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The Night Stalker #1
Kolchak: The Night Stalker
Four Gorgeous Girls, Their Bodies Drained of Blood
In Las Vegas even the kinkiest crimes don't cause much stir. Everyone's used to it. But now women are lying in alleys, gutters, and parking lots-their bodies drained of blood! Is it possible? A vampire stalking the Las Vegas streets?
"Fantastically marvelous...executed with equally marvelous realism."
-Richard Matheson, author of The Incredible Shrinking Man
In Las Vegas even the kinkiest crimes don't cause much stir. Everyone's used to it. But now women are lying in alleys, gutters, and parking lots-their bodies drained of blood! Is it possible? A vampire stalking the Las Vegas streets?
"Fantastically marvelous...executed with equally marvelous realism."
-Richard Matheson, author of The Incredible Shrinking Man
234 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1973
45 people are currently reading
295 people want to read
About the author
Jeff Rice
43 books23 followersJeffrey Grant Rice was born in Providence, Rhode Island, USA in 1944. He spent his early childhood in Beverly Hills. He has been a Las Vegas resident since 1955.
Jeff Rice is best known as the author of The Kolchak Papers, a novel he finished on October 31, 1970. Rice’s novel was still unpublished when it was optioned for television and adapted for a TV audience as The Night Stalker. It subsequently had a brief print run when the Kolchak: The Night Stalker TV series grew in popularity. In 2007 Moonstone Books released a new edition which also includes the sequel, The Night Strangler.
Jeff Rice is best known as the author of The Kolchak Papers, a novel he finished on October 31, 1970. Rice’s novel was still unpublished when it was optioned for television and adapted for a TV audience as The Night Stalker. It subsequently had a brief print run when the Kolchak: The Night Stalker TV series grew in popularity. In 2007 Moonstone Books released a new edition which also includes the sequel, The Night Strangler.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 67 reviews
October 12, 2017
I picked this up some time back because I really loved the classic television show. Sort of expecting it to be representative of the show, I was quite surprised at the pulp style taken by the author. The Night Stalker is presented as a true story, told in an old pulp style. I think it is for this reason a few people, either unfamiliar or not enamored of pulp, knock it. It is however, despite being somewhat uneven, quite engrossing on a pulp level.
In essence, this is a pulp story presented by the narrator as an honest account of the happenings in Las Vegas, which were later covered up, with witnesses later disappearing, as did Kolchak. The author uses Kolchak’s notes to tell the story, after having confirmed to his satisfaction that Kolchak’s notes are indeed accurate. This lends an element of fun to the story, and there is some good stuff here. You can almost hear Darren McGavin’s voice in spots, yet in other spots that sense of fun is replaced by some very gruesome and enthralling accounts of a vampire at large in Sin City. Despite some unevenness at times, this is a much better read than you’d think.
I think it is unfair to compare this to Richard Matheson’s television film adaptation of the book, because the book is quite deliberately pulpy in nature, an entirely different critter from a screenplay written by more a serious writer. If you can manage to separate the two in your head, Jeff Rice’s The Night Stalker is pretty good for a noir pulp story. On the technical side, however, the Kindle version has oodles of typos I am certain weren’t in the original book — which was apparently released after the show came out. Definitely worth a look if you enjoyed the show, but only if you like pulp.
In essence, this is a pulp story presented by the narrator as an honest account of the happenings in Las Vegas, which were later covered up, with witnesses later disappearing, as did Kolchak. The author uses Kolchak’s notes to tell the story, after having confirmed to his satisfaction that Kolchak’s notes are indeed accurate. This lends an element of fun to the story, and there is some good stuff here. You can almost hear Darren McGavin’s voice in spots, yet in other spots that sense of fun is replaced by some very gruesome and enthralling accounts of a vampire at large in Sin City. Despite some unevenness at times, this is a much better read than you’d think.
I think it is unfair to compare this to Richard Matheson’s television film adaptation of the book, because the book is quite deliberately pulpy in nature, an entirely different critter from a screenplay written by more a serious writer. If you can manage to separate the two in your head, Jeff Rice’s The Night Stalker is pretty good for a noir pulp story. On the technical side, however, the Kindle version has oodles of typos I am certain weren’t in the original book — which was apparently released after the show came out. Definitely worth a look if you enjoyed the show, but only if you like pulp.
June 6, 2023
I don’t write reviews.
I can’t believe I went this long without reading the original Carl Kolchak. I’ve seen the movie this novel was based on many times, so I had a definite idea of the story in my head. And I most certainly imagined Darren McGavin playing the lead. In the first book, Kolchak is pretty different than what he would become by the next story. I just can’t picture him as a fat(ish) drunkard.
The Night Stalker often reminded me of The Progeny of the Adder (Les Whitten, 1965). Did Jeff Rice read it? He must have! The two vampires have similar attributes, specifically vomit-inducing bad breath. One scene, where a used car dealer is interviewed regarding having had sold a car to the vampire, is almost identical.
If this was the only Kolchak adventure, I doubt he’d hold such a special place in my heart. It was a decent story though and a perfect place to start. I understand Kolchak well. Whenever I study things and question authority, I’m treated the same as old Carl… Shut up. That’s just a rumour. People don’t want to hear that. Don’t worry, Carl - you never stopped fighting to expose the truth, no matter what, and I won’t give up either.
I can’t believe I went this long without reading the original Carl Kolchak. I’ve seen the movie this novel was based on many times, so I had a definite idea of the story in my head. And I most certainly imagined Darren McGavin playing the lead. In the first book, Kolchak is pretty different than what he would become by the next story. I just can’t picture him as a fat(ish) drunkard.
The Night Stalker often reminded me of The Progeny of the Adder (Les Whitten, 1965). Did Jeff Rice read it? He must have! The two vampires have similar attributes, specifically vomit-inducing bad breath. One scene, where a used car dealer is interviewed regarding having had sold a car to the vampire, is almost identical.
If this was the only Kolchak adventure, I doubt he’d hold such a special place in my heart. It was a decent story though and a perfect place to start. I understand Kolchak well. Whenever I study things and question authority, I’m treated the same as old Carl… Shut up. That’s just a rumour. People don’t want to hear that. Don’t worry, Carl - you never stopped fighting to expose the truth, no matter what, and I won’t give up either.
April 29, 2015
We all have things we love, and then we all have things - books, music, movies, characters - we REALLY love. Most probably they were encountered in our youth and affected us strongly, and so we cherish them in our memories and are a little forgiving in our adult critique of them.
Carl Kolchak is a character I REALLY love. As a kid, I was never athletic enough to have sports heroes, nor was I smart enough to have science heroes, nor ambitious enough to have political heroes. I couldn't play an instrument (and didn't care about rock music) so rock stars were out and while I read a lot, comic book superheroes may have been inspiring but they weren't real people and real writers seemed untouchable, vague figures ("I couldn't really do THAT!"). But Carl Kolchak was my hero - a wise-mouth reporter who fought monsters and who no one listened to - acerbic, unpopular, not really athletic (but boy could he run!), spent a lot of time in libraries. Yes, Kolchak was my replacement for Jupiter Jones when I finally outgrew that personal hero.
And as I am spending a good portion of this year looking backwards, and as I have two Kolchak story anthologies waiting to be read (and which I'm kind of dreading - more on that when I read and review them) - I thought I would re-read my Kolchak related materials, starting with the two paperbacks - a previously unpublished novel that was adapted into the initial, ratings-blockbuster TV movie (and so, unsurprisingly, got published) and an adaptation of the second TV movie into novel form, both written by Kolchak's creator, Jeff Rice. I first read this novel back in 1978 - I was 11 years old and staying with my Grandmother in Brooklyn for the summer.
The conceit of the book is that Jeff Rice has been given a washed up reporter's notes and tapes (THE KOLCHAK PAPERS was the original title of the novel) after a chance meeting, detailed notes that sketch out a coverup involving a series of murders in Las Vegas during the summer of 1970, the reporting of which cost the reporter his career, his friendships, his social connections and, ultimately, his sobriety. All the details concerning the killings, all the witness and verifiers, are being swept under the rug, and shortly after Rice agrees to work the papers into a book, Kolchak disappears as well...
The first thing that has to be said is that Rice's character is somewhat different than the character as brought to the screen by ABC. Darren McGavin was charming in his rumpled, journalistic bulldog persona, equally sharp and honey tongued, depending on what info he needed to acquire. Rice's Carl (Karel, his given name, became Americanized for ease) Kolchak has the same characteristics as McGavin's portrayal, but not softened up for television and, most importantly, with no intention on the author's part for him to become a series character. He is on his way down, in other words, with no future in front of him, whether it be in Seattle or Chicago. The length and depth of a novel - even a novel like this, that is deliberately written in an unadorned, flat, descriptive reportage style - gives the reader a chance for many insights into a character that seemed born, full-blown, on the TV screen. So here's some interesting ways Kolchak of the novel differs from the character on screen, and some other things about him we never learned from television.
He's older than in the TV film (47 years old in 1970, thus born in 1933), out of shape and bordering on overweight (near 200 pounds), he hates physical exercise and likes eating spaghetti and garbanzo beans. He's balding and (in this conception at least) looks like "a boozy ex-prizefighter". That "boozy" part is important because Kolchak is a hard drinker, bordering on an alcoholic even before the killings start - he keeps little bottles of White Horse Scotch on him and drinks at work (he hits the skids after all is said and done and when Rice meets him, Kolchak is described as "seedy, gross, aggressive, slightly-drunk, irascible" and "unbalanced"). He smokes cheap, smelly cigars and has a foul mouth (Rice also claims to have cleaned up his language in the text). He likes torch songs from the 40s & 50s (he name drops Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughn). On the personal side, he has an "arrangement" with Sam, a warm-hearted Las Vegas hooker who likes his company - they keep each other from getting lonely. His anachronistic seersucker is not in evidence (he mentions throwing on some chinos and a bush jacket at one point). The memorable porkpie hat is not mentioned.
He's a vet of WW2, a knee injury from which kept him out of Korea. He has a degree in Journalism from Columbia. He considers himself a second rate hack (he occasionally took adult education writing classes at night - his teacher thinks his writing is sloppy with atrocious grammar and that he squandered his talents). He has a good relationship with the Vegas police force because he's always given them a fair shake in his reporting, while not letting them get away with much.
And so what happens is that this man, a crime reporter at the LAS VEGAS DAILY NEWS for a decade, is just doing his job when women start being killed in Sin City - always at night, always with the blood drained from their bodies. And because of his Polish background (in particular, a yarn spinning grandpa from the old country), and his love of old movies (he name drops Laird Cregar!), Carl Kolchak starts to wonder if a man who thinks he is a vampire is committing these killings. And the cops seem to be playing the whole thing close to the vest.
As I said, Rice's stylistic choice is apt for the tale - THE NIGHT STALKER is filled with terse, punchy descriptions, just as a reporter would bang it out on a Smith-Corona. Nothing flowery here, just flat, no-nonsense writing salted with some deft character sketches (Rice also claims to have cut back on some of Carl's vituperative tangents about various fellow workers, public figures and descriptions of Vegas - but much remains to enjoy), comedic observations and real-word detail (you could practically plot the two big police chase scenes on a street-map with all the details given here).
Honestly, THE NIGHT STALKER is less of a horror novel than it is a crime novel with a horror component (more on that in a moment) and I was going to label it noir but, in truth, that's maybe a bit of a stretch and misapplies a rather currently trendy label. True, STALKER does portray a rather sour worldview, exposing the corruption, political grandstanding, nepotism and all-around chicanery that goes into running a city founded by the mob. It strikes a Nixonian-era chord of public officials, long thought untouchable, being exposed as willing to do anything for personal gain or to avoid responsibility (the "vampire" idea is "bad for business" we are told by a mayor on his way to being Governor and a police force worried about being seen as inept). Kolchak is battle-hardened and world weary, and yet he still believes in journalistic honesty, and that the public has a right to know what the guys in charge know (although buried deeply in there is also some self-aggrandizement, the desire to be proven right, to be proven smarter than the cops and to score "the big story"). His ex-professor considers him a "lazy man who longs for adventure" and Rice says he has a knack for reading people, a reporter's intuition.
Still, I'm not sure if noir fits as a classification - the book is more of a journalistic/police procedural, in a way. For instance - after Carl collects all the information he can about vampires, he gathers a bunch of colleagues and students together to read the many books and condense them into a document he can refer to when making his case (he pays them with beer and sandwiches) - this is the kind of detail that tends to get skipped over in most genre books (especially now, when the internet is the lazy writer's dream information machine) but seems to be pure reporting skill at work. Other moments focus on newspaper details: the size and font type of headlines (font aficionados will dig that, I'm sure) and the details of how a paper is put together. The reporter aspect of the story means there's lots of shifting between social strata for our intrepid newshound - professional (editors, reporters, photographers), official (police, D.A., mayor), entertainment (dancers, swing shift casino girls, stage actors), education (professors, teachers, students), the "lower depths" (prostitutes, drag queens, used car hucksters) - Kolchak moves among them all fluidly, acquiring information. Also on the newspaper tip, Rice does a nice job of setting the murder "news" in the context of concurrent events of the day - air disasters, political strife, campus unrest, etc. - it's a nice way of pointing out how, before the days of the 24-hour news cycle, events like these killings were *local* crimes, first and foremost.
The murders themselves bring up another interesting aspect - THE NIGHT STALKER is, stripped of it genre details, a serial-killer novel before that term for either the crime or subgenre of fiction existed. Obviously, books like Psycho touched on the idea before, and I'm pretty sure there had to have been some hard-boiled crime or noir novels with a city in the fearsome grip of a "psycho killer", but I wonder if any crime novel really spent the time that Rice does here examining the phenomena in historical detail (the mid-novel chapter on vampires is followed by an examination of real-life "monsters" - Peter Kurten, Karl Denke, the Manson Clan - Jack The Ripper even gets his own appendix because Kolchak found the case fascinating). It's important to remember that Carl initially thinks the killings are being done by an insane man who's convinced he's a vampire (presumably using some sort of suction device to drain the blood from the bodies). But as strange evidence begins to mount, and after a first hand encounter, he begins to wonder... but he still isn't really convinced until the climax.
Janos Skorzeny, the killer, is an interesting portrayal at a time when vampires were rapidly becoming passe. Although Barnabas Collins on tv soap DARK SHADOWS, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's St. Germaine character and, of course, Anne Rice pretty much helped steer the vampire character into popular revival by "humanizing" him in the 70s (the end result being TWILIGHT), the early part of that decade saw the iconic monster floundering - capes and evening dress, European accents, royal titles, "blah-blah" vocalizing - familiarity (THE MUNSTERS, TV horror hosts, horror comedies) had all but killed vampires as a legitimate threat.
Rice's way of dealing with this is interesting. He strips away a lot of the ephemera - Skorzeny is not charming (in fact he's given barely any dialogue), and his breath reeks of the grave. He does not turn into a bat, wolf or mist, nor hypnotize people. He is capable of planning his escape and attacks, buying airline tickets, keeping up facades with passports and fake ids, but he comes across as feral most of the time, barely in control of his drives. Blindingly sunny, desert-baked Las Vegas seems the last place a vampire would want to go, but it makes logical sense (Vegas has an active nightlife with people moving about at all hours, and "no one notices strangers because Vegas thrives on strangers") although the gaudy neon, loud casinos, strippers and hookers are a long way from Transylvanian castles (a good example of this: when we're eventually shown Skorzeny's "lair", it's a one-bedroom cinder block ranch home on the outskirts of Vegas enclosed in a bad chain-link fence. The insides are nearly barren, aside from a coffin and an armchair. No sitting around in opulence and brooding like Lord Byron here! Even the ABC TV movie felt the need to "drama" this bit up, giving him a spooky old house with a dramatic staircase). Ironically, although it's not dwelt on, Skorzeny IS from Transylvania (or Romania, at that point) and he IS a Count, officially at least. In the end, cornered in a clothes closet, scrabbling and whining like an animal, he cuts a pathetic figure.
But he is a vampire - really, truly. He's exceedingly strong, can run as fast as a car, and can shrug off bullets, beatings and a near drowning. This hits just the right tone for the book - odd enough to seem eerie, but not enough to seem unreal. In a way, an interesting moment is passed over quickly as, pinned down by police, an officer strides up to Skorzeny, places his magnum against the killer's temple and says "move and I'll blow your head off" - suffice it to say, more mayhem results (the action/battle/police chases in this book are very memorable - exciting, suspenseful writing, really capturing dramatic press scribing at its best) but I wonder what would have happened if that event had taken place. We'll never know. And one final thing - the climax, as I intimated above, is still surprisingly disgusting - every detail of Skorzeny's dissolution and decay spelled out in lurid detail. You want to take a bath after reading it.
I've babbled on long enough - I enjoyed re-reading this and could appreciate more aspects of the writing now, as an adult. Unlike THE NIGHT STRANGLER, there's nothing overtly clumsy about the prose at any point (although modern readers who are used to quick service will probably think it meanders a bit, I'd still make the case that that's all in service of style) so I'd probably give this a 3.5 but will bump it up to 4 for nostalgia's sake.
See you over at The Night Strangler. Give 'em hell, Carl!
Carl Kolchak is a character I REALLY love. As a kid, I was never athletic enough to have sports heroes, nor was I smart enough to have science heroes, nor ambitious enough to have political heroes. I couldn't play an instrument (and didn't care about rock music) so rock stars were out and while I read a lot, comic book superheroes may have been inspiring but they weren't real people and real writers seemed untouchable, vague figures ("I couldn't really do THAT!"). But Carl Kolchak was my hero - a wise-mouth reporter who fought monsters and who no one listened to - acerbic, unpopular, not really athletic (but boy could he run!), spent a lot of time in libraries. Yes, Kolchak was my replacement for Jupiter Jones when I finally outgrew that personal hero.
And as I am spending a good portion of this year looking backwards, and as I have two Kolchak story anthologies waiting to be read (and which I'm kind of dreading - more on that when I read and review them) - I thought I would re-read my Kolchak related materials, starting with the two paperbacks - a previously unpublished novel that was adapted into the initial, ratings-blockbuster TV movie (and so, unsurprisingly, got published) and an adaptation of the second TV movie into novel form, both written by Kolchak's creator, Jeff Rice. I first read this novel back in 1978 - I was 11 years old and staying with my Grandmother in Brooklyn for the summer.
The conceit of the book is that Jeff Rice has been given a washed up reporter's notes and tapes (THE KOLCHAK PAPERS was the original title of the novel) after a chance meeting, detailed notes that sketch out a coverup involving a series of murders in Las Vegas during the summer of 1970, the reporting of which cost the reporter his career, his friendships, his social connections and, ultimately, his sobriety. All the details concerning the killings, all the witness and verifiers, are being swept under the rug, and shortly after Rice agrees to work the papers into a book, Kolchak disappears as well...
The first thing that has to be said is that Rice's character is somewhat different than the character as brought to the screen by ABC. Darren McGavin was charming in his rumpled, journalistic bulldog persona, equally sharp and honey tongued, depending on what info he needed to acquire. Rice's Carl (Karel, his given name, became Americanized for ease) Kolchak has the same characteristics as McGavin's portrayal, but not softened up for television and, most importantly, with no intention on the author's part for him to become a series character. He is on his way down, in other words, with no future in front of him, whether it be in Seattle or Chicago. The length and depth of a novel - even a novel like this, that is deliberately written in an unadorned, flat, descriptive reportage style - gives the reader a chance for many insights into a character that seemed born, full-blown, on the TV screen. So here's some interesting ways Kolchak of the novel differs from the character on screen, and some other things about him we never learned from television.
He's older than in the TV film (47 years old in 1970, thus born in 1933), out of shape and bordering on overweight (near 200 pounds), he hates physical exercise and likes eating spaghetti and garbanzo beans. He's balding and (in this conception at least) looks like "a boozy ex-prizefighter". That "boozy" part is important because Kolchak is a hard drinker, bordering on an alcoholic even before the killings start - he keeps little bottles of White Horse Scotch on him and drinks at work (he hits the skids after all is said and done and when Rice meets him, Kolchak is described as "seedy, gross, aggressive, slightly-drunk, irascible" and "unbalanced"). He smokes cheap, smelly cigars and has a foul mouth (Rice also claims to have cleaned up his language in the text). He likes torch songs from the 40s & 50s (he name drops Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughn). On the personal side, he has an "arrangement" with Sam, a warm-hearted Las Vegas hooker who likes his company - they keep each other from getting lonely. His anachronistic seersucker is not in evidence (he mentions throwing on some chinos and a bush jacket at one point). The memorable porkpie hat is not mentioned.
He's a vet of WW2, a knee injury from which kept him out of Korea. He has a degree in Journalism from Columbia. He considers himself a second rate hack (he occasionally took adult education writing classes at night - his teacher thinks his writing is sloppy with atrocious grammar and that he squandered his talents). He has a good relationship with the Vegas police force because he's always given them a fair shake in his reporting, while not letting them get away with much.
And so what happens is that this man, a crime reporter at the LAS VEGAS DAILY NEWS for a decade, is just doing his job when women start being killed in Sin City - always at night, always with the blood drained from their bodies. And because of his Polish background (in particular, a yarn spinning grandpa from the old country), and his love of old movies (he name drops Laird Cregar!), Carl Kolchak starts to wonder if a man who thinks he is a vampire is committing these killings. And the cops seem to be playing the whole thing close to the vest.
As I said, Rice's stylistic choice is apt for the tale - THE NIGHT STALKER is filled with terse, punchy descriptions, just as a reporter would bang it out on a Smith-Corona. Nothing flowery here, just flat, no-nonsense writing salted with some deft character sketches (Rice also claims to have cut back on some of Carl's vituperative tangents about various fellow workers, public figures and descriptions of Vegas - but much remains to enjoy), comedic observations and real-word detail (you could practically plot the two big police chase scenes on a street-map with all the details given here).
Honestly, THE NIGHT STALKER is less of a horror novel than it is a crime novel with a horror component (more on that in a moment) and I was going to label it noir but, in truth, that's maybe a bit of a stretch and misapplies a rather currently trendy label. True, STALKER does portray a rather sour worldview, exposing the corruption, political grandstanding, nepotism and all-around chicanery that goes into running a city founded by the mob. It strikes a Nixonian-era chord of public officials, long thought untouchable, being exposed as willing to do anything for personal gain or to avoid responsibility (the "vampire" idea is "bad for business" we are told by a mayor on his way to being Governor and a police force worried about being seen as inept). Kolchak is battle-hardened and world weary, and yet he still believes in journalistic honesty, and that the public has a right to know what the guys in charge know (although buried deeply in there is also some self-aggrandizement, the desire to be proven right, to be proven smarter than the cops and to score "the big story"). His ex-professor considers him a "lazy man who longs for adventure" and Rice says he has a knack for reading people, a reporter's intuition.
Still, I'm not sure if noir fits as a classification - the book is more of a journalistic/police procedural, in a way. For instance - after Carl collects all the information he can about vampires, he gathers a bunch of colleagues and students together to read the many books and condense them into a document he can refer to when making his case (he pays them with beer and sandwiches) - this is the kind of detail that tends to get skipped over in most genre books (especially now, when the internet is the lazy writer's dream information machine) but seems to be pure reporting skill at work. Other moments focus on newspaper details: the size and font type of headlines (font aficionados will dig that, I'm sure) and the details of how a paper is put together. The reporter aspect of the story means there's lots of shifting between social strata for our intrepid newshound - professional (editors, reporters, photographers), official (police, D.A., mayor), entertainment (dancers, swing shift casino girls, stage actors), education (professors, teachers, students), the "lower depths" (prostitutes, drag queens, used car hucksters) - Kolchak moves among them all fluidly, acquiring information. Also on the newspaper tip, Rice does a nice job of setting the murder "news" in the context of concurrent events of the day - air disasters, political strife, campus unrest, etc. - it's a nice way of pointing out how, before the days of the 24-hour news cycle, events like these killings were *local* crimes, first and foremost.
The murders themselves bring up another interesting aspect - THE NIGHT STALKER is, stripped of it genre details, a serial-killer novel before that term for either the crime or subgenre of fiction existed. Obviously, books like Psycho touched on the idea before, and I'm pretty sure there had to have been some hard-boiled crime or noir novels with a city in the fearsome grip of a "psycho killer", but I wonder if any crime novel really spent the time that Rice does here examining the phenomena in historical detail (the mid-novel chapter on vampires is followed by an examination of real-life "monsters" - Peter Kurten, Karl Denke, the Manson Clan - Jack The Ripper even gets his own appendix because Kolchak found the case fascinating). It's important to remember that Carl initially thinks the killings are being done by an insane man who's convinced he's a vampire (presumably using some sort of suction device to drain the blood from the bodies). But as strange evidence begins to mount, and after a first hand encounter, he begins to wonder... but he still isn't really convinced until the climax.
Janos Skorzeny, the killer, is an interesting portrayal at a time when vampires were rapidly becoming passe. Although Barnabas Collins on tv soap DARK SHADOWS, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's St. Germaine character and, of course, Anne Rice pretty much helped steer the vampire character into popular revival by "humanizing" him in the 70s (the end result being TWILIGHT), the early part of that decade saw the iconic monster floundering - capes and evening dress, European accents, royal titles, "blah-blah" vocalizing - familiarity (THE MUNSTERS, TV horror hosts, horror comedies) had all but killed vampires as a legitimate threat.
Rice's way of dealing with this is interesting. He strips away a lot of the ephemera - Skorzeny is not charming (in fact he's given barely any dialogue), and his breath reeks of the grave. He does not turn into a bat, wolf or mist, nor hypnotize people. He is capable of planning his escape and attacks, buying airline tickets, keeping up facades with passports and fake ids, but he comes across as feral most of the time, barely in control of his drives. Blindingly sunny, desert-baked Las Vegas seems the last place a vampire would want to go, but it makes logical sense (Vegas has an active nightlife with people moving about at all hours, and "no one notices strangers because Vegas thrives on strangers") although the gaudy neon, loud casinos, strippers and hookers are a long way from Transylvanian castles (a good example of this: when we're eventually shown Skorzeny's "lair", it's a one-bedroom cinder block ranch home on the outskirts of Vegas enclosed in a bad chain-link fence. The insides are nearly barren, aside from a coffin and an armchair. No sitting around in opulence and brooding like Lord Byron here! Even the ABC TV movie felt the need to "drama" this bit up, giving him a spooky old house with a dramatic staircase). Ironically, although it's not dwelt on, Skorzeny IS from Transylvania (or Romania, at that point) and he IS a Count, officially at least. In the end, cornered in a clothes closet, scrabbling and whining like an animal, he cuts a pathetic figure.
But he is a vampire - really, truly. He's exceedingly strong, can run as fast as a car, and can shrug off bullets, beatings and a near drowning. This hits just the right tone for the book - odd enough to seem eerie, but not enough to seem unreal. In a way, an interesting moment is passed over quickly as, pinned down by police, an officer strides up to Skorzeny, places his magnum against the killer's temple and says "move and I'll blow your head off" - suffice it to say, more mayhem results (the action/battle/police chases in this book are very memorable - exciting, suspenseful writing, really capturing dramatic press scribing at its best) but I wonder what would have happened if that event had taken place. We'll never know. And one final thing - the climax, as I intimated above, is still surprisingly disgusting - every detail of Skorzeny's dissolution and decay spelled out in lurid detail. You want to take a bath after reading it.
I've babbled on long enough - I enjoyed re-reading this and could appreciate more aspects of the writing now, as an adult. Unlike THE NIGHT STRANGLER, there's nothing overtly clumsy about the prose at any point (although modern readers who are used to quick service will probably think it meanders a bit, I'd still make the case that that's all in service of style) so I'd probably give this a 3.5 but will bump it up to 4 for nostalgia's sake.
See you over at The Night Strangler. Give 'em hell, Carl!
December 7, 2023
I'm having trouble deciding on a couple of shelves for this book. Firstly, I'm not sure if this counts as a novelization and if I should consider it such. I'm going to go with "no," but I could be wrong. The made-for-TV movie Kolchak: The Night Stalker was released first and the novel followed, but the novel was written before the movie was made. Rice was having trouble getting it published, but some agent read it, thought it'd make a great movie, and so they went that route. The novel wasn't published until after the sequel movie, Kolchak: The Night Strangler, was released because the powers that be wanted both books to be in the one and two spots for the publisher's list in 1974. The novel for Kolchak: The Night Strangler is definitely a novelization because Rice wrote it based on the screenplay for the movie, pretty much the reverse of this one. But this? I don't know. What are the rules for a movie that comes out based on an unpublished novel but the novel comes out later?
Next is the "liked movie better" shelf. The story is the same in both the book and the movie with minimal changes, so I can't use my "they're a little too dissimilar" cop-out. The book is grittier, has a bit of profanity which is well placed and doesn't shy away from some seedier aspects of life in Las Vegas. Since the movie was a made-for-TV deal in the early '70's, it had to tone down a lot of that. However, Darren McGavin stars as Kolchak, and he makes that thing work, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. His interactions with his editor, the police, and just about anybody is a treat to watch. The character of Kolchak is great in the book, but if I had read it first, I don't think I would've seen the extra dimension McGavin brought to the role. As it is, I saw him playing out his part in my head in spite of the fact that the narrator didn't sound anything like him. This is a very tough call, but after looking at this paragraph, I think I'll say I liked the movie better... for now. The decision would be easier if the movie was just a bit grittier like the book.
However, one shelf decision that's easy-peasy is the "dead dog warning" one. Said shelf exists because a friend who is a huge dog lover hates seeing dead or injured dogs in her books, so I do this for her benefit. I'm not sure why I continue since she hasn't been on this site for four years as of this month (12/23), but since the shelf is there I reckon I'll keep it updated. However, my friend should never, ever read this book. There are more dead dogs in this thing than any other book I've ever read if you're talking sheer numbers, and a couple of them die rather horribly. You have been warned.
This story concerns a vampire in modern day... well, modern when it was written... Las Vegas. Kolchak is a newspaper reporter who is able to believe the unbelievable. This comes in handy when the unbelievable turns out to be true. In fact, Kolchak is the only person in this with a lick of common sense, and almost everyone else is infuriating. I don't believe that vampires exist myself, but if I saw a supposed 70-year-old man clean the clocks of the entire police force, take about 30 bullets without batting an eye, and escape cars and helicopters at a flat-out sprint without getting winded, it would behoove me to consider that maybe, just maybe, we're not dealing with a regular man here. So, why not try the anti-vampire techniques? You know, just give them a shot and see what happens since nothing else has worked so far. If they don't work either, what's been lost? The powers that be don't see it that way, and Kolchak has to deal with that knowing that he's been right the whole time. It really pisses me off, but being so tied up in it is the sign of a good story. And the ending enrages me to the point that I thought my head would explode, but I won't go into all that.
I wonder what kind of vampire Skorzeny is. Father Callahan from Salem's Lot and the Dark Tower Series identifies three different types. Type ones are the big, bad dudes like Dracula who live for centuries, can do mind control, shape shift, are super strong, super intelligent, wily, etc. Type twos are strong, can make other vampires with a bite, but aren't all that bright, can't do the other supernatural shit, and don't tend to live very long. Type threes are mostly human, can move in sunlight, eat food, etc. They drink blood and can put their victims in a trance while they're sucking on them so the victim doesn't remember being bitten, but that's about it. They can also die from more ordinary means and aren't injured by crosses and holy water. Skorzeny must be something between a one and a two because he's strong, and has type one and two weaknesses, though I don't remember him making any new vampires in the book. However, he's much smarter than twos, but doesn't seem to have the mind control and shape shifting abilities of ones. Does that make him a 2.5? Or maybe a 1.5? How about a one minus or a two plus? I don't know. Does anyone really care? I don't know that either.
Regardless, this was a great book. Finding an affordable physical copy is impossible, so I had to go with the audiobook. The narrator did a great job. He didn't sound anything like Darren McGavin, but that's fine. Check it out.
Next is the "liked movie better" shelf. The story is the same in both the book and the movie with minimal changes, so I can't use my "they're a little too dissimilar" cop-out. The book is grittier, has a bit of profanity which is well placed and doesn't shy away from some seedier aspects of life in Las Vegas. Since the movie was a made-for-TV deal in the early '70's, it had to tone down a lot of that. However, Darren McGavin stars as Kolchak, and he makes that thing work, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. His interactions with his editor, the police, and just about anybody is a treat to watch. The character of Kolchak is great in the book, but if I had read it first, I don't think I would've seen the extra dimension McGavin brought to the role. As it is, I saw him playing out his part in my head in spite of the fact that the narrator didn't sound anything like him. This is a very tough call, but after looking at this paragraph, I think I'll say I liked the movie better... for now. The decision would be easier if the movie was just a bit grittier like the book.
However, one shelf decision that's easy-peasy is the "dead dog warning" one. Said shelf exists because a friend who is a huge dog lover hates seeing dead or injured dogs in her books, so I do this for her benefit. I'm not sure why I continue since she hasn't been on this site for four years as of this month (12/23), but since the shelf is there I reckon I'll keep it updated. However, my friend should never, ever read this book. There are more dead dogs in this thing than any other book I've ever read if you're talking sheer numbers, and a couple of them die rather horribly. You have been warned.
This story concerns a vampire in modern day... well, modern when it was written... Las Vegas. Kolchak is a newspaper reporter who is able to believe the unbelievable. This comes in handy when the unbelievable turns out to be true. In fact, Kolchak is the only person in this with a lick of common sense, and almost everyone else is infuriating. I don't believe that vampires exist myself, but if I saw a supposed 70-year-old man clean the clocks of the entire police force, take about 30 bullets without batting an eye, and escape cars and helicopters at a flat-out sprint without getting winded, it would behoove me to consider that maybe, just maybe, we're not dealing with a regular man here. So, why not try the anti-vampire techniques? You know, just give them a shot and see what happens since nothing else has worked so far. If they don't work either, what's been lost? The powers that be don't see it that way, and Kolchak has to deal with that knowing that he's been right the whole time. It really pisses me off, but being so tied up in it is the sign of a good story. And the ending enrages me to the point that I thought my head would explode, but I won't go into all that.
I wonder what kind of vampire Skorzeny is. Father Callahan from Salem's Lot and the Dark Tower Series identifies three different types. Type ones are the big, bad dudes like Dracula who live for centuries, can do mind control, shape shift, are super strong, super intelligent, wily, etc. Type twos are strong, can make other vampires with a bite, but aren't all that bright, can't do the other supernatural shit, and don't tend to live very long. Type threes are mostly human, can move in sunlight, eat food, etc. They drink blood and can put their victims in a trance while they're sucking on them so the victim doesn't remember being bitten, but that's about it. They can also die from more ordinary means and aren't injured by crosses and holy water. Skorzeny must be something between a one and a two because he's strong, and has type one and two weaknesses, though I don't remember him making any new vampires in the book. However, he's much smarter than twos, but doesn't seem to have the mind control and shape shifting abilities of ones. Does that make him a 2.5? Or maybe a 1.5? How about a one minus or a two plus? I don't know. Does anyone really care? I don't know that either.
Regardless, this was a great book. Finding an affordable physical copy is impossible, so I had to go with the audiobook. The narrator did a great job. He didn't sound anything like Darren McGavin, but that's fine. Check it out.
October 1, 2021
This is the novel that launched a television show, a couple of television movies, and a whole bunch of spin off novels. As such, my expectations were sky high when I started the book and they were not disappointed. This is quite frankly a great mystery. Women are dying –their blood drained completely from their bodies in less than a minute. Naturally, vampires immediately occur to the reader, but the authorities are less inclined toward that explanation. Enter reporter Carl Kolchak who gets hold of the story and just can’t let it go.
As in the original Dracula, this vampire tale is really about the hunters, especially Kolchak, as he searches for the murderer and attempts to figure out how and why he is committing his crimes. He comes to the vampire conclusion faster than the police but eventually succeeds in bringing them along after they fail to stop the murderer. Then things really get interesting. Can a modern police force really admit they have stopped a vampire? And if they cannot, what do you do with the reporter whose work made saving the public possible? This is just an all-around great novel.
If you liked this review, you can find more at www.gilbertstack.com/reviews.
As in the original Dracula, this vampire tale is really about the hunters, especially Kolchak, as he searches for the murderer and attempts to figure out how and why he is committing his crimes. He comes to the vampire conclusion faster than the police but eventually succeeds in bringing them along after they fail to stop the murderer. Then things really get interesting. Can a modern police force really admit they have stopped a vampire? And if they cannot, what do you do with the reporter whose work made saving the public possible? This is just an all-around great novel.
If you liked this review, you can find more at www.gilbertstack.com/reviews.
February 12, 2022
Quick read, like a screen play with typos. Rice wrote "The Kolchak Papers" around 1970. That document was purchased and inspired a 1972 ABC movie-of-the-week adaptation by Richard Matheson - before it was even published. This book, related to that, was released in 1973.
This is a story within a story - Kolchak provides his version of the story to Rice, who publishes it with comments and a few clarifications. The novel has typos and several paragraphs of vampire exposition - but it is also a page-turner and hard to put down. The descriptions of the villain are usually sparse, put down to Kolchak making notes while on the run or after the fact. Perhaps in this case the movie is better. The very brief appendix on Jack the Ripper seems out of place.
The author said of the novel "I'd always wanted to write a vampire story, but more because I wanted to write something that involved Las Vegas." The brief location descriptions (Las Vegas in the late 60s) are fun to read. Rice wrote a sequel, based on the Matheson screenplay of the follow-on movie, Kolchak: The Night Strangler. In 2007, Moonstone press collected both short books in one edition, The Kolchak Papers: The Original Novels.
This is a story within a story - Kolchak provides his version of the story to Rice, who publishes it with comments and a few clarifications. The novel has typos and several paragraphs of vampire exposition - but it is also a page-turner and hard to put down. The descriptions of the villain are usually sparse, put down to Kolchak making notes while on the run or after the fact. Perhaps in this case the movie is better. The very brief appendix on Jack the Ripper seems out of place.
The author said of the novel "I'd always wanted to write a vampire story, but more because I wanted to write something that involved Las Vegas." The brief location descriptions (Las Vegas in the late 60s) are fun to read. Rice wrote a sequel, based on the Matheson screenplay of the follow-on movie, Kolchak: The Night Strangler. In 2007, Moonstone press collected both short books in one edition, The Kolchak Papers: The Original Novels.
February 17, 2021
This is the story behind the greatest manhunt in the history of Las Vegas.
This is the unpublished book that became the first Kolchak movie. Sadly, it reads a lot like an unpublished book: it is filled with typos and seemingly irrelevant diversions. The best parts are the parts that sound most like the movie: the voice is very erratic. This is explained by having the book be written by two people, Kolchak himself in some parts, and then “cleaned up” by Jeff Rice in other parts. I would not be surprised to find out that some of the bits from the movie had been retrofitted into the book.
A lot of the typos are probably OCR issues, such as starting out with “I first met Carl Kolchak in August of 1979…” then signing it “January, 1971”. The story itself takes place in 1970.
Kolchak starts out a bit more reasonable than the Kolchak I remember from the movie, though it’s been a while since I’ve seen it (an issue I intend to rectify soon). He sees pretty clearly early on that the killer is acting like a vampire, but believes it is simply that: a crazy killer acting like a vampire. It takes almost as long as it does the police for Kolchak to switch to the belief that it really was a vampire.
In that sense, the book and the movie are similar: Kolchak acts as though he doesn’t think the police are doing their job when in fact they’ve come to the same conclusions he has, and almost invariably have already acted on his suggestions before he makes them.
The book is a little less about the hard-boiled reporter; and much of the sense it does have of that is that it is difficult not to read it in the voice Darren McGavin used for the movies and series.
There is also a sense of the era. When describing the perpetrator’s vehicle, a witness tries to get across that it wasn’t “real old. Not a junk heap” by adding that “It didn’t have any fins on it if that helps.”
And Rice gets across interagency rivalries by describing the various levels of resources each agency has and how they lend it out. The meetings all take place in county offices, because the county was richer, but “the PD offered the use of its newly acquired Hughes helicopter”.
As Corbett Monica says, “A lot of guys come to Vegas in $4,000 cars and leave in $40,000 Greyhound Buses.”
Speaking of his own rival and the truce they’d come to that allowed each to cover for each other if one was missing, Kolchak says that “Meyer and I never became friends but luck was usually with us and we were never drunk at the same time.”
Some of the least interesting parts of the book are the strange infodumps that don’t really relate to the story. Kolchak reads a bunch of stuff about monsters that drink blood or eat flesh, and there’s an entire chapter summarizing this “nearly 300 pages of typewritten notes” ranging from Lilith to Vlad the Impaler to Jack the Ripper and Charles Manson.
And then, to pile infodump on infodump, he adds an appendix to the end specifically about Jack the Ripper. Who has nothing whatsoever to do with this book.
In one sense (and I expand on this in The Dream of Poor Bazin) Kolchak is the forerunner of the modern journalist. He has little sense of how to build a case, no sense of how to test a theory, and assumes that people who disagree with his half-baked theories must be evil. When the police seem reluctant to jump from he survived a barrage of bullets to he must be a real vampire, Kolchak resorts to that still-common journalistic technique when faced with disagreement, calling them Nazis:
“Sure,” I told him. “That’s what Hitler said back in Munich in ’32. Law and order. Tell the people what’s good for them. So tell me, Mr. Paine, what lever are you using on my boss to get this story killed?”
There’s also some classic lamp shading at Kolchak taking part in the final phase of the investigation (more would require spoilers), which is more unbelievable than in the movie, where Kolchak sort of preceded the police.
Jenks and I rode out together and it amazed me to see it all happening at my instigation.
Yes, it kind of amazes me, too. And makes the kicker at the end so much more obvious it’s hard to believe Kolchak didn’t see it coming.
But that is paradoxically one of the things that makes Kolchak’s character so compelling. I am normally not a fan of shows featuring spectrum-disorder characters ignorantly putting themselves into embarrassing situations where they don’t even see the embarassment. I find most of them excruciatingly painful to watch. But that’s very much what Kolchak is, an early form of the spectrum-disorder main character. He sees patterns and puts them together far earlier than anyone else—and then not only can’t understand why other people wouldn’t also see those patterns, but acts as if they do see them.
And then he runs up against brick walls again and again because he just assumes that everyone sees that this must be a vampire, or aliens, or a werewolf, or an ancient protoplasmic forerunner of man, voices the to-him-obvious conclusion with barely any proof, and never anticipates the obvious response of what the hell are you talking about?
To which he responds in various forms of why are you so evil? Like Thomas Sowell’s anointed, it doesn’t occur to him that his conclusions aren’t everyone else’s, that anyone would disagree with him. So they must be evil.
Offhand, the only other such character I’ve enjoyed is Sherlock Holmes. And he was smart enough to recognize that what he did was different and also, over time, that there were areas where he was not as smart as everyone else. Kolchak never does. Why are these two characters, especially Kolchak, exceptions for me? Why do I enjoy the Kolchak shows (and this book) despite wanting to yell through the fourth wall to shut up, stop talking, you don’t need to speak that conclusion out loud to get people to understand the right actions to take?
I have no idea, but I do. I suspect, however, that my enjoyment of this book was enhanced by having seen enough of the movies and series to picture and hear McGavin in the role; without that, this would be a much less compelling novel and the typos, lampshading, and strangely unbelievable character interactions would have made this a far less interesting read.
And, when you have finished this bizarre account, try… try to remind yourself, wherever you live: “It couldn’t happen here!”
April 4, 2018
I'm in the process of assembling for the movie site Wonders in the Dark an essay on the Kolchak: The Night Stalker TV series, and thus I'm midway through watching the 20 episodes of the series. Also, as part of my brief, I've watched the two TV movies that preceded the series, The Night Stalker and The Night Strangler, and hope to fit in watching the ten episodes of the series' 2005 retread, Night Stalker. Since that's already far more work than really I ought to be devoting to the project, I naturally decided to get hold of series creator Jeff Rice's two Kolchak novels. (I think I draw the line at the anthology someone's put together of original Kolchak stories. Hm. I wish I'd known about it at the time . . .)
Anyway, the novel published as The Night Stalker apparently began life as The Kolchak Papers, and as such was hawked around publishers. None of them bit, but someone reckoned it might make a good TV movie. Add a screenplay by Richard Matheson to the mix and, voila!, you have the start of a legend. The screen adaptation broke all audience records to that date for an original TV movie, and all the rest is history.
But what about the novel? In case you haven't come across the movie, the tale involves Las Vegas investigative journalist Carl Kolchak on the trail of a serial killer. The authorities, including his editor, initially decry him as a nutcase when he claims the killer must be a vampire; when it proves he was correct, they suppress the story because admitting that the Las Vegas streets have been stalked by a vampire serial killer might frighten off the punters and thus be bad for business.
Well, it's not hard to see why publishers were somewhat lukewarm about the novel. In its favor is the fact that it's written in the kind of hardboiled style that brings the very scent of early-1970s mass-market paperbacks to the nostrils, complete with the inked page-edges. Within that context, though, it has the problem that Rice is not an especially adroit master of the style. Where other writers could use it to make the narrative bounce along, with world-weary observations and savagely witty one-liners and put-downs to illuminate the mean streets, in Rice's hands it all seems a trifle drab.
This problem is intensified by the fact that, even though he has plenty of plot to play with -- there's quite a lot more plot than in the movie, as you'd expect -- he still has difficulty filling up his 170 or so pages, and thus resorts to some egregious bits of padding, including a completely out-of-place epilogue on the Jack the Ripper killings. All in all, then, this fairly short book seemed really quite long while I was reading it.
There are, too, some plotting difficulties -- difficulties that it shares with the movie -- but I wouldn't have noticed these so much had I not been struggling a bit with the narrative.
All of that said, The Night Stalker does deserve the billing of "Vampire Classic"; like the somewhat more distinguished Dracula, it's a novel that anyone with a serious interest in vampire literature should make a point of reading, because it's an important example of what has come to be, I think, a dominant trope of the subgenre: the urban vampire, epitomizing the inhumanity of our major cities and the frequent alienation from each other of the inhabitants therein.
Anyway, the novel published as The Night Stalker apparently began life as The Kolchak Papers, and as such was hawked around publishers. None of them bit, but someone reckoned it might make a good TV movie. Add a screenplay by Richard Matheson to the mix and, voila!, you have the start of a legend. The screen adaptation broke all audience records to that date for an original TV movie, and all the rest is history.
But what about the novel? In case you haven't come across the movie, the tale involves Las Vegas investigative journalist Carl Kolchak on the trail of a serial killer. The authorities, including his editor, initially decry him as a nutcase when he claims the killer must be a vampire; when it proves he was correct, they suppress the story because admitting that the Las Vegas streets have been stalked by a vampire serial killer might frighten off the punters and thus be bad for business.
Well, it's not hard to see why publishers were somewhat lukewarm about the novel. In its favor is the fact that it's written in the kind of hardboiled style that brings the very scent of early-1970s mass-market paperbacks to the nostrils, complete with the inked page-edges. Within that context, though, it has the problem that Rice is not an especially adroit master of the style. Where other writers could use it to make the narrative bounce along, with world-weary observations and savagely witty one-liners and put-downs to illuminate the mean streets, in Rice's hands it all seems a trifle drab.
This problem is intensified by the fact that, even though he has plenty of plot to play with -- there's quite a lot more plot than in the movie, as you'd expect -- he still has difficulty filling up his 170 or so pages, and thus resorts to some egregious bits of padding, including a completely out-of-place epilogue on the Jack the Ripper killings. All in all, then, this fairly short book seemed really quite long while I was reading it.
There are, too, some plotting difficulties -- difficulties that it shares with the movie -- but I wouldn't have noticed these so much had I not been struggling a bit with the narrative.
All of that said, The Night Stalker does deserve the billing of "Vampire Classic"; like the somewhat more distinguished Dracula, it's a novel that anyone with a serious interest in vampire literature should make a point of reading, because it's an important example of what has come to be, I think, a dominant trope of the subgenre: the urban vampire, epitomizing the inhumanity of our major cities and the frequent alienation from each other of the inhabitants therein.
October 19, 2024
DNF. I loved the movie and the tv series, but the novel was a really tough read. I had to just walk away from it. The Night Stalker was boring, slow, and lacked anything of value that the tv series had. This book sucked so bad that I decided to delete any book by Jeff Rice in my "want to read" pile.
September 18, 2025
"The Night Stalker" is one of my favorite vampire movies (and I love the sequel and the follow-up Kolchak: The Night Stalker TV series as well, all of which starred Darren McGavin, of "A Christmas Story" fame), but I had never read the original novel. Well, a Kickstarter came up from James Aquilone to republish the original novel and I had to back it. I'm glad I did.
Jeff Rice’s Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1973) is an unusual hybrid of pulp crime fiction and horror, written with a lean, journalistic style that reflects its protagonist’s perspective. The novel introduces Carl Kolchak, a down-on-his-luck newspaper reporter in Las Vegas, who stumbles into a series of murders that appear to be the work of a modern-day vampire. Even as I read it, I heard Darren McGavin's voice.
Rice’s prose is brisk, colloquial, and cynical, fitting Kolchak’s voice as a hard-drinking, wisecracking reporter with a chip on his shoulder. The novel is framed as Kolchak’s first-person account, blending wry observations, newsroom banter, and detailed reportage with sudden eruptions of violent horror. This creates a tonal tension: part police procedural, part investigative journalism, part supernatural thriller. Its style owes a debt to hardboiled detective fiction (à la Chandler or Spillane), but instead of gangsters or femme fatales, the menace is supernatural and unstoppable.
The novel’s lasting impact lies in that collision of genres: a hardboiled reporter’s account of something he should not be able to believe in but can’t deny. It is at once a horror story and a commentary on how institutions suppress inconvenient truths, with Kolchak standing as a flawed but dogged witness to the dark realities that polite society would rather ignore.
This edition also featured interior art by Russ Braun that I rather liked. I felt it added to the pulp feel of the novel and felt he captured Darren McGavin's likeness as Kolchak quite well.
I heartily recommend this novel to fans of horror, pulp crime fiction, or even commentary on suppression of the truth.
Jeff Rice’s Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1973) is an unusual hybrid of pulp crime fiction and horror, written with a lean, journalistic style that reflects its protagonist’s perspective. The novel introduces Carl Kolchak, a down-on-his-luck newspaper reporter in Las Vegas, who stumbles into a series of murders that appear to be the work of a modern-day vampire. Even as I read it, I heard Darren McGavin's voice.
Rice’s prose is brisk, colloquial, and cynical, fitting Kolchak’s voice as a hard-drinking, wisecracking reporter with a chip on his shoulder. The novel is framed as Kolchak’s first-person account, blending wry observations, newsroom banter, and detailed reportage with sudden eruptions of violent horror. This creates a tonal tension: part police procedural, part investigative journalism, part supernatural thriller. Its style owes a debt to hardboiled detective fiction (à la Chandler or Spillane), but instead of gangsters or femme fatales, the menace is supernatural and unstoppable.
The novel’s lasting impact lies in that collision of genres: a hardboiled reporter’s account of something he should not be able to believe in but can’t deny. It is at once a horror story and a commentary on how institutions suppress inconvenient truths, with Kolchak standing as a flawed but dogged witness to the dark realities that polite society would rather ignore.
This edition also featured interior art by Russ Braun that I rather liked. I felt it added to the pulp feel of the novel and felt he captured Darren McGavin's likeness as Kolchak quite well.
I heartily recommend this novel to fans of horror, pulp crime fiction, or even commentary on suppression of the truth.
June 30, 2021
Really quite good. Very much in the vein of classic hardboiled detective stories, with that Kolchak twist. The supernatural element doesn't change the tone at all; nothing cheesy or self-consciously ironic here.
This novel took an interesting path to publication. Jeff Rice originally wrote The Night Stalker as a novel, which was never published. It was then adapted into the screenplay that became the first Kolchak made-for-TV movie, which was so popular and successful that he was asked to write a novel based on the screenplay. I don't know what the first, unpublished novel was like, but the published one won some significant awards.
And despite all this, despite my love for classic detective stories and monster stories, I didn't even know it existed until two days ago.
A nice surprise.
This novel took an interesting path to publication. Jeff Rice originally wrote The Night Stalker as a novel, which was never published. It was then adapted into the screenplay that became the first Kolchak made-for-TV movie, which was so popular and successful that he was asked to write a novel based on the screenplay. I don't know what the first, unpublished novel was like, but the published one won some significant awards.
And despite all this, despite my love for classic detective stories and monster stories, I didn't even know it existed until two days ago.
A nice surprise.
July 25, 2022
Cool plot, cool character (obviously), but I didn't like the style in which the book was written. For me, the book's style wore out its welcome rather quickly. Which is a shame because Jeff Rice obviously has talent -- it's just misued here (in my opinion). In addition to the funky "let me explain this to you with a few detours" writing style, I thought that a section in the middle about the history of vampirism felt like something that was stuck in after the fact to make the novel a saleable length. I could be wrong, but that is absolutely what that section felt like to me.
September 22, 2018
The Original & the Best-Chilling
I was a fan of the original Night Stalker show. The novelization fits it perfectly. Full of Carl Kolchak's wit, wisdom and thrilling events with a supernatural bent. While the blood sucker is a terrible villain, man proves to be more chilling. When the police department warns Kolchak they know who he's been talking to, he reminisces later that he should've heeded that warning. This reads like a great noir thriller with a chilling ending. I read this book using immersion reading, while listening to the audio book. Johnny Heller has a perfect storytelling voice and he fits Kolchak beautifully. An engrossing read and a must for fans of the show that inspired the X-Files.
I was a fan of the original Night Stalker show. The novelization fits it perfectly. Full of Carl Kolchak's wit, wisdom and thrilling events with a supernatural bent. While the blood sucker is a terrible villain, man proves to be more chilling. When the police department warns Kolchak they know who he's been talking to, he reminisces later that he should've heeded that warning. This reads like a great noir thriller with a chilling ending. I read this book using immersion reading, while listening to the audio book. Johnny Heller has a perfect storytelling voice and he fits Kolchak beautifully. An engrossing read and a must for fans of the show that inspired the X-Files.
December 27, 2020
Obviously I'm a big fan of the short-lived series (one season). I wanted to find out the origins of the character and found the search fascinating. Although the novel was written before the movie came out, it wasn't published until afterwards. The plot is nearly point for point in synch with the movie, but the character of Kolchak -- and those of his various aides -- is far more fleshed out. He really isn't the Darrin McGavin character. He doesn't wear seersucker, he drinks too much, has a girlfriend and cusses. Yes he still has the same dogged perseverance and inability to quit that makes TV's Kolchak so darned appealing. Highly recommended to old TV fans and readers into occult detectives.
July 1, 2023
Gritty horror crime at it's best.
There are a few passages that to modern horror readers will seem redundant and a couple that go a bit too deep on newspaper practices and politics of yesteryear but still entirely entertaining. If you've seen the movie, it's a wholly satisfying yet separate experience. One compliments the other quite nicely. If you're looking for a modern, boots on the ground, real world take on classic horror stories, you'd be hard pressed to find something better.
There are a few passages that to modern horror readers will seem redundant and a couple that go a bit too deep on newspaper practices and politics of yesteryear but still entirely entertaining. If you've seen the movie, it's a wholly satisfying yet separate experience. One compliments the other quite nicely. If you're looking for a modern, boots on the ground, real world take on classic horror stories, you'd be hard pressed to find something better.
March 6, 2010
Having come of age in the 1970's I was, as most of my generation taken back by the character of Kolchak and his world of paranormal adventures. These book reflect both the rise of interest in the occult, (as termed at the time), and the growing distrust of the "system." The evryman character of Carl Kolchak struck a cord in every young would-be reporter and adventurer.
June 5, 2015
Really liked the old movie and show of Kolchak: The Night Stalker and the book was a nice revisit to that world.
December 20, 2019
I come at this book from a stranger perspective: I read it around the time it first came out, the mid-1970s. I must have been in high school, and I had loved the TV-movie upon which it was based. I loved the novel, too, really intrigued by how Jeff Rice puts himself into the narrative. Little did I know that this was a new spin on a very old ploy. Horace Walpole framed The Castle of Otranto (1764 ) by saying he discovered the manuscript in a library, and Nathaniel Hawthorne says he found The Scarlet Letter (1850) among old documents stashed away at the Salem Custom House. Apprently, I didn't know about that tradition when I was a teenager.
Reading The Night Stalker again all these decades later, I confess I'm much more aware of its flaws. For instance, there's almost no "interiority" to Carl Kochak's first-person narrative. What's the process of reality-reassessment, self-doubt, paradigm-shifting, and so on that goes on inside a character in such a profound situation? Rice doesn't give us that, and it strikes me an odd thing to skip over.
Instead, we get details that don't really seem to add to the story. The novel is already juggling a very large cast, and in Chapter 6, we're given a fair chuck of description about someone named Janie Carlson. But she never comes back. Later in that same chapter, we're told that Kolchak gives a neighbor named Pete Harper a ride to the airport. As far as I can tell, this has nothing to do with the story, and we really don't need more names. Would a reporter include such irrelvant details? Why did the author?
That said, the plot moves at a pretty good pace, and the conclusion is very strong. I do wish Kochak had a greater role in gathering key clues to solving the mystery. Instead, the police learn the chief suspect's name from a character who bumped into him and recognized him from Europe. Another character realizes she sold that suspect a house, and she contacts the police only when that information is most needed. What if that realtor had been, say, hard-drinking Kolchak's AA sponsor or something?
But perhaps that's the writer/editor in me. And that's why I have a soft spot for this clunky novel. It was one of the works that inspired me to pursue literature as a scholar and occult detective fiction as a writer. There's a lot of Carl Kochak in Vera Van Slyke. (You'll see what I mean if you read "Vampire Particles" in Help for the Haunted: A Decade of Vera Van Slyke Ghostly Mysteries.) So reading it again some forty-five years later certainly wasn't a waste of time. It was revisiting a friend from high school. Despite discovering that friend's shortcomings, there's still affection.
Reading The Night Stalker again all these decades later, I confess I'm much more aware of its flaws. For instance, there's almost no "interiority" to Carl Kochak's first-person narrative. What's the process of reality-reassessment, self-doubt, paradigm-shifting, and so on that goes on inside a character in such a profound situation? Rice doesn't give us that, and it strikes me an odd thing to skip over.
Instead, we get details that don't really seem to add to the story. The novel is already juggling a very large cast, and in Chapter 6, we're given a fair chuck of description about someone named Janie Carlson. But she never comes back. Later in that same chapter, we're told that Kolchak gives a neighbor named Pete Harper a ride to the airport. As far as I can tell, this has nothing to do with the story, and we really don't need more names. Would a reporter include such irrelvant details? Why did the author?
That said, the plot moves at a pretty good pace, and the conclusion is very strong. I do wish Kochak had a greater role in gathering key clues to solving the mystery. Instead, the police learn the chief suspect's name from a character who bumped into him and recognized him from Europe. Another character realizes she sold that suspect a house, and she contacts the police only when that information is most needed. What if that realtor had been, say, hard-drinking Kolchak's AA sponsor or something?
But perhaps that's the writer/editor in me. And that's why I have a soft spot for this clunky novel. It was one of the works that inspired me to pursue literature as a scholar and occult detective fiction as a writer. There's a lot of Carl Kochak in Vera Van Slyke. (You'll see what I mean if you read "Vampire Particles" in Help for the Haunted: A Decade of Vera Van Slyke Ghostly Mysteries.) So reading it again some forty-five years later certainly wasn't a waste of time. It was revisiting a friend from high school. Despite discovering that friend's shortcomings, there's still affection.
January 19, 2025
It is impossible to read Jeff Rice’s Kolchak: The Nigh Stalker (originally titled The Kolchak Papers) without thinking of the 1972 television adaptation and is follow-ups, without which the novel might never have been published.
However, much of what made The Night Stalker a memorable television film is already present in the novel. A spate of serial killings in Las Vegas that turn out to be the work of an ancient vampire; the obliviousness and obfuscation of the authorities, and the inquiries of reporter Carl Kolchak with his acerbic wit that narrates most of our story. Kolchak feels a fully fledged character already, and Darren McGavin’s memorable performance in the adaptation and its follow-ups feels like the finishing touch rather than something that appeared from nothing. What the novel elaborates on is how Kolchak is so quick to not only recognise the signs of a vampire at work from his closeness to his Romanian grandfather who would regale young Carl with tales of the Old Country. Kolchak’s fate is far more ambiguous in the novel, he is still run out of Vegas ahead of a murder charge for staking the vampire and pulling the city fathers’ fat out of the fire, but in the novel that’s not the end of this particular story.
As might be inferred from its original title, the form of the novel is a manuscript prepared by Kolchak. What came as a surprise to this reader was that there is an introduction, several chapters within the main narrative, and an epilogue all narrated by Jeff Rice himself, as a fictional character within the novel’s universe to whom Kolchak has entrusted his manuscript. Whilst this would have added a degree of verisimilitude reading the novel in a vacuum it really stood out reading it as a relic of Kolchak’s origins. Especially since the novel leaves us with Kolchak mysteriously disappearing whilst he authorities from Las Vegas are seemingly trying to silence him. Oddly, though Kolchak’s fate in the adaptation is far different, given he sequels, this would seem to inform the fate of the main character in The Norliss Tapes (1973), a similar occult detective television film produced by Dan Curtis, who had also produced The Night Stalker and its first sequel – The Night Strangler (1973).
Oddities that are only odd because of ones preexisting notions about the work aside, Kolchak: The Night Stalker is an effective enough horror and detective story. Where it also shines is how much depth Rice gives to the portrayal of Las Vegas at the dawn of the 1970s, something that is truly lost in the adaptation. There are multiple mentions of a recent “taxicab war” which turns out was a historical, sometimes violent, confrontation between competing taxi firms over access to the airport. There are also details given like the number of churches in Las Vegas and how some of these cropped up that just adds local colour whilst Kolchak is off to pickup some holy water and are given in such a way you can just imagine Darren McGavin narrating them. On that, it’s a shame that there was never an audiobook narrated by the actor to bring Kolchak to life produced before his death.
It was impossible to read Kolchak: The Night Stalker without thinking of its adaptations, and it is likely that the only people that will read it are preexisting fans of those, but for anyone who has never seen them the novel is still entertaining enough on its own to recommend.
However, much of what made The Night Stalker a memorable television film is already present in the novel. A spate of serial killings in Las Vegas that turn out to be the work of an ancient vampire; the obliviousness and obfuscation of the authorities, and the inquiries of reporter Carl Kolchak with his acerbic wit that narrates most of our story. Kolchak feels a fully fledged character already, and Darren McGavin’s memorable performance in the adaptation and its follow-ups feels like the finishing touch rather than something that appeared from nothing. What the novel elaborates on is how Kolchak is so quick to not only recognise the signs of a vampire at work from his closeness to his Romanian grandfather who would regale young Carl with tales of the Old Country. Kolchak’s fate is far more ambiguous in the novel, he is still run out of Vegas ahead of a murder charge for staking the vampire and pulling the city fathers’ fat out of the fire, but in the novel that’s not the end of this particular story.
As might be inferred from its original title, the form of the novel is a manuscript prepared by Kolchak. What came as a surprise to this reader was that there is an introduction, several chapters within the main narrative, and an epilogue all narrated by Jeff Rice himself, as a fictional character within the novel’s universe to whom Kolchak has entrusted his manuscript. Whilst this would have added a degree of verisimilitude reading the novel in a vacuum it really stood out reading it as a relic of Kolchak’s origins. Especially since the novel leaves us with Kolchak mysteriously disappearing whilst he authorities from Las Vegas are seemingly trying to silence him. Oddly, though Kolchak’s fate in the adaptation is far different, given he sequels, this would seem to inform the fate of the main character in The Norliss Tapes (1973), a similar occult detective television film produced by Dan Curtis, who had also produced The Night Stalker and its first sequel – The Night Strangler (1973).
Oddities that are only odd because of ones preexisting notions about the work aside, Kolchak: The Night Stalker is an effective enough horror and detective story. Where it also shines is how much depth Rice gives to the portrayal of Las Vegas at the dawn of the 1970s, something that is truly lost in the adaptation. There are multiple mentions of a recent “taxicab war” which turns out was a historical, sometimes violent, confrontation between competing taxi firms over access to the airport. There are also details given like the number of churches in Las Vegas and how some of these cropped up that just adds local colour whilst Kolchak is off to pickup some holy water and are given in such a way you can just imagine Darren McGavin narrating them. On that, it’s a shame that there was never an audiobook narrated by the actor to bring Kolchak to life produced before his death.
It was impossible to read Kolchak: The Night Stalker without thinking of its adaptations, and it is likely that the only people that will read it are preexisting fans of those, but for anyone who has never seen them the novel is still entertaining enough on its own to recommend.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 27, 2025
Kolchak - The Night Stalker is the book that gave rise to a cult classic phenomenon, though many younger readers might not be familiar with its legacy. It's unfortunate that Kolchak has largely faded from the public consciousness because of how influential it has been, not just on the vampire genre, but also on supernatural detective stories like The X-Files, which owes a clear debt to this trailblazer.
One of the book's standout features is its Las Vegas setting. The choice of location is nothing short of inspired. What better hunting ground for a vampire than a city that never sleeps? Las Vegas, with its endless stream of tourists, 24-hour casinos, and its darker underbelly of crime, vice, and depravity, provides the perfect backdrop for a predator to thrive. The setting adds a palpable tension to the story, highlighting the constant activity and anonymity that makes the city both alluring and dangerous. However, (slight spoilers ahead) one could argue that the vampire's choice of victims - working-class individuals rather than the more transient or marginalized members of society - ultimately draws unwanted attention. Had it preyed on the derelicts, criminals, and tourists who might go unnoticed, the creature might have evaded detection much longer.
The second remarkable aspect of the story is its thematic depth. At its core, Kolchak - The Night Stalker isn't just a vampire tale. It's a story about a relentless reporter and truth-seeker whose efforts are systematically obstructed by corrupt government officials, compromised police, and influential figures determined to bury the truth. The novel serves as an allegory, shedding light on the systemic corruption that plagued 1970s Las Vegas, a reality that likely persists in some form to this day. The powerful elite prioritize preserving the city’s polished image as a tourist haven over the lives of the victims or the pursuit of justice. This underlying commentary elevates the book beyond a simple horror story, adding layers of societal critique.
As a foundational piece of modern vampire fiction, Kolchak - The Night Stalker deserves more recognition. Its blend of investigative journalism, societal commentary, and supernatural horror laid the groundwork for countless stories that followed. Highly recommended for fans of both classic horror and thought-provoking thrillers.
One of the book's standout features is its Las Vegas setting. The choice of location is nothing short of inspired. What better hunting ground for a vampire than a city that never sleeps? Las Vegas, with its endless stream of tourists, 24-hour casinos, and its darker underbelly of crime, vice, and depravity, provides the perfect backdrop for a predator to thrive. The setting adds a palpable tension to the story, highlighting the constant activity and anonymity that makes the city both alluring and dangerous. However, (slight spoilers ahead) one could argue that the vampire's choice of victims - working-class individuals rather than the more transient or marginalized members of society - ultimately draws unwanted attention. Had it preyed on the derelicts, criminals, and tourists who might go unnoticed, the creature might have evaded detection much longer.
The second remarkable aspect of the story is its thematic depth. At its core, Kolchak - The Night Stalker isn't just a vampire tale. It's a story about a relentless reporter and truth-seeker whose efforts are systematically obstructed by corrupt government officials, compromised police, and influential figures determined to bury the truth. The novel serves as an allegory, shedding light on the systemic corruption that plagued 1970s Las Vegas, a reality that likely persists in some form to this day. The powerful elite prioritize preserving the city’s polished image as a tourist haven over the lives of the victims or the pursuit of justice. This underlying commentary elevates the book beyond a simple horror story, adding layers of societal critique.
As a foundational piece of modern vampire fiction, Kolchak - The Night Stalker deserves more recognition. Its blend of investigative journalism, societal commentary, and supernatural horror laid the groundwork for countless stories that followed. Highly recommended for fans of both classic horror and thought-provoking thrillers.
June 27, 2025
The novel published as The Night Stalker apparently began life as The Kolchak Papers, and as such was hawked around publishers. None of them bit, but someone reckoned it might make a good TV movie. Add a screenplay by Richard Matheson to the mix and, voila!, you have the start of a legend. The screen adaptation broke all audience records to that date for an original TV movie, and all the rest is history.
But what about the novel? In case you haven’t come across the movie, the tale involves Las Vegas investigative journalist Carl Kolchak on the trail of a serial killer. The authorities, including his editor, initially decry him as a nutcase when he claims the killer must be a vampire; when it proves he was correct, they suppress the story because admitting that the Las Vegas streets have been stalked by a vampire serial killer might frighten off the punters and thus be bad for business.
Well, it’s not hard to see why publishers were somewhat lukewarm about the novel. In its favor is the fact that it’s written in the kind of hardboiled style that brings the very scent of early-1970s mass-market paperbacks to the nostrils, complete with the inked page-edges. Within that context, though, it has the problem that Rice is not an especially adroit master of the style. Where other writers could use it to make the narrative bounce along, with world-weary observations and savagely witty one-liners and put-downs to illuminate the mean streets, in Rice’s hands it all seems a trifle drab.
This problem is intensified by the fact that, even though he has plenty of plot to play with — there’s quite a lot more plot than in the movie, as you’d expect — he still has difficulty filling up his 170 or so pages, and thus resorts to some egregious bits of padding, including a completely out-of-place epilogue on the Jack the Ripper killings. All in all, then, this fairly short book seemed really quite long while I was reading it.
There are, too, some plotting difficulties — difficulties that it shares with the movie — but I wouldn’t have noticed these so much had I not been struggling a bit with the narrative.
But what about the novel? In case you haven’t come across the movie, the tale involves Las Vegas investigative journalist Carl Kolchak on the trail of a serial killer. The authorities, including his editor, initially decry him as a nutcase when he claims the killer must be a vampire; when it proves he was correct, they suppress the story because admitting that the Las Vegas streets have been stalked by a vampire serial killer might frighten off the punters and thus be bad for business.
Well, it’s not hard to see why publishers were somewhat lukewarm about the novel. In its favor is the fact that it’s written in the kind of hardboiled style that brings the very scent of early-1970s mass-market paperbacks to the nostrils, complete with the inked page-edges. Within that context, though, it has the problem that Rice is not an especially adroit master of the style. Where other writers could use it to make the narrative bounce along, with world-weary observations and savagely witty one-liners and put-downs to illuminate the mean streets, in Rice’s hands it all seems a trifle drab.
This problem is intensified by the fact that, even though he has plenty of plot to play with — there’s quite a lot more plot than in the movie, as you’d expect — he still has difficulty filling up his 170 or so pages, and thus resorts to some egregious bits of padding, including a completely out-of-place epilogue on the Jack the Ripper killings. All in all, then, this fairly short book seemed really quite long while I was reading it.
There are, too, some plotting difficulties — difficulties that it shares with the movie — but I wouldn’t have noticed these so much had I not been struggling a bit with the narrative.
January 31, 2020
4.1 stars!
“Something of a pattern had started to form and it was ugly.”
― Jeff Rice
Newspaper reporter Carl Kolchak reports on a series of murders committed by an unstoppable madman, running amok through 1970, Las Vegas.
“This 'vampire' stuff is to stay right in this room. Until we have the assailant in custody we say nothing about these girls being drained of blood. No more rumors. No reports in the papers," he added, looking directly at me and ignoring my colleague from the opposition press. "The official opinion at this time is that the cause of death is 'undetermined and under investigation'. We don't want to start a panic. It's bad for police operations. It's bad for the people. And it's bad for business.”
― Jeff Rice
One of the liveliest, original vampire novels ever! What makes The Night Stalker special?
Carl Kolchak's cynical, wry, whiny voice provided more entertainment than I thought possible. Jeff Rice outdid himself, capturing Kolchack's personality. Well rounded, detailed, fleshed out, and fun to read.
“That done, I sank into an uneasy sleep wherein I dreamed of an assembly line of pale, bloodless girls walking down an endless dark street and moaning softly for help. Somewhere, toward the edge of my inner vision, a shadowy figure pursued them with long, beckoning arms.
Goddamn booze!
Somewhere in the midst of this ghoulish girl parade Cairncross materialized and hung a garland of garlic around my neck, glaring at me with his good eye and intoning, 'Go and sin no more.'
Vincenzo appeared at Cairncross' side and together they laughed insanely, then vanished in a puff of sulphurous smoke.
I made several high-minded resolutions, muttered half-heard but sincere-sounding prayers to all the recently deposed saints, thrashed and rolled clean off the bed. I might just as well have stayed up.”
― Jeff Rice
Wonderful little book. Worth the candle.
Welcome additon to any horror or vampire book collection.
“Something of a pattern had started to form and it was ugly.”
― Jeff Rice
Newspaper reporter Carl Kolchak reports on a series of murders committed by an unstoppable madman, running amok through 1970, Las Vegas.
“This 'vampire' stuff is to stay right in this room. Until we have the assailant in custody we say nothing about these girls being drained of blood. No more rumors. No reports in the papers," he added, looking directly at me and ignoring my colleague from the opposition press. "The official opinion at this time is that the cause of death is 'undetermined and under investigation'. We don't want to start a panic. It's bad for police operations. It's bad for the people. And it's bad for business.”
― Jeff Rice
One of the liveliest, original vampire novels ever! What makes The Night Stalker special?
Carl Kolchak's cynical, wry, whiny voice provided more entertainment than I thought possible. Jeff Rice outdid himself, capturing Kolchack's personality. Well rounded, detailed, fleshed out, and fun to read.
“That done, I sank into an uneasy sleep wherein I dreamed of an assembly line of pale, bloodless girls walking down an endless dark street and moaning softly for help. Somewhere, toward the edge of my inner vision, a shadowy figure pursued them with long, beckoning arms.
Goddamn booze!
Somewhere in the midst of this ghoulish girl parade Cairncross materialized and hung a garland of garlic around my neck, glaring at me with his good eye and intoning, 'Go and sin no more.'
Vincenzo appeared at Cairncross' side and together they laughed insanely, then vanished in a puff of sulphurous smoke.
I made several high-minded resolutions, muttered half-heard but sincere-sounding prayers to all the recently deposed saints, thrashed and rolled clean off the bed. I might just as well have stayed up.”
― Jeff Rice
Wonderful little book. Worth the candle.
Welcome additon to any horror or vampire book collection.
November 9, 2025
Jeff Rice’s The Night Stalker is a spectacular page turner which perfectly mixes hard-boiled journalism with supernatural terror. Instead of castles and Gothic gloom however, we get neon lights, political corruption, and cynical media manipulation in modern Las Vegas.
I particularly enjoyed the framing device (somewhat Gothic I thought) where it is Jeff Rice himself relating to us Kolchak’s own written account concerning what really happened. This gives the story an air of gritty authenticity, blurring the line between fact and fiction. As a reader, we are constantly reminded how much the ‘truth’ is hidden from us.
And as for the monster, the vampire himself, Janos Skorzeny stands out as a distinctly modern kind of vampire (even now 55 years later), quite different from the traditional Gothic archetypes. Rice drags the vampire myth into the modern world, making Skorzeny a predator amid neon rather than candlelight. His presence feels more like that of a serial killer than anything else. Barry Atwater, who plays the vampire in the film, stated in an interview that he viewed his character as tragic, a helpless addict who could not control his compulsions. There is however, none of this in the original novel, Skorzeny is a cold, pitiless predator, a psychopath who places no value on life whatsoever.
As a lifelong fan of the Kolchak films and the series, I’ve wanted to read this book for a long, long time and I have to say to any other fans, everything is there in this first book: Kolchak’s quirky, obsessive character (I was able to picture Darren McGavin throughout), love-hate relationship with Vincenzo and the paper (Simon Oakland adds much more though), the supernatural nature of the threat and finally the political corruption which will finally silence our eccentric protagonist.
5 Stars
I particularly enjoyed the framing device (somewhat Gothic I thought) where it is Jeff Rice himself relating to us Kolchak’s own written account concerning what really happened. This gives the story an air of gritty authenticity, blurring the line between fact and fiction. As a reader, we are constantly reminded how much the ‘truth’ is hidden from us.
And as for the monster, the vampire himself, Janos Skorzeny stands out as a distinctly modern kind of vampire (even now 55 years later), quite different from the traditional Gothic archetypes. Rice drags the vampire myth into the modern world, making Skorzeny a predator amid neon rather than candlelight. His presence feels more like that of a serial killer than anything else. Barry Atwater, who plays the vampire in the film, stated in an interview that he viewed his character as tragic, a helpless addict who could not control his compulsions. There is however, none of this in the original novel, Skorzeny is a cold, pitiless predator, a psychopath who places no value on life whatsoever.
As a lifelong fan of the Kolchak films and the series, I’ve wanted to read this book for a long, long time and I have to say to any other fans, everything is there in this first book: Kolchak’s quirky, obsessive character (I was able to picture Darren McGavin throughout), love-hate relationship with Vincenzo and the paper (Simon Oakland adds much more though), the supernatural nature of the threat and finally the political corruption which will finally silence our eccentric protagonist.
5 Stars
November 23, 2023
A seedy Las Vegas reporter stumbles onto the story of a lifetime when the serial killer who has plunged the city into panic with a spree of vampire-like murders begins to look more and more like the real deal. The story is presented as a restructuring of notes provided to the author by Carl Kolchak, whose mental health, sobriety, and career have all been ravaged by his brush with the supernatural. Jeff Rice’s background as a journalist is evident in the verisimilitude he brings to the milieu of the early 70s newspaper business, related in a terse “just the facts, ma’am” style that makes up for a lack of characterization. He presents the workings of a big city newspaper in the early 70s as well as the social strata of Vegas from the city officials down to the bar girls, small time gamblers, and prostitutes. It reads like a book that was supposed to be a crime novel except that the antagonist just happened to be a vampire. Darren McGavin’s portrayal of Kolchak in the great TV movie adaption, it’s sequel, and the subsequent TV series cemented the character in the minds of a generation of 70s and 80s adolescents as the quintessential occult investigator, but he also stands as a classic noir protagonist—a man whose strict commitment to exposing the truth makes him the protector of a society where he does not fully belong. The climax, which is quite different than the movie, doesn’t present Kolchak as the lone maverick he often was on television. This is the right ending for the book, but I can see how Richard Matheson’s teleplay features a better climax for a film.
https://thericochetreviewer.blogspot.com
https://thericochetreviewer.blogspot.com
February 7, 2025
When I mention Kolchak: The Night Stalker to people, I usually get one of two reactions. Most commonly it’s that they have no idea what I’m talking about. But to the few who have heard of it, most of them feel the same way I do. They loved it when they were kids and remember it fondly today.
So when I heard there was going to be a new edition of the novel that started it all (and led to the tv movie of the same name, a sequel tv movie, and a short lived but hugely influential tv series) I couldn’t wait to get it. I think I had a paperback copy as a kid but I remembered very little about it and looked forward to reading it.
Honest reaction time now: the book was ok. Not great, but ok. A novel in the tradition of true crime stories but the “true crime” here involved a vampire. But, honestly, I think I’d direct anybody interested in Kolchak to see if they can find it streaming somewhere and watch it before reading the book. If you do that, not only do you get Darren McGavin’s great take on the character (seersucker suit, straw hat, and all) but you can also see why it was so influential. Without the success of the two movies and the series, you probably don’t get The X Files, whose creator credits his love for Kolchak for inspiring him to create his show. Or Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which seems (to me at least) to be a spiritual descendant of Kolchak and his monsters of the week. After you’ve done that, you can return to the book that started it all. It’s worth reading to see where the character originated. But McGavin’s take on the character will always be the one I picture in my mind and so I’d suggest the series first.
So when I heard there was going to be a new edition of the novel that started it all (and led to the tv movie of the same name, a sequel tv movie, and a short lived but hugely influential tv series) I couldn’t wait to get it. I think I had a paperback copy as a kid but I remembered very little about it and looked forward to reading it.
Honest reaction time now: the book was ok. Not great, but ok. A novel in the tradition of true crime stories but the “true crime” here involved a vampire. But, honestly, I think I’d direct anybody interested in Kolchak to see if they can find it streaming somewhere and watch it before reading the book. If you do that, not only do you get Darren McGavin’s great take on the character (seersucker suit, straw hat, and all) but you can also see why it was so influential. Without the success of the two movies and the series, you probably don’t get The X Files, whose creator credits his love for Kolchak for inspiring him to create his show. Or Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which seems (to me at least) to be a spiritual descendant of Kolchak and his monsters of the week. After you’ve done that, you can return to the book that started it all. It’s worth reading to see where the character originated. But McGavin’s take on the character will always be the one I picture in my mind and so I’d suggest the series first.
February 15, 2025
I started this out with so much hope. Growing up when this was a hit TV series, it has always been in the back of my mind as something great. So . . . when I recently saw that the original novel had been published by Monstrous Books I was excited and eager to get a copy and read the book that started it all.
However . . . not only was it badly proofed/edited, it was also poorly written. At the very least, it seemed to be a first or rough draft, very unpolished. I think Jeff Rice created some excellent characters, and he had some great ideas. But the story never grabs you. In no way does it ever make you feel invested in anything or anyone.
I've read through a few of the reviews that give it 4 or 5 stars and praise the pulp-nature of the novel, reviews that talk about how it very much set the mood for the reader. I disagree. I think it tried; but, as a novel, I think it fails greatly.
I have a theory. Based on the fact that this was an unpublished novel at the time of the TV show, AND that it was not subsequently published until just recently, I believe Rice wrote this more as notes to himself (a development tool) than an actual novel that he intended to publish. Perhaps he had plans to polish it and publish it at a later date. I have no way of knowing. But what I do know is that this novel dragged. It felt like a chore to read. And with less than a hundred pages I just finally gave up.
Sadly . . . I cannot recommend this novel to anyone. The copy I purchased is a beautiful edition. But, as I said, the story itself did nothing for me.
However . . . not only was it badly proofed/edited, it was also poorly written. At the very least, it seemed to be a first or rough draft, very unpolished. I think Jeff Rice created some excellent characters, and he had some great ideas. But the story never grabs you. In no way does it ever make you feel invested in anything or anyone.
I've read through a few of the reviews that give it 4 or 5 stars and praise the pulp-nature of the novel, reviews that talk about how it very much set the mood for the reader. I disagree. I think it tried; but, as a novel, I think it fails greatly.
I have a theory. Based on the fact that this was an unpublished novel at the time of the TV show, AND that it was not subsequently published until just recently, I believe Rice wrote this more as notes to himself (a development tool) than an actual novel that he intended to publish. Perhaps he had plans to polish it and publish it at a later date. I have no way of knowing. But what I do know is that this novel dragged. It felt like a chore to read. And with less than a hundred pages I just finally gave up.
Sadly . . . I cannot recommend this novel to anyone. The copy I purchased is a beautiful edition. But, as I said, the story itself did nothing for me.
December 18, 2025
Kolchak is a significant part of my childhood nostalgia. I was the perfect target audience, a 10-year old boy fascinated with all things monsters and ghosts. Now, Kolchak had a lot to offer older audiences as well, with the grizzled investigative reporter (iconically portrayed by Darren McGavin) fighting newspaper editors and politicians to get the truth out. But, for 10-year old me it was all about the monsters…and I loved it!
As a 10-year old, I had no idea (nor would I have cared) that Kolchak’s first television appearance in the movie, The Night Stalker, was based on a novel. Kolchak was originally a literary creation! As an adult, I enjoy reading more than I do watching television. So, when Monstrous Books created a new hardcover edition of the original novel, I was all in.
The Monstrous Books edition is very nice. This edition includes art, with half a dozen full-page, black-and-white illustrations. I really appreciate that the cover and interior art incorporates the likeness of Darren McGavin when portraying Kolchak. His performance in the role is that indelible.
The author, Jeff Rice, presents the story in a unique way; a way that 10-year old me may have been disappointed with, but adult me very much appreciates. The focus is on Kolchak, not the monster (a vampire in this case).
The author presents the story as if he actually met Carl Kolchak at some point after the events in the story took place. Kolchak asks the author for his assistance in getting the true story of a Las Vegas killing spree that took place in the Spring of 1970 released to the public. After speaking with Kolchak about the matter and reviewing his copious notes and voice recordings, the author concludes that this is worthy material for a “true crime”-style book. The book itself, then, is portrayed as the author’s attempt at organizing all of this material into a cohesive story of what took place during that Las Vegas Spring, through the eyes of Carl Kolchak. The reason Kolchak, an investigative reporter, was unable to do this himself is explained in the narrative.
Each chapter is presented as the events that took place during a single day, or sequence of days, during the murder spree. The narrative is Kolchak’s observations of what was taking place and a portrayal of his investigative efforts to piece together what was happening. This often put him at odds with local and state authorities assigned to the investigation, who did not want Kolchak’s “evidence” and theories published in the Las Vegas Daily News. And that is really what the heart of this story is.
It is true that the killer is a vampire, as Kolchak assiduously deduces throughout the story. However, this is really a story of the methods and struggles of an investigative journalist; of how important it is to have contacts and allies from all walks of life - from prostitutes on the strip, to hospital nurses, to college professors, to federal agents - if you want to be able to arrive at the truth. It is also a story of corruption, in this case with law enforcement, as a certain narrative for the killings is demanded, regardless of the facts. Entrapment and punishment will await anyone who attempts to betray that narrative.
The 10-year old me would have been disappointed with how The Night Stalker television movie was originally portrayed in print, as the vampire’s actions are only briefly presented through crime scene evidence after the fact. But, credit where credit is due, 10-year old me would have approved highly of the final confrontation. No, the target audience for the novel is an older crowd, a wiser crowd to the unfortunate facts of life and human nature. That is the version of me that read this book, and that version of me recommends it highly.
As a 10-year old, I had no idea (nor would I have cared) that Kolchak’s first television appearance in the movie, The Night Stalker, was based on a novel. Kolchak was originally a literary creation! As an adult, I enjoy reading more than I do watching television. So, when Monstrous Books created a new hardcover edition of the original novel, I was all in.
The Monstrous Books edition is very nice. This edition includes art, with half a dozen full-page, black-and-white illustrations. I really appreciate that the cover and interior art incorporates the likeness of Darren McGavin when portraying Kolchak. His performance in the role is that indelible.
The author, Jeff Rice, presents the story in a unique way; a way that 10-year old me may have been disappointed with, but adult me very much appreciates. The focus is on Kolchak, not the monster (a vampire in this case).
The author presents the story as if he actually met Carl Kolchak at some point after the events in the story took place. Kolchak asks the author for his assistance in getting the true story of a Las Vegas killing spree that took place in the Spring of 1970 released to the public. After speaking with Kolchak about the matter and reviewing his copious notes and voice recordings, the author concludes that this is worthy material for a “true crime”-style book. The book itself, then, is portrayed as the author’s attempt at organizing all of this material into a cohesive story of what took place during that Las Vegas Spring, through the eyes of Carl Kolchak. The reason Kolchak, an investigative reporter, was unable to do this himself is explained in the narrative.
Each chapter is presented as the events that took place during a single day, or sequence of days, during the murder spree. The narrative is Kolchak’s observations of what was taking place and a portrayal of his investigative efforts to piece together what was happening. This often put him at odds with local and state authorities assigned to the investigation, who did not want Kolchak’s “evidence” and theories published in the Las Vegas Daily News. And that is really what the heart of this story is.
It is true that the killer is a vampire, as Kolchak assiduously deduces throughout the story. However, this is really a story of the methods and struggles of an investigative journalist; of how important it is to have contacts and allies from all walks of life - from prostitutes on the strip, to hospital nurses, to college professors, to federal agents - if you want to be able to arrive at the truth. It is also a story of corruption, in this case with law enforcement, as a certain narrative for the killings is demanded, regardless of the facts. Entrapment and punishment will await anyone who attempts to betray that narrative.
The 10-year old me would have been disappointed with how The Night Stalker television movie was originally portrayed in print, as the vampire’s actions are only briefly presented through crime scene evidence after the fact. But, credit where credit is due, 10-year old me would have approved highly of the final confrontation. No, the target audience for the novel is an older crowd, a wiser crowd to the unfortunate facts of life and human nature. That is the version of me that read this book, and that version of me recommends it highly.
July 6, 2025
Huh. That went better than expected.
I expected the book to be as fun/schlocky as the series I dimly remember scaring the crap out of me was. But it was written in an interesting, sarcastic style, with some side-trips into social commentary that I didn't expect, but didn't mind.
Then again, it had to offer up something that way, as Rice pretty much kept all the action off-stage until the very end, which is why, I think, this book may not vibe with everyone. There's a couple of cringe moments (a homosexual being described as a "limp wrist" for example) but, having grown up in that time period, the vernacular used was...common. I literally remember my father and my uncles using the exact same terms. Hopefully, in the intervening 55 years, we've learned something.
But the book itself, I found, was actually a great romp, overall. The Jack The Ripper coda at the end felt like filler, as well as puzzling, and it was wholly unnecessary, but the rest, barring the odd cringe, wasn't bad. Kolchak is more real here.
I expected the book to be as fun/schlocky as the series I dimly remember scaring the crap out of me was. But it was written in an interesting, sarcastic style, with some side-trips into social commentary that I didn't expect, but didn't mind.
Then again, it had to offer up something that way, as Rice pretty much kept all the action off-stage until the very end, which is why, I think, this book may not vibe with everyone. There's a couple of cringe moments (a homosexual being described as a "limp wrist" for example) but, having grown up in that time period, the vernacular used was...common. I literally remember my father and my uncles using the exact same terms. Hopefully, in the intervening 55 years, we've learned something.
But the book itself, I found, was actually a great romp, overall. The Jack The Ripper coda at the end felt like filler, as well as puzzling, and it was wholly unnecessary, but the rest, barring the odd cringe, wasn't bad. Kolchak is more real here.
March 7, 2025
Downloaded a four-novel set of the Kolchak: The Night Stalker novels from Hoopla and will review each one as I finish them. Listened to the first novel, 1972's The Night Stalker by Jeff Rice, which inspired the Kolchak movies and then the mid-1970s short-lived TV series (starring the great Darrin McGavin in the title role) which is one of my favorites of all time. Rice's debut set the stage for this great mix of pot-boiled newspaper reporter gone rogue detective tracking down killers involved in unexplained deaths that inspired Chris Carter to make The X-Files. In the debut, Kolchak has to deal with a series of murders that all share some unusual details: puncture wounds and the bodies drained of all their blood. You know where it leads! Twilight this is not! Chilling stuff, especially for 1972. Still holds up well today.
March 23, 2025
I remember the movie dragging a bit, although it still got me hooked to its premise and made me keep watching the TV series.
The book works better, as it has the feeling of a procedural or an investigative journalism piece. It goes in detail into Dracula lore and real life vampire -style murders in a way that I didn't find boring. I listened to it, so it just felt like listening to a true crime podcast, it might not work as well if you read it, as it can just seem you're going through a Wikipedia rabbit hole.
Rice also delves more into the politics of the time in interesting ways, sometimes when it's not strictly relevant to the story but I still appreciate it, specially as a lot of what's going on right now rhymes with what was going on back then, namely crackdown on student activism and systemic racism in law enforcement.
The book works better, as it has the feeling of a procedural or an investigative journalism piece. It goes in detail into Dracula lore and real life vampire -style murders in a way that I didn't find boring. I listened to it, so it just felt like listening to a true crime podcast, it might not work as well if you read it, as it can just seem you're going through a Wikipedia rabbit hole.
Rice also delves more into the politics of the time in interesting ways, sometimes when it's not strictly relevant to the story but I still appreciate it, specially as a lot of what's going on right now rhymes with what was going on back then, namely crackdown on student activism and systemic racism in law enforcement.
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