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Daemonic
No one has seen Jack Draegerman for 20 years. He lives in a huge fortress known as "The Rock", its interior a crazy structure of labyrinthine, descending corridors, with no way out. But now he has summoned seven apparently unconnected men to visit him, and he's prepared to pay for the privilege.
448 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
4 people are currently reading
272 people want to read
About the author
Stephen Laws
58 books137 followersStephen Laws is a full-time novelist, born in Newcastle upon Tyne. Married, with three children, he lives and works in his birthplace. The author of 11 novels, numerous short stories, (collected in THE MIDNIGHT MAN) columnist, reviewer, film-festival interviewer, pianist and recipient of a number of awards, Stephen Laws recently wrote and starred in the short horror movie THE SECRET.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
March 9, 2023
Laws serves up an intriguing genre mashup here, blending aspects of horror and fantasy, albeit heavy on the horror side. The centerpiece of Daemonic is Jack Draegerman, although he is not the main protagonist. Draegerman made his millions in various ways, starting as a director of retro exploitation/horror films in the 70s and 80s, as an architect, business tycoon, etc. In a nameless city, he built 'The Rock'-- a massive skyscraper 100 stories tall, surrounded by a deep moat 500 yards across, with only four 'walkways' connecting it to the surrounding city. The Rock is more a bizarre gothic rocket than a 'normal' skyscraper, covered in strangely carved rock, with flying buttresses going nowhere, and very few windows, and these only at the very top. He built The Rock in a slum area of the city, and has not been seen for over a decade. A maven, a recluse, but one likely up to no good.
The story starts with a range of 'average' people being offered by Draegerman's security team 50,000 to pay a visit to Draegerman in The Rock, with 200,000 coming after. No questions accepted-- take it or leave it. Why these people? None of them know Draegerman (although they of course have heard of him) or one anther except one aging starlet who starred in some of his films in the 70s. Upon arrival, they find themselves deep in the bowels of the building, but this is no normal building! This is where the fantasy element comes into play. The inside of The Rock is like some arcane medieval maze; the gathering place features a banquet hall almost like a medieval cathedral, with a ceiling soaring 300 feet above, strange stone carvings, etc., but with scads of TV screens built into the walls playing old scenes from Draegerman's movies. We quickly learn that Draegerman cannibalized many ancient temples and such and incorporated them into The Rock.
Why did Draegerman request these folks here? To go deeper into the plot would give spoilers, so I will stop here, just noting as the back cover states-- Jack Draegerman loves a deal, and he has made contact with a Daemonic force that also loves a deal.
Daemonic builds on the old horror trope of people coming to a haunted house or something by request; I have visions of Vincent Price here at times! But The Rock is no normal haunted house and Laws quickly takes us to surreal territory as our 'heroes' struggle to find a way out and avoid the 'deal' that Draegerman made. What gives this some extra bite are the deeply human struggles of our heroes facing more than just an existential crisis, and the people in the ghetto surrounding The Rock to define what is truly humane. Laws takes us down a rabbit hole here, and while I was along for the ride for sure, I thought the shock value wore off fairly quickly and was more motivated to get to the denouement than anything else. The 'all for one and one for all' struggles among the heroes got played for all it was worth. And the denouement? 3.5 rocky stars, rounding down.
The story starts with a range of 'average' people being offered by Draegerman's security team 50,000 to pay a visit to Draegerman in The Rock, with 200,000 coming after. No questions accepted-- take it or leave it. Why these people? None of them know Draegerman (although they of course have heard of him) or one anther except one aging starlet who starred in some of his films in the 70s. Upon arrival, they find themselves deep in the bowels of the building, but this is no normal building! This is where the fantasy element comes into play. The inside of The Rock is like some arcane medieval maze; the gathering place features a banquet hall almost like a medieval cathedral, with a ceiling soaring 300 feet above, strange stone carvings, etc., but with scads of TV screens built into the walls playing old scenes from Draegerman's movies. We quickly learn that Draegerman cannibalized many ancient temples and such and incorporated them into The Rock.
Why did Draegerman request these folks here? To go deeper into the plot would give spoilers, so I will stop here, just noting as the back cover states-- Jack Draegerman loves a deal, and he has made contact with a Daemonic force that also loves a deal.
Daemonic builds on the old horror trope of people coming to a haunted house or something by request; I have visions of Vincent Price here at times! But The Rock is no normal haunted house and Laws quickly takes us to surreal territory as our 'heroes' struggle to find a way out and avoid the 'deal' that Draegerman made. What gives this some extra bite are the deeply human struggles of our heroes facing more than just an existential crisis, and the people in the ghetto surrounding The Rock to define what is truly humane. Laws takes us down a rabbit hole here, and while I was along for the ride for sure, I thought the shock value wore off fairly quickly and was more motivated to get to the denouement than anything else. The 'all for one and one for all' struggles among the heroes got played for all it was worth. And the denouement? 3.5 rocky stars, rounding down.
February 28, 2011
I really loved this book, but it is a massive guilty pleasure. The storyline is completely unrealistic, the bad characters are pantomime villans while the good ones are out and out heroes. The idea is great: six people are brought to The Rock and have to fight for their survival from the man who sired them, meanwhile taking on daemons in Dragerman's studio sets. Apart from the Berserker, the daemons themselves are actually insignificant. They obviously play a part in the plot, but I would've like them to be specific to each person. Overall this would make a great film and it was something I really enjoyed reading. If I had nothing to read I would definately come back to it. I gave it a four because I did love reading it, and some points had me afraid to turn the lights off before bed, but the writing isn't perfect. There were also some points that niggled. Near the end of the book, when the tension was building, the writer would keep using 'as...' at the end of each chapter, obviously to string them all together, but it got on my nerves. Also, Laws opened some questions that he didn't answer. One of the characters asked why the lights were different colours in the corridors, and that was never revealed. I would recommend this to thriller readers, because those who are fantasy fans, may be disappointed with the lack of daemonic content.
August 27, 2011
I really enjoyed this book and enjoyed all the twists and turns that this book offered. i found that the shorter chapters added to the suspense of the horror particularly at the end when they were shorter and added much more as the story came to a conclusion. Although i was a bit disappointed that one of the main characters died before they managed to escape, i would have liked to have known that he managed to escape too. It seemed there was no escape for Mr D, who having to much money an too much time on his hand made turned to indulge in his evil side and made a deal with the devil and his deamons. As Mr. d will forever be trapped and therefore anxious despite being granted immortality, he is still vulnerable to disease and accidents, which could end his life, here the story ended and another story to come...
July 22, 2014
Still have a couple of this author's books to read, but unless there are any surprises this could be Stephen Laws' masterpiece. A grim, moody mix of B-movies, Saw and the supernatural, it's almost like Stephen Laws managed to tune himself to early Clive Barker for this one.
April 27, 2023
Though it has its moments Daemonic is ultimately just too long and in some places laborious, which I found unusual as I have enjoyed several of Stephen Laws' other horror titles. If you're a a fan of his existing work you will probably enjoy part of this but be prepared for some very long sections and a lot of descriptions of corridors.
The synopsis of the book is pretty accurate a group of unconnected individuals are invited with the promise of a vast sum of free cash to meet the reclusive billionaire (I assume, he seems to have infinite money) Jack Draegerman in his mysterious skyscraper known as 'the rock'. The opening chapters are quite effective in giving each character a scene of development and how they come to accept Draegerman's offer. It gives insight into the myriad cast and why they might accept the offer, as well as the mysterious character of Draegerman.
The initial meeting is similarly tense as suspense builds around their purpose for being invited and the character of Draegerman. The builds to his eventual appearance and then horror elements set in and the book gets started in earnest.
Some spoilers from here on out if you're concerned about that type of thing.
One issue with the book is Draegerman immediately explains his entire plan, his motivations, all his backstory, why they have been invited, what demons are hunting them and why and then sets them loose in the interior labyrinth that is the rock. This is quite the reveal and does deflate a lot of the tension and reveals most of the mystery. The problem is that this is maybe a fifth or a quarter of the way into the book. The rest of it are the characters running around trying to avoid the demons, and given the length of the book it becomes very repetitive quite quickly.
There is a subplot about a small team of other characters trying to get in and rescue the main cast, and honestly i found that the far more interesting plot. it dealt with not only the weird supernatural defences of Dragerman's rock but also (very mildly) alluded to the impact and cost of Dragerman's ruthless exploitation in both a supernatural and real sense.
There is a bizarre section of the book which essentially nullifies itself. For the main cast they spend several chapters navigating corridors and several weird trap rooms including a jungle and a weird bone escalator I couldn't get a visual grasp on from the description. Only for them to end up back where they started. At the same time the subplot tries to get in, fails, then tries again and succeeds. It felt unecessary to have such a rest other than to stretch the book, except maybe to build up the sense of exhaustion and slog the characters were feeling. Which really wasn't needed.
The ending is surprisingly comedic as it turns out the weakness of the demons is bullets, or being stabbed by any sharp object. Essentially unravelling all of Draegerman's plans as they lied to him about tough they were.
All in all the start and end are solid but the middle is so damn unnecessarily long, there are themes and arcs but they could all be condensed and lose nothing of value. Stephen Laws is still an entertaining author combining elements of cosmic and slasher horror in a British B-movie aesthetic and I still intend to read his other works, but I would recommend starting with his other stories and maybe pick this one up only if you're an established fan.
The synopsis of the book is pretty accurate a group of unconnected individuals are invited with the promise of a vast sum of free cash to meet the reclusive billionaire (I assume, he seems to have infinite money) Jack Draegerman in his mysterious skyscraper known as 'the rock'. The opening chapters are quite effective in giving each character a scene of development and how they come to accept Draegerman's offer. It gives insight into the myriad cast and why they might accept the offer, as well as the mysterious character of Draegerman.
The initial meeting is similarly tense as suspense builds around their purpose for being invited and the character of Draegerman. The builds to his eventual appearance and then horror elements set in and the book gets started in earnest.
Some spoilers from here on out if you're concerned about that type of thing.
One issue with the book is Draegerman immediately explains his entire plan, his motivations, all his backstory, why they have been invited, what demons are hunting them and why and then sets them loose in the interior labyrinth that is the rock. This is quite the reveal and does deflate a lot of the tension and reveals most of the mystery. The problem is that this is maybe a fifth or a quarter of the way into the book. The rest of it are the characters running around trying to avoid the demons, and given the length of the book it becomes very repetitive quite quickly.
There is a subplot about a small team of other characters trying to get in and rescue the main cast, and honestly i found that the far more interesting plot. it dealt with not only the weird supernatural defences of Dragerman's rock but also (very mildly) alluded to the impact and cost of Dragerman's ruthless exploitation in both a supernatural and real sense.
There is a bizarre section of the book which essentially nullifies itself. For the main cast they spend several chapters navigating corridors and several weird trap rooms including a jungle and a weird bone escalator I couldn't get a visual grasp on from the description. Only for them to end up back where they started. At the same time the subplot tries to get in, fails, then tries again and succeeds. It felt unecessary to have such a rest other than to stretch the book, except maybe to build up the sense of exhaustion and slog the characters were feeling. Which really wasn't needed.
The ending is surprisingly comedic as it turns out the weakness of the demons is bullets, or being stabbed by any sharp object. Essentially unravelling all of Draegerman's plans as they lied to him about tough they were.
All in all the start and end are solid but the middle is so damn unnecessarily long, there are themes and arcs but they could all be condensed and lose nothing of value. Stephen Laws is still an entertaining author combining elements of cosmic and slasher horror in a British B-movie aesthetic and I still intend to read his other works, but I would recommend starting with his other stories and maybe pick this one up only if you're an established fan.
July 28, 2015
Amazing cover. Amazing story. And a great revealing ending... One of those you kick yourself for not getting. This would make a great movie.
August 11, 2017
'The Rock', as it does to everything surrounding it, sucked all of the good out of this book.
An intriguing start and a startling first creature quickly fell flat to a boring book where the author must have received $20 for every time he used the word 'undulating' in a sentence.
I had high hopes but was quickly let down. The characters fear became old. Fast.
The monsters, excluding the first one, were not scary.
Dragerman was a letdown with a God Complex.
I am not a fast reader and frequently chew every word on a page as though it is cud but the culprit behind excessive amount of time it took me to finish this book was that I was simply disinterested. It was a struggle to motivate myself to finish this story and I am amazed that I managed to complete it.
An intriguing start and a startling first creature quickly fell flat to a boring book where the author must have received $20 for every time he used the word 'undulating' in a sentence.
I had high hopes but was quickly let down. The characters fear became old. Fast.
The monsters, excluding the first one, were not scary.
Dragerman was a letdown with a God Complex.
I am not a fast reader and frequently chew every word on a page as though it is cud but the culprit behind excessive amount of time it took me to finish this book was that I was simply disinterested. It was a struggle to motivate myself to finish this story and I am amazed that I managed to complete it.
October 15, 2017
Would be fine as a film of no more than 90 minutes.
As a book it is a slog. It's not scary, it's not believable, and it's not well written.
Maybe if you've read everything by Stephen King and then everything by Dean Koontz and somehow you still want more action-horror churn then you should read this. But otherwise why bother.
As a book it is a slog. It's not scary, it's not believable, and it's not well written.
Maybe if you've read everything by Stephen King and then everything by Dean Koontz and somehow you still want more action-horror churn then you should read this. But otherwise why bother.
October 10, 2024
DNF'ed. First part was too slow, spent too long on the set up and introducing too many characters & then when it started to get a little interesting it wasn't delivered very well. Felt unrealistic and repetitive. Bored stiff.
November 16, 2024
Poorly structured, repetitive and lacking imagination. Was not even mildly scary and was badly written. Used ‘hideous’ over and over again as his go-to adjective.
August 13, 2016
When Stephen Law handed this in to his publisher, he probably said something like this:
"I think I've really lost it this time. This book was a bastard to write and to be quite honest, it sucks. Since I spent three years on it, let's just have a really cool-looking title page and then damn the readers that buy it".
This book actually starts off well - mean-spirited bikies are always scary. But then the story kicks in and it gets slower and slower and slower ... and slower ... and slower. When I finally finished this book, I felt like I had been released from prison, and I left with the intention of never coming back to Stephen Laws again if I could help it"...
"I think I've really lost it this time. This book was a bastard to write and to be quite honest, it sucks. Since I spent three years on it, let's just have a really cool-looking title page and then damn the readers that buy it".
This book actually starts off well - mean-spirited bikies are always scary. But then the story kicks in and it gets slower and slower and slower ... and slower ... and slower. When I finally finished this book, I felt like I had been released from prison, and I left with the intention of never coming back to Stephen Laws again if I could help it"...
April 13, 2009
A group of people are kidnapped and/or persuaded to go to The Rock where they are told they'll receive money just for being there. But it's all a dastardly plot by Jack Draegerman in his search for immortality. The story follows the group of people as they try to escape the fortress and the people who are trying to rescue them. It's a fairly average story but well told and will keep you gripped to the end
Read
July 29, 2011above average horror/thriller - exciting and enjoyable
August 5, 2012
Love this book, I first read it years ago and have re read it a few times, it is awesome!
August 14, 2019
Read & enjoyed more years ago than I care to remember! Star rating based on my enjoyment at the time as I do remember I loved it.
May 1, 2024
This is one of my favourite books that i have read to date. I will always recommend this book.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews