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Stage Fright
Out of the darkness of the fetid Hudson River, the undead rose to eat their victims alive...
Horror-movie monsters burst from late-night TV screens - to turn their viewers into victims.
Biker gangs of decomposing corpses rode the highways of America, on the hunt for unsuspecting motorists...
Take a front seat in the baddest nightmare in town. Superstar Izzy Stark has the power to make your dreams - and nightmares - come true. He's the master of disaster, the guru of gore, the doctor of doom, the duke of death and destruction - and you can't escape this command performance.
This first-ever reprint of Garrett Boatman's rare '80s paperback horror gem Stage Fright (1988) features a new introduction by Will Errickson and the original cover art.
Horror-movie monsters burst from late-night TV screens - to turn their viewers into victims.
Biker gangs of decomposing corpses rode the highways of America, on the hunt for unsuspecting motorists...
Take a front seat in the baddest nightmare in town. Superstar Izzy Stark has the power to make your dreams - and nightmares - come true. He's the master of disaster, the guru of gore, the doctor of doom, the duke of death and destruction - and you can't escape this command performance.
This first-ever reprint of Garrett Boatman's rare '80s paperback horror gem Stage Fright (1988) features a new introduction by Will Errickson and the original cover art.
300 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published July 5, 1988
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December 25, 2019Garrett Boatman here. Thank you all for reviewing Stage Fright. It's gratifying to see the renewed interest in classic 80s horror. If you haven't done so, check out Grady Hendrix's Paperbacks from Hell. Yes, that's Stage Fright pictured on the cover, but seriously, it's a good introduction to the golden age of horror for those who weren't around to see those glorious covers in the horror section of bookstores and a walk down memory lane for those who were.
Trivia: Original title was Death Dream, originally intended for NAL's science fiction label. Onyx was a new imprint and I got moved there. My editor suggested the name change. The artwork was originally much brighter. The skeleton was white, hair blond, pants buckskin, red vest. I said it should be darker. The art department did a great job.
Anyway, I'm back. Just finished a trilogy and am about to embark on my marketing journey.
Trivia: Original title was Death Dream, originally intended for NAL's science fiction label. Onyx was a new imprint and I got moved there. My editor suggested the name change. The artwork was originally much brighter. The skeleton was white, hair blond, pants buckskin, red vest. I said it should be darker. The art department did a great job.
Anyway, I'm back. Just finished a trilogy and am about to embark on my marketing journey.
March 20, 2023
(Updated 10/4/17)
I may have finally discovered The Great American Novel. Great synopsis, or greatest synopsis? I was hoping Grady Hendrix would go into it a bit considering the artwork was featured on the cover of his Paperbacks from Hell: A History of Horror Fiction from the '70s and '80s, but no dice (other than a line or two). So I'm just gonna take the plunge and see if I survive.
------------------------------------------
It's the distant future, 1998 to be exact, and it's exactly like 1988, only there's one new interesting piece of tech called the Dreamatron, which allows users to transmit their dreams and fantasies directly into the minds of others. Izzy Stark is a superstar dream-master, playing to huge crowds across the world, and he's taking his famous "dreamies" to another level. With the help of an experimental new drug called taraxein -- which contains the blood of schizophrenics -- Izzy is able to make his dreams a reality, strong enough to kill. And since he's slowly losing his mind due to the effect of the drug, his dreams are pretty damn twisted.
While the first half of the novel is seriously padded (which was the norm for horror novels of the era), the craziness gets amped up to ridiculous/awesome levels in the latter half, with all sorts of monstrous abominations breaking through into the physical world, eventually turning into (Slightly Spoilery) an epic Boschian hellscape, with NYC concert-goers battling a horde of rotting corpses and demons from hell amidst fire and brimstone, all unleashed from the mind of Izzy. (End Spoiler)
So the book does deliver on much of what the back cover copy promised, which frankly was a lot to live up to, but some may have a difficult time wading through the first half, where pages and pages of the various characters' normal, everyday lives are sporadically interrupted by insane nightmares come to life. The writing and characterization are workmanlike, which is fine by me, though Boatman does have a tendency to replace "said" with "inquired," "retorted," "opined," etc., which can become a bit distracting after a while.
Still, I'd recommend this to the hardcore fan of pulpy 80s horror who's read the staples and is looking to dive a little deeper. I'm disappointed that Boatman has no other novels, but I was fooled by an ad inside for another book by the author called 'Death Dream.' The description sounded awfully close to this one, though, and then I noticed it had the exact same ISBN. So the publisher must have changed the title at the last minute, I'm guessing (possibly to match the cover art?). Oh well.
3.5 Stars
I may have finally discovered The Great American Novel. Great synopsis, or greatest synopsis? I was hoping Grady Hendrix would go into it a bit considering the artwork was featured on the cover of his Paperbacks from Hell: A History of Horror Fiction from the '70s and '80s, but no dice (other than a line or two). So I'm just gonna take the plunge and see if I survive.
------------------------------------------
It's the distant future, 1998 to be exact, and it's exactly like 1988, only there's one new interesting piece of tech called the Dreamatron, which allows users to transmit their dreams and fantasies directly into the minds of others. Izzy Stark is a superstar dream-master, playing to huge crowds across the world, and he's taking his famous "dreamies" to another level. With the help of an experimental new drug called taraxein -- which contains the blood of schizophrenics -- Izzy is able to make his dreams a reality, strong enough to kill. And since he's slowly losing his mind due to the effect of the drug, his dreams are pretty damn twisted.
While the first half of the novel is seriously padded (which was the norm for horror novels of the era), the craziness gets amped up to ridiculous/awesome levels in the latter half, with all sorts of monstrous abominations breaking through into the physical world, eventually turning into (Slightly Spoilery) an epic Boschian hellscape, with NYC concert-goers battling a horde of rotting corpses and demons from hell amidst fire and brimstone, all unleashed from the mind of Izzy. (End Spoiler)
So the book does deliver on much of what the back cover copy promised, which frankly was a lot to live up to, but some may have a difficult time wading through the first half, where pages and pages of the various characters' normal, everyday lives are sporadically interrupted by insane nightmares come to life. The writing and characterization are workmanlike, which is fine by me, though Boatman does have a tendency to replace "said" with "inquired," "retorted," "opined," etc., which can become a bit distracting after a while.
Still, I'd recommend this to the hardcore fan of pulpy 80s horror who's read the staples and is looking to dive a little deeper. I'm disappointed that Boatman has no other novels, but I was fooled by an ad inside for another book by the author called 'Death Dream.' The description sounded awfully close to this one, though, and then I noticed it had the exact same ISBN. So the publisher must have changed the title at the last minute, I'm guessing (possibly to match the cover art?). Oh well.
3.5 Stars
February 12, 2024
This is a good '80s horror novel with some interesting twists. It's a science fiction book because it's set in the future world of 1998, which is pretty much identical to our contemporary 1988 except for advances in virtual reality entertainment. It tells the story of Izzy Stark, who according to the back cover is "...the master of disaster, the guru of gore, the doctor of doom, the duke of death and destruction..." Now that's whole lot to live up to, but Boatman makes a good run of it. Despite the celebrated (see Grady Hendrix's Paperbacks from Hell) cover, it's not a rock and roll book, but despite being a bit too long and a bit confusing in the conclusion, it's a good, creepy read. If you're looking for musical horror, I'd recommend Martin's The Armageddon Rag or McCammon's The Five, but Stage Fright is a fine speculative horror choice for a lazy afternoon.
April 19, 2023
Nice slice of the horror boom from Boatman, and one whose awesome cover graces the cover of the book that relaunched the craze for these old paperbacks from hell. Stage Fright combines near future science fiction with splatterpunk horror to create something really unique. While published in 1988, the story takes place a decade or so later; nothing really much has changed except for some new tech that features here.
Sometime in the 90s, scientists discovered that microwave transmissions of certain frequencies could 'stimulate' the brain just like our meatspace sense organs. Hence, the deaf could be fed sounds, the blind could be fed images, and so forth by varying the microwave length. Alongside this, new memory storage devices called 'bubbles' could store an immense amount of data. With the two put together, these scientific breakthroughs soon found a new outlet in 'dreamies'. Just like Thomas Edison's original 'talkies' (e.g, the first recording devices, meant to record someone's last testament and provide educational lessons) became a hit for recording and playing back music, dreamies capitalized on the new tech to allow for a new immersion experience, where one (special people) could record their fantasies and 'play them back' to an audience. Of course, horror dreamies became the next new sensation!
The most famous dreamie author is Izzie, with several horrific dreamies to his credit, featuring vampires, zombies and other monsters. For the 'listener' at these shows, they seem to live through the total sensory experience. Our main protagonist, Quent, went to highschool with Izzie and now works as a freelance writer. One day he wrote Izzie to ask for an interview (Izzie rarely gives them) and is surprised to receive a letter back saying 'sure old buddy'! Eager to to this (he needs the cash), Quent is even more surprised when Izzie offers to let Quent write his biography!
Stage Fright starts off a bit slow, albeit with a bang, as we are first introduced to one of Izzie's Dreamies in the prologue (Floaters) which features waterlogged zombies in the Hudson river. We gradually get to know Izzie and his girlfriend Helen, plus their next door neighbors; some retired musicians who made it big in the 50s. We also are introduced to a 'gang' of teenagers, some of whom write for the school paper and all of whom are really into dreamies. Things start to go a little crazy when Izzie discovers, from Helen and her psychological textbooks, that the blood from schizophrenics contains a drug called taraxien can induce strange hallucinations in normal people. Izzie is dying to find out what it can do to his dreamscapes and soon, others will be dying as well!
Stage Fright pushes to some degree your ability to suspend your disbelief a bit too much-- the tech and implications are a bit hard to swallow-- but if you can get beyond that and just roll with the story, Boatman gives us an unique splatterfest that is oh, so 80s. I really enjoyed the drug references (I have not heard that slang in decades, smoking a 'bone' for example) and the vivid imagination displayed here. The pacing was a bit erratic, but really picked up in the second half. Glad I finally found a suitably battered copy of this little gem for my bookshelf, and recommended for vintage horror fans. 4 dreamy stars!
Sometime in the 90s, scientists discovered that microwave transmissions of certain frequencies could 'stimulate' the brain just like our meatspace sense organs. Hence, the deaf could be fed sounds, the blind could be fed images, and so forth by varying the microwave length. Alongside this, new memory storage devices called 'bubbles' could store an immense amount of data. With the two put together, these scientific breakthroughs soon found a new outlet in 'dreamies'. Just like Thomas Edison's original 'talkies' (e.g, the first recording devices, meant to record someone's last testament and provide educational lessons) became a hit for recording and playing back music, dreamies capitalized on the new tech to allow for a new immersion experience, where one (special people) could record their fantasies and 'play them back' to an audience. Of course, horror dreamies became the next new sensation!
The most famous dreamie author is Izzie, with several horrific dreamies to his credit, featuring vampires, zombies and other monsters. For the 'listener' at these shows, they seem to live through the total sensory experience. Our main protagonist, Quent, went to highschool with Izzie and now works as a freelance writer. One day he wrote Izzie to ask for an interview (Izzie rarely gives them) and is surprised to receive a letter back saying 'sure old buddy'! Eager to to this (he needs the cash), Quent is even more surprised when Izzie offers to let Quent write his biography!
Stage Fright starts off a bit slow, albeit with a bang, as we are first introduced to one of Izzie's Dreamies in the prologue (Floaters) which features waterlogged zombies in the Hudson river. We gradually get to know Izzie and his girlfriend Helen, plus their next door neighbors; some retired musicians who made it big in the 50s. We also are introduced to a 'gang' of teenagers, some of whom write for the school paper and all of whom are really into dreamies. Things start to go a little crazy when Izzie discovers, from Helen and her psychological textbooks, that the blood from schizophrenics contains a drug called taraxien can induce strange hallucinations in normal people. Izzie is dying to find out what it can do to his dreamscapes and soon, others will be dying as well!
Stage Fright pushes to some degree your ability to suspend your disbelief a bit too much-- the tech and implications are a bit hard to swallow-- but if you can get beyond that and just roll with the story, Boatman gives us an unique splatterfest that is oh, so 80s. I really enjoyed the drug references (I have not heard that slang in decades, smoking a 'bone' for example) and the vivid imagination displayed here. The pacing was a bit erratic, but really picked up in the second half. Glad I finally found a suitably battered copy of this little gem for my bookshelf, and recommended for vintage horror fans. 4 dreamy stars!
October 29, 2020
Best described as an interesting 80's Horror novel with a massive Sci-Fi theme, this 'Paperbacks from Hell' original published in 1988 tells of a futuristic form of entertainment known as 'dreamies' taken from a person's dream to be enjoyed.
It's an interesting take on nightmares coming to life and the late 90's setting was kinda fun.
These reprints must resonant with nostalgia as I personally found this slow and difficult to enjoy - though the gore was practically great!
It was quite telling that it was written in the mid-eighties, I guess those who grew up with these get the same feels like I do when revisiting Goosebumps or Point Horror...
It's an interesting take on nightmares coming to life and the late 90's setting was kinda fun.
These reprints must resonant with nostalgia as I personally found this slow and difficult to enjoy - though the gore was practically great!
It was quite telling that it was written in the mid-eighties, I guess those who grew up with these get the same feels like I do when revisiting Goosebumps or Point Horror...
April 4, 2018
Surprisingly, it's a near-future sci-fi novel about virtual reality entertainment. It ends with everyone falling inside a power metal album cover. I added a star because of that skeleton rocking his keytar on the front.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 15, 2025
Garrett Boatman has written and published several novels, but he is perhaps best known for his uncategorizably weird, gory, and somewhat prophetic 1988 horror novel “Stage Fright”.
Grady Hendrix and Will Errickson resurrected Boatman’s novel from obscurity in 2020 under the “Paperbacks From Hell” series from Valancourt Books, and the world hasn’t been the same since.
The premise is one that I’m pretty sure Blake Crouch would be envious of: science creates a way for a person’s dreams and nightmares to be recorded and played back via a virtual-reality system. In the book, the machine that can do this is called a “dreamatron”, and it quickly becomes an addictive form of entertainment that surpasses TV and movies. People—-primarily young ones, of course—-flock to concert halls or theaters where they don the VR glasses and experience other people’s nightmares.
One of the hottest creator of these “dreamies” is Izzy Stark, who is treated like a rock star for his highly intense and frightening nightmare recordings. Always trying to improve the experience, Izzy stumbles upon—-with the help of a professor of psychology at a nearby college—-a drug called taraxein, which is taken from the blood of schizophrenics. (This drug is not real, btw. Although it may be based on a real drug called adrenochrome, which is produced in the body and has become a major part of QAnoner fever dreams. Seriously, Google it.) Izzy, despite warnings of the professor not to ingest the drug, ingests the drug. His nightmares become darker, weirder, more hyper-violent, and (I bet you didn’t see this coming…) has the ability to alter physical reality. In other words, Izzy’s nightmares are bleeding into the real world and killing people.
The only two people who know what Izzy is doing and are able to stop him are his wife, Helen, and his best friend, Quent. It’s only a few days until Izzy’s big Halloween concert, where over a thousand young fans will gather in the old Majestic Theater for what they think will be just another Izzy Stark dreamie…
This novel is fun and harkens, in a slightly satirical way, to the sci-fi/horror films of the 1950s, only a lot gorier. Seriously, there are some extreme scenes of graphic violence in this, so it’s definitely not for the squeamish. Its campiness is, perhaps, its saving grace.
Boatman, it must be said, was somewhat prophetic in predicting the popularity of a virtual reality technology that would become addictive and, in some cases, dangerous. Keep in mind: this book was written even before the Internet was a common thing and before the gaming industry exploded.
Grady Hendrix and Will Errickson resurrected Boatman’s novel from obscurity in 2020 under the “Paperbacks From Hell” series from Valancourt Books, and the world hasn’t been the same since.
The premise is one that I’m pretty sure Blake Crouch would be envious of: science creates a way for a person’s dreams and nightmares to be recorded and played back via a virtual-reality system. In the book, the machine that can do this is called a “dreamatron”, and it quickly becomes an addictive form of entertainment that surpasses TV and movies. People—-primarily young ones, of course—-flock to concert halls or theaters where they don the VR glasses and experience other people’s nightmares.
One of the hottest creator of these “dreamies” is Izzy Stark, who is treated like a rock star for his highly intense and frightening nightmare recordings. Always trying to improve the experience, Izzy stumbles upon—-with the help of a professor of psychology at a nearby college—-a drug called taraxein, which is taken from the blood of schizophrenics. (This drug is not real, btw. Although it may be based on a real drug called adrenochrome, which is produced in the body and has become a major part of QAnoner fever dreams. Seriously, Google it.) Izzy, despite warnings of the professor not to ingest the drug, ingests the drug. His nightmares become darker, weirder, more hyper-violent, and (I bet you didn’t see this coming…) has the ability to alter physical reality. In other words, Izzy’s nightmares are bleeding into the real world and killing people.
The only two people who know what Izzy is doing and are able to stop him are his wife, Helen, and his best friend, Quent. It’s only a few days until Izzy’s big Halloween concert, where over a thousand young fans will gather in the old Majestic Theater for what they think will be just another Izzy Stark dreamie…
This novel is fun and harkens, in a slightly satirical way, to the sci-fi/horror films of the 1950s, only a lot gorier. Seriously, there are some extreme scenes of graphic violence in this, so it’s definitely not for the squeamish. Its campiness is, perhaps, its saving grace.
Boatman, it must be said, was somewhat prophetic in predicting the popularity of a virtual reality technology that would become addictive and, in some cases, dangerous. Keep in mind: this book was written even before the Internet was a common thing and before the gaming industry exploded.
October 23, 2021
Wow, this thing has some incredibly descriptive gore. 😀 Also, you can't tell me you don't love that cover.
September 5, 2020
Don't let the common title deter you from an uncommon story! Not a Rock N' Roll horror mashup as the familiar cover suggests, this delight for horror fans and the otaku at heart brings an unusual mix of science fiction, fantasy, and scares jelled together with a quintessential 80s aesthetic that still holds up to this day.
If you like your scifi to delve into the still unexplained mysteries of the mind and psychiatric science like I do, this is a book for you, as it is based on a legendary and controversial medical discovery from my home state of Louisiana--the protein taraxein. A stage-and-screen showman named Izzy experiments with the drug for inspiration to make more believable frights for his live horror performances. Taraxein, which in real life was alleged to be found in higher quantities in the blood of people suffering from schizophrenia, has an autoimmune effect that impacts serotonin and catecholamine function in the brain, thus disrupting various filters of perception and information processing, possibly even causing REM intrusion into waking states. It supposedly could induce symptoms of schizophrenia in non-psychotic subjects, though the findings have not been replicated in any other known reputable studies.
The novel takes place in an alternate near-future where traditional film and musical arts compete with a new medium based on dream transmissions (called "dreamies.") Izzy is a prodigal genius when it comes to making horror dreamies by recording and manipulating his nightmares in a device called a "dreamatron" to provide cutting edge entertainment for legions of horror nerds. He steals some blotters of taraxein to provide new fodder for an upcoming Halloween show. In a modern twist on the Jekyll-and-Hyde motif, Izzy finds he is quickly hooked on the stuff, and our mild-mannered, childlike star becomes a real-life monster.
That's all I can say about the plot setup. Needless to say, I enjoyed the rest of the ride. At times gory but never mean-spirited, it's a fun and loving tribute to horror and fantasy fandom, as well as the live theater spook shows popular in the 40s and 50s.
The book loses a star for some odd scene transitions that left me disoriented, especially when the Kindle version failed to leave a space between paragraphs to leave a visual indication that we are changing perspective. There were also some weird lapses in description where some action by a character should have been detailed, and so the resulting consequences seem to come out of nowhere at times. I don't know whether this was intentional on the part of the author or the result of some very aggressive editing, but it caused some confusion needlessly.
However, it did not take away from the overall enjoyment of the story, and the writing is otherwise skillfully done. The characters are all very likeable and thus increases your investment and suspension of disbelief when the action gets cartoonish. And there are times when the novel can get downright touching and sentimental, having one of the most sensitive and respectful portrayals of dementia I have ever read.
You all know this book by its cover, horror fans, but have you taken the time to read it? If not, the book is now easily available thanks to the renewed popularity of 80s horror fiction following the success of "Paperbacks from Hell," in which this book is featured. Give yourself a treat and let "Stage Fright" into your dreams.
If you like your scifi to delve into the still unexplained mysteries of the mind and psychiatric science like I do, this is a book for you, as it is based on a legendary and controversial medical discovery from my home state of Louisiana--the protein taraxein. A stage-and-screen showman named Izzy experiments with the drug for inspiration to make more believable frights for his live horror performances. Taraxein, which in real life was alleged to be found in higher quantities in the blood of people suffering from schizophrenia, has an autoimmune effect that impacts serotonin and catecholamine function in the brain, thus disrupting various filters of perception and information processing, possibly even causing REM intrusion into waking states. It supposedly could induce symptoms of schizophrenia in non-psychotic subjects, though the findings have not been replicated in any other known reputable studies.
The novel takes place in an alternate near-future where traditional film and musical arts compete with a new medium based on dream transmissions (called "dreamies.") Izzy is a prodigal genius when it comes to making horror dreamies by recording and manipulating his nightmares in a device called a "dreamatron" to provide cutting edge entertainment for legions of horror nerds. He steals some blotters of taraxein to provide new fodder for an upcoming Halloween show. In a modern twist on the Jekyll-and-Hyde motif, Izzy finds he is quickly hooked on the stuff, and our mild-mannered, childlike star becomes a real-life monster.
That's all I can say about the plot setup. Needless to say, I enjoyed the rest of the ride. At times gory but never mean-spirited, it's a fun and loving tribute to horror and fantasy fandom, as well as the live theater spook shows popular in the 40s and 50s.
The book loses a star for some odd scene transitions that left me disoriented, especially when the Kindle version failed to leave a space between paragraphs to leave a visual indication that we are changing perspective. There were also some weird lapses in description where some action by a character should have been detailed, and so the resulting consequences seem to come out of nowhere at times. I don't know whether this was intentional on the part of the author or the result of some very aggressive editing, but it caused some confusion needlessly.
However, it did not take away from the overall enjoyment of the story, and the writing is otherwise skillfully done. The characters are all very likeable and thus increases your investment and suspension of disbelief when the action gets cartoonish. And there are times when the novel can get downright touching and sentimental, having one of the most sensitive and respectful portrayals of dementia I have ever read.
You all know this book by its cover, horror fans, but have you taken the time to read it? If not, the book is now easily available thanks to the renewed popularity of 80s horror fiction following the success of "Paperbacks from Hell," in which this book is featured. Give yourself a treat and let "Stage Fright" into your dreams.
January 16, 2018
Almost gave up on it because of some gratingly poor dialogue/annoying characters, description overkill, and the muddled mythology of how exactly the dreamatron worked and the extent of Izzy's powers. But those are all nerd criticisms, and Stage Fright is just here for a good time.
Boatman has a strong knack for nightmarish horror setpieces. You want a zombie biker gang chase, giant killer jellyfish, underwater zombies, rhino men, and way (*way*) more? Boatman's got you covered. All the horror scenes are tight, vivid, suspenseful, and (more often than not) pretty graphic.
It's too long and the characterizations lack, but look at that cover art. Is that the kind of cover that gives a shit? Does this look like the kind of book concerned more about the technical stuff than heads being crushed and giant frogs eating people? Nah. All in all, it's a stupid, fun, and gory read, and it even ends on a bit of Cold War paranoia just to put a neat bow on everything. Give it a shot.
Boatman has a strong knack for nightmarish horror setpieces. You want a zombie biker gang chase, giant killer jellyfish, underwater zombies, rhino men, and way (*way*) more? Boatman's got you covered. All the horror scenes are tight, vivid, suspenseful, and (more often than not) pretty graphic.
It's too long and the characterizations lack, but look at that cover art. Is that the kind of cover that gives a shit? Does this look like the kind of book concerned more about the technical stuff than heads being crushed and giant frogs eating people? Nah. All in all, it's a stupid, fun, and gory read, and it even ends on a bit of Cold War paranoia just to put a neat bow on everything. Give it a shot.
November 7, 2021
It's the 90s and the entertainment industry has been revolutionalized by a device called the "dreamatron" that allows to transfer dreams and thoughts directly into the minds of people.
Superstar Izzy Stark discovers an even more genius trick - combined with a certain shady drug his dreamatron can make dreams and nightmares actually come true. And he intends to use that power to give his fans the performance of a lifetime!
Stage Fright is obviously not the best book; the dialogues aren't really strong, it's partly tacky and not very original. But it is chaotic, gory Halloween fun and the cover makes up for many a fault.
Superstar Izzy Stark discovers an even more genius trick - combined with a certain shady drug his dreamatron can make dreams and nightmares actually come true. And he intends to use that power to give his fans the performance of a lifetime!
Stage Fright is obviously not the best book; the dialogues aren't really strong, it's partly tacky and not very original. But it is chaotic, gory Halloween fun and the cover makes up for many a fault.
October 9, 2024
A fun, 80s horror set in the not too distant future (1998). The intro was pretty cool, the middle a bit boring and a tad too long---with not much going on, but the third act really picked up the pace, as per usual with vintage horror novels.
If not for the bloated middle, I would have rated four stars.
It's probably not something I'll remember in a few months, but it was a fun October read, nonetheless. Oh, and it takes place on/around Halloween!
Recommended.
If not for the bloated middle, I would have rated four stars.
It's probably not something I'll remember in a few months, but it was a fun October read, nonetheless. Oh, and it takes place on/around Halloween!
Recommended.
December 16, 2021
Well this was different… I was expecting a rock and roll, full heavy metal horror, instead I got a horror infused with a lucid dream like quality which made even the norm scary and unpredictable. Perfect for readers who like a healthy dose of the fantastical mixed into some gory horror!
August 19, 2025
Turned out to be completely different from what I thought it was going to be. Not sure why its called Stage Fright, since it has nothing to do with rock music or heavy metal skeletons. The first half of the book was a little slow and confusing with the characters introduced.
The second half of the book starts to come together much better, and it gets progressively more violent and gory all the way to the end. Impressive descriptions of gore and creatures! The last 60 or so pages are completely insane. It reminded me a bit of John Shirley's - In Darkness Waiting (also a ONYX horror book from the same era)
The second half of the book starts to come together much better, and it gets progressively more violent and gory all the way to the end. Impressive descriptions of gore and creatures! The last 60 or so pages are completely insane. It reminded me a bit of John Shirley's - In Darkness Waiting (also a ONYX horror book from the same era)
October 30, 2023
First off, the title of this book and the awesome cover illustration have absolutely nothing to do with the actual book. Still pretty entertaining nonetheless.
Like most people I found this in the paperbacks from hell book that featured artwork from the horror boom of the 70s and 80s. The author explains in a forward that the original title was death dream which is much more appropriate.
There’s actually a bit of a science fiction slant to this. Set a decade in the future of 1998, there’s a new technology called a dreamatron that lets a cutting edge, horror auteur named Izzy Stark create dreams that beam directly into your mind.
Izzy creates stunningly realistic and terrifying “dreamies” that are very popular and very gory.
As you can imagine things spiral out of control and a series of macabre consequences follow.
Don’t look for great writing or character development, this was written like the script for a b grade horror flick complete with jarring POV changes mid chapter like cuts in a film. The over the top gore and mellow dramatic spiral into madness of Izzy are what make this book worth the read.
It’s cheesy, gross, fun. what else could you ask for?
Like most people I found this in the paperbacks from hell book that featured artwork from the horror boom of the 70s and 80s. The author explains in a forward that the original title was death dream which is much more appropriate.
There’s actually a bit of a science fiction slant to this. Set a decade in the future of 1998, there’s a new technology called a dreamatron that lets a cutting edge, horror auteur named Izzy Stark create dreams that beam directly into your mind.
Izzy creates stunningly realistic and terrifying “dreamies” that are very popular and very gory.
As you can imagine things spiral out of control and a series of macabre consequences follow.
Don’t look for great writing or character development, this was written like the script for a b grade horror flick complete with jarring POV changes mid chapter like cuts in a film. The over the top gore and mellow dramatic spiral into madness of Izzy are what make this book worth the read.
It’s cheesy, gross, fun. what else could you ask for?
November 8, 2013
I find myself remembering this book now, some twenty years after reading it just the once. I remember only scene fragments from reading it: "dreamies", a sort of full-sensory movie experience (similar to the Trumball film _Brainstorm_), a cutting-edge tech form of music storage ("bubblepack", as I recall), with which a nefariously decadent rock star Izzy Stark planned to use to create a Lovecraftian hell-on-earth (citing Bosch paintings, as memory serves).
And, for sleeping defense, the novel suggests a tip to pull yourself out when stuck inside of nightmares: wiggle your big toe.
This reminded me when I read it of the lucid dream teaching habit to look at your hand.
I figured if I still remember tasty details from a book I read only once, twenty years ago—based on what other sort of books I remember long after reading—it must have been a pretty special book.
Mr. Boatman, thank you.
And, for sleeping defense, the novel suggests a tip to pull yourself out when stuck inside of nightmares: wiggle your big toe.
This reminded me when I read it of the lucid dream teaching habit to look at your hand.
I figured if I still remember tasty details from a book I read only once, twenty years ago—based on what other sort of books I remember long after reading—it must have been a pretty special book.
Mr. Boatman, thank you.
March 5, 2020
I read this book a very very long time ago. When it was first released and it scared the shit out of me.
Granted I was a kid but, I have had dreams about the book, even as an adult.
And now that I found it again I am going to read it with my adult mind... Which btw was corrupted by this book!
Books like these are hard to come by.
The kind that embedded their story on your subconscious and haunt you forever.
I always knew the name but, when I saw that cover... My heart sped up, my breathing became heavy and I had flashbacks of the first time I read it.
If you, whom ever is reading my review, hasn't read it yet... Clear your mind, take yourself back to where you were young, and vulnerable, and read away.
Great work Garrett.
Granted I was a kid but, I have had dreams about the book, even as an adult.
And now that I found it again I am going to read it with my adult mind... Which btw was corrupted by this book!
Books like these are hard to come by.
The kind that embedded their story on your subconscious and haunt you forever.
I always knew the name but, when I saw that cover... My heart sped up, my breathing became heavy and I had flashbacks of the first time I read it.
If you, whom ever is reading my review, hasn't read it yet... Clear your mind, take yourself back to where you were young, and vulnerable, and read away.
Great work Garrett.
July 1, 2021
From what I gather, this is considered something of a contemporary-ish classic of the horror genre, coming out towards the end of the pulp horror boom in the 1980s. From what I understand, this is the first time it’s ever been re-printed.
Unfortunately, it loses a few points for its bare-faced cheek, because the novel relies heavily on the concept of dreamies, which are essentially pre-programmed dreams that you can buy. The foreword implies that it’s an original concept that Boatman came up with, but it definitely isn’t. Isaac Asimov created the same concept and with the same name at least a decade before. I wouldn’t have minded so much if he’d been credited.
Other than that, there are some good parts and some bad parts to this, and to be honest, it just reads like any random indie horror novel, but with a little bit of science fiction thrown into the mix. It’s just fine at best, and because that’s pretty much the best that I can say about it, it’s hard for me to give it a particularly high rating.
And so I probably wouldn’t recommend it unless you’re a big fan of historic horror, in which case it’s probably more important to read it because of its place in history than it is for any of its inherent qualities as a story. I read so much each month that I doubt I’ll ever think of this one again and it’ll fade pretty quickly into the background.
If you want to read some good indie horror, you’d be better off with Black Magick by R. Saint Clare, the one that I picked up before this one. And of course, I’d also recommend a book called Meat by a guy called Dane Cobain. So yeah, a disappointment.
Unfortunately, it loses a few points for its bare-faced cheek, because the novel relies heavily on the concept of dreamies, which are essentially pre-programmed dreams that you can buy. The foreword implies that it’s an original concept that Boatman came up with, but it definitely isn’t. Isaac Asimov created the same concept and with the same name at least a decade before. I wouldn’t have minded so much if he’d been credited.
Other than that, there are some good parts and some bad parts to this, and to be honest, it just reads like any random indie horror novel, but with a little bit of science fiction thrown into the mix. It’s just fine at best, and because that’s pretty much the best that I can say about it, it’s hard for me to give it a particularly high rating.
And so I probably wouldn’t recommend it unless you’re a big fan of historic horror, in which case it’s probably more important to read it because of its place in history than it is for any of its inherent qualities as a story. I read so much each month that I doubt I’ll ever think of this one again and it’ll fade pretty quickly into the background.
If you want to read some good indie horror, you’d be better off with Black Magick by R. Saint Clare, the one that I picked up before this one. And of course, I’d also recommend a book called Meat by a guy called Dane Cobain. So yeah, a disappointment.
May 17, 2022
Stage Fright was a wild ride! Garrett Boatman creates a world all his own with this novel. His characters feel like real people, and the plot is amazing and disturbing as it could happen in real life with today’s technology.
Boatman was ahead of his time when creating Izzy’s tale, and imagining a world filled with Dreamies. Dreamies, in my mind we’re like a virtual reality concert, or a patron being taken on a trip by simply incorporating the right tonal waves.
Will Izzy create his best Dreamy to date? Will it put the aging rocker back on the map? Or will the Dreamatron simply be a dream?
Boatman was ahead of his time when creating Izzy’s tale, and imagining a world filled with Dreamies. Dreamies, in my mind we’re like a virtual reality concert, or a patron being taken on a trip by simply incorporating the right tonal waves.
Will Izzy create his best Dreamy to date? Will it put the aging rocker back on the map? Or will the Dreamatron simply be a dream?
July 4, 2019
I’ve never read a story that was like a B horror film before. Honestly, I can so imagine someone making this into a fun, cheesy horror flick. I’d totally watch it. With that being said, this was a mixed bag for me writing wise. There was some good writing, way too much writing, (as in over-explaining things) and downright bad writing. There was some good description telling here. A nice detailed painting that gives a clear image into the world your reading about, but also at times, too much word usage that wasn’t necessary. The dialogue is garbage and made me either shake my head or laugh, especially the sex scene between Donna and Todd.
“Mmmmmm . . . so good!” “Oooo, yeah.”
Uh, okay. That, and many more dialectic like it, really killed it for me in regard to liking the characters. Also, a handful of them was just annoyin. I do wish I could’ve gotten that rock n roll feel from this story. Izzy never came across as any kind of artist or musician, in my opinion, just some dude playing around with his dreamie machine in the basement, eating hits of blood from schizophrenics. The conjuring up of real nightmares was a pretty cool idea and the ending didn’t stop short. It carried on into a full horror show that I felt was a good climax to the whole book. All-in-all, Stage Fright can be summed up as being cheap entertainment, and would still make a good B horror movie. I do give five+ stars to the wicked cover art!
“Mmmmmm . . . so good!” “Oooo, yeah.”
Uh, okay. That, and many more dialectic like it, really killed it for me in regard to liking the characters. Also, a handful of them was just annoyin. I do wish I could’ve gotten that rock n roll feel from this story. Izzy never came across as any kind of artist or musician, in my opinion, just some dude playing around with his dreamie machine in the basement, eating hits of blood from schizophrenics. The conjuring up of real nightmares was a pretty cool idea and the ending didn’t stop short. It carried on into a full horror show that I felt was a good climax to the whole book. All-in-all, Stage Fright can be summed up as being cheap entertainment, and would still make a good B horror movie. I do give five+ stars to the wicked cover art!
March 15, 2021
This book was so much fun and it felt just like an 80s horror movie to me. The concept of an instrument that creates movies in your mind and how that goes wrong is a concept i really love. It combines the rockstar and horror director into a new type of artist, the dreamer.
It was a little slow in the beginning as characters were being introduced, but the climax of the book is so insane that it makes the slow parts worth it.
One thing that did surprise me was an unexpected sincerely moving side plot involving a wife trying her best to cope with her husbands deteriorating mental health and an old friend who comforts her along the way. This side plot explored questions of mortality in a way I hadn’t expected going into this book.
Definitely read this if you want a good time, skip it only if you hate things that are fun.
It was a little slow in the beginning as characters were being introduced, but the climax of the book is so insane that it makes the slow parts worth it.
One thing that did surprise me was an unexpected sincerely moving side plot involving a wife trying her best to cope with her husbands deteriorating mental health and an old friend who comforts her along the way. This side plot explored questions of mortality in a way I hadn’t expected going into this book.
Definitely read this if you want a good time, skip it only if you hate things that are fun.
July 30, 2020
The first time I flipped through Paperbacks From Hell, I zeroed in on this cover and thought, "It is extremely important that I read this." Sadly, there is no keytar, and the big final scene is kinda unpleasantly long. But it is a well-written sci-fi/horror novel with gruesomely badass dream sequences.
September 7, 2020
Well it’s certainly entertaining. From the keytar wielding skeleton on the cover (which really has nothing to do with the story), to the explosion of everything 80s at the end. It’s weird, a little confusing at times, but it’s never boring.
February 21, 2021
Man, Boatman sure does love his exclamation points. There's some stream-of-consciousness moments in the narrative that justify some of them, and then there's the dialogue, where you expect to find them on occasion, but they're everywhere. I didn't check to see if they were on every page, but I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case.
Stage Fright is a bit of a legend among pulp horror collectors, but I think it's mostly for the cover art (which, I should note, has nothing to do with the story). The book feels a bit clunky and overlong, and while there are some moments in the book where you realize Boatman is a better writer than the genre or novel would classify him, it's wrapped up in a lot of flat characters or uninspired plotting.
It's a reminder that there are two classifications of these old horror paperbacks: the novels that are hidden gems, full of subtlety and character, like Bernard Taylor's or Ken Greenhall's works; and the novels that are just flat-out bonkers, enjoyable for their pulp elements. I much prefer the former to the latter, but Stage Fright, unfortunately, is in the latter category.
A-Z Horror: B
Stage Fright is a bit of a legend among pulp horror collectors, but I think it's mostly for the cover art (which, I should note, has nothing to do with the story). The book feels a bit clunky and overlong, and while there are some moments in the book where you realize Boatman is a better writer than the genre or novel would classify him, it's wrapped up in a lot of flat characters or uninspired plotting.
It's a reminder that there are two classifications of these old horror paperbacks: the novels that are hidden gems, full of subtlety and character, like Bernard Taylor's or Ken Greenhall's works; and the novels that are just flat-out bonkers, enjoyable for their pulp elements. I much prefer the former to the latter, but Stage Fright, unfortunately, is in the latter category.
A-Z Horror: B
April 10, 2022
This book was okay. As with a lot of these 80s paperbacks, the characters are quite flat which didn’t draw me into the story as much as I’d have liked it to. Because this is a horror story that’s not like most. The ending is quite epic although it does seem to drag on a bit. Still, worth the read.
April 24, 2021
Very repetitive
January 9, 2022
This book is creepy. It gave me nightmares as a kid, and it messed with my head as an adult. If you're looking for a spooky story then this is it. I strongly recommend this for anybody.
February 19, 2025
Phew haha, that was something else! And omg the ending!! Overall, it’s good wholesome horror fun w medium levels of gore! You’ll just have to maybe read quickly descriptions of the science, else you might be a bit 🙄
December 10, 2021
There's a lot to like here but ultimately, I just didn't enjoy the writing. I need more tension, more atmosphere, and more dread. Maybe this isn't bad, maybe it's just not for me.
January 15, 2021
This is a really interesting story, informed by some good ideas and makes for a gripping read. I found it easy to follow and well put together as a story. Combines horror with science fiction and reflects its 80s setting but isn’t OTT or absurd. This could be a very interesting film, given the subject matter and played by a music star with acting chops and a good soundtrack. Recommend this one!
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