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Devil's Moon
Briggs City was going to be Kyle Richards' salvation. A small town. Peace and quiet. Simplicity. A place where a man could recover from the tragedies of the past, no matter how hideous. And take on the challenge of being the new chief of police.
But Briggs City had tragedies of its own. Horrible, unthinkable acts had taken place on old man Pickers' land years before. Crimes which had been conveniently blamed on the local Indian community. Now no one would set foot near the place, except Kyle Richards. For the people of Briggs City knew something that Richards didn't: the evil was still there, waiting for someone -- someone just like Richards -- to work its hellish terror once again...
But Briggs City had tragedies of its own. Horrible, unthinkable acts had taken place on old man Pickers' land years before. Crimes which had been conveniently blamed on the local Indian community. Now no one would set foot near the place, except Kyle Richards. For the people of Briggs City knew something that Richards didn't: the evil was still there, waiting for someone -- someone just like Richards -- to work its hellish terror once again...
- GenresHorror
480 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 1988
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211 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 5, 2022
Small town evil? Check. Native American curse? Check. A broken or chain-smoking "Bob" as our main protagonist? Check. Gratuitous jiggling T&A? Check. Blood and violence? Check. Over 400 pages of overly padded prose? Check. Stunning embossed cover art? Check. Body horror, creepy children, a giant bug, killer dolls, and the walking dead? Check, check, check, check, and... check! Yep, this is a paperback from hell. In fact, "Devil's Moon" may be the most representative paperback from hell ever!
So in 1988, our friends at Zebra brought us this jewel of a book that many of you horror aficionados likely recognize but probably have not read. It's noteworthy for appearing in numerous YouTube book haul videos for its memorable topaz and turquoise color scheme that looks fantastic in black light, but I've yet to find any analysis of the actual contents. That's a problem I hope to rectify with this review.
We meet our "Bob" of this story as he enters a diner and chooses the last booth facing the door, which is supposed to immediately tell us this is a mysterious man with a dark and tragic past. That's why, when I was at university and had black anime bangs down to my chin, I could be found in a greasy spoon on St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans eating my buck-fifty liver and onions in the exact same position. Made me seem wiser and more edgy, you see.
But Bob is the real deal. In fact, he has had a Tragedy in his life that he spells with a capital "T." Bob is also nervous because he's about to be interviewed for a new job of a police chief of a small town. Normally, he is a man of steel nerves, but not since the Tragedy. The mayor, who likes to have damaged goods on the city payroll, learned of this Tragedy and plans to use it to keep Bob under his thumb. So needless to say, Bob gets the job, and as excited as he is to be working again, he also hopes that life will be a little easier on him in this quiet town as compared to Los Angeles. Unfortunately, trouble is brewing of a supernatural nature. The mayor's business ambitions have awakened a demon of Native American legend. Unbeknownst to Bob, he is the Chosen One of prophecy to take on the Big Bad.
This cliche but engaging story has quite a few surprises and incredibly effective moments. Chapter 9 was particularly hard for me, with an emotionally charged scene where Bob has to go into a bedroom full of his deceased daughter's things. But then it takes a turn from an honest exploration of a man's grief and loneliness to an out-of-left-field encounter with the supernatural that made the hair on my arms stand at attention. Well done!
The first half of the book tends to be more eerie than violent, but be advised--"Devil's Moon" dials up the gore to eleven! There are quite a few mean-spirited scenes of bodily mutilation here, which clash starkly with all the sentimental and mundane character interactions. This whole novel is a study in contrasts. We go from sweet scenes between the main character and an 11-year-old boy who has a crush on him to one of the most disgusting examples of sexual harassment in the workplace. We have solid examples of virtue, loyalty, and self-sacrifice intermixed with absolute sociopathy, perversity, and self-absorption. We see how precious life and friendship is, and see it literally torn asunder in some of the most graphic and disgusting depictions I've ever encountered outside of an "extreme" novel.
The characters are all very well fleshed out, and though they tend to fall into familiar tropes, they don't come across as cartoons. We have the crazy "Ralph" character, who in this case is actually named "crazy Dave," an old badger who patrols his farm with a shotgun full of rock salt to scare meddling kids off his property. But Dave is a much more nuanced and sympathetic character than his counterparts in other stories. We also have the corrupt mayor, who is set up to be the main non-paranormal antagonist, but he is very much human and three-dimensional. My favorite character is the noble newspaper man Edgar, but apart from being an idealist hero, we see that he can be a real son-of-a-bitch. The native Americans ride that fine line of being stereotypes to being very sympathetic and modern. Even our "Bob," whose real name is Kyle, is very likeable, the kind of guy you actually want to have as your neighbor or your dad, so we root for him throughout the whole narrative.
Now, you vintage horror fans are used to novels of this period being quite lengthy, and though I would say "Devil's Moon" is average in page count, this is 480 pages of dense prose with narrow margins and small print, so it will feel longer. Taking a lot of this space is careful development of relationships between characters, which is certainly appreciated, but the author tends to go overboard with a lot of fine details. We read about Bob poking a steak several times with a fork before putting it on the grill. We have all the details of how Bob and an old man paint NO TRESPASSING signs. We get an entire exercise routine. We learn that Bob named his diffenbachia "Fred." And we get sick of hearing over and over again about Bob's tanned muscles and how he is the Chosen Bob for the ultimate showdown with the Evil One. All of this adds up to building a believable and sympathetic cast, and the author's skill keeps you engaged; however, it sure hurts the pacing.
The entire last act, however, is a tireless assault on your senses. If this were a movie, this would be one of those flops at the box office that time forgot, but which suddenly rises in the ranks of infamous and beloved cult classics as modern audiences come to rediscover and appreciate it. The emotional depth and insanity here makes it quite a memorable entry into the annals of 80s horror.
There are plenty of vintage copies out there, and this is one that collectors still find out in the "wild," but there seems to be a vacuum of information about the novel itself. I hope that I peaked your interest in checking "Devil's Moon" out for yourself, and perhaps on the next wave of interest in this era of publishing, we may eventually see a reprint of this and other gems from the heyday of literary horror.
So in 1988, our friends at Zebra brought us this jewel of a book that many of you horror aficionados likely recognize but probably have not read. It's noteworthy for appearing in numerous YouTube book haul videos for its memorable topaz and turquoise color scheme that looks fantastic in black light, but I've yet to find any analysis of the actual contents. That's a problem I hope to rectify with this review.
We meet our "Bob" of this story as he enters a diner and chooses the last booth facing the door, which is supposed to immediately tell us this is a mysterious man with a dark and tragic past. That's why, when I was at university and had black anime bangs down to my chin, I could be found in a greasy spoon on St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans eating my buck-fifty liver and onions in the exact same position. Made me seem wiser and more edgy, you see.
But Bob is the real deal. In fact, he has had a Tragedy in his life that he spells with a capital "T." Bob is also nervous because he's about to be interviewed for a new job of a police chief of a small town. Normally, he is a man of steel nerves, but not since the Tragedy. The mayor, who likes to have damaged goods on the city payroll, learned of this Tragedy and plans to use it to keep Bob under his thumb. So needless to say, Bob gets the job, and as excited as he is to be working again, he also hopes that life will be a little easier on him in this quiet town as compared to Los Angeles. Unfortunately, trouble is brewing of a supernatural nature. The mayor's business ambitions have awakened a demon of Native American legend. Unbeknownst to Bob, he is the Chosen One of prophecy to take on the Big Bad.
This cliche but engaging story has quite a few surprises and incredibly effective moments. Chapter 9 was particularly hard for me, with an emotionally charged scene where Bob has to go into a bedroom full of his deceased daughter's things. But then it takes a turn from an honest exploration of a man's grief and loneliness to an out-of-left-field encounter with the supernatural that made the hair on my arms stand at attention. Well done!
The first half of the book tends to be more eerie than violent, but be advised--"Devil's Moon" dials up the gore to eleven! There are quite a few mean-spirited scenes of bodily mutilation here, which clash starkly with all the sentimental and mundane character interactions. This whole novel is a study in contrasts. We go from sweet scenes between the main character and an 11-year-old boy who has a crush on him to one of the most disgusting examples of sexual harassment in the workplace. We have solid examples of virtue, loyalty, and self-sacrifice intermixed with absolute sociopathy, perversity, and self-absorption. We see how precious life and friendship is, and see it literally torn asunder in some of the most graphic and disgusting depictions I've ever encountered outside of an "extreme" novel.
The characters are all very well fleshed out, and though they tend to fall into familiar tropes, they don't come across as cartoons. We have the crazy "Ralph" character, who in this case is actually named "crazy Dave," an old badger who patrols his farm with a shotgun full of rock salt to scare meddling kids off his property. But Dave is a much more nuanced and sympathetic character than his counterparts in other stories. We also have the corrupt mayor, who is set up to be the main non-paranormal antagonist, but he is very much human and three-dimensional. My favorite character is the noble newspaper man Edgar, but apart from being an idealist hero, we see that he can be a real son-of-a-bitch. The native Americans ride that fine line of being stereotypes to being very sympathetic and modern. Even our "Bob," whose real name is Kyle, is very likeable, the kind of guy you actually want to have as your neighbor or your dad, so we root for him throughout the whole narrative.
Now, you vintage horror fans are used to novels of this period being quite lengthy, and though I would say "Devil's Moon" is average in page count, this is 480 pages of dense prose with narrow margins and small print, so it will feel longer. Taking a lot of this space is careful development of relationships between characters, which is certainly appreciated, but the author tends to go overboard with a lot of fine details. We read about Bob poking a steak several times with a fork before putting it on the grill. We have all the details of how Bob and an old man paint NO TRESPASSING signs. We get an entire exercise routine. We learn that Bob named his diffenbachia "Fred." And we get sick of hearing over and over again about Bob's tanned muscles and how he is the Chosen Bob for the ultimate showdown with the Evil One. All of this adds up to building a believable and sympathetic cast, and the author's skill keeps you engaged; however, it sure hurts the pacing.
The entire last act, however, is a tireless assault on your senses. If this were a movie, this would be one of those flops at the box office that time forgot, but which suddenly rises in the ranks of infamous and beloved cult classics as modern audiences come to rediscover and appreciate it. The emotional depth and insanity here makes it quite a memorable entry into the annals of 80s horror.
There are plenty of vintage copies out there, and this is one that collectors still find out in the "wild," but there seems to be a vacuum of information about the novel itself. I hope that I peaked your interest in checking "Devil's Moon" out for yourself, and perhaps on the next wave of interest in this era of publishing, we may eventually see a reprint of this and other gems from the heyday of literary horror.
February 26, 2025
I didn't really know what I was going to get from this book, but the cover alone was enough to make me want to read it.
A man with a tragic past takes on the role of police chief in a small town, and becomes involved in a supernatural mystery, ending in a battle of good vs evil…
After a slow start, the book settled down into an interesting storyline that kept me reading. Characters were interesting and there was a lot of detail in the writing. That works fine for me, but I can see why other people might feel it was a bit over-padded.
The small town atmosphere and the sense of mystery worked well, and the various elements all slowly came together to form the bigger picture.
The book really came into its own in the final third, and became a creature feature. The last 80 pages dialled things up again, and by the final 20 pages or so it was utter carnage. The final confrontation felt like an anti-climax but the scenes that came before it held nothing back, and more than made up for that.
This was a fun read and I'll probably revisit it one day.
A man with a tragic past takes on the role of police chief in a small town, and becomes involved in a supernatural mystery, ending in a battle of good vs evil…
After a slow start, the book settled down into an interesting storyline that kept me reading. Characters were interesting and there was a lot of detail in the writing. That works fine for me, but I can see why other people might feel it was a bit over-padded.
The small town atmosphere and the sense of mystery worked well, and the various elements all slowly came together to form the bigger picture.
The book really came into its own in the final third, and became a creature feature. The last 80 pages dialled things up again, and by the final 20 pages or so it was utter carnage. The final confrontation felt like an anti-climax but the scenes that came before it held nothing back, and more than made up for that.
This was a fun read and I'll probably revisit it one day.
July 1, 2025
another zebra-
gore, sex, "indian" magic
it's all here for you
gore, sex, "indian" magic
it's all here for you
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews