The Axman Cometh

by John Farris

An artist haunted by the memory of the man who murdered her entire family twenty years ago struggles to end the nightmare by recalling his face, until she is trapped in an elevator with the killer from long-ago

Genres: Horror, Fiction

269 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name

American writer and screenwriter of both adaptations of his own books (e.g. 'The Fury'), of the works of others (such as Alfred Bester's 'The Demolished Man') and original scripts. In 1973 he wrote and directed the film 'Dear Dead Delilah'. He has had several plays produced off-Broadway, and also paints and writes poetry. At various times he has made his home in New York, Southern California and Puerto Rico; he currently resides near Atlanta, Georgia. Early in his career he also wrote under the name Steve Brackeen.

Reviews

[Phil · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another 80s horror novel, this time by Farris. Truly a bizarre book to be sure. Shannon, the main protagonist, is the sole survivor of a murderous rampage by the Axman, who brutally slaughtered her entire family in Kansas when she was 17. Twenty years later, Shannon, after several years of therapy, is now living in NYC, working as an illustrator. After a meeting with her editor, she is riding the elevator down when the power goes out, leaving her stuck in a dark, with no way out. Don, her ex-fiancee, is waiting for her at a bar, and when she is very late, begins to worry, and sets out to find her.

So much for the plot. What makes this book bizarre has to do with the writing style. This is more of a stream of consciousness than a formal essay, with no chapters, and endless switching from the month before the axman in Kansas to Shannon's terrified musings in the elevator. It seems she is going insane, and having a conversation with the axman. Don, in his attempt to find her, teams up with Ernest Hemmingway (or his ghost, we are not sure), to hunt her down. The ending makes no sense at all. 1.5 stars.

[Adam Light · Rating 4 out of 5]

First farris novel for me. I was drawn to it because the title kicks ass. I won't go so far as to say the book follows.suit, but it was pretty good. I didn't read it in one sitting, as the author suggests, but I don't think it is necessary. If you are looking for something strange, it is worth a read.

[Иван Величков · Rating 4 out of 5]

Начи, голям съм пъпеш. Що реших да си почина от психопатщината на Кетчъм точно с Фарис е една от мистериите на вселената. Крайният резултат е, че съм още по-изклатен мозъчно от колкото бях преди прекъсването на „Съседката.“
Брадварят иде и нищо не може да го спре.
Едно просто спиране на тока оставя Шанън сама в асансьора, но тя не е сама от 20 години и... Брадварят иде.
Дон я чака в ресторанта, за да се изяснят защо го е зарязала пред олтара преди няколко месеца, но и той знае, че има проблем. Знае, че... Брадварят иде.
Двадесет години по-рано Шанън организира половинвековния юбилей на баща си. Парти с огромни размери, на което... Брадварят иде.
Терапията не е потиснала спомена, а едно специално умение на художничката е способно да събуди стария ужас и... Брадварят иде.
С напредването на малкото страници един паранормален трилър се измята в класически слашър, а после и в някаква надрусана приказка, пръкнала се от травмирано подсъзнание. Накрая читателят остава с отворена уста, а Брадварят иде.
Отдавна не ме е изненадвала така книга. Спокойно мога да и дам и една и пет звезди, ама смея ли? Щото... Брадварят иде.
Не мога да определя категорично стила, само знам, че няма нищо общо с внимателно подредената „Son of the Endless Night“. Тук Фарис просто се е пуснал по течението и... Брадварят иде.

[Leighah · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book started out well. I liked how you got to hear from both the victim and the killer's pov. But then the last quarter was really weird. It felt like the first 75% was written in one sitting and then the book was abandoned for a long time and then was picked up and finished as quickly as possible.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thought this was a pretty tense read but like someone else says the end way just out there. 4 stars until about 25 pages out then it lost one.

[Shane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not quite sure why this is supposed to be read in one sitting. I did this but could have quite happily had the same experience reading it over several sittings. Anyway, it was well written, just ever so slightly strange in places, but not nearly as weird as I was led to believe.

It is a very good read. Much better in fact than I was expecting it to be, but if I were recommending it to others to read, I'd skip all the hype I've seen in other reviews and in fact at the beginning of the book itself and simply read it when and how you would normally do with any other book, because when all's said and done, it really is just another book. Well written and interesting. I liked it.

I'd read more of his stuff.

[Ross Jeffery · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wasn’t hugely blown away with this one, experimental in theme, prose and formatting… enjoyed the risk taking in giving us something a little different and from the time, I’d say this was quite out there.

Was expecting a lot more Ax man involvement and horror, it was just a little tepid for me, not as much horror as I expected with the vintage horror cover and yet again another King blurb bigging it up!

I did enjoy it though, my first Farris book and I did look up another of this books I might try out soon, one about possession, which looked pretty cool!

[Ami E. Bowen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started reading this accidentally instead of another e-book, but once I was I found it hard to stop. Halfway through and it's getting weirder by the paragraph! Very strange but not the strangest book I've ever read.

[Russel Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book until about the last 20 pages. Maybe it's because I didn't read it one sitting but I couldn't make heads or tails of that ending. Fun read regardless of the ending, though. Highly recommend.

[Dalton Gibson · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the weirdest endings I've ever tried to read

[Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was a good slasher book until the bizarre ending.

[Matthew Pridham · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Axman Cometh doesn’t just offer the possibility of reading it in a single setting: it practically demands it. Farris, a horror novelist who was most popular in the 1980’s, writes a foreword in which he asks you to read it straight through. Shannon, the protagonist of this pulpy little novel, was the only survivor of her family when the titular Axman butchered them all one night years ago. In the present, she finds herself in a powerless elevator, convinced someone is in there with her. The novel slides between that plotline and her memories of the night of the massacre as we gradually learn what really happened. What starts off as a realistic if lurid thriller eventually evolves into a hallucinatory mindfuck. That may be a tiny bit of a spoiler, but I think you’ll enjoy this novel if you know it isn’t going where you might think it’s going.

I reviewed this book for my list of horror novels you can read in a single sitting. If you’re interested in similar titles, check out some of my favorites:

https://matthewpridham.wordpress.com/...

[Des · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book could’ve been good, and was very interesting towards the middle. The ending really ruined it for me, and left me very confused and just going wtf? Perhaps i just don’t understand it but the ending made no sense and the last page feels like it shouldn’t have been the last. I have it 2 stars just because I liked the middle

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

ahh when i was seventeen - read this in one sitting as the author challenges you to do so which means you miss the cracks in the plot and skip over some poor writing. it's a fun ride though and i'd recommend doing it in the one sitting

[Russell Holbrook · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Axman Cometh and the axman goeth and where he goes I do not knoweth. This book wasn't at all what I expected and not in a good way. I like John Farris but I didn't like this one so much. It's a really good book but it just wasn't for me.

[Shawn Manning · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this one until the end. Then it turned into one big WTF. Love Farris. Not so much this book.

[M.H. Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not what I was expecting, but still enjoyed it. Ending was weak though.

[Calvin ewashkiw · Rating 2 out of 5]

Strange fable. Fantasy ending wasnt very appealing.

[Gwen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this in one sitting as the author suggests (however that introduction from the author was a bit pretentious).

I enjoyed the book overall and was thinking how, yes, a person in the shadows of your bedroom watching you is pretty creepy and how, yes, having a vivid imagination that can make the things you have nightmares about come to life is also pretty creepy.
I have dreamed of Death as a man with a Katana who watches from the shadows (within a house) and likes to chop!
Also, this book takes the concept of falling in love with someone you just met and barely know being a scary experience to new levels!

I thought things got a bit (or a lot) confusing towards the end (last 1/3).
I am not sure what is going on and don't have a full understanding of the main character's supernatural ability (it seems she just has to think things or dream things for them to come alive however there's also a focus on her having to draw things into existence).
I'm also not fully sure I understand what happens at the end (it seems she becomes comatose or catatonic however I don't think you can really will yourself to not have nightmares).
I like that while the Axman (Rob) claims to love, adore, and desperately need Shannon (and he is certainly very passionate about his feelings for her!), Don also expresses that he loves her (less passionately so but not without passion) and he is very courageous in his endeavor to help her and save her life.

I had very strange thoughts lying in bed at night at 3AM after reading this then I had very strange dreams. I seem to have come to some sort of enlightenment about something in the dream world and have now lost it with waking life. I think it had something to do with how our perceptions and subjective experience of life is important even if objective reality is different.

On further thinking, I have two possible interpretations for the ending:

-she is comatose and has pulled Don's physical body into her dreams so he is stuck there and we don't get a view of what is going on in objective reality just what is going on in her dream state
-she has blended her dreams and objective reality so that what she dreams is objective reality now and she will never wake up or die

Anyway, the ending is definitely strange! I'm not in love with it, however, I do find it an interesting concept.

[Vincent · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit brutal, yet a good read. Interesting construction. I didn't read in one sitting, as per author's instructions, but got thru pretty quickly.

[Steven Short · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very lynchian, I liked it and it had some great moments but the ending confused me quite a bit. A lot more psychological, experiential, and symbolic than I was expecting.

[Roberta · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Nel giugno 1964 l'intera famiglia di Shannon è stata massacrata da uno psicopatico che si aggira per gli Stati Uniti. Shannon è sopravvissuta per miracolo, ma non ricorda. La sua mente confusa si rifiuta di vedere il volto dell'assassino. Vent'anni dopo a New York Shannon si trova chiusa con lui in un ascensore bloccato fra due piani di un vecchio palazzo; l'uomo con l'ascia la interroga, la sottopone a una sottile tortura psicologica per costringerla a rivivere il passato.” (sinossi da anobii.com)

Mi aspettavo una storia del genere “leggenda metropolitana” con il classico serial killer misterioso. Fra l’altro, avevo letto questo articolo sull’uomo con l’ascia originale, un serial killer che colpì New Orleans ad inizio Novecento, uccidendo perlopiù piccoli negozianti italiani. Il romanzo in oggetto invece si occupa di una ragazza, Shannon, che, intrappolata in un ascensore rimasto senza corrente elettrica nel suo luogo di lavoro, si trova a dover fronteggiare il “fantasma” dell’uomo con l’ascia. Shannon cerca di restare lucida mentre la sua mente fronteggia il passato, che ci viene introdotto tramite numerosi flashback. Fin qui rientriamo nel genere del thriller psicologico, e devo dire che l’atmosfera è resa molto bene dall’autore. Ma. Ad un certo punto entra in scena Don, legato a Shannon, che proprio quella sera doveva incontrarla in un bar. Mentre lei è bloccata nell’ascensore Don incontra Papa, ovvero Hemingway, o meglio il suo fantasma. E qui mi fermo, il libro è fuori stampa ma se qualcuno dovesse riuscire a recuperarlo non voglio rischiare di rovinare la lettura.
Diciamo solo che io non lo consiglio, mi sembra che Farris a metà romanzo sia finito fuori strada ed io sono ancora qui a chiedermi come cavolo è andato a finire il libro!

[freshet · Rating 4 out of 5]

fever dream fairy tale

-----
second read: i'll have to read it one more time to decide how i really feel - Farris has a real good thing going here and i'm not quite sure how to take the 'drawing things into being' bit. like, whose story is it, at the end? seems as though it started out shannon's and ends up don's. but there are some amazing sentences, either way. and the plane trip? wow. well - both plane trips! gee whiz. reminds me of a ring of endless light and where are you going/, and ketchum & laymon, both.

[Brett]

Horror

[C Agent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very, very much a mindfuck kind of book. Read it in one go. Seriously.

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

read it in one sittin as suggested, in the car on a family holiday.
was definitely worth reading this way (easy too)