The Summoned

by Steven Ray Fulgham

The spawn of sinful monks and a terrified young nun in the sixteenth century, a hideous incubus takes the form of a demonic lover, a preacher's wife, and a tormented teen in order to satisfy its lust for vengeance

Genres: Horror

Paperback

First published May 1, 1991

Reviews

[Jack Tripper · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cover of the 1991 Diamond Books mass-market (323 pages). I couldn't wait to open it and see the stepback image, but alas, there wasn't one (publishers started to cheap out on that sort of thing by the early 90s). Still a cool cover, though.

[Wayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

"It was born in sin." That's what the back of the book proclaims. Sin and sin again it does. A nun in 1590 Spain, in the middle of the inquisition, is made to lay down with a monk and is Impregnated. The nun's force her to put the newborn in the catacombs under the abbey to die. She makes a pact with evil to save her baby. It becomes Bargolas, a demon that when summoned can grant your every desire.

This book is all over the place. But in a good way. We start off in Washington in 1970 with a teenager "Summoning" the demon to get back at some bullies. Then off to Kansas in the 40's. Then Baltimore in the 20's. All have to do with unfulfilled women's, except the 70's teen boy, sexual fantasies. This leads to a lot of filthy parts. Which leads to a lot of gory scenes. Lot of mayhem and bloodshed. This book would of got all five stars from me if only the author would of went down some other avenues. Like the summoning scenes are a blue print from hundreds of other places. Either way, this is one hell of a read.

[April · Rating 1 out of 5]

So I actually didn't finished this book. I couldn't. I got as far as *the coyote* and had to put it down and then really wished I hadn't kept reading because you broke the cardinal rule Steven. You killed the dog. You killed the dog when the dog is ALWAYS supposed to survive and the a-holes get their comeuppance, or the sweet little owner gets dragged to hell or what have you. BUT THE DOG IS ALWAYS SUPPOSED TO LIVE. And what's worse is even that far into the book we still hadn't been given a protagonist to root for. Should I have believed Stan was gonna turn it all around in the end? That Miles was going to actually do something?

No love. Just awful.