Goblins

by Vincent Courtney, Joe DeVito (Cover Artist)

From the moment he saw the ancient castle rising out of the picturesque Scottish countryside, filmmaker Dan Martin knew he'd found the ideal location for his vampire horror movie. And nothing could make him leave. Not even the eerie legends of soul-stealing beasts of the night . . . nor a bizarre series of freak accidents. Not even his pregnant wife's tragic miscarriage. Except that now there is another fetus growing in Vicki's womb. And soon the terror will be born.

Genres: Horror

411 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published July 1, 1994

About the author

Vincent Courtney was born with a pen and paper in hand which made for a very uncomfortable delivery for his mother. He is the author of 18 books. He also created a writing course, "Scary Good Writing with Mr. Butt and Bonefish," used by teachers across the United States to teach their kids the parts of speech and how to write effective essays.

Reviews

[Jack Tripper · Rating 3 out of 5]

Something is "off" about the new baby brother of ten year-old Martin, but no else in his family seems to notice the unsettling looks baby Darian gives him sometimes, or hears the sound of running footsteps in the middle of the night even though he's a newborn. Might Darian's freaky ways have something to do with all the strange happenings during their recent trip to Ireland, such as the warnings of locals about staying away from the old castle where Martin's father was filming a movie? Or the "protective" statuettes of fairies placed throughout their cabin? Or the identical nightmares they all had related to the impending birth of the baby?

Being a Zebra horror novel, it almost goes without saying that this is about 100 pages too long (I just accept that now when picking one of these up), but it was still a fun time that slowly builds in creepiness. The characters are mostly well-drawn, though the dialogue can be a bit cringe at times. If that's something that bothers you then just stay far away. Same for those who don't like dream sequences, as this is packed with them, though I suppose "premonitions" might be the better term. Either way, I found them pretty chilling. A couple I would even call horrifying. Anyone looking for a light, relatively spooky mix of ancient Scottish lore and "evil child" tropes, this one's entertaining in a mindless B-horror sort of way.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually ended up reading a different version of this book (I now own both, because I thought they were two different novels) but I guess the one I read "What's wrong with the Baby?" is a fairly recent release of a heavily edited/revised edition of Goblins. I'd be interested in reading this edition in the future to see if there are any major differences, but obviously the basic premise is the same. An evil baby, and some sick cover art. What's not to love?

[Brian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tortured dialogue. Plodding, repetitive subplots. Repeated continuity errors. Atrocious editing. In short, this book was a bit of a mess.

[Horror Guy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful tale of an Irish goblin menacing an all-american family from Florida that reads fast, and very enjoyably.

[DAISY READS HORROR · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have realized I really like older horror movies & books. Goblin was a great read! It wasn't super scary but had enough gore & horror to my liking! I would def read more books by this author.

[Phrique · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another #vintagehorror book, another drunk uncle story. What do we have in store of us this time ol’ Uncle Courtney? Scottish castles? Escaped mental patients? Redcaps from the Unseely Court? A very pregnant mom who has the patience of a saint? An aloof movie director father who just wants to shoot his fucking movie? And then an adopted kid who just…hasn’t Marty Martin suffered enough? With that name alone? He needs to be tormented by the ghost of his abusive uncle too?

Well the first fourth of the book all takes place in Scotland, in/around a big scary gothic castle near an ominously quiet little village. So you’re made to feel like it’s going to be all folklore and evil ginger entities, right? Yeah no, one fucked up death happens & the family is like NOPE & fucks off back to chaotically evil Florida. I boo’d this rational course of action, what we all would do, but I didn’t grab this book for a demonstration on common sense. Like just start the killing already, right? Well, this sadly (the majority of the book) is when the story just took a nosedive for me. What’s wrong with this baby? Oh no, not the cat, why is it always the cat? Oh ok, so the baby is evil but no one else sees it. Oh that poor babysitter. Wait, the only one who can save them all is also an active morphine addict? Who keeps a syringe of holy water next to his “white lady?” What a way to go.

Well uncle, that was quite a story. Kinda wish it all stayed in Scotland, but spilled Similac right? That was a very ingenious way to use holy water towards the end tho, I’ll give you that. Would I recommend it? Not if you value your time. Maybe if you enjoy a little mindless, murdery fun every once in a while. Ah well, until next time uncle.

[Melissa Larsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! But I wonder if there is a sequel? Goblins and Scotland have long been some of my interests! Some of the plot was a bit predictable, but that just made me want to keep reading to see if I sleuthed it out correctly. Not disappointed.

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow!!! What an intense book! Talk about a frightening and suspenseful horror/thriller. I haven't read a title like this in a while and it had an ending that definitely felt like an older horror film, which I really enjoyed. I highly recommend this and will look for more titles by this author.

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I've ever read. LOVE LOVE LOVE this book.

[Married Bibliophile Raider · Rating 4 out of 5]

Judging by the cover I had such high hopes that this would turn out to be a 5 star read…Not quite. Like other reviews on Goodreads my copy was filled with grammar errors, which wasn’t the end of the world but was annoying because the amount of errors throughout the book. Vincent Courtney got very repetitive, and I mean it happens a lot, and it just made it feel like the dialogue between the characters was dragging at times. However the story itself was very interesting. The legend of the redcap was creepy but in the book the action doesn’t really pick up till almost the end. I give this book a 3.5 star rating but for Goodreads I’ll round up to 4 stars. Not as creepy as the cover leads you to believe but worth a read.

[Dana · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wish it would have gone into the mythology of the Redcaps and what have you. A little more info on their weaknesses would have been interesting as well. Not gory enough for my taste but still paints a vivid picture in the mind. The end left me wanting as well. All in all it was a creepy story somewhere in between Chris Pike and Stephen King.

[Algernon Wyck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not literarily good, but very enjoyable.

[Dez Nemec · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little more background on the legend of the Redcaps would've been nice, but overall what a fun read!

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the book :)