Quarrel With the Moon

by J.C. Conaway

Worse than any nightmare.

It began with the bones. Strange remains of a creature almost human...

Josh Holman at the New York Institute of Anthropology could not believe his eyes. He seemed to be staring at a new kind of missing link!

The remains had come from the mountains of West Virginia. Josh would investigate. And with him would go his lady, beautiful Cresta Farraday, taking a vacation from her career as a top fashion model, hoping to revitalize her relationship with Josh.

But the strange bones were the least of it. Before Josh and Cresta arrive in West Virginia, three people would die. Horribly...

And they were only the first.

Something in the mountains was hungry. Something that craved human flesh. Something that had a Quarrel With the Moon.

Genres: Horror, Werewolves

319 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1982

Reviews

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are in the mood for a cheesy 80s werewolf story, QWTM may be just for you! The story centers upon Josh, a professor at the NYC Institute of Anthropology. One day a field team from the institute sent in a remarkable set of bones back to be examined- turns out the creature was half wolf, half human! It was found in WV and since Josh was a native of WV, and in fact grew up close to where the creature was found, he is set off to go investigate. Taking his super-model girlfriend and a newly rented camper, Josh and Cresta head out! Josh still has an aunt in the town closed to the field team so that is where they head off toward.

The very small town on the mountain is something of an incest factory and lots of deformities abound. Cresta is shocked, but Josh understands the deal. Turns out there is a lot going on behind the scenes that gradually become uncovered....

I am not very familiar with the werewolf genre of horror, but Conaway seems to put an interesting twist on it nonetheless. The werewolves in QWTM can turn anytime, day or night for one thing. There is a fair amount of violence as one might expect, as well as copious amounts of sex, something you probably would expect from a b-grade horror story, but if you have a soft spot for such stories, you should enjoy it.

[Wayne · Rating 5 out of 5]

With a title like "Quarrel With The Moon." A cheesy book cover to make it look even sillier, I had to try it out. Never heard or seen any books by J.C. Conaway. A quick search online shows that he/she wrote contemporary romance novels. Also found a page that said he was a she and vise versa. Either way, thought it be a bit of a laugh to check it out. I was very happy I did.

This is a werewolf story with undercurrents of a romantic novel. Normally this would put me off in a flash. This time around though, I kept reading and had no problems. There is more romance, or should I say feelings and couplings than werewolf attacks, but that just adds to the story.

We start out with a difficult birth in a closed off mountain town. It turns out to be twins. One good. One evil. The local stern preacher says that it's God's will to kill the evil child. The mid-wife saves the child from death. 32 years later, an anthropologist from New York is called in to study a find of some type of missing link. He is perfect for the research because he is from a small town close by. When his girlfriend and him get there, they find deformed kids. Strange people that don't like outsiders. They never find the team that were on the dig, though. They do find a culture of incest and strong attractions to town folks and the evil secret that this town holds.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a prime example of the horror-boom early-'80s horror novel. I've read that Conaway published a very similar novel called Night of the Wolf under the name Jay Callahan, the only difference being that that one was set in the Smokie Mountains and this one in the Appalachians, but this is the only one I've read. A little more werewolfery and a little less incestuous activity would have improved it, but there you go. An anthropology professor heads for the wilds of West Virginia (with his beautiful fashion model wife, 'natch) to investigate some old bones that may be a kind of missing link... There's teeth and claws in them thar hills...

[Sean McDonough · Rating 2 out of 5]

Needed more werewolves, less incest.

[Quentin · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, going into this book, I was expecting it to be a bit corny for a horror novel. I mean, with a cover of a fur-covered hand scratching across a moon, who could argue? While this novel has its strange moments, I found that this was competently written for someone who didn't normally write as much horror. Sure, you'll disagree with my opinion (this book does have a low rating here on Goodreads), but, like I said, it's an opinion.

What's this book about? Josh Holman, an anthropologist, finds mysterious bones and must go investigate at West Virginia, his childhood place. Going along is Cresta Farraday, his date (or wife; my memory on that is fuzzy, but it's one of those things). She hopes this will help in their relationship after a few rough moments.

But, unbeknownst to them, three people die. Two are mauled, and the other is buried alive. And, after they arrive, strange and mysterious occurrences take place.

I can't go much into detail on the rest as it will spoil some parts of the book, but maybe what I've already mentioned will intrigue you enough. A few notes, however: beware of a few grammar and spelling mistakes (especially towards the end). There's also incest and it's somewhat uncomfortable, so if you hate that kind of stuff, stay away from this book. But, if you can push that off to the side, you've got a pretty decent horror book on your hands.

I wouldn't go out of my way to read or re-read it hundreds of times, but if I felt like hunkering down and reading some good ol' werewolf mystery, I sure would go for it.

[Lord Humungus · Rating 2 out of 5]

First adult horror book I ever read. My adolescent mind enjoyed the sweaty animalistic sex parts but otherwise forgettable. Got this book in 1982 or 1983.

[Scott Oliver · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anthropologist Josh and his model girlfriend Cresta return to Josh’s home town after he is sent to investigate a half human half canine skeleton found nearby.

They soon find that the mountain community is populated by a group of slightly deformed, overly hairy townsfolk

[TheCultureVulture · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

Not bad perse just a lot of spinning wheels that aren't written particularly well. Hard for me to get too critical of a short werewolf yarn.

[Ryan Engorged · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hicksploitation / werewolf potboiler with sort of a southern gothic mystery ta boot! Fun stuff.

[Mike Howlett · Rating 4 out of 5]

My review at my blog, yo.

https://hitmewithyourbookreview.blogs...