Bride of Satan

by William Schoell

THE EVIL

It was an obscene evil that could not be quenched with blood or sated with the flesh of its defiled victims.

THE TERROR

It wormed its way into the human brain, devouring the mind, controlling the body and turning its prey into savage creatures lusting for destruction.

THE METAMORPHOSIS

Its only outward sign was the grotesque metamorphosis of its victim's hand into a gnarled, four-fingered claw - a claw whose razor-sharp nails dealt death with the precision of a stiletto.

THE SEARCH

It was unconquerable in its mindless violence, supreme in its viciousness, and as elusive as a foul wind. Only reporters Dorothy Hunter and James Radley even guessed at its existence. They had to find it before it grew stronger ...
before it grew hungrier ...
before it found them.

Genres: Horror

396 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published December 1, 1986

About the author

WILLIAM SCHOELL was born in Manhattan where he resides. He is the author of over thirty-five books in various genres, including celebrity biographies (some written with co-author Lawrence J. Quirk); horror-suspense novels; biographies of such people as Edgar Allan Poe and Giuseppe Verdi for young people; and books on the performing arts and pop culture. He has been a radio producer and talk show host, worked for Columbia pictures, and is a blogger, playwright, and activist.

Reviews

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

The sensationalist cover and title of this little gem have nothing to do at all with this surprisingly good read by Schoell; 80s horror marketing run amok for sure. Bride of Satan starts with a prologue circa 1880s of a nun on a train ride in Asia that does not end well; the relevance of this did not become apparent until almost the end of the story, but so it goes. The story is segmented into several parts, the first concerning some starving actors in NYC circa 1940, the next the shooting of an 'artistic horror' movie in 1963 (which is based upon the events from the first part), and then we proceed to 'now' in the 1980s.

Schoell has a gift of creating visceral scenes which are sprinkled liberally throughout the book, along with some compelling characters, but it takes some time before the linked segments begin to form a plot line. At times this delves into philosophical speculation on the role of horror (films and books) and misogyny and violence, especially as one of the lead characters had her parents violently murdered when she was a teenager, and not much later she was raped; she serves as something of a proxy for feminist speculations on the horror genre. Nonetheless, her beau is really into horror and writes about films for a leading magazine.

I really do not want to go into the plot, but I will say this has nothing at all to do with Satan, although it does feature demonic possession, and Schoell plays this for all it is worth. 'Connecting the dots' among the timelines and sections is part of the fun of this one and the denouement really made the book. Engaging, witty and fun! 4 Bridal stars!!

[Lizz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t write reviews.

“If they stayed here, they would succumb to the terror. They might drop dead from sheer fright, or fall into deep, occult comas. Lie in unblessed unconsciousness until the elements, or time, or starvation brought them to a natural death. Or until a truly alive host of the demon could arrive at the barge from wherever it was now and make short, swift work of them.”

This book is a wild trip. It spans a hundred years, introducing a wide variety of shallow characters. There’s something for everyone: cults, murders, Hollywood, ghosts, demons, occult comas, gruesome attacks, mystery, nuns, drunks, fading stars, hysterical women, boring men. Only Schoell could make this work.

[Brendon Lowe · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. review to come.

[Maneki Neko · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book at a thrift store for one dollar and I consider it the best dollar I ever spent. Okay, that's an exaggeration, but this was a romping good time. While the plot started out promising, the writing truly delivered a so bad its good result. This is The Room of books.

It has it all: Hollywood! Reporters! Satan! Hating rock music! Mothers and daughters slapping each other in the face! Evil nuns! A weird turkey claw that takes over your body to murder people! A blatant Hitchcock/Psycho ripoff causing pandemonium in the hearts and minds of suburban Christians!

Why is it called Bride of Satan? No one knows! One of the character's names is Livingstone Stoner. There is random product placement in this book (a real first for me!) for Juicy Fruit gum. There are fun Yiddish words peppered throughout like "kibitzing."

Here are some bookmarked lines: "Suzette felt her world collapsing. She was sitting on a toilet with diarrhea dripping from her ass and two sluttish women that she didn't even know were carelessly ripping her life into tatters."

"Of course, much of the menace that rock music radiated was purely hallucinatory in nature, perhaps ingrained into his consciousness, the result of society's insistence on equating eroticism with evil."

"He saw with dismay that his visitor was sitting down on the sloppy, unmade bed, and wished that he had bothered changing the sheets more than once a month. They were full of crumbs and dirty underwear (!!???!?!), and stained from booze and bodily fluids (!!!!!!!!!!!)." (Emphasis mine)

This book is insane. Every character in it is comically reprehensible. It has at least four endings. It took me on a journey I never knew I always needed. What a quarantine treat. Who knew a gore fest could also be a snore fest? Believe me, it's possible. If you can find it, it sure is worth the read. 10/10

[Mike (Hail Horror Hail) · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first Schoell, and what a marvelous experience.

[Dustin · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5/5, rounded up.

First I'll talk about the things I liked about this book, because there were several enjoyable elements. The middle section of the book concerning the making of a horror film was a lot of fun, and Schoell even attempts some interesting dynamics between his two lead journalist characters, as one is a fan of horror films, and the other believes them to be morally destructive. The fact that these two characters are in a relationship is interesting and makes for some good conversations and questioning between them. The climactic scenes of the novel are fun too, in and of themselves, but I don't really like the journey the book takes to get there, so they are somewhat undermined. Which brings us to the bad. The major flaw with this book, in my view is the structure, which feels poorly conceived. First you have to read what are essentially three prologues, that make up nearly a quarter of the book. Then after you read the middle section, and what feels like the natural climax, the author switches tracks again for another 100 pages! At this point the setting changes, and we are clumsily introduced to more new characters. This last section feels tacked on to explain an idea the author came up with during the prologue, and it's just poorly executed in my view. Overall it's by no means a terrible book, but it's also far from great in my opinion. Schoell's actual writing was strong enough that I'll likely try more from him down the road.

[DJMikeG · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've enjoyed everything else I've read by Schoell, but this one didn't do it for me. The first half or so of the book is great, a very effective and ahead of its time look at horror and how families of victims of serial killers might feel about entertainment being made from fictionalized versions of the atrocities. The final hundred or so pages was a chore to read, as this earlier thread is abandoned for over the top supernatural horror and a nearly Indiana Jones level melodramatic ending. Then, there is an epilogue to remind the reader of the earlier, better part of the novel. Not a very good outing from Schoell, who usually delivers with entertaining schlock fun. A hugely uneven novel that almost reads like two seperate novels super glued together.

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of fun, especially if you get the references to Hitchcock's Psycho and the impact of it on the film industry. Really loved the movie making setting and references to the debates over real life violence vs fake violence.

[Peel · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is perhaps the most entertaining terrible horror novel I have ever read -- I laughed all the way through, and so I could kind of recommend it in that way.

[Sean · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bizarre murders strike terror into the cast and crew of the horror movie they are working on, harkening back to an earlier film and a horrific murder from the 1940s. Author William Schoell spends a lot of time in this book exploring the nature of horror movies and their relationship to the more pressing terrors of everyday life in modern society. Though the fact that Schoell is a writer of dark fiction himself could be assumed to make it plain where he stands on the issue, within the context of the book itself the question of horror as a legitimate form of artistic expression is left somewhat ambiguous, as is the nature of the story's antagonist. The protagonists, a pair of writers who are also lovers, are simply not as pleasant or interesting as Schoell wants them to be, and their overlapping character arcs don't work particularly well. Moreover, the book has several threads of Political Correctness running through the plot, and while it's pretty subtle and mild compared to the Woke trends of later years (the book was originally published in 1986), the "subtle" pontificating is still a little annoying. The novel does have a number of strong points, including some chilling set pieces, several well-staged and frightening death scenes, and a mysterious and engaging overall concept. Unfortunately, the work as a whole doesn't fit together very well. An editor willing to make some cuts might have turned a mediocre book into a good one.

[Judith Sonnet · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has already leapt up to my top five books of all time. I feel bad for whatever I read next, because that'd be like trying to follow Elvis. This book makes me wish I'd never given a five star rating before just so I could impress upon you all how great it is. Holy shit. Goddamn.