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Kolchak: The Night Stalker
The Kolchak Collection Lib/E
The Kolchak Papers: The Original Novels by Jeff RiceIn 1972 Jeff Rice's novel The Night Stalker introduced Carl Kolchak to the world. This spine-tingling novel of supernatural terror became an instant bestseller and served as the basis for the film of the same name. After The Night Stalker became one of the highest rated television movies of all time, a sequel, The Night Strangler, was released the following year to great acclaim. Now, after more than three decades out of print, The Night Stalker and The Night Strangler are together in one volume.Cry of Thunder: Sherlock Holmes & Kolchak the Night Stalker by Joe GentileTwo of the most unique investigators of all time try to untangle the same mystery ... one hundred years apart from each other. Set in the lawless Wild West, the hidden world of Victorian London, and the present-day hell of Hollywood, Cry of Thunder: Sherlock Holmes & Kolchak the Night Stalker follows Holmes' trail of a man who was wrongfully--and willingly--imprisoned; a shocking New World Order anarchy; a beautiful woman who needs Kolchak to delve into the surreal past; and the shunned man who holds the key.Kolchak and the Lost World by C. J. HendersonAfter convincing a serial killer to confess, newspaper reporter Kolchak is offered an international assignment with massive coverage around the world. With fame and fortune finally within reach, he's ready to cover the story--until he's confronted by a mysterious monk who warns him that "the seventy-two must always be." What this means is not explained. But before he knows it, Kolchak's dreams are invaded by inexplicable images warning him that every step he takes toward the big story is bringing him closer to death.
Audio CD
First published November 21, 2007
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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 Rice’s novel was still unpublished when it was optioned for television and adapted for a TV audience as The Night Stalker.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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May 31, 2023
This one hit me right in the Nostalgia. When a kid, my Mom was super strict about what was appropriate television viewing. But when she was out and my Dad was in charge, he and I would watch horror shows. It was our one thing. He didn’t play catch with me or take me to ball games, but we shared horror movies on TV that Mom would never let me watch. And that is how I saw the original Kolchak Night Stalker movies, a guilty pleasure bonding with my usually remote father.
These two short novels of pulp/noir/horror are most effective. Kolchak’s voice narrates the novels, and I found it impossible to not picture Darren McGavin as I read the gruff voiced narration of Kolchak clashing with his editor and the authorities as he vainly tried to report the real story. The treatment of a vampire haunting 1970 Las Vegas was nicely done, a final dose of vampire as pure monster before they went all sexy and introspective in the ‘80s.
If you loved Darren McGavin’s Night Stalker movies and series don’t miss the pleasure of reading this book.
These two short novels of pulp/noir/horror are most effective. Kolchak’s voice narrates the novels, and I found it impossible to not picture Darren McGavin as I read the gruff voiced narration of Kolchak clashing with his editor and the authorities as he vainly tried to report the real story. The treatment of a vampire haunting 1970 Las Vegas was nicely done, a final dose of vampire as pure monster before they went all sexy and introspective in the ‘80s.
If you loved Darren McGavin’s Night Stalker movies and series don’t miss the pleasure of reading this book.
September 24, 2011
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.
(a word about the Moonstone Books twofer offered here - while they are to be applauded for putting these two books together - more so for the difficult to find second novel - as has been said by many - PLEASE HIRE A PROOFREADER - scanning text as editable and hoping for the best is lazy, sloppy and an insult to your customers. Mark Dawidziak's nice (if slight) intro is marred by an unintended "stake/steak" misprint, and STRANGLER features a painful section where the main character's name is misspelled multiple times on the same page. These are just some of many, many misprints. People, a little pride, PLEASE! - and now, back to our regularly scheduled, long-winded review.)
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 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 Rice's unpublished novel, THE KOLCHAK TAPES, spawned an ABC made-for-TV movie starring Darren McGavin as our intrepid reporter - and it was a ratings blockbuster. So huge that a sequel was obviously in order. ABC got stellar talent Richard Matheson to script it. His initial idea - Kolchak versus an ageless Jack The Ripper - he eventually deemed too close to his friend Robert Bloch's classic short story "Yours Truly, Jack The Ripper" and nixed it (that didn't stop them from using the idea as the story for the premiere episode of the KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER TV show, however).
Matheson eventually went with a story wherein down-and-out ex-reporter (and now quasi-crank) Carl Kolchak, in a stroke of luck, happens upon his old editor and "frenemy" Tony Vincenzo, now on staff at the SEATTLE DAILY CHRONICLE. Kolchak has a new job, but unfortunately his very first assignment is covering a series of strangling occurring in the Pioneer Square area of that city. Our hero uncovers the fact that a small amount of blood was removed from the brain of each murder victim and a trail of clues (eyewitness accounts describe the killer as resembling a walking corpse, rotting flesh on the victim's throats) eventually leads him to believe that a century old (if not older) alchemist is dwelling somewhere under the city, rising every 21 years to re-invigorate his body with an elixir of life based around blood. The cops and Carl's bosses, needless to say, are not happy.
This TV-movie was also a hit and so KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER, a fondly-loved TV series, was born, as we'll discuss in my review of Night Stalking: A Twentieth Anniversary Kolchak Companion. But let us stop a moment and look at this specific book, a strange artifact of the second TV movie.
So Richard Matheson writes the teleplay and Pocket Books (which had published Rice's previously unpublished book retitled to tie into the first film), decides that a book is needed to tie-in to the second film as well - and the task naturally falls to Jeff Rice. So while Richard Matheson adapted Rice's novel for THE NIGHT STALKER, Rice is here adapting Matheson's teleplay for THE NIGHT STRANGLER. And, sadly, it shows...
Obviously, Rice did not have the time he probably put into composing the first book. And this is not, particularly, a labor of love, either - he's not writing his own story, he's following a blueprint supplied by someone else. And on top of that, his creation was changed in some ways when he was brought to the small screen, and so Rice is now working with that iteration of the character.
So what we get here is a bit of a mish-mosh. Rice tries to take the hybrid character of his novel and the TV movie and stay true to both sides - this is definitely more the Kolchak of the TV movie (his distinctive hat is mentioned in passing) but Rice works in ways to elicit aspects of his original character - Kolchak mentions his out of shape, overweight state as he scales some of Seattle's mountainous streets, and the book opens with him sipping whiskey in a porno parlor (two later lines also confirm a sneaking suspicion I'd always had - Kolchak is essentially an atheist). Vincenzo is still the diminutive figure of Rice's original and not hulking Simon Oakland. The scholar character Matheson creates, Professor Crabwell, is replaced with her prototype from the NIGHT STALKER novel, who never appeared in the TV movie. This mixing and matching isn't much of a bother - Rice might have faced problems making the romantic relationship that blossomed between McGavin and Jo-Ann Pflug (belly-dancer Louise Harper) in the NIGHT STRANGLER seem plausible with his 50-year-old pug-ugly rummy, but he subtly ages the Harper character a bit, placing her in her mid-30's. In fact, I must say that the relationship that Rice sketches between Kolchak and Harper is one of the most psychologically and emotionally honest ones I've read (albeit, still a bit rushed by the short length of the work) - especially compared to the rather perfunctory pass-by it gets in the TV movie (there simply to provide a personal threat to Carl to increase his emotional investment). Kolchak and Harper seem achingly realistic portrayal of two savvy, lonely people from two different generations meeting at that moment in time (the early 70s). Good work there, Mr. Rice.
(CONTINUED IN COMMENTS)
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.
(a word about the Moonstone Books twofer offered here - while they are to be applauded for putting these two books together - more so for the difficult to find second novel - as has been said by many - PLEASE HIRE A PROOFREADER - scanning text as editable and hoping for the best is lazy, sloppy and an insult to your customers. Mark Dawidziak's nice (if slight) intro is marred by an unintended "stake/steak" misprint, and STRANGLER features a painful section where the main character's name is misspelled multiple times on the same page. These are just some of many, many misprints. People, a little pride, PLEASE! - and now, back to our regularly scheduled, long-winded review.)
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 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 Rice's unpublished novel, THE KOLCHAK TAPES, spawned an ABC made-for-TV movie starring Darren McGavin as our intrepid reporter - and it was a ratings blockbuster. So huge that a sequel was obviously in order. ABC got stellar talent Richard Matheson to script it. His initial idea - Kolchak versus an ageless Jack The Ripper - he eventually deemed too close to his friend Robert Bloch's classic short story "Yours Truly, Jack The Ripper" and nixed it (that didn't stop them from using the idea as the story for the premiere episode of the KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER TV show, however).
Matheson eventually went with a story wherein down-and-out ex-reporter (and now quasi-crank) Carl Kolchak, in a stroke of luck, happens upon his old editor and "frenemy" Tony Vincenzo, now on staff at the SEATTLE DAILY CHRONICLE. Kolchak has a new job, but unfortunately his very first assignment is covering a series of strangling occurring in the Pioneer Square area of that city. Our hero uncovers the fact that a small amount of blood was removed from the brain of each murder victim and a trail of clues (eyewitness accounts describe the killer as resembling a walking corpse, rotting flesh on the victim's throats) eventually leads him to believe that a century old (if not older) alchemist is dwelling somewhere under the city, rising every 21 years to re-invigorate his body with an elixir of life based around blood. The cops and Carl's bosses, needless to say, are not happy.
This TV-movie was also a hit and so KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER, a fondly-loved TV series, was born, as we'll discuss in my review of Night Stalking: A Twentieth Anniversary Kolchak Companion. But let us stop a moment and look at this specific book, a strange artifact of the second TV movie.
So Richard Matheson writes the teleplay and Pocket Books (which had published Rice's previously unpublished book retitled to tie into the first film), decides that a book is needed to tie-in to the second film as well - and the task naturally falls to Jeff Rice. So while Richard Matheson adapted Rice's novel for THE NIGHT STALKER, Rice is here adapting Matheson's teleplay for THE NIGHT STRANGLER. And, sadly, it shows...
Obviously, Rice did not have the time he probably put into composing the first book. And this is not, particularly, a labor of love, either - he's not writing his own story, he's following a blueprint supplied by someone else. And on top of that, his creation was changed in some ways when he was brought to the small screen, and so Rice is now working with that iteration of the character.
So what we get here is a bit of a mish-mosh. Rice tries to take the hybrid character of his novel and the TV movie and stay true to both sides - this is definitely more the Kolchak of the TV movie (his distinctive hat is mentioned in passing) but Rice works in ways to elicit aspects of his original character - Kolchak mentions his out of shape, overweight state as he scales some of Seattle's mountainous streets, and the book opens with him sipping whiskey in a porno parlor (two later lines also confirm a sneaking suspicion I'd always had - Kolchak is essentially an atheist). Vincenzo is still the diminutive figure of Rice's original and not hulking Simon Oakland. The scholar character Matheson creates, Professor Crabwell, is replaced with her prototype from the NIGHT STALKER novel, who never appeared in the TV movie. This mixing and matching isn't much of a bother - Rice might have faced problems making the romantic relationship that blossomed between McGavin and Jo-Ann Pflug (belly-dancer Louise Harper) in the NIGHT STRANGLER seem plausible with his 50-year-old pug-ugly rummy, but he subtly ages the Harper character a bit, placing her in her mid-30's. In fact, I must say that the relationship that Rice sketches between Kolchak and Harper is one of the most psychologically and emotionally honest ones I've read (albeit, still a bit rushed by the short length of the work) - especially compared to the rather perfunctory pass-by it gets in the TV movie (there simply to provide a personal threat to Carl to increase his emotional investment). Kolchak and Harper seem achingly realistic portrayal of two savvy, lonely people from two different generations meeting at that moment in time (the early 70s). Good work there, Mr. Rice.
(CONTINUED IN COMMENTS)
June 4, 2024
Very nice set of stories. I loved seeing the origins of this great supernatural sleuth. The TV show was a huge love of mine as a kid and these books let me see where much of the character and cast started out. Very recommended
April 26, 2012
Other people have written far better reviews than I could write so I'm just going to mention the only thing that keeps this from being a five star for me.
THE TYPOS!
Oh my God, the TYPOS! SO MANY TYPOS!
I don't know if it's just the publisher or if the original was this bad, but there were so many typos in my edition it was like some self published fan fiction rather than a professional work.
I enjoyed both stories all the same, but the typos were seriously distracting.
THE TYPOS!
Oh my God, the TYPOS! SO MANY TYPOS!
I don't know if it's just the publisher or if the original was this bad, but there were so many typos in my edition it was like some self published fan fiction rather than a professional work.
I enjoyed both stories all the same, but the typos were seriously distracting.
October 1, 2021
This volume collects the two Kolchak novels by Jeff Rice. The first is better than the second, but both are worth reading. They’ve made a tremendous impact on the whole urban fantasy genre, spawning not only made-for-TV movies and a television series, but inspiring many other series that have come after it.
Kolchak is a not-particularly-successful reporter who doesn’t know how to either keep his mouth shut or to stop pursuing a case that is getting him into trouble. He doesn’t have a diplomatic or political bone in his body. But you can’t help but love him because he knows something is terribly wrong in his city and he can’t rest until the evil is rooted out.
Both books also shine a believable light on how city government would deal with a supernatural problem—first they ignore it and then they cover it up. This latter habit on the part of the government does not bode well for a reporter who believes the public has a right to know and the first amendment protects his ability to tell them.
These really are great stories.
If you liked this review, you can find more at www.gilbertstack.com/reviews.
Kolchak is a not-particularly-successful reporter who doesn’t know how to either keep his mouth shut or to stop pursuing a case that is getting him into trouble. He doesn’t have a diplomatic or political bone in his body. But you can’t help but love him because he knows something is terribly wrong in his city and he can’t rest until the evil is rooted out.
Both books also shine a believable light on how city government would deal with a supernatural problem—first they ignore it and then they cover it up. This latter habit on the part of the government does not bode well for a reporter who believes the public has a right to know and the first amendment protects his ability to tell them.
These really are great stories.
If you liked this review, you can find more at www.gilbertstack.com/reviews.
March 5, 2022
I was born in the fall of 1974 and my mom has talked about how much she enjoyed the TV series Kolchak: The Night Stalker, so I’m sure I experienced the TV series the first time it was on in-utero. I know I saw it as a kid on reruns. It was great to read the source material the series was based on.
Kolchak in the book was a little more scruffy, a little more boozy and a lot more annoying than the TV Kolchak. Included in this book was the original story, Kolchak, the Night Stalker and its follow-up Kolchak, the Night Strangler. Both were just the right amount of creepy. These were the only Kolchak books written by the original creator, Jeff Rice. I’m sure I will eventually get around to reading some of the other books in the series.
Kolchak in the book was a little more scruffy, a little more boozy and a lot more annoying than the TV Kolchak. Included in this book was the original story, Kolchak, the Night Stalker and its follow-up Kolchak, the Night Strangler. Both were just the right amount of creepy. These were the only Kolchak books written by the original creator, Jeff Rice. I’m sure I will eventually get around to reading some of the other books in the series.
October 2, 2024
My reviews to the individual books contained in this volume are linked below.
The Night Stalker: ★★★★✰
The Night Strangler: ★★★★✰
This is a new experience for me. I've never listened to an audiobook without having read it for real first. I can't multitask for shit. (I'm led to believe that most men can't and most of my women friends are definitely better at it than I am.) I have friends who could listen to a book while doing chemistry equations and tell you everything about both of them if you ask them about it later. I don't exactly trip while chewing gum and walking at the same time, but focusing on two cerebral matters at once is beyond me. So, the only time I listen to audiobooks is when I have a mundane task to perform at work (of which there are plenty at certain parts of the year) or when I'm driving sometimes. That way if I miss something because I have to actually use my brain to do something else for a few seconds, it's no big deal because I've already read it. However, these books are out of print and quite expensive. Luckily the audiobook was affordable, so here we are. I don't think I would've attempted a listen if I hadn't already seen the movies and knew that the books and the movies are quite similar. Besides, my thoughts about whether or not an audiobook counts as a real book normally run like this:
But desperate times call for desperate measures, and it looks like I was willing to sell my soul in this situation. I guess it's true that everyone has his price. BUT! I will point out that whenever anyone asks how many books I read in a year, I let them know that my total count (which I pull from Goodreads stats) includes audiobooks which I don't think should really count. That's how I manage to get to sleep at night.
Johnny Heller read both of these, and he did a great job. He's not on the top tier for my favorite narrators, but he's pretty damn close, and I think he did a better job with the second book. Or maybe I was just used to him doing Kolchak by that time. I couldn't get Darren McGavin out of my head for the first book, and my brain kept trying to paste his voice over Heller's. For the second one I pictured McGavin, but was fine with Heller providing the voice.
Check these out if you enjoyed the movies or the old show.
The Night Stalker: ★★★★✰
The Night Strangler: ★★★★✰
This is a new experience for me. I've never listened to an audiobook without having read it for real first. I can't multitask for shit. (I'm led to believe that most men can't and most of my women friends are definitely better at it than I am.) I have friends who could listen to a book while doing chemistry equations and tell you everything about both of them if you ask them about it later. I don't exactly trip while chewing gum and walking at the same time, but focusing on two cerebral matters at once is beyond me. So, the only time I listen to audiobooks is when I have a mundane task to perform at work (of which there are plenty at certain parts of the year) or when I'm driving sometimes. That way if I miss something because I have to actually use my brain to do something else for a few seconds, it's no big deal because I've already read it. However, these books are out of print and quite expensive. Luckily the audiobook was affordable, so here we are. I don't think I would've attempted a listen if I hadn't already seen the movies and knew that the books and the movies are quite similar. Besides, my thoughts about whether or not an audiobook counts as a real book normally run like this:
But desperate times call for desperate measures, and it looks like I was willing to sell my soul in this situation. I guess it's true that everyone has his price. BUT! I will point out that whenever anyone asks how many books I read in a year, I let them know that my total count (which I pull from Goodreads stats) includes audiobooks which I don't think should really count. That's how I manage to get to sleep at night.
Johnny Heller read both of these, and he did a great job. He's not on the top tier for my favorite narrators, but he's pretty damn close, and I think he did a better job with the second book. Or maybe I was just used to him doing Kolchak by that time. I couldn't get Darren McGavin out of my head for the first book, and my brain kept trying to paste his voice over Heller's. For the second one I pictured McGavin, but was fine with Heller providing the voice.
Check these out if you enjoyed the movies or the old show.
July 2, 2018
I first saw the movie in '72, and have seen it many times since. I was happy to acquire my copy of the original novel The Kolchak Papers, better known as The Night Stalker, but would like to have read it without already knowing the story so well. Jeff Rice's novel is a perfect horror novel in just about every way. This is out of print and can be pricey, but if you are a horror buff, you must read it. Just beware of the typos. Wow, there is a typo every page or two. Hopefully the publisher of my edition found enough money to hire a proofreader. I agree with another reviewer and give it only four stars because of the typos.
February 8, 2022
Very nostalgic for me, having seen the original TV series. Both novels were good, although I did like the Night Stalker better. Solid narration.
March 14, 2022
Collected here are the novels that started it all and introduced us to reporter Carl Kolchack and his quest for the truth.
The Nightstalker was famously adapted by Richard Matheson in a TV movie, which stared Darren McGavin, and was produced by Dan Curtis. The Night Stalker is classic and absolutely holds up. It still holds the record for the most watched TV ever.
Following the success of the TV movie, a sequel was commissioned. It’s good but not as great as its predecessor. Jeff Rice adapted Matheson’s screenplay for the sequel and improved upon the story. It still suffers on some areas but Rice added touches which improved upon the villain in my opinion.
The Nightstalker, and Jeff Rice, should be more widely known and appreciated. If you are in the mood for a truly great vampire story check this book out.
The Nightstalker was famously adapted by Richard Matheson in a TV movie, which stared Darren McGavin, and was produced by Dan Curtis. The Night Stalker is classic and absolutely holds up. It still holds the record for the most watched TV ever.
Following the success of the TV movie, a sequel was commissioned. It’s good but not as great as its predecessor. Jeff Rice adapted Matheson’s screenplay for the sequel and improved upon the story. It still suffers on some areas but Rice added touches which improved upon the villain in my opinion.
The Nightstalker, and Jeff Rice, should be more widely known and appreciated. If you are in the mood for a truly great vampire story check this book out.
September 3, 2019
About 25 years ago, I met Kolchak for the first time. It was through an episode of the original TV series. I'd watched it because I'd heard it was a major influence on The X-Files, which I was obsessed over at the time. I watched that episode, and I loved every minute. I hunted down the two TV movies and every single episode of the show (on VHS from Columbia House!). I needed to find The Kolchak Papers, the novel the first movie was based on. This was back when the internet was in its infancy. I had to search through Xeroxed catalogues, and if I ever found a copy, it was ridiculously expensive.
Fast forward to maybe 10 years ago. I saw that Moonstone had put both original books together into one volume and brought them back into print. I found them at a comic book convention (back when comic book conventions were about comic books) and snagged a copy. I was ecstatic! But I wasn't ready for it yet. If I'd jumped in, I'd consume it like an animal, and I wouldn't savor it. I waited.
And waited. And waited.
I finally read it, and I'm glad I took my time with it. Jeff Rice writes like white hot lightning. Every page sizzles with his breakneck prose. These books were everything I wanted them to be and more. I had to find out more about the author, and more importantly I wanted to find out what else he wrote.
It's kind of a crime that while Rice's creation has a Wikipedia page, Rice himself does not. And there were no other novels. He, like Kolchak, was a lifelong newsman. I also discovered that around the time I was buying this book, he passed away. No one seems to know how he died. A part of me wonders if maybe he was working a story, and maybe the villain got to him before he could get to the villain . . . The villain being a werewolf. Or an invisible man. Or maybe even a creature from a certain Black Lagoon.
Rice was royally screwed over by Hollywood, so it's not all that surprising that he turned off creatively. The only rights he had to Kolchak was that he could write about him, but not for movies or TV. That's a shame. I think of all the money he could have made off the TV series (and even the horrendous remake), and it's enough to make a boozed up newsman weep.
There is only one thing I can't stand about this book. Typos are rampant. Considering how I'm certain the original manuscripts probably weren't saved on a computer anywhere, I can only assume Moonstone typed both books fresh from the original paperbacks, and for some bizarre reason, they didn't go back and proofread it. They just ran it through spellcheck and called it a day. I'm not kidding when I say there is at least one typo every three pages.
If you can grit your teeth through the typos, then you will be greatly rewarded with two great books about a great character.
Fast forward to maybe 10 years ago. I saw that Moonstone had put both original books together into one volume and brought them back into print. I found them at a comic book convention (back when comic book conventions were about comic books) and snagged a copy. I was ecstatic! But I wasn't ready for it yet. If I'd jumped in, I'd consume it like an animal, and I wouldn't savor it. I waited.
And waited. And waited.
I finally read it, and I'm glad I took my time with it. Jeff Rice writes like white hot lightning. Every page sizzles with his breakneck prose. These books were everything I wanted them to be and more. I had to find out more about the author, and more importantly I wanted to find out what else he wrote.
It's kind of a crime that while Rice's creation has a Wikipedia page, Rice himself does not. And there were no other novels. He, like Kolchak, was a lifelong newsman. I also discovered that around the time I was buying this book, he passed away. No one seems to know how he died. A part of me wonders if maybe he was working a story, and maybe the villain got to him before he could get to the villain . . . The villain being a werewolf. Or an invisible man. Or maybe even a creature from a certain Black Lagoon.
Rice was royally screwed over by Hollywood, so it's not all that surprising that he turned off creatively. The only rights he had to Kolchak was that he could write about him, but not for movies or TV. That's a shame. I think of all the money he could have made off the TV series (and even the horrendous remake), and it's enough to make a boozed up newsman weep.
There is only one thing I can't stand about this book. Typos are rampant. Considering how I'm certain the original manuscripts probably weren't saved on a computer anywhere, I can only assume Moonstone typed both books fresh from the original paperbacks, and for some bizarre reason, they didn't go back and proofread it. They just ran it through spellcheck and called it a day. I'm not kidding when I say there is at least one typo every three pages.
If you can grit your teeth through the typos, then you will be greatly rewarded with two great books about a great character.
October 1, 2021
Picture this-a ten year old with a bedtime set in stone, makes it her aim to learn how to programme the VCR in order to tape the diabolically named, and triple circled, late night monster film showing. Scheduled in the tv listings as Dr Terror's House of Horror, this late Friday night/early Saturday morning double film feature was introduced by a
devilish character, Dr Terror, with an episode of the Night Stalker.
This was pre-internet, pre-dvd, pre anything , if you missed it, you can next to no chance to watch these again.
After weeks, I finally managed to work it out, and when everyone else was having a lie in, I curled up on the settee to experience my first Hammer horror films, and 'The Spanish Moss Murders'
I was hooked.
There were 2 novels, 2 tv series and numerous fan fiction which was bundled together in anthologies and graphic novels, that extended the universe of the not so humble investigative journalist, Carl Kolchak.
This character was said to be the inspiration for programs such as Buffy The Vampire Slayer, The X-Files, Millennium, Inside Number 9, and many more film and tv makers and writers.
It doesn't appear to be anywhere via streaming channels on the UK, but can be purchased via Apple TV on an episode/series basis.
The Night Stalker
Set in 1970's Las Vegas, our erstwhile reporter is called back from vacation to cover a story for his editor, the inimitable Tony Vincenzo. A young woman, walking home from her job in the casino, is found dead, and drained of blood. This unusual detail in the autopsy sparks Kolchak's imagination, he has contacts in the medical and police departments who supply him with things that do not usually make the newspapers.
When a second, then a third girl is found dead, and a local hospital robbed of its blood bank supplies, all the police, and Kolchak have to go on is that this is a preternaturally tall man, very pale, dressed all in black, with the worst case of halitosis ever.
So, not much to go on.
Kolchak's girlfriend is a worker in the casinos and apart from being worried about her, he is also concerned that the bureaucratic process is being favoured over the rights of the public to know that there is, quite possibly, a psychopath on the loose who believes they are a vampire.
And that is without trying to get Tony to print his stories using the 'v' word, on the front page.
Torn between his journalistic instincts, his need to be truthful and his own ambition, Kolchak researches what would make a man think he is a vampire. And here, you get a whistle stop tour on the history of vampires, including those decidedly human monsters ,who believed that blood would keep them young.
His face off with the powers that be ends up with a deal made with the devil, just what is Kolchak prepared to do to get his stories recognised as prize winning journalism?
The Night Strangler
Following the events of The Night Stalker, Kolchak is on the move, once again, and finds himself in the city of Seattle,
where he throws himself once more, on the mercies of Tony Vincenzo,(who thought he had gotten away from Karl) and sets himself up as a roving reporter.
Covering the local crime section, he finds a creeping sense of deja vu, as he looks into the deaths of young women, with their necks snapped like firewood, and tiny amounts of blood missing from the back of their heads.
The only forensic evidence to be taken from the bodies, is fragments of decomposing flesh from their necks.
Using his prior knowledge of there being more things in heaven and earth than can be imagined, he reconnects with some familiar faces, and maybe, just maybe, falls in love...
So, what did I love about these novels? The reader, Johnny Heller, inhabits the role as if it were made for him. He captures perfectly the way that Kolchak has this staccato delivery of his stream of consciousness tapes , that record the happenings in Vegas and Seattle. The 1970's settings feel both retro and also strangely familiar, the quest for the truth versus promoting a particular agenda has never been more relevant. In the era of fake news, there is a distinct lack of journalistic integrity and a need for truth which is often left unfulfilled, even by once great institutions as the BBC. Everyone has an angle. The fact that Kolchak will go to any lengths to print what he has seen , is so commendable, and at the same time , you can see why he never gets the recognition he deserves.
If he writes as he narrates into his tape recorder, he would have been unstoppable. Unbullyable, unmovable and implacable in the face of
There are some aspects of 70's life which does stand out as dated in this age, and yet, there are still such similarities. The focus on money and station over truth is universal and timeless, the fact that the women are seen as casualties of a high risk lifestyle, rather than someone's daughter, mother, child, is a constant theme.
The terror engendered by these tales of monsters who walk among us, are interspersed with interjections from Jeff Rice, where he has annotated longer pages, or provided context, which adds to the impression that this is 'found footage' , as well as the cinema verite style of narration 'as it happens' which puts you in the passenger seat of Kolchak's car.
The female characters are easily Kolchak's equals, his constant sparring with boss Tony, his inside knowledge gleaned
by years of grooming those who fly under the gaze of those too busy looking for the next sucker, all of this creates such an intense and relatable atmosphere. The bright lights and reputation of Vegas call out to those who want to experience the excesses of life, whatever money can afford. But behind those bright lights are dark shadows, and there lurks evil. He gives a name to the victims, a background and a dignity in death which feels like something which should have been given in life. He appreciates those seen as lower on the ladder-the cleaners, the casino workers, belly dancers and doormen-because they see, they observe what lies beneath the glitter, and , in the case of Seattle, what actually lies under the city.
Reading about a city which has a whole city under the foundations was absolutely fascinating, and I enjoyed the brief sojourn out of the glare of street lights, it was so well described I felt I could see every detail, every cobweb, could hear the drip of water on stone. In Vegas it was the alleys and back yards of the rich and famous that played host to evil, in Seattle it was under the ground-in both locations, you felt that there were two worlds, one of those with, and one of those without. And the ones preyed on were also prey to those who have it all, things social standing, capital, and the right lifestyles. But what they did not have, was integrity and this is what keeps you listening, and wanting to know what happens after the end of these novels. They, alas, make up the original and only tales of Kolchak written by their creator, Jeff Rice.
Subsequent to the tv series and movies (all available on Youtube) the adventures of Carl continue in the form of graphic novels, short story collections and novels. Why is he still remembered so fondly and held in such regard? Maybe it's because we believe him, and we keep following his trails in the hope that someone in a position of power might, just might, one day give him his dues.
devilish character, Dr Terror, with an episode of the Night Stalker.
This was pre-internet, pre-dvd, pre anything , if you missed it, you can next to no chance to watch these again.
After weeks, I finally managed to work it out, and when everyone else was having a lie in, I curled up on the settee to experience my first Hammer horror films, and 'The Spanish Moss Murders'
I was hooked.
There were 2 novels, 2 tv series and numerous fan fiction which was bundled together in anthologies and graphic novels, that extended the universe of the not so humble investigative journalist, Carl Kolchak.
This character was said to be the inspiration for programs such as Buffy The Vampire Slayer, The X-Files, Millennium, Inside Number 9, and many more film and tv makers and writers.
It doesn't appear to be anywhere via streaming channels on the UK, but can be purchased via Apple TV on an episode/series basis.
The Night Stalker
Set in 1970's Las Vegas, our erstwhile reporter is called back from vacation to cover a story for his editor, the inimitable Tony Vincenzo. A young woman, walking home from her job in the casino, is found dead, and drained of blood. This unusual detail in the autopsy sparks Kolchak's imagination, he has contacts in the medical and police departments who supply him with things that do not usually make the newspapers.
When a second, then a third girl is found dead, and a local hospital robbed of its blood bank supplies, all the police, and Kolchak have to go on is that this is a preternaturally tall man, very pale, dressed all in black, with the worst case of halitosis ever.
So, not much to go on.
Kolchak's girlfriend is a worker in the casinos and apart from being worried about her, he is also concerned that the bureaucratic process is being favoured over the rights of the public to know that there is, quite possibly, a psychopath on the loose who believes they are a vampire.
And that is without trying to get Tony to print his stories using the 'v' word, on the front page.
Torn between his journalistic instincts, his need to be truthful and his own ambition, Kolchak researches what would make a man think he is a vampire. And here, you get a whistle stop tour on the history of vampires, including those decidedly human monsters ,who believed that blood would keep them young.
His face off with the powers that be ends up with a deal made with the devil, just what is Kolchak prepared to do to get his stories recognised as prize winning journalism?
The Night Strangler
Following the events of The Night Stalker, Kolchak is on the move, once again, and finds himself in the city of Seattle,
where he throws himself once more, on the mercies of Tony Vincenzo,(who thought he had gotten away from Karl) and sets himself up as a roving reporter.
Covering the local crime section, he finds a creeping sense of deja vu, as he looks into the deaths of young women, with their necks snapped like firewood, and tiny amounts of blood missing from the back of their heads.
The only forensic evidence to be taken from the bodies, is fragments of decomposing flesh from their necks.
Using his prior knowledge of there being more things in heaven and earth than can be imagined, he reconnects with some familiar faces, and maybe, just maybe, falls in love...
So, what did I love about these novels? The reader, Johnny Heller, inhabits the role as if it were made for him. He captures perfectly the way that Kolchak has this staccato delivery of his stream of consciousness tapes , that record the happenings in Vegas and Seattle. The 1970's settings feel both retro and also strangely familiar, the quest for the truth versus promoting a particular agenda has never been more relevant. In the era of fake news, there is a distinct lack of journalistic integrity and a need for truth which is often left unfulfilled, even by once great institutions as the BBC. Everyone has an angle. The fact that Kolchak will go to any lengths to print what he has seen , is so commendable, and at the same time , you can see why he never gets the recognition he deserves.
If he writes as he narrates into his tape recorder, he would have been unstoppable. Unbullyable, unmovable and implacable in the face of
There are some aspects of 70's life which does stand out as dated in this age, and yet, there are still such similarities. The focus on money and station over truth is universal and timeless, the fact that the women are seen as casualties of a high risk lifestyle, rather than someone's daughter, mother, child, is a constant theme.
The terror engendered by these tales of monsters who walk among us, are interspersed with interjections from Jeff Rice, where he has annotated longer pages, or provided context, which adds to the impression that this is 'found footage' , as well as the cinema verite style of narration 'as it happens' which puts you in the passenger seat of Kolchak's car.
The female characters are easily Kolchak's equals, his constant sparring with boss Tony, his inside knowledge gleaned
by years of grooming those who fly under the gaze of those too busy looking for the next sucker, all of this creates such an intense and relatable atmosphere. The bright lights and reputation of Vegas call out to those who want to experience the excesses of life, whatever money can afford. But behind those bright lights are dark shadows, and there lurks evil. He gives a name to the victims, a background and a dignity in death which feels like something which should have been given in life. He appreciates those seen as lower on the ladder-the cleaners, the casino workers, belly dancers and doormen-because they see, they observe what lies beneath the glitter, and , in the case of Seattle, what actually lies under the city.
Reading about a city which has a whole city under the foundations was absolutely fascinating, and I enjoyed the brief sojourn out of the glare of street lights, it was so well described I felt I could see every detail, every cobweb, could hear the drip of water on stone. In Vegas it was the alleys and back yards of the rich and famous that played host to evil, in Seattle it was under the ground-in both locations, you felt that there were two worlds, one of those with, and one of those without. And the ones preyed on were also prey to those who have it all, things social standing, capital, and the right lifestyles. But what they did not have, was integrity and this is what keeps you listening, and wanting to know what happens after the end of these novels. They, alas, make up the original and only tales of Kolchak written by their creator, Jeff Rice.
Subsequent to the tv series and movies (all available on Youtube) the adventures of Carl continue in the form of graphic novels, short story collections and novels. Why is he still remembered so fondly and held in such regard? Maybe it's because we believe him, and we keep following his trails in the hope that someone in a position of power might, just might, one day give him his dues.
April 12, 2020
I loved Kolchak as a kid, so when I saw this, I simply had to listen to it. As in almost all collections, the quality varies, and, as stories, I loved the second (probably because I had both, Kolchak and Holmes and Watson), and really didn't like the last.
But the thing is, I love Kolchak. I love that when we know him he is well in his way down, I love that he knows it and still he goes after the truth at any cost, I love the way in which he can't help himself and keeps his tongue running and gets himself in even more troubles.
So this is probably a very biased review, but... I love this guy! :P
But the thing is, I love Kolchak. I love that when we know him he is well in his way down, I love that he knows it and still he goes after the truth at any cost, I love the way in which he can't help himself and keeps his tongue running and gets himself in even more troubles.
So this is probably a very biased review, but... I love this guy! :P
April 19, 2020
I am a huge fan of both of the TV-movies from the 1970's, The Night Stalker and The Night Strangler. After reading both Jeff Rice novels, upon which those movies were based, I have to say I was quite disappointed. First off, the Carl Kolchak of the novels is quite different from the lovable character created by the late actor Darrn McGavin. Second of all, and most important: the writing is tedious with too much overly detailed minutiae done at the expense of plot and charachter.
October 25, 2016
Jeff Rice is the creator of the character of Carl Kolchak. Like any father, he lovingly presents his character in full color - warts an all. The basis for the tv series and two movies are all here. These tales about a vampire and an ageless man will make you shiver. While Mr. Rice is not the most gifted of writers, his visceral and colorful style carry these classic tales of terror.
August 24, 2020
*** Liked it
Recommended for hard core vampire novel fans
Recommended for lover of the 1972 TV movie.
I picked up this book because I loved the original made-for-TV movie that aired on ABC in 1972. I still think the premise is the best vampire setup of all time and I have read a bunch of them. Well, it might be a tie between this one and Vampire$, but it is close. This is well before we had the Twilight series, Salem’s Lot, Let the Right One In, Interview with a Vampire, the Guilty Pleasures series, and the Passage. The idea that a vampire killing spree might look like a serial killer on the loose to the Las Vegas police department is fascinating and made a huge dent in my newly forming teenage brain. The main character, Kolchak, was played by the great Darren McGavin and he totally elevates this TV movie to way higher ground then it should be. So I have a soft spot in my heart for it. When I saw the audible book was available, I jumped at it.
The written story is nothing spectacular, almost word for word from the teleplay. The book narrator, Johnny Heller, didn’t have the gravitas of the voice over by Darren McGavin in the movie. How could he? And listening to the audible book, I realized how much t music score in a TV movie can add to the ambience. The book narration without it was pretty flat. The only thing the TV writers changed was the book ending. In the book, the cops chase the vampire back to his house at dawn and kill him because the vampire was stupid. After living for almost two centuries, he makes a simple mistake and dies. That is the dumbest ending to any vampire story I have ever read. No wonder the TV show changed it. The second book in The Kolchak Papers is the Night Strangler and it is even lower quality than the first. They made a TV movie of it too and it is also lower grade.
With all of that, I still liked it. I wouldn’t recommend it unless you are hard core vampire fans or loved the TV show like I did.
Sources
"The Kolchak Papers: The Original Novels: Kolchak: The Night Stalker & The Night Strangler)” by Jeff Rice, narrated by Johnny Heller, Moonstone Press, 20 November 20 2007
Recommended for hard core vampire novel fans
Recommended for lover of the 1972 TV movie.
I picked up this book because I loved the original made-for-TV movie that aired on ABC in 1972. I still think the premise is the best vampire setup of all time and I have read a bunch of them. Well, it might be a tie between this one and Vampire$, but it is close. This is well before we had the Twilight series, Salem’s Lot, Let the Right One In, Interview with a Vampire, the Guilty Pleasures series, and the Passage. The idea that a vampire killing spree might look like a serial killer on the loose to the Las Vegas police department is fascinating and made a huge dent in my newly forming teenage brain. The main character, Kolchak, was played by the great Darren McGavin and he totally elevates this TV movie to way higher ground then it should be. So I have a soft spot in my heart for it. When I saw the audible book was available, I jumped at it.
The written story is nothing spectacular, almost word for word from the teleplay. The book narrator, Johnny Heller, didn’t have the gravitas of the voice over by Darren McGavin in the movie. How could he? And listening to the audible book, I realized how much t music score in a TV movie can add to the ambience. The book narration without it was pretty flat. The only thing the TV writers changed was the book ending. In the book, the cops chase the vampire back to his house at dawn and kill him because the vampire was stupid. After living for almost two centuries, he makes a simple mistake and dies. That is the dumbest ending to any vampire story I have ever read. No wonder the TV show changed it. The second book in The Kolchak Papers is the Night Strangler and it is even lower quality than the first. They made a TV movie of it too and it is also lower grade.
With all of that, I still liked it. I wouldn’t recommend it unless you are hard core vampire fans or loved the TV show like I did.
Sources
"The Kolchak Papers: The Original Novels: Kolchak: The Night Stalker & The Night Strangler)” by Jeff Rice, narrated by Johnny Heller, Moonstone Press, 20 November 20 2007
February 22, 2022
I read each of the novels individually; this is a combined review of the two for this combined release.
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. The first 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.
In the second book, the roles were reversed - now Rice was writing a book based on the screenplay by Matheson. Surprisingly, I haven't seen the film in question, but this book reads like a novelization - it is a quick read, fun and few complaints. I especially enjoyed the role Seattle history and geography played in this story.
While Carl Kolchak saw a lot of things other people didn't, it was nice for the police to see something he didn't here. There is considerably less infodump in this book than in the first one. I liked the strong character of Louise Harper.
Near as I can tell, Jeff Rice didn't write anything more in this genre. Other novels, comics and collections of stories are available from Moonstone Press, who published the two combined Jeff Rice books as The Kolchak Papers.
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. The first 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.
In the second book, the roles were reversed - now Rice was writing a book based on the screenplay by Matheson. Surprisingly, I haven't seen the film in question, but this book reads like a novelization - it is a quick read, fun and few complaints. I especially enjoyed the role Seattle history and geography played in this story.
While Carl Kolchak saw a lot of things other people didn't, it was nice for the police to see something he didn't here. There is considerably less infodump in this book than in the first one. I liked the strong character of Louise Harper.
Near as I can tell, Jeff Rice didn't write anything more in this genre. Other novels, comics and collections of stories are available from Moonstone Press, who published the two combined Jeff Rice books as The Kolchak Papers.
January 23, 2025
When I saw this available, I knew I had to have it in my Audible library. Nightstalker was one of my favorite shows when it was on and it only lasted a season. So I'm glad these books are out there and I cannot believe it took me this long to find them!! These books were the inspiration for the show.
This is a collection of books from Jeff Rice, Joe Gentile, and C J Henderson and starts with the vampire in Vegas for Night Stalker then Night Strangler when Kolchak moved to Seattle. The following book is by Joe Gentile called Cry of Thunder: Sherlock Holmes and Kolchak which this story was sort of all over the place, not just in past/present, but it tied together and I just had to be patient.
Kolchak and the Lost World - C J Henderson, was the last book and it was humdinger.
I enjoyed each of them but Nightstalker was my absolute favorite since it hit my retro show mood buttons wonderfully.
I will be looking for more of the Kolchak books, especially in audio format.
I can absolutely recommend this book and authors.
This is a collection of books from Jeff Rice, Joe Gentile, and C J Henderson and starts with the vampire in Vegas for Night Stalker then Night Strangler when Kolchak moved to Seattle. The following book is by Joe Gentile called Cry of Thunder: Sherlock Holmes and Kolchak which this story was sort of all over the place, not just in past/present, but it tied together and I just had to be patient.
Kolchak and the Lost World - C J Henderson, was the last book and it was humdinger.
I enjoyed each of them but Nightstalker was my absolute favorite since it hit my retro show mood buttons wonderfully.
I will be looking for more of the Kolchak books, especially in audio format.
I can absolutely recommend this book and authors.
September 9, 2022
This is an audible reading by. It seems to take forever with all the prologues. Finally,
Chapter 4 "the Night Stalker'. A good story. Very small cast despite big storyline. It's told through the eyes of Karl Kolchak, a journalist, who investigates a series of murders for his paper and comes up with one conclusion: a vampire... or perhaps is it a vampire-wannabe? It's so easy to get drawn into the murky world that author Jeff Rice conjures up. And narrator Johnny Heller is on top form as the voice of Kolchak. Naturally, we are given a real answer as to whether the serial killer is a vampire or not. 8/10
Chapter 27 'the Night Strangler'.
The Night Strangler
In the audible audio 'The Kolchak Papers' starts at Chapter 27. 8/10
Scoring: 0 bad; 1-3 poor; 4-6 average; 7-9 good; 10 excellent.
Chapter 4 "the Night Stalker'. A good story. Very small cast despite big storyline. It's told through the eyes of Karl Kolchak, a journalist, who investigates a series of murders for his paper and comes up with one conclusion: a vampire... or perhaps is it a vampire-wannabe? It's so easy to get drawn into the murky world that author Jeff Rice conjures up. And narrator Johnny Heller is on top form as the voice of Kolchak. Naturally, we are given a real answer as to whether the serial killer is a vampire or not. 8/10
Chapter 27 'the Night Strangler'.
The Night Strangler
In the audible audio 'The Kolchak Papers' starts at Chapter 27. 8/10
Scoring: 0 bad; 1-3 poor; 4-6 average; 7-9 good; 10 excellent.
April 13, 2022
This is a great introduction to the world of Kolchak, but despite my high rating, I'm not sure how much I can actually recommend it to its most likely audience - die-hard Kolchak fans. The reason being is both books are largely identical to the two made-for-TV movies - The Night Stalker and The Night Strangler - adapted by Richard Matheson. Even the dialogue appears to have carried over beat-for-beat. There are a few differences here and there (for instance, Kolchak's girlfriend in the first movie is completely absent from the book), and the books do provide a more in-depth view of Kolchak's background and personality. Still, they aren't too far off from the source material. However, it's a great way to see where it all began.
November 28, 2021
When I was in my teens I saw The Night Stalker and thought it was scariest and best thing I’d seen. Then later came The Night Strangler, which was better. So when I found this, I was intrigued.
Since the main character is a newspaper reporter, and I believe the author as well, the stories read very much like a newspaper article. This is both good and bad. The descriptions are very dry, but the background info is very interesting.
I like the character Kolchak in the TV movies, but here he was a little overbearing and not a reliable narrator. He is always right and a lady killer.
Quick easy read, with added bonus of nostalgia. Recommend.
Since the main character is a newspaper reporter, and I believe the author as well, the stories read very much like a newspaper article. This is both good and bad. The descriptions are very dry, but the background info is very interesting.
I like the character Kolchak in the TV movies, but here he was a little overbearing and not a reliable narrator. He is always right and a lady killer.
Quick easy read, with added bonus of nostalgia. Recommend.
June 27, 2018
Carl Kolchak- like the guy in the old American Express commercials or the bald guy from the Weather Channel, you know when Kolchak shows up, shit just got real!
The Night Stalker-I was allowed to stay up till 1130 on Friday nights to watch this show with my cousins (what were my parents thinking?), and it always scared the crap out of me. These two novels lay the frame work for the old tv show, about a Mike Hammer style investigative journalist who happens to stumble on monsters rather than mobsters. I loved it and find the original novels still pack the punch.
The Night Stalker-I was allowed to stay up till 1130 on Friday nights to watch this show with my cousins (what were my parents thinking?), and it always scared the crap out of me. These two novels lay the frame work for the old tv show, about a Mike Hammer style investigative journalist who happens to stumble on monsters rather than mobsters. I loved it and find the original novels still pack the punch.
February 12, 2022
I listened to these on Audible where they are fabulously narrated by Johnny Heller and I'm therefore not troubled by the typos that other reviewers are complaining about. Currently this volume is included with Audible membership so take the opportunity to listen now while it's free.
These stories are the precursors to the X files. Karl Kolchak is a classic hard nosed middle aged heavy drinking reporter who won't let a story go and helps the police to fight supernatural crime. It's worth listening to just for him - his dialogue is very consistent and authentic.
These stories are the precursors to the X files. Karl Kolchak is a classic hard nosed middle aged heavy drinking reporter who won't let a story go and helps the police to fight supernatural crime. It's worth listening to just for him - his dialogue is very consistent and authentic.
March 19, 2024
"The Kolchak Papers: The Original Novels" (2007, 2016) by Jeff Rice presents two entertaining novels. The first is the original “The Night Stalker” modern-day Las Vegas vampire story that spawned a highly successful 1972 TV movie. The second is a novelization of “The Night Strangler,” the 1973 sequel about the multiple murders of young women in Seattle. The plot device of the author as a character writing from notes left by dogged reporter Carl Kolchak is effective. Some historical material runs a bit long. Johnny Heller’s narration is well done. Solidly recommended.
November 23, 2019
THE KOLCHAK PAPERS by Jeff Rice - a combined volume of the first two Kolchak novels. The first, THE NIGHT HUNTER was the basis for the first Kolchak TV-movie, with a screenplay by Richard Matheson. Then Matheson wrote an original screenplay for the follow-up TV-movie, THE NIGHT STRANGLER, and Jeff Rice wrote a novelization of Matheson’s script. Not bad, though I think more of historical interest at this point (though I’d be interested to hear a case for them made on their own merits).
February 3, 2022
I'm going to be honest and say I'm probably only giving this a 3 star rating due to how much I loved the TV show as a kid. I remember Kolchak from the series as being slovenly but charming, and I just didn't like the book character as much. That being said, I could be remembering wrong as it's been quite a while. At any rate, this is one of those ultra-rare occasions where the book was not superior, at least for me.
September 14, 2024
Second novel here somewhat suffers from clearly being a VERY truncated novelisation of the second Kolchak movie (still haven't seen) that Rice is clearly incredibly frustrated with having to write (fascinating in its own right) but there's so much weirdo pulp frenetic energy to spare here, fascinating to see the beginnings of one of the greatest characters in Nu Gothic literature, with facets of him we've never been privy to before.
March 24, 2021
I saw the movies that were made from the two stories in this book when they first came out in the 1970's....when I was a little kid. THey were scarier then, but the book was a great read and its amazing to hear the news from 1972 being spoken about---15% unemployment..stagflation----and so on. Really good book..enjoyed it...
May 17, 2024
Unfortunately, after a really strong start with Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Jeff Rice doesn’t manage to follow through with the sequel, The Night Strangler, which just feels clumsy and forced in comparison.
The two stories written by other authors do nothing to help this book, with Joe Gentile's Kolchak/Sherlock Holmes crossover having an interesting premise, but failing to actually go anywhere interesting, and featuring a supernatural twist which felt entirely unnecessary. Similarly, C. J. Henderson's offering felt like a short story with a mountain of padding and an ending which begged the question: "huh?"
I listened to this as an audiobook, and the narrator does a great job for the most part, so there is that. Otherwise, I’d suggest just reading the first book and leaving the other three out, there are much better things to be spending your time on.
The two stories written by other authors do nothing to help this book, with Joe Gentile's Kolchak/Sherlock Holmes crossover having an interesting premise, but failing to actually go anywhere interesting, and featuring a supernatural twist which felt entirely unnecessary. Similarly, C. J. Henderson's offering felt like a short story with a mountain of padding and an ending which begged the question: "huh?"
I listened to this as an audiobook, and the narrator does a great job for the most part, so there is that. Otherwise, I’d suggest just reading the first book and leaving the other three out, there are much better things to be spending your time on.
December 28, 2019
This book collects the two original Jeff Rice stories and two additional stories. The two Jeff Rice stories are great but the other two really bring down my rating. Stick with the The Kolchak Papers which just contains the original Jeff Rice stories.
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