Night Lust

by Philip Straker (Pseudonym), Edward Lee

Genres: Horror

360 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1982

Reviews

[Leon · Rating 5 out of 5]

While I enjoyed the hell out of this (almost as much as the other Philip Straker book, Nightbait) I can see why Ed Lee would want to distance himself from it. This is one mean, NASTY book. Clearly inspired by the slasher movies of the early '80s, this one rips and does it hard. Lee is a real horrorhound and it shows here. There's a scene early on when the town stud takes a couple of twin hotties to the drive-in, where The Howling is playing (it was a recent release at the time). When the bro gets back to his van from the concession stand, he finds the two sisters brutally mutilated, "their heads (or what had once been heads minutes before)...no longer recognizable as heads, just ruined masses of gore at the ends of their necks...[those] heads hadn't been sawed off; they'd been beaten into mash, clubbed, pounded, until their fragile skulls had given out under the blows. Hammered, until there was nothing left except one sickening, placentalike mound of bright-red pulp."

Cool.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with Nightbait, my expectations were pretty low for this one, but as a huge Edward Lee fan I had to buy it when I stumbled across it. Keeping those expectations in mind, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this one. It is less overwritten than both Nightbait and Ghouls (the first novel Mr. Lee recognizes) and there is quite a bit of "extreme" content. The plot is pretty straightforward but kept my interest. The ending was a bit silly and out of left field. I wouldn't recommend this to casual horror fans (I got lucky by "only" paying $30 for my copy), but Edward Lee fans should keep a lookout for it.

[Egghead · Rating 5 out of 5]

early edward lee
ultra-violent slasher
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