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Graveyard
Ambrose was the class wimp, a harmless drone the other kids taunted and teased. All he ever wanted was a friend, all he ever got was laughter and ridicule -- until graduation night. Then he got revenge ... from beyond the grave. For Ambrose was dead and buried, the victim of a prank gone wrong.
But the earth could not contain his sudden, furious wrath, a long-festering anger that shook loose the bonds of death and threatened to destroy an entire town.
Up from the dank, dark earth he came, searching and probing for the warm, living flesh of his tormentors. One by one, he would drag them, kicking and screaming, into his moist, fetid grave.
They would all be friends at last -- very good friends within the unholy soil of the hellish ... Graveyard.
But the earth could not contain his sudden, furious wrath, a long-festering anger that shook loose the bonds of death and threatened to destroy an entire town.
Up from the dank, dark earth he came, searching and probing for the warm, living flesh of his tormentors. One by one, he would drag them, kicking and screaming, into his moist, fetid grave.
They would all be friends at last -- very good friends within the unholy soil of the hellish ... Graveyard.
- GenresHorror
313 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published October 1, 1987
48 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 5, 2021
Canadian author Mason Burgess was getting a bit of a reputation as the "Stephen King of Manitoba" in the mid 1980s before disappearing from public life. He popped up again in 2015 to publish the novel "Skinned Babies," before again vanishing into obscurity. But during the paperback horror boom, he had churned out a trio of scary novels for Leisure between 1985 and 1986. "Graveyard" is the last of that bunch.
It's a cautionary tale about racism, the ill effects of debauchery, and revenge. A Haitian immigrant who has been cursed by a voodoo priest graduates from a Canadian high school and is rooked into attending a drunken celebration, where some yokels hope to get him loaded enough to take advantage of the wad of cash he carries around in his wallet. Unfortunately, someone spikes the kid's beer, and the night becomes a nightmare.
I was not impressed overall with this story. Things take an inordinate amount of time to get going, leaving the reader stuck with a bunch of unlikeable teenage characters, reading droning passages about drag racing, petty relationship troubles, and heavy drinking and drugging. The Haitian boy, Ambrose, hardly features in the story at all, and yet we are supposed to sympathize with his plight. It would certainly have paid off to know much more about this character so that the inciting incident would have more of an emotional punch. Instead, Ambrose is just another mostly faceless victim of senseless violence, and so when the guilty parties meet their justice, it is not as delicious and satisfying as it could be. Also, during the rising action and climax, innocent people are also hurt that had nothing to do with Ambrose. The author tries to insinuate that the whole town was built on a long history of exploitation of others, thus implying that the crime against Ambrose was a turning point, the proverbial "last straw," that has led to supernatural retribution against all of the inhabitants. But the plot threads are oddly disconnected and there was a lot of waisted potential here.
Overall, this is kind of a retelling of "Carrie" mixed in with a host of other random horror tropes that is so full of holes that Kim Jong-un would mistake the book for his favorite cheese.
The novel does deliver some "cheesy" fun, but is a lackluster entry into the pantheon of 1980s horror. I expect that the book was rushed to completion and printing on a half-developed concept, because the final product seems incomplete. Despite clocking in at 313 pages, it is an incredibly fast read, because there is very little meat on these bones. Like eating a whole bucket of fried chicken, but all the pieces are necks and backs instead of breasts.
I recommend it with reservation only to avid collectors and fans of paperbacks from hell.
It's a cautionary tale about racism, the ill effects of debauchery, and revenge. A Haitian immigrant who has been cursed by a voodoo priest graduates from a Canadian high school and is rooked into attending a drunken celebration, where some yokels hope to get him loaded enough to take advantage of the wad of cash he carries around in his wallet. Unfortunately, someone spikes the kid's beer, and the night becomes a nightmare.
I was not impressed overall with this story. Things take an inordinate amount of time to get going, leaving the reader stuck with a bunch of unlikeable teenage characters, reading droning passages about drag racing, petty relationship troubles, and heavy drinking and drugging. The Haitian boy, Ambrose, hardly features in the story at all, and yet we are supposed to sympathize with his plight. It would certainly have paid off to know much more about this character so that the inciting incident would have more of an emotional punch. Instead, Ambrose is just another mostly faceless victim of senseless violence, and so when the guilty parties meet their justice, it is not as delicious and satisfying as it could be. Also, during the rising action and climax, innocent people are also hurt that had nothing to do with Ambrose. The author tries to insinuate that the whole town was built on a long history of exploitation of others, thus implying that the crime against Ambrose was a turning point, the proverbial "last straw," that has led to supernatural retribution against all of the inhabitants. But the plot threads are oddly disconnected and there was a lot of waisted potential here.
Overall, this is kind of a retelling of "Carrie" mixed in with a host of other random horror tropes that is so full of holes that Kim Jong-un would mistake the book for his favorite cheese.
The novel does deliver some "cheesy" fun, but is a lackluster entry into the pantheon of 1980s horror. I expect that the book was rushed to completion and printing on a half-developed concept, because the final product seems incomplete. Despite clocking in at 313 pages, it is an incredibly fast read, because there is very little meat on these bones. Like eating a whole bucket of fried chicken, but all the pieces are necks and backs instead of breasts.
I recommend it with reservation only to avid collectors and fans of paperbacks from hell.
December 19, 2018
I thought this was going to be a back from the dead for revenge type book. It sort of is and sort of not. The back of this tells of Ambrose, a teen who is picked on and get his revenge from the grave. That's great, but Ambrose is only in this book for a very short time. He does get killed. He does get buried in an old graveyard. Furious wrath is doled out later on. Still, not what I had in mind.
This book is broken down into five parts. I, "History Lesson." We learn of Carlyle, a small town in Canada and all it's terror in the 19th century. II," Ambrose. " We meet him briefly. He came to Canada from Haiti. Why? It never really says. III, "Children Of Carlyle." We meet a slew of high school graduates on the last day of school. This part is what drags the book down a little. IIII, "A Party And A Dance." Here we have some drunken kids pick up Ambrose and kill him. Bury him in the old graveyard and bitch about it for way to long. V, "Night Of Horror" This is when the book finally picks up steam. Too bad it's to late to really lift it above average. For some reason some people turn into mindless killers. Why? We never know. Some people are fine and are not effected. Why? Same thing. We just don't know. There is a lot of violence in this last part. It moves at a pretty got clip as well. Just wish the author was more descriptive about the events that took place.
This book is broken down into five parts. I, "History Lesson." We learn of Carlyle, a small town in Canada and all it's terror in the 19th century. II," Ambrose. " We meet him briefly. He came to Canada from Haiti. Why? It never really says. III, "Children Of Carlyle." We meet a slew of high school graduates on the last day of school. This part is what drags the book down a little. IIII, "A Party And A Dance." Here we have some drunken kids pick up Ambrose and kill him. Bury him in the old graveyard and bitch about it for way to long. V, "Night Of Horror" This is when the book finally picks up steam. Too bad it's to late to really lift it above average. For some reason some people turn into mindless killers. Why? We never know. Some people are fine and are not effected. Why? Same thing. We just don't know. There is a lot of violence in this last part. It moves at a pretty got clip as well. Just wish the author was more descriptive about the events that took place.
March 8, 2019
Quite bad, cringe-worthy story that didn't age well.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews