The Folly

by David Anne

FOR CENTURIES MAN HAS MANIPULATED THE FORCES OF NATURE WITH LITTLE THOUGHT FOR THE ENVIRONMENT OR FOR THE SUFFERING OF THE ANIMALS SO RUTHLESSLY EXPLOITED.. BUT SOMETIMES NATURE CAN TAKE HER OWN REVENGE!

The peace of the quiet English country village of Frickley, situated a few miles from the Government Research Station of Porton Down is abruptly shattered by a series of inexplicable, violent deaths. The victims are so badly mutilated as to be unidentifiable.

Among the dead are the parents of Guy Corling. Propelled by both personal and professional feelings, Guy starts to uncover the grotesque story of one man's folly — leading him on a trail of death and terror until the final, hair-raising denouement.

Genres: Horror

169 pages, Paperback

First published October 9, 1978

Reviews

[karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

fulfilling my 2020 goal to read (at least) one book each month that was given to me as a present that i haven't yet gotten around to reading because i am an ungrateful dick.



THINGS ARE STILL AWFULLY SPOOKTOBERY!!!!

i was so inspired by Paperbacks from Hell: The Twisted History of '70s and '80s Horror Fiction that i decided to track down some of the animal-based vintage horror books hendrix hailed.

i managed to get my hands on a trio of feline-horror books: Feral, Panther!, and Cat



and they were the very best kind of awful. but The Folly is not about killer cats, oh, no.

The Folly is about killer rabbits.



it's a real problem.

obviously, this cover is why i was initially drawn to the book:



however, no one who owns that version is gonna part with it—that's an heirloom if ever i saw one, and so i was gifted this edition:



i was very grateful to have gotten it at all, but i do wish this cover artist hadn't been so lazy. not even a suggestion of a giant carnivorous bunny? not one bloody pawprint? no one's collecting these books for the articles, man.

as for the content, it's pretty much in keeping with the other killer animal books i have read from this era, although i will say it's less porny than some of them, particularly guy n. smith's crab masterpieces.

here, And then they climbed that mountain is what passes for a sex scene.

it clocks in at 156 pages, which makes for some pretty streamlined horror, and yet like all of these books, everything happening between the animal attacks is kind of boring. nor is it especially rich in science or logic or character development.

here is an excerpt of how people behave when they find themselves in a killer animal book from the 1970s.

but first, some helpful background:

guy corling is a journalist; the chief crime reporter for the planet (that's The Planet, kids, he's not the chief crime reporter for all of earth) whose parents have just been eaten by bunnies.

whose PARENTS have just been EATEN by BUNNIES.

naturally, he wants to cover the story, but doesn't tell his boss that his parents were two of the victims because conflict of interest. early the next morning, a fellow reporter phones him with the disappointing news that scotland yard is suppressing the story, so no big scoop for guy, and guy hangs up, pissed. aaand the curtain rises (all asterisks mine):

He hung up. The telephone rang again almost immediately.

'Yes?' Guy snapped, wondering if he was going to be able to get out of bed that day.

'Fraser here. What's wrong with you this morning?'*

'Nothing. I'm sorry, Jack. I didn't mean to chew your ear off.** I've just heard from Jock,' he told his Editor. 'He told me that the killings last night are taboo.'

'That's it. Got the message this morning from the top brass at Scotland Yard. There's nothing we can do about it. Well, nothing we can do about printing it, at least,' he added.

'What do you mean?'

'I mean that once you crawl out of your pit *** you start investigating. If we wait for the police every newshound in Fleet Street'll have the story. Find out what's going on down there.'

'What do you reckon, Jack? Why the sudden interest?'

'Because the police don't slap blankets over murders unless there's something they don't want us to know,' Fraser claimed. 'And this thing about your parents being eaten - it's okay, Jock told me.**** There hasn't been any more comment about that from the bobbies.'

'You see a connection?'

'I don't see anything - yet. That's why I want you to start sniffing about. Do some grass root investigation, Guy. If you can remember how, that is. It'll make a change from propping up El Vino's,' Fraser joked, referring to the famous bar in Fleet Street.*****

'I'll get on to it right away, chief,' Guy said, now standing naked by the bed, feeling very much awake.*******

'I'll see you tomorrow at the funeral,' Fraser said before hanging up.******

* i mean, other than your parents being eaten last night. by bunnies.
** too soon, guy
*** seriously, you need more than 24 hours to get over both of your parents being devoured? stiff upper lip &etc
**** pretty callous delivery, that
***** nothing helps ease grief like some insult comedy
****** ew.
******* abrupt dismissal, no condolences necessary

in a book about rabbits who hunt and eat people, it's bizarre that it's the human behavior that comes off most unrealistically.

anyway, all you need to know about this one is that it starts with killer rabbits, and then it really gets weird. that climax was...unexpected. not the one they climbed that mountain to achieve. the LITERARY climax. 

IN OTHER NEWS, i'm still on the hunt for one more killer cat book, The Cats, but if it ain't this cover, i'm not opening the door.



come to my blog!

[Grady Hendrix · Rating 1 out of 5]

"...squeaking grunting hellish creatures..."
“Creatures from the spawning-ground of hell.”
“They made the sound of death. From the very bowels of hell itself.”

I don't care. They're still rabbits.

[Warren Fournier · Rating 3 out of 5]

As I watched my kids coloring Easter eggs while stuffing my face with Reese's, my mind wandered to wondering if there were any Easter-themed horror novels. You know, like killer bunny rabbits and such. That's when I searched my shelves and pulled out my old 1980 reprint of "The Folly."

Now, "The Folly" is an easy target for jibes and laughs. "What is so scary about man-eating rabbits?" I hear you say. "They're RABBITS for chrissake."

But before you go picturing silly knights getting their heads torn off in a Monty Python skit, this book is actually more than just an unfortunate choice in an attempt to cash in on the "animals attack" subgenre spawned by Benchley's "Jaws" and Herbert's "The Rats." This novel capitalizes on the concerns that Europe and Australia had over genetic engineering when in the 1950s, a viral disease called myxomatosis was intentionally released to kill indigenous rabbit populations, the first time a biological weapon was ever employed to control vertebrates. In 1968, a scifi horror satire was released in Australia called "The Year of the Angry Rabbit" which expanded on this idea in a fantastic way, leading to the laughably ridiculous film version "Night of the Lepus." So it was with all this in mind that author David Anne tried his hand at a tale of mutant rabbits running havoc in a small English country town.

And I must say that I was pleasantly surprised that the writing was quite effective, creating a chilling yet quintessentially British atmosphere just oozing with the smells of peat bogs and pub ale, horse manure and fried blood pudding. The Folly is the name of the ruins of the manor of a crazy old nobleman, a great black tower sticking out from above the trees like a proffered middle finger defiant of the Heavens. There, equally crazy descendent Sir Mark is conducting foul experiments on nature, releasing rapidly breeding half-rabbit, half-rat hybrids that roam the countryside with lupine pack mentality and a voracious appetite for flesh.

This relatively short novel sure packs in it's share of gory carnage that will please fans of vintage paperback horror, as well as solid pacing and action all done with a flourish of excellent command of language. However, it can never elevate itself over a mediocre rating. No character has time to develop into anything other than pulp caricatures or to have anything close to resembling an arc. "The Folly" also lacks the self-aware humor and satire seen in other novels of this genre, like Nick Sharman's "The Cats," that could have elevated this novel beyond a pure monster story. The only humor I found was when the main character, Guy, says that this story "makes 'Quatermass' look like Mickey Mouse."

My own copy has plastered to the front cover an obnoxious gold star that says "The classic horror story back in print." Sadly, it never was printed again that I know of after this, and has not received an e-transfer as of the time of this writing.

So if you do find a copy of this novel for your paperback collection, please don't go into a reading already with a sneer, because it will not amuse you. Go in with a mind open for a rollicking good time in classic pulp scares, and you will enjoy the hell out of it.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Foul things are afoot in the quaint English village of Frickley, situated a few miles away from the Governments research facility at Porton Down. When fast rising crime reporter Guy Corling hears that his parents have just died there - mutilated badly enough the police Inspector tells him they were carried away in a plastic bag - he decides to snoop around. Teaming up with Victor Henthorne, gamekeeper for Lord of the Manor Sir Mark Hattrell (once a friend of Guy’s until woman-trouble intervened, though Guy is now knocking off Sir Mark’s wife), he delves deeper into the mystery of The Folly, the lack of rabbits in the area and the savage attacks which leave only mutilated remains. Originally published in 1978 (and reprinted in 1980 - “The classic horror story - back in print” proclaims a sticker on the cover), this is thoroughly exploitative and follows the template set by James Herbert’s “The Rats” and others of that ilk, with nature taking her revenge on mad scientists and their sponsors. With some gruesome moments, a nice tie-in of the real-life myxomatosis outbreak in the 1950’s and some class warfare, this unfortunately suffers with pedestrian writing (some key scenes are casually brushed over) and lack of characterisation for the second leads (Anne, Sir Mark’s wife, is particularly poorly served) though it does have cool monsters. This is my kind of book - a cheesy horror novel from the 70s (even if it’s designed to cash-in on a trend) - and although it should have tried harder to hold together, it was still an enjoyable and quick read. I liked it a lot, your mileage may vary dependent entirely on how you feel about this kind of exploitative/cheesy horror goodness.

[Goblin Reaper · Rating 1 out of 5]

“It was a bizarre parody of a pleasant nocturnal scene in the country.”
.
            The peace of the quiet English Country village of Frickley is abruptly shattered by a series of inexplicable, violent deaths. The victims are so badly mutilated as to be unidentifiable. Among them are the parents of Guy Corling. Propelled by both professional and personal feelings, Guy starts to uncover some grotesque secrets. 

              This book was pretty good in terms of building up the terror at the start. I was filled with questions like 'is it the supernatural or the work of some savage animals?' The murders were as violent as the description promised. However, everything kind of went downhill when I read who was killing all those people. I expected something along the lines of wolves and it would've been better if they were that (even at the cost of being predictable). It was like all the terror the author built through the first few murders deflated like a balloon. I honestly think I should lay off on fantasy since I suspected those creatures to be of some supernatural kind (smh…). No matter how much the author tried to make the murders more gruesome, it just didn't have the effect it was supposed to have every time I visualized them. It was unenthusiastic throughout the second time. So unenthusiastic that the climax didn't faze me at all. The final "denouement" was not hair raising as it was suggested. 

The part which made me sigh– the "oh my goodness, why does this seem so pathetic" sigh– when Guy and Victor prepared to go for a "war" with a knife against those creatures. I was debating whether to DNF the book or yet myself outta the window at that point. But as it is very difficult to DNF a book, I (regretfully) continued. 
When the author pulled the mad scientist card in the second half, I had to remind myself that this book was written in the 70s. Coupled with that, the unnatural creatures strangely reminded me of the Despicable Me 2 movie. 


Aside from the disappointing fact that women were displayed as nothing but weak, dumb, or just flower vases in the story, Victor was a character I kind of liked. He didn't go outside his limits, knew when to shut up, was respectful to his wife, and was smart enough to not get eaten alive (unlike his friend). 
Bob Norris and Measures we're both complete idiots. I nothing to say besides one thing– don't drink and drive kids, don't drink and drive (*insert* Liza Koshy's voice). 
All scenarios seemed so traumatizing that I wondered how the characters moved on. 
I am not even going to touch on the topic of Anne Hattrell's infidelity. 


Some chapters ended in cliffhangers and they were all in different POVs. I guess that's a good strategy to keep us reading. 
The blood curling situations and the anticipation just trailed off at the end (akhir mein dheela pad gaya bc). It was disappointing because I felt detached from the story just like Anne Hattrell did in the climax… 

[Luke Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

First read this when I was about 12. Twenty-five years later, it's entertaining enough and doesn't pretend to be anything more than it is: a late 70s knock off of The Rats complete with dodgy sex scenes, violence and people who are killed within five pages of being introduced. Worth a read as a nostalgia piece, but I can't bring myself to rate it higher than three stars.

[Alan Smithee · Rating 1 out of 5]

Probably my least favorite book containing mutant bunnies, a stereotypical Scotsman/best friend and casual 70's sexism. However, the author does use ellipses 101 times in 150 pages. (Yes, I counted. What of it?) So I predict this book will someday be a favorite of Morse code fans.

[Mika Lietzen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Those wascally wabbits are at it again, attacking and devouring people like carrots in the English countryside. Who would've thought these furry herbivores were so fond of meat?

Following the tried and true "when animals attack" formula laid down by James Herbert in his seminal debut novel The Rats, The Folly introduces characters and their foibles before letting the rabbits loose on them. There's the obligatory drunk, an old couple, a young couple making out in the woods, you get the drift, you've known the ins and outs of the style since The Rats hit the streets running back in 1974.

Guy the journalist is the protagonist here, with a convoluted back story featuring an American heiress, his botched marriage to the said heiress and a revenge plot against the local lord Sir Mark involving his second wife Anne who is now Guy's secret lover. Also Guy's parents were eaten by the rabbits, so business as usual in good old Hampshire. Centering around a folly, a type of useless structure English lords and ladies used to erect in their gardens back in the day simply because they had the money to do so, the novel teases black magic and hereditary madness on the first page or two, only to ditch it all in favour of a hidden lab and a crazy scientist in the tradition of Dr. Moreau.

As expected, the victims of the rabbits share the reader's disbelief at what is about to happen, even if the writer insists on the rabbits being from hell and at least hideously deformed. Some of the jokes do land with aplomb, such as the one about a would-be victim being a wannabe Playboy "bunny girl". Unfortunately, in the end, the novel is a very serious affair and not, say, a full-on parody of The Rats. As an honest, purposefully exaggerated send-up of Herbert's classic the result might've been hilarious. The Folly, however, is only tedious.

There're no original ideas here, just bad science and piss poor plotting, which mercifully come to an end at slim 160 pages. The saving grace here is that the novel isn't all that terribly written, even when the novel reaches its idiotic crescendo. Perhaps they still had copy editors in merry old England of 1978?

[Signor Mambrino · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is 90% mediocre, but the ending is so ridiculous (and needless) that I can't give it anything other than 5/5. What the hell? Killer bunnies, killer bunnies, killer bunnies and then a lovely surprise LOL fantastic book

[Nate Dawg · Rating 3 out of 5]

“There is no horror in nature worse than man himself” Especially when man creates killer rat-rabbits.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The problem with being attacked by killer rabbits is that nobody will believe you when you tell them.
The Folly is a wonderfully schlocky 1970's horror. Within 34 pages, 3 people and a couple of dogs are eaten alive by mutant killer rabbits. Oh no!

No time for character development here (and none needed), just your typical heroic men saving humanity (and hysterical women) from a mad scientist with more money than ethics.

Oh course seeing the results of a rabbit attack makes all the men man up and the women require psychiatric care "... she reacted instinctively and normally. She had hysterics." Poor gal. Later on she screams long enough to warrant a slap in the face. "Snap out of it!" Thank goodness there were men there to give her a good smack.

The reader is spared the more prurient scenes of adolescent fondling and fumbling that usually pepper this genre of novel. Phew.

[R. William · Rating 3 out of 5]

Way better than I thought, considering it's a book about hybrid killer rabbits. It was an enjoyable and quick read. And I was surprised at how gory the book was. It did not shy away from vivid descriptions of ripping and tearing of flesh, and fangs biting so deep into limbs that the teeth scrape bone. Also, a guy gets his D--k bitten off. My biggest complaint is that the ending was weak. No use of the Holy Hand Grenade, or any other explosives.

[Mikepottz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Flesh from calves, cheeks, a penis, intestines gorged, hair ripped from a skull, a fetid smell will emanate from monster rat-rabbits with long teeth and strange heads. Rampage across a small village, only a complete insane mad man could start an experiment this heinous but a orang-utan and a human monster takes the cake.

[Scott Oliver · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well what can you say about The Folly?

As I have said before I like a good nature run amok story and if mutated rampaging rat-rabbits are your thing, then this is the book for you

[Ryan Winstanley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maybe this is really a 3.5 star. But you know what, I had lots of fun with this read. Perfect for the Easter holidays.

It would have made a brilliant 70’s B-Movie flick.

[Mike Howlett · Rating 3 out of 5]

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