Pandora Drive

by Tim Waggoner

The small town of Zephyr, Ohio, is home to a very special young woman. Damara is quiet, reclusive -- and she has the ability to make other people's dreams, fears and fantasies all too real. But this isn't an ability that she can control, as many people in town are beginning to learn. For some, dreams are becoming living nightmares. For others, their deepest fears are suddenly alive and worse than they ever imagined.

As Damara's powers sweep like a wildfire through the town, her neighbors' long-hidden desires and secret wishes are dragged out into the open -- and given life. But as the old saying goes, be careful what you wish for, because in this case -- it could kill you.

Genres: Horror, Splatterpunk

370 pages, Paperback

First published April 4, 2006

About the author

Tim Waggoner's first novel came out in 2001, and since then, he's published over sixty novels and eight collections of short stories. He writes original dark fantasy and horror, as well as media tie-ins. He's written tie-in fiction based on Supernatural, The X-Files, Alien, Doctor Who, Conan the Barbarian, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Grimm, and Transformers, among others, and he's written novelizations for films such as Ti West’s X-Trilogy, Halloween Kills, Terrifier 2 and 3, and Resident Evil: The Final Chapter. He’s also the author of the award-winning guide to horror Writing in the Dark. He’s a four-time winner of the Bram Stoker Award, a one-time winner of the Scribe Award, and he’s been a two-time finalist for the Shirley Jackson Award and a one-time finalist for the Splatterpunk Award. He’s also a full-time tenured professor who teaches creative writing and composition at Sinclair College in Dayton, Ohio.

Reviews

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my second novel by Waggoner, the first being Like Death, and if anything, this is even better. I can see by Waggoner made a big splash in the horror genre 15 years ago! Set in a small town in Southern Ohio, Pandora Drive is the name of the street where Demara lives; the prologue features her aged 11 or so, but the story picks up about 17 years later. Demara has some sort of power that enables other people's dreams/fantasies/nightmares come true, but she does not really have much control over it, and BAD THINGS have happened in the past, like the 'disappearance' of her younger brother and father. Now Demara lives like a shut-in with her mother in the house she grew up in, making herself as content as possible by looking out the windows of her room.

Demara's only friend is a 10 year old girl who lives across the street, who often stops to talk to her after coming home from school. This starts off rather prosaically with Waggoner introducing Demara's mother and her immediate neighbors-- basically Demara's small world. Since her father disappeared, Demara rarely ventures far from home, and always accompanied by her mother. A few weeks ago, her first and only boyfriend, Tristan, who lived across the street, returned from California after his mother's death, but Demara could not trust herself to go to the funeral; yet, his appearance seems to have unleashed something in Demara, or rather, unleashed her power, as strange and bizarre things start happening to her neighbors...

Waggoner writes with a deft touch and I loved the Ohio setting and phrasings. It is pretty easy to feel some empathy for Demara and some of her neighbors, but not all the neighbors! In fact, right next door lives an old letch and his wife who teaches grade school in the town. While this may start off a bit slow, it just builds and builds up until the denouement, getting stranger and more bizarre as it goes. I know the 'little girl with strange powers' is a well used trope (think Carrie or Firestarter), but Waggoner makes King's efforts seem rather tame in this regard. Once this novel started to take off, it was really hard to put down, and Waggoner piled on the bizarre and often really nasty bits right and left. This could be labeled splatterpunk I suppose, although a rather tame version of it. Well worth a read and recommended for any horror fan. 4.5 stars!!

[Bandit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great book by a great writer.
Along with the highest rating, that's what my original review read. From many years ago.
Tastes mature, mine have become particularly specific when it comes to horror, which was the guilty pleasure of choice for a long time. I seem to no longer enjoy or even gladly tolerate overtly graphic sex, gore and violence. Even when it serves the story as it does here. I'm not a prude, I'm not squeamish, it just seems to cheapen the experience for me. Waggoner is a talented author and this is a conceptually interesting original story about a woman who has the power to bring dreams, or really more like nightmares, to life, but it is positively slathered in the aforementioned accoutrements and I found it very difficult to enjoy. I would have loved to see this one executed as psychological horror and I think Waggoner has the chops to do it, but I suppose at the time he went with what sold. Makes sense, but for me it was primarily a reminder to quit rereading horror of bygone days. Tastes change indeed.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of Waggoner's better novels, a hard-core and thoughtful exploration into a kind of not-for-the-squeamish Twilight Zone concept. It's kind of over-the-top in unrelenting description and imagery, but manages to make the reader ask some questions and examine things they'd be more comfortable ignoring. It's modern genre horror at the top of the game.

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tim Waggoner--and I know he'll take this as a compliment--is one sick dude. I giggle at some of the "This is sick! I threw it away" reviews on Amazon. It's a twisted story. Waggoner plays with dreams in ways that the Nightmare on Elm Street can only imagine. The visuals are fantastic, and it leaves a lasting impression with the reader. A fun romp through nightmares and small town America.

[Albert · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember reading Nekropolis around ten years back, I found it unique and a lot of fun. Only recently did I discover that Waggoner wrote horror as well so figured I'd give them a try.
This was a decently written and interesting horror story about a sad and lonely girl growing up with a very cool ability. This novel was imaginative, disturbing, funny and gross but at times something just felt a bit off, not sure why.
Overall it was good, but I had a hard time deciding how to rate this. It was just so freaking weird. I'm not talking about funny sick weird like Edward Lee or Carlton Mellick III, whose books I really enjoy, I'm talking about really disturbing weird, and I have a pretty healthy (sick) imagination.
Some of the scenes will just stick with me for a while, not sure if in a good way. I mean, SKYGUNK.... REALLY.... What the hell was he smoking, and the whole black hole crotch???.
Anyway, it was interesting, don't be drunk or high when reading this book although I suppose that could be fun in it's own way.

[William M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

PANDORA DRIVE is another staggeringly original work of terror by Tim Waggoner. If critics thought his first novel, LIKE DEATH, was a fluke, this should set the record straight. Tim Waggoner is indeed talented and has proved it once again. It's very rare for me to give a writer two 5-star reviews for their books -- author Gary A. Braunbeck, Tom Piccirilli, Bentley Little, Jack Ketchum, T.M. Wright and Richard Laymon are the only ones to date -- but Mr. Waggoner has now joined that elite group. Infused with emotion and brimming with evil, this is an original and extremely adult tale of horror. My only grip is with the copy editor who unfortunately missed quite a few spelling/grammar errors. I can't begin to tell you how excited I am to read this author's next book. Highest recommendation if you want something different in your horror tale.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is some fucked up shit right here! I loved it. More of a mish- mash of horror, bizarro, sci-fi, just weird fiction. Stay away if you are sqeammish! Mr. Waggoner has a very vivid imagination.

[Laurie (barksbooks) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tim Waggoner has received some good buzz in the online horror world and has been compared to Ray Garton and Richard Laymon in the gore department so I was anxious to start this one.

Damara watches the world go by from the safety of her bedroom window. She possesses the power to make dreams as well as nightmares come true and thus is locked away to ensure the safety of others.

This book started out quietly but soon evolved into a full out gore-filled horror novel reminiscent of Richard Laymon with lots of sex related gore. It crept up so quietly that I was a little stunned which is a good thing because I'm easily bored.

Damara cannot allow her imagination to run wild because even the most innocent of daydreams can often have deadly consequences. She's suppressed her imagination for years and lives the life of a shut-in. But her power has started to seep into the lives of her neighbors and all hell is breaking loose.

This book was gruesome and then some. Yikes, this guy is right up there with the likes of Ed Lee for the gore factor. I had to put this aside it was so bad at one point. I did not want to read about the bad thing that the very bad man with the very big monstrosity growing between his legs was going to do to the very nice single mom. Of course, I just had to go back and read it.

This is awful, nightmarish, completely horrific stuff and recommended only for those with strong stomachs.

[Karen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'll read anything, and I still found this book to be awful. the image of the old man in this book will probably haunt me forever in a really gross way, so I suppose that the author has accomplished what he set out to do. On the other hand, he almost ruined sex for me too, so I guess it evens out in the end.

I read this book because we had a complaint about it at work, and for the first time in my career, I had a hard time defending the written word.

[Maggie May · Rating 2 out of 5]

The amazing potential for horror was lost to vomit-inducing nonsense. I have read other books by the author in which gore furthered the story in terrifying ways. Unfortunately in this case it comes across like a shock jock trying to push boundaries for the sake of pushing them. Juvenile is the best word I can think of to sum up this book. Two stars only because the premise was wonderfully creative.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just have this to say about Pandora Drive: it started off creepy, but it just got downright weird and unnecessarily gross, so much so that it detracted from the story.

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tim Waggoner at his best

I first became aware of Pandora Drive shortly after it came out. At the time, I was a new fan of Waggoner. For one reason or another, I never read it until now.

This book to me is everything that I love about Waggoner's imagination. I've yet to read any other author who has created such a twisted reality, and makes it seem so normal. Weird, twisted, gory, all in one read.

[Mkittysamom · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book went all over the place with sadistic sex killers, to a broken down “park with rides” to ghosts, to magical powers! It’s graphic for sure, definitely what I’d call Bizzaro Splatterpunk! I enjoyed it, I liked all the twists and turns but the ending felt like a let down after all that craziness!

[Jessie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fresh idea, a lot of interesting and grotesque imagery from the middle to the end of the book. But good god man, why can’t you just say ‘it was fucking cold’ in a way that doesn’t describe an eleven year old girl’s nipples hardening?

[StarMan]

In which a giant penis is a character.
1 star or lower.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok, so this was often over the top gory and very far out there- but I loved it. One of the best horror books I've read in a long time.

[Sean Flynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

With "Pandora Drive", author Tim Waggoner creates a premise that will allow his imagination to flourish; and he uses it to its fullest potential. The protagonist, 28 year old Damara, is the "Pandora" to whom the title alludes. She is in a self-imposed exile due to a mysterious power she possesses that can cause the fantasies and nightmares of those around her to become realities. However, instead of learning to use this power, Damara has spent all of her life trying to suppress it. Unfortunately, this causes her power to leak out (like the evil in the box Damara's mythological counterpart opens) to those who live on her street. Even more unfortunately, her street is populated with some of the sickest and wickedest individuals anywhere.

That Waggoner has a blast with his premise, and takes it to its outermost extremes, is apparent on nearly every page in the novel. He asks himself: "What if that old lecherous creep down the street suddenly has the power to get what he most desires? What of his wife, the frigid, childless schoolteacher who hates anyone and everyone? What would SHE do with such power?" Waggoner's answers to these questions are disturbing, graphic, and a hell of a lot of fun. Definitely not for the squeamish or sexually-sensitive.

My only complaint is that the characters are all a little too flat -- Pandora Drive is populated with nothing more than stereotypes. It's hard to believe that these could actually be real people dealing with a surreal problem. Perhaps if they had a little more depth and development, I could find myself caring about some of them, but they all just seem to be pawns in Waggoner's circus of freaks.

Apart from this, Waggoner skillfully demonstrates that his mind is capable of producing some VERY nightmarish landscapes, complete with equally nightmarish denizens.

Add him to my short list of authors to watch.

[John Bruni · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this grotesque book. There are a lot of nasty things that happen in this one. If there's a scene with Kenneth in it, you will walk away from it feeling very dirty, especially his final scene with one of his neighbors. He also has the greatest, uh, moneyshot scene in history. I read that part while I was on the train home from work, and I laughed so maniacally that the other commuters probably inched away from me very, very slowly so as not to attract my attention. There is the sludge in Tristan's house, especially when it comes to its climax. There's . . . oh so much, and you need to discover it all for yourselves. The only problem I had with the story was that there are times when something happens just because the story needs it to happen. It comes off as a chess game sometimes. It's irritating, but it's not enough to ruin the read.

[Tristan MacAvery · Rating 2 out of 5]

Having met Tim Waggoner (and exchanged autographed books with him), it sorely pains me to say: For me, at least, this book is not one that I can recommend. There's a lot more "gross-out" than horror, more splatter than suspense. Let me say that the idea is very good indeed, and Waggoner is a tale-spinner of high order; despite my roiling stomach, I managed to continue through to the end. My problem with the book is more along the lines of "ain't my thang" than it is that the book is poor.

When I finished the book, I had a nagging feeling that there was a small logical inconsistancy somewhere, as if the ending were reasonably complete yet not quite ringing true. However, I don't have the desire to run back through the book to find it, if it even exists. Perhaps it is only the particularly creepy final twist(s) that are sufficiently disturbing that I feel that the magician may have put one over on me that I feel I should have caught in mid-act.

If I may tease Mr. Waggoner a bit, there's one scene that (shall we say) borrows heavily from Greg Bear's Blood Music, and he does so to magnificent (if particularly disturbing) advantage. Well done, old son.

[Arne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tim Waggoner returns again with his mix between almost Harry Potter-like fantasy ( sounds strange I know ) and extremely disgusting hardxore horror. And while he only has written two books within this gross subgenre ( Like Death and this Pandora Drive I think) both these books are real hits.
The author again takes his time to introduce the characters to us. We come to know them all before they become victims or perpetrators of Waggoner's extremely sick imagination ( one scene really goes WAAAYYY over the line in paying tribute to Cannibal Holocaust and any perverted Japanese sexfilm . The author hits full force and comes up with nightmarishly outrageous images ( that rainfall !! ) and creative imaginations. As with his previous novel Like Death he tends to lose a bit of his way towards the end but it never goes overboard.
Like Death was slightly better with a 4 and a half * out of 5 , while this novel scores a deserving 4* ( the atmosphere was a tad stronger in Like Death). This novel though is worth buying for a couple of scenes alone.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

part of it may just be the low standards i've come to have for the "leisure horror book of the month" books that i gathered over a couple of years ago, but this one struck me as one of the better ones. it's certainly better than the description on the back of the dust jacket makes it out to be.

it goes beyond just being a story about a girl who has the power to make the fears/dreams/fantasies of those around her come true -- a power that she has no control over -- and is more of a story, really, of how in general, (save for one or two of us) humanity is a mess of hatreds, fears, and perversions.

not exactly the most uplifting of reads, but it ends happily enough, and the ride along the way is engaging, unsettling, and adequately disgusting for a book of this type. it might more appropriately be rated a 3 1/2, but i'd rather give it the benefit of the doubt.

[Mya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Damara, the protagonist of this shock-horror tale is a woman who has the power to make one's desires or fears come true. When she unleashes her imagination bad things happen to those close to her, it is even worse when the power slips from her control. This book kinda reminded of 'The Twilight Zone' with the little boy with the scary imagination, whom everyone was terrified of. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if that's what inspired the author. Just like the film, 'Pandora Drive' doesn't give a lot of backstory or reason for the freakish talent, but it does take you on a roller coaster ride of vivid scares and gross manifestations.

Pulp horror fiction, it was good for a scary, vacation read.

[Kellybrianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

All I can say is wow, I think I'll be reading more Tim Waggoner. His writing style is fast paced, descriptive and interesting. The book is about Damara, a woman with a terrible power that makes people's dreams/nightmares come to life. This power has caused her to become a loner, hiding away in the house she shares with her mother for 17 years. However her powers, for whatever reason, has begun to leak out into the neighbourhood and it leads to frightening results. I would tell people to read this book, it's interesting and creative. Waggoner has been added to my list of authors to watch out for.

[Kevin Gallan · Rating 4 out of 5]

i enjoyed this book...not for the faint of heart...alot of nasty stuff going on

[Wendi · Rating 3 out of 5]

The idea of this book is great, but I didn't care for it as a whole. The images were very disturbing so I guess that has to count for something.

[Avery Brennan · Rating 3 out of 5]

was a good read

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sickly intriguing, a horror that will stay in my mind.

[Anastasia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Creepy