German speaker, I was honestly appalled by the use of the German language in this novel. It was like the author just Google translated English to German and then decided not to have it proofread. Oh and
As for the other characters; I found most of them to be flat and poorly written. We have Nathan, a Cryptozoologist who was a decent character, but nothing special. Then we have the other people who worked with Nathan in his lab, Aarif, a developmental Biologist, and Kavita, a Biochemist. Both Aarif and Kavita are forgettable, however, Kavita made me rage so hard as There is nothing more infuriating than a female character being used just to help the male main character. Brayden and Suki start off the novel when Brayden kidnaps Suki (parental kidnapping) and gets in a car crash, causing severe burns all over Suki's body. If I am being completely honest the parental kidnapping that starts off the novel, has absolutely nothing to do with the novel and could have been completely left out. The only character I somewhat enjoyed was Jenna, a detective. She was spunky and sarcastic and had a few great comebacks. Otherwise, as mentioned above, the characters fell flat to me.
Moving on to the plot of the novel. I found the idea of the recreation of mythical creatures a cool and interesting idea. However, one thing that was difficult to get into, was the fact that when ordinary people were confronted with said mythical creatures, they almost instantly believed in the existence of them. I feel like it was too easy and somewhat lazy of the writer. Oh and speaking of mythical creatures, hardly anyone recognized what a gargoyle was. It made no sense that people could believe in a phoenix, but completely blank on gargoyles. Lastly, three side characters had some sort of intuition when it came to the gargoyles, however, this was never expanded on in the novel, and did not make much sense why these particular people were able to feel the presence of gargoyles.
Overall I found this book to be disappointing and sadly I will not be reading more of Masterton's work.
February 19, 2020
I think this is the first Graham Masterson novel I've read. I may have read others years ago, but can't recall any of them. For now, I'll say this is the first.
I was definitely not impressed with this novel. I thought the premise was interesting, and it had a lot of promise, but the book itself was filled with characters I could not like and dialogue I found to be a bit amateurish. I mean, who would write the character of a loving father saying to his young daughter, "These people have saved your life. You'll never have to hide your face or put up with people staring at you like you're some kind of freak". What author believes this is real dialogue?
The horror elements were not tense enough, or scary enough. I appreciate that Masterton didn't go for the "horny teenage horror novel" that some horror writers dish out. Looking at you, Shaun Hutson. I do prefer horror not to be filled with scenes that you'd think a fifteen year old had written.
I understand Masterton has written a lot of novels, so I'll give more of them a go, but I hope they make for a more enjoyable read.
I was definitely not impressed with this novel. I thought the premise was interesting, and it had a lot of promise, but the book itself was filled with characters I could not like and dialogue I found to be a bit amateurish. I mean, who would write the character of a loving father saying to his young daughter, "These people have saved your life. You'll never have to hide your face or put up with people staring at you like you're some kind of freak". What author believes this is real dialogue?
The horror elements were not tense enough, or scary enough. I appreciate that Masterton didn't go for the "horny teenage horror novel" that some horror writers dish out. Looking at you, Shaun Hutson. I do prefer horror not to be filled with scenes that you'd think a fifteen year old had written.
I understand Masterton has written a lot of novels, so I'll give more of them a go, but I hope they make for a more enjoyable read.
November 11, 2021
Nathan Underhill, the "whacky" cryptozoology professor from Basilisk is back again trying to breed mythological beasts, because he didn't learn his lesson the first time. In this case, it's the legendary phoenix, because he believes it's cells will benefit mankind with its healing properties against burns and things. Good for him. Meanwhile, the son of his Christian Zauber, his nemesis from Basilisk, is also trying to bring another mythological creature to life, and he firmly insists Nathan help him, caring not that his efforts are killing lots of innocent people.
While Basilisk wasn't a bad novel, so long as you treat it for what it is, namely a lark, Petrified felt more like a contractual obligation or an attempt to write a story even sillier than a Syfy/Asylum movie. This book was goofier and dumber than most of the potboiler novels churned out decades before. Unless you're a Masterton completionist, this one's not worth the bother. 1.5* rounded up to 2 just because it's Masterton.
While Basilisk wasn't a bad novel, so long as you treat it for what it is, namely a lark, Petrified felt more like a contractual obligation or an attempt to write a story even sillier than a Syfy/Asylum movie. This book was goofier and dumber than most of the potboiler novels churned out decades before. Unless you're a Masterton completionist, this one's not worth the bother. 1.5* rounded up to 2 just because it's Masterton.
November 25, 2018
I always enjoy Masterton's books but some I enjoy more than others...this wasn't one of his best for me. Underhill isn't the most charismatic of Masterton's creations & I found him a bit one dimensional (to be honest I'd forgotten he was in "Basilisk" so I obviously didn't find him too memorable!). The story moves at a quick pace & has all the elements that Masterton's fans expect from his work but for me, I'd have liked a bit more about the mythology & superstitions about Gargoyles.
A really good read but for me just falling short of the full 5 stars at a 4.5.
No doubt Underhill will be back, after all there is a wealth of creatures for him to try & resurrect.....
A really good read but for me just falling short of the full 5 stars at a 4.5.
No doubt Underhill will be back, after all there is a wealth of creatures for him to try & resurrect.....
May 8, 2017
Easy to read, with exciting story, awesome fantasy creatures and brutal scenes of massacres - a must for all horror fans and another jewel in the crown of Graham Masterton, the master of fantasy terror! More detailed review in Bulgarian here:
http://citadelata.com/petrified/
http://citadelata.com/petrified/
November 11, 2018
Pulp horror at it's best. Felt like reading a Hammer Horror story.
March 12, 2019
This book was absolutely, appallingly terrible. I read a book by this author before and liked it, but I hated this book so much I may never read this author again.
The premise of the book was so ludicrous it was almost impossible to suspend disbelief. I mean, I know that when you read a horror book, you are supposed to accept things that could never happen in real life. But this was just pushing it too far. The premise was so ridiculous that it was hard to take the book as seriously as it was meant to be taken. And nothing was campy or tongue in cheek about it, you were supposed to read it like any other horror novel.
The dialog was awful and unrealistic, the characters were not likeable in any way, and I did not care what happened to them, the writing was amateurish - really, this read like a bad self-published book.
The premise of the book was so ludicrous it was almost impossible to suspend disbelief. I mean, I know that when you read a horror book, you are supposed to accept things that could never happen in real life. But this was just pushing it too far. The premise was so ridiculous that it was hard to take the book as seriously as it was meant to be taken. And nothing was campy or tongue in cheek about it, you were supposed to read it like any other horror novel.
The dialog was awful and unrealistic, the characters were not likeable in any way, and I did not care what happened to them, the writing was amateurish - really, this read like a bad self-published book.
March 26, 2025
A bit of a let down after the highs of Basilisk! It now focuses on a phoenix who kinda does nothing and far too many Gargoyles that just like fall on people, which isn’t as interesting as Graham maybe thinks it is. Story keeps getting interrupted by scenes with random characters just like sat in a park and so you know they are the next ones to get crushed. Still occasionally funny and entertaining. Poor ending that just gives up.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 13, 2025
A great mythical thriller. This book follows ‘basilisk’ , a scientist has managed to bring gargoyles to life and needs Nathan’s help to keep them alive. Nathan has brought a Phoenix alive and uses it to help cure burn victims. He must help detective Jenna figure out where they are and how to stop them. Always great writing and story. The climax is always very quick and normally happens within a chapter. Was quite gruesome.
December 31, 2022
Nothing horrendous about this, I didn’t hate it…it’s just a very by numbers perfunctory and slightly absurd book. Every character felt very forced and two dimensional, the plot was original but lacked the suspense, fright or intrigue I was hoping for.
My first Masterton but I think I will go straight to one of his best liked works next to see if that’s better.
My first Masterton but I think I will go straight to one of his best liked works next to see if that’s better.
February 4, 2017
Great story telling. Quickly paced. Loved the ending. Author has been delivering great stories for decades and this one does not disappoint.
July 13, 2020
Didn't finish..
July 24, 2021
Graham always brings it
March 22, 2022
This is what horror should be like
March 13, 2023
If you like mythology, science, gore and police investigations then you’ll enjoy this book!! Kept me entertained for a few hours!!
August 7, 2023
Rather unique mythology horror story. Really enjoyed this one.
September 21, 2024
Very enjoyable novel with enough scenes of gore to keep you entertained.
January 26, 2025
I liked this book will certainly be reading more from this author
May 23, 2025
A good read on holiday
Not one if his best, but good enough to lost a few hours, on a plane, train or by the pool
Not going on my keep list!
Not one if his best, but good enough to lost a few hours, on a plane, train or by the pool
Not going on my keep list!
September 1, 2025
A little out there but definitely held my attention!
December 1, 2025
Loved this book
March 13, 2016
Perhaps not Graham Masterton on top form, but, even so, he still writes better than most. While Jurassic Park brought dinosaurs back to life, Professor Nathan Underhill goes one better and brings mythological creatures to life. Meanwhile people are killed by mysterious flying creatures and by statues that fall out of the sky. In the end, only Professor Underhill can stop the rising death toll. Suspend your disbelief from the hanger on the back of the door, step in and enjoy.
February 8, 2019
I really liked this second book in this series. I like the Phoenix "Torchy" too. The mythological creatures that were brought to life were more interesting than in the first book. I hope he writes another in this series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 17, 2025
Great read!
February 10, 2012
fast, fun read
April 21, 2012
this book made me keep turning the pages, very well written. gory at some points and chilling.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews