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Blood Island
Where once rose the cool silence of a primitive temple and the whispering of ancestral graves sprawls a lush Caribbean resort - an exotic pleasure playground where men and women come to feed their hungers, or hide their secrets, or live out their wildest fantasies.
But something is very wrong on the planet of Carrefour.
Inexplicable drownings…bizarre sexual murders…the bloody staring head of a black rooster in a young woman’s bed…the face in a photograph aging to a grinning skull in its frame…a shy young bride transformed into a snarling temptress…
Something evil has risen from the very ground on which Carrefour stands.
And in the blood red shadows of the jungle, to the frenzied beat of the voodoo drums and the death rattle of the maracas, a mysterious figure with a lithe sensual body and glittering black eyes begins to dance. And as his dark sexual ritual unfolds, the guests gather to watch and wait and tremble…
But something is very wrong on the planet of Carrefour.
Inexplicable drownings…bizarre sexual murders…the bloody staring head of a black rooster in a young woman’s bed…the face in a photograph aging to a grinning skull in its frame…a shy young bride transformed into a snarling temptress…
Something evil has risen from the very ground on which Carrefour stands.
And in the blood red shadows of the jungle, to the frenzied beat of the voodoo drums and the death rattle of the maracas, a mysterious figure with a lithe sensual body and glittering black eyes begins to dance. And as his dark sexual ritual unfolds, the guests gather to watch and wait and tremble…
- GenresHorror
323 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 1981
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
April 1, 2024
A new resort has been built on the small island of Carrefour in the Caribbean, and once guests start to arrive, creepy voodoo shenanigans begin to invade their lives, and people keep ending up dead by horrific means. There’s something…unnatural about the swimming pool as well. Oh and a sinister rooster. Too bad they’re all trapped there for a few nights, as there’s no plane or boat set to arrive anytime soon. And of course communications are down.
In many ways this is a pretty standard early 80s paperback from hell, but the engaging writing, where there’s almost always some sort of tension or mystery to keep you turning the pages, bumped this close to 4 star territory for me. It maintains a rather ominous atmosphere throughout, despite the extreme silliness.
A bit of a warning: there was a sexual assault scene that I felt was excessive in its cruelty, and I might have set the book down for good had it happened earlier. I’m glad I persevered, though, as the novel as a whole wound up being thoroughly entertaining, with a couple moments that were actually pretty intense and freaky.
Recommended for those who don’t mind a little schlock and cheese to go with their ancient evils arising (think William Schoell), but for those who do just stay the hell away.
3.5 Stars
ETA: James Farber is the pseudonym for James Fritzhand, who wrote more literary-type novels and historical fiction under his own name, and a few gothic romances as Janine Fitzpatrick.
In many ways this is a pretty standard early 80s paperback from hell, but the engaging writing, where there’s almost always some sort of tension or mystery to keep you turning the pages, bumped this close to 4 star territory for me. It maintains a rather ominous atmosphere throughout, despite the extreme silliness.
A bit of a warning: there was a sexual assault scene that I felt was excessive in its cruelty, and I might have set the book down for good had it happened earlier. I’m glad I persevered, though, as the novel as a whole wound up being thoroughly entertaining, with a couple moments that were actually pretty intense and freaky.
Recommended for those who don’t mind a little schlock and cheese to go with their ancient evils arising (think William Schoell), but for those who do just stay the hell away.
3.5 Stars
ETA: James Farber is the pseudonym for James Fritzhand, who wrote more literary-type novels and historical fiction under his own name, and a few gothic romances as Janine Fitzpatrick.
October 23, 2025
voodoo horrors await the guests at their resort on the Caribbean island of Carrefour. this pulp horror novel is surprisingly well-written. the sweaty jungle atmosphere is memorable; the pacing is tight; the tone starts off as tense and gets even more so as supernatural shenanigans multiply along with the body count. this is a creepy book. what makes it work most of all is the characterization. Farber's cast start off as vaguely unsympathetic but then they - and their various fraught relationships - deepen in realistic and sometimes unexpected ways, often right up to the point of their untimely demise. the result is that I really rooted for these complex and increasingly sympathetic characters; I not only wanted them to survive, I also wanted their relationships to succeed and their personal challenges to be overcome. their various deaths were genuinely upsetting. this is a cruel book. the last couple of pages make it clear that even more cruelties await the survivors - and on Christmas Day! geez louise.
what did perplex me was the decision to have the loa who are behind all of the evil be Damballah and Erzulie - two voodoo spirits who are relatively benign (or at least chaotic neutral, lol). why not at least choose ferocious Ogun or scandalous Baron Samedi? and why refer to Damballah as the crossroads spirit when that's actually Papa Legba? tsk, tsk. if I were a voodoo practitioner, I'd be very annoyed by this novel!
what did perplex me was the decision to have the loa who are behind all of the evil be Damballah and Erzulie - two voodoo spirits who are relatively benign (or at least chaotic neutral, lol). why not at least choose ferocious Ogun or scandalous Baron Samedi? and why refer to Damballah as the crossroads spirit when that's actually Papa Legba? tsk, tsk. if I were a voodoo practitioner, I'd be very annoyed by this novel!
January 27, 2016
Blood Island is a novel written back in 1981, but while older it deserves its chance in the 20th century spotlight. I always enjoy novels focusing on voodoo or other dark religions,which is the core of this novel. Some genuinely creepy events unfold, there are some great internal struggles going on with all characters, the pace runs along well and a lot happens within 323 pages.
Basically a resort has opened on an island that used to be inhabited by tribes who believed in (and some practiced) black magic of sorts. A group of unlucky patrons go on to the island, but some people don't want it to remain open, and through the use of magic and rituals, try to chase off the inhabitants. This is done through possession, false scares, and killings. The jungle has a life all its own and the scenery is used to great advantage. I enjoyed learning about the original islanders and seeing the changes being done. There were some great messages in the plot, one being that we shouldn’t treat others badly when we invade their territory, and another being not to destroy and demolish nature for financial gain and greed.
Suspense is done well, and in certain scenes it pours. One is the rooster that is caged one minute, and gone the next. There are bodies popping up, possessions, weird dances, and the sense that one is never really alone. Nor safe. I will admit looking over my shoulder a few times and feeling a little creeped out when walking to the kitchen during the night, when all was quiet, while reading this.
There are some pretty violent killings, a nice description of gore, detail of pure fright, intense emotion, and some pretty graphic sexual conduct.
The atmosphere has this quiet horror about it, while the island and jungle setting is ideal for this type of telling. It is stark and devoid of humor [most of the time reading my shoulders just would not relax] and there’s a sense of inescapable reality and frustration emerging from the people involved. As if they want to escape, to live, but they know the chance is so slim it’s choking off their supply of hope.
Told through the eyes of several characters, all are well fleshed out, have their own personal melodramas and internal struggles to sift through. Many eventually interact with each other and this ups the stakes. Through another character we can learn about the death we didn’t know about of someone we had already read about and attached to. Jumping from one person to another, while each is going through their own terrifying ordeals, keeps the adrenaline pumping.
The pace runs along well: from the beginning where a death already occurs, to the end that is surprising and in another way predictable. My eyes were glued to the pages as if I were hypnotized.
The style is written in a simple and straight forward manner.
It may have as good a plot as some, but there’s something special about it. I have read countless books over the years but this one was remembered while the others forgotten; I have recently re-read it and am just as delighted. It may appear like a light chiller at the top but this one runs canyon deep.
Basically a resort has opened on an island that used to be inhabited by tribes who believed in (and some practiced) black magic of sorts. A group of unlucky patrons go on to the island, but some people don't want it to remain open, and through the use of magic and rituals, try to chase off the inhabitants. This is done through possession, false scares, and killings. The jungle has a life all its own and the scenery is used to great advantage. I enjoyed learning about the original islanders and seeing the changes being done. There were some great messages in the plot, one being that we shouldn’t treat others badly when we invade their territory, and another being not to destroy and demolish nature for financial gain and greed.
Suspense is done well, and in certain scenes it pours. One is the rooster that is caged one minute, and gone the next. There are bodies popping up, possessions, weird dances, and the sense that one is never really alone. Nor safe. I will admit looking over my shoulder a few times and feeling a little creeped out when walking to the kitchen during the night, when all was quiet, while reading this.
There are some pretty violent killings, a nice description of gore, detail of pure fright, intense emotion, and some pretty graphic sexual conduct.
The atmosphere has this quiet horror about it, while the island and jungle setting is ideal for this type of telling. It is stark and devoid of humor [most of the time reading my shoulders just would not relax] and there’s a sense of inescapable reality and frustration emerging from the people involved. As if they want to escape, to live, but they know the chance is so slim it’s choking off their supply of hope.
Told through the eyes of several characters, all are well fleshed out, have their own personal melodramas and internal struggles to sift through. Many eventually interact with each other and this ups the stakes. Through another character we can learn about the death we didn’t know about of someone we had already read about and attached to. Jumping from one person to another, while each is going through their own terrifying ordeals, keeps the adrenaline pumping.
The pace runs along well: from the beginning where a death already occurs, to the end that is surprising and in another way predictable. My eyes were glued to the pages as if I were hypnotized.
The style is written in a simple and straight forward manner.
It may have as good a plot as some, but there’s something special about it. I have read countless books over the years but this one was remembered while the others forgotten; I have recently re-read it and am just as delighted. It may appear like a light chiller at the top but this one runs canyon deep.
August 23, 2013
Mmhh, A pesar de tener bastantes imágenes de horror interesantes, la verdad es que no trasciende más allá. Bastante olvidable. Si acaso es recomendable para fans del horror novatos. Para un fan curtido no lo recomendaría, mucho menos para un verdadero devorador de literatura convencional!
February 25, 2020
Somehow manages to read like a cheesy 70's TV show, complete with cheap sets and a plot straight out of a nightmare version of Scooby Doo, The Love Boat or Fantasy Island . It's something of a feat that mere schlocky words on a page have my imagination conjuring up a cheap setting to place them in. Indeed, I couldn't help but picture Erik Estrada as the hunky, ambiguously ethnic islander lifeguard-cum-maniacal-god-possessed Raimond, and Mary-Tyler Moore-era Cloris Leachman as the artsy "older woman" (42!) Ellen (Or was her character named Elaine? I can't remember now).
Amazingly, some genuine pathos is reached early on through the backstory of some of the characters, in particular a widower who slowly watched his wife die of cancer, and Cloris Leachman's May-December romance with a younger writer. It's all padding, really, but it's effective. But then the story begins it's predictable descent into that obsession horror novels of the era seemed to have regarding the sexual perversion and degradation of women for cheap, sleazy thrills. Then way too much time is spent with characters grappling with whether or not what they're experiencing is real or not, which is totally boring, moot discussion because the book is fiction so the whole thing isn't real so who cares?
And not nearly enough people die in gruesome ways! What gives?
Amazingly, some genuine pathos is reached early on through the backstory of some of the characters, in particular a widower who slowly watched his wife die of cancer, and Cloris Leachman's May-December romance with a younger writer. It's all padding, really, but it's effective. But then the story begins it's predictable descent into that obsession horror novels of the era seemed to have regarding the sexual perversion and degradation of women for cheap, sleazy thrills. Then way too much time is spent with characters grappling with whether or not what they're experiencing is real or not, which is totally boring, moot discussion because the book is fiction so the whole thing isn't real so who cares?
And not nearly enough people die in gruesome ways! What gives?
March 7, 2023
Quite a good voodoo story with some good descriptive scenes
October 9, 2023
More like a soap opera with some evil voodoo thrown in. Scary=not much.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews