The Monastery

by J.N. Williamson

Seeking shelter from the snow storm, Dean Knight and his family take refuge in the Neva Monastery, whose inhabitants, they soon discover, thrive on twisted forms of worship and bloody rituals. Original.

Genres: Horror, Fiction

351 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1992

About the author

Gerald Neal Williamson (April 17, 1932 - December 8, 2005) wrote and edited horror stories under the name J. N. Williamson. He also wrote under the name Julian Shock.

Born in Indianapolis, IN he graduated from Shortridge High School. He studied journalism at Butler University. He published his first novel in 1979 and went on to publish more than 40 novels and 150 short stories. In 2003 he received a lifetime achievement award from the Horror Writers of America. He edited the critically acclaimed How to Write Tales of Horror, Fantasy & Science Fiction (1987) which covered the themes of such writing and cited the writings of such writers as Robert Bloch, Lee Prosser, Richard Matheson, Ray Bradbury, H. P. Lovecraft, August Derleth, William F. Nolan, and Stephen King. Many important writers in the genre contributed to the book. Williamson edited the popular anthology series, Masques. Some of his novels include The Ritual (1979), Playmates (1982), Noonspell (1991), The Haunt (1999), among others.

He was also a well known Sherlockian and received his investiture (The Illustrious Client) in the Baker Street Irregulars in 1950.

Source: Wikipedia

Reviews

[Nick Anderson · Rating 2 out of 5]

{1992} The Monastery by J.N. Williamson. I happen to find this guy's books often but this is my first read through of one. First off I picked it because 1. It takes place in snowy winter and it's hot as fuck here. 2. I like that owl on the cover. Reminds me of Rush Fly by Night which I think is one of the coolest album covers ever. So how is it?? You know how on shows like Saved by the Bell a random one episode new "cool kid" shows up with his leather jacket and sunglasses and rebel attitude? Now imagine he sits down at your table in a chair facing backwards and tells you dudes and dudettes a bitchin story about a fam stuck in the middle of nowhere in a snowstorm in Indiana. The only place for miles is an old Monastery. Suck ass! That's how this is written. Like a rated PG hooligan named "Shades" is narrating. It's...annoying. But it does lighten up about the halfway point. So mom, dad and kid are stuck in this Monastery with weird Russian cult/religious people. Dad is a recently recovering alcoholic and a total prick. Am I supposed to like this guy? Mom is Wendy. Oh come on now Jack, don't be like that. He just wants a drink. Kid is beyond annoying and there is this whole, I'm going to be a future NBA Celtic player thing that really sucks the horror mood right out. The cult makes them stay until after the 29th and their reviving Christ ceremony is over. Spoiler alert. Christ is really Rasputin. The cult mutilates themselves in honor of "Christ's" sufferings to bring him back. Head lady is a shape shifting super babe. Old naked guys that want to touch naked children. Sexless orgies. Giant white wolf pack. Talking ghosts. Garage of dead bodies. Russian words with immediate translations over and over. Kind of a trudge to get through to be honest. Lots of unnecessary fluff. They go over and over their "religion." Fuck man! I get it. Also, the most cringe intro ever; "It was the day after Christmas and all through the truck..." Good things: they made the dad a short guy. It made it more real. Not every character in every book can be a giant muscle man. I like the Russian folklore. The gore was definitely gory. Loved the snowy Monastery setting though Indiana wouldn't be my first choice. Maybe, I don't know, Russia? Siberia? Umm did I mention I liked that owl on the cover? Yeah. Yeah I guess that's it.

[Brent Winslow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Q: What do Lee Harvey Oswald and Grigori Rasputin have in common?
A: According to The Monastery, both are members of the Khlysty, a Russian religion based on a belief in its members submitting to pain, torture, and self-mutilation in order to bring their Messiah back to life. That is until the Knight family knocks on the monastery door in a storm after getting stuck in a snow drift. Violent wackiness ensues.

[Bimpy · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book that drew me in from the start and kept me turning the pages to see what this cult is about but at least for me I had problems sorta figuring out what was going on at times and remembering the cultist apart from each other but still, a fun read that was a different type of horror than the ones I've been reading lately.

[Joshua Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book, characters well conceived, intriguing story but I did find the ending rushed and rather ambiguous. Perhaps a few chapters to flesh out the story would have helped but worth a read at least.

[Horror Guy · Rating 3 out of 5]

J.N. Williamson tries so little he's barely able to overwrite this to death, making it one of his best books.