The Sandman

by Miles Gibson

Miles Gibson's cult novel from 1984 returns to print with a new preface by the author.

Growing up in a small hotel in a shabby seaside town, lonely William 'Mackerel' Burton amuses himself by perfecting his conjuring tricks. In adult life his magic turns lethal as he stalks the streets of London - the butcher in rubber gloves, the acrobat called Death. He is the Sandman.

'A splendidly macabre achievement... As an account of descent into homicidal mania it has seldom been bettered.' Time Out

'Unspeakable acts are reported with an unwavering reasonableness essential to the comic impact...' Times Literary Supplement

'Written by a virtuoso - it luxuriates in death with a Jacobean fervour.' Sydney Morning Herald

Genres: Fiction, Horror

181 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Miles Gibson (born 1947) is a reclusive English novelist, poet and artist.
Gibson was born in a squatters camp at an abandoned World War II airbase, RAF Holmsley South in the New Forest, and raised in Mudeford, Dorset. The camp was dubbed Tintown and had been sanctioned by Christchurch Town Council as a way to ease postwar housing shortages. He was educated at Sandhills Infant School, Somerford Junior School and Somerford Secondary Modern - now The Grange School.

Gibson’s darkly satirical writing has been described as both “magic realism” and “absurdist fiction”. Although his narratives remain linear in construction his employment of black humour, pastiche, and untrustworthy narrators places him firmly among the postmodernists.

Reviews

[Kelsi - Slime and Slashers · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel like this book is an underrated gem as I've hardly heard anyone talk about it. I am overjoyed that someone recommended this to me, so that I could discover how wonderful it is!

The book is formatted mostly as a journal entry written by the main character: William Burton, AKA Mackerel. His journal documents how he comes to realize that he enjoys killing and how he wants to make that his life's work. The writing also gives us a look at his childhood as well as his adult relationships. Plus, the journal describes the beauty Mackerel finds in bringing death to others. He refers to his darker half as "the Sandman."

The book is quite weird, zany, and honestly very entertaining in its strangeness. The prose is written beautifully and with an air of elegance despite the subject matter. I personally loved the flow of the writing, and I even marked several passages while reading because I adored it.

If you like slasher horror stories, then you may also enjoy this because it's a slasher story but written in an elevated and almost poetic way with some humor thrown in to boot. It is most definitely much more than a mere slash and bash, mindless story. I enjoy those types of slasher stories too, but this book provides a welcomed change of pace from that.

Some may consider parts of the story to be on the slower side, but I think it all flowed very well. In my opinion, the slower pacing and subtle parts provide us a glimpse into the main character's past as well as his psyche and behavior.

As I was reading this book, I truly felt that I was reading the inner thinkings of an actual killer. Very well done! I would definitely recommend it!

[Stephen McQuiggan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mackerel commits his first murder by accident and soon develops a taste for it. He sells up the family hotel, puts his Mother in a care home, and heads to London to indulge himself in making people disappear. Mackerel is a man of unusual needs. In essence this is the morbid diary of a killer; a dark little fairy story, an evil little nursery rhyme, filled with Tulips and Percy Pigs. There is a real sense of emptiness, a detached coldness to the whole thing - the death that Mackerel offers is almost bland, the people around him the crazy ones. Mundane, squalid, and depressing in its everyday insignificance - and all the better for it.

[WJEP · Rating 4 out of 5]

The foremost problem for the author of a serial-killer book is motive. Revenge and money are out. How well did Miles Gibson do? The abracadabra angle seemed silly to me. Gibson's barmy British butcher never once curdled my blood.

But I still enjoyed the book. There was some good gore.

"... the human body is just a balloon full of hot and bubbling mud. Puncture them and they leak all over the carpet."

Sandman's perverted antics were often amusing. My favorite part was when young Sandman tried to rape his elephantine housekeeper.

"I was afraid that she might open her thighs and swallow me for, as I stared, I fancied I saw the whiskery chin of some old man she had already swallowed wedged between them."

[Ευαγγελία Τσουκαλά · Rating 4 out of 5]

Αρκετά λάθη επιμέλειας αλλά η ιστορία μου άρεσε πολύ. Είναι ακριβώς ο τίτλος του βιβλίου. Μας εξηγεί το πως έγινε δολοφόνος και με ποιον τρόπο έχει επιλέξει να σκοτώνει τα θύματά του αφηγώντας μας την ιστορία της ζωής του

[George K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Το ημερολόγιο ενός δολοφόνου", εκδόσεις Bell.

Μπορεί να μην ανήκει ακριβώς στην αστυνομική νουάρ λογοτεχνία, όμως η μαυρίλα της ιστορίας και η σκοτεινή ατμόσφαιρα μου άφησαν μια τέτοια αίσθηση.

Όπως φανερώνει και ο τίτλος της ελληνικής έκδοσης, έχουμε να κάνουμε με την έγγραφη εξιστόρηση της ζωής ενός διαταραγμένου νεαρού άντρα, από τότε που ήταν μικρό παιδί μέχρι την στιγμή που έκανε τον πρώτο του φόνο, γεγονός που τον οδήγησε σε πολλούς περισσότερους και σε μια διπρόσωπη ζωή. Διαβάζουμε το ημερολόγιο του κατά συρροήν δολοφόνου Γουίλιαμ "Μάκερελ" Μπάρτον, που αφηγείται σε πρώτο πρόσωπο πολλά σημαντικά γεγονότα των παιδικών και εφηβικών του χρόνων και στη συνέχεια όλων των φόνων και της ζωής που έκανε όταν μεγάλωσε. Πρόκειται για έναν τύπο που στους υπόλοιπους ανθρώπους φαίνεται ένας μάλλον συμπαθητικός και αδιάφορος άντρας, κατά βάθος όμως κάτι δεν πάει καλά μαζί του. Αυτό το κάτι είναι οι εντελώς τυχαίοι, άγριοι και συνάμα παστρικοί φόνοι απέναντι σε γυναίκες και άντρες και η διαφορετική κοσμοθεωρία του απέναντι στην ζωή και τον θάνατο, την ευτυχία και την δυστυχία.

Την ιστορία θα μπορούσα να την χαρακτηρίσω ακόμα και ως κωμικοτραγική, μιας και κάποια σημεία είναι αρκετά ανάλαφρα παρά τις δυσάρεστες στιγμές. Η πλοκή δεν κρύβει πολλές εκπλήξεις, διαβάζεται όμως με ενδιαφέρον από την αρχή μέχρι το τέλος. Τον κεντρικό χαρακτήρα δύσκολα θα τον συμπαθήσει κανείς, λόγω των εγκλημάτων του, όμως δεν μου φάνηκε και εντελώς αντιπαθητικός. Η γραφή είναι πολύ καλή και ευκολοδιάβαστη, βοηθάει στην γρήγορη ανάγνωση του βιβλίου. Αυτά τα ολίγα. Δεν πρωτοτυπεί, όμως σίγουρα ψυχαγωγεί. Προσωπικά πέρασα πολύ καλά.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book. It was a random finding for me, picked up at a library sale and has sat on my shelf for about 3 years. I chose to read it last night due to it's short length and was pleasantly surprised to find one of my new favorite books. The story surrounds a strange man nicknamed "Mackeral" and his spiral into murder and psychosis. He, however, is very lovable and the pages are abundantly humorous. Read this book if you want something poetic and intelligent with a dark story.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

My husband thinks this book is "erotic". I'm a little worried about him.

[Eric_W · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gibson can't be considered part of the American Noir genre because he's British, but his work shows definite influence of Thompson and Highsmith. The Sandman is the story of a serial killer, a man who kills because he enjoys it. He picks his victims randomly, his only criteria being that they look forlorn and unhappy and he is doing them a favor by removing them from the toils of this life. He rationalizes his murderous behavior by comparing his few victims to the inordinate number of those killed through "acts of God." "You could call me a butcher but electric toasters kill more in a year than I could manage in a lifetime. There are men who . . . walk into the office each morning and get paid to dream of new ways to destroy the world. . . Let's have some lunch and think about radiation sickness. I frighten you because I work on a human scale . . . . But there are nightmares in the world so grand that your head could not contain them." Ironically, the turning point in his life comes when an old girlfriend is killed by her husband, a butcher. Not for the faint-hearted.

[Alessandro Pannaria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scadente l'inizio, si riprende per una quindicina di pagine verso metà storia per poi precipitare nell'oblio. In generale, senza senso.

[John Jessee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read this book somewhere in the 80's. I was around 12 years old, probably a little young for this material. I remember being horrified and completely fascinated. It's one of those books that have always stayed with me.

Since I've been unable to get this story out of my head and I'm now approaching my 50s, I thought I'd give it another go. I'm glad that I did. I still remember parts of the book from my childhood. I remembered his childhood, his first victim, his last victim, and a few other details. I felt like I was visiting some macabre little friend again. I could still anticipate events as though I'd read the book only a year or two ago.

This is such an underrated book. Now that I own an original copy again (thank you, Ebay) I'm sure that I'll be visiting my weird little friend again in a few years. And just like I did when I was little, I'm sure I'll think twice about rubber gloves and raincoats.

[Lofiuto Mascagni · Rating 5 out of 5]

bel libro, scritto molto bene e mai banale

[Payne · Rating 4 out of 5]

probably shouldn't, but I liked it

[elderfoil...the whatever champion · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again, Mr. Gibson flirts with five stars.

"She had washed away her make-up and the greyhound had returned to her face."

"The legs were the colour of porridge."

[Molly Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

My mum handed me this book years and years ago but I’m glad I waited until now to read it and truly appreciate it. The Sandman tells the story of William Burton aka Mackerel as he quietly slaughters his way through London after getting a taste for blood.

The majority of the book takes on a journal entry format and while it is a subdued book, it was haunting and almost poetic at times. I picked this book for its size while I was commuting around London and found myself laughing at how unnerved I was pulling into various tube stations, that had just been mentioned seconds ago in the book. I finished this book in a couple of days with ease and overall I enjoyed the insight into the twisted mind of William Burton.

[Alex_xander · Rating 3 out of 5]

[8/10] Lo recomiendo, pero hasta ahí.
Fue un libro que empecé con muchas ganas por todo ese elemento tétrico de las primeros capítulos por el tema de los asesinatos y la propia culpa del asesino con esas pesadillas donde ve a todas las personas que mató...hasta la parte de su diario. Fue sumamente largo el desarrollo de toda su historia de como llegó a matar; hay cosas que sí puedo rescatar como la caída de la madre, el acoso por "la galgo", porque el deseo de matar, o como se formó esa doble personal entre el inocente y el despiadado Hombre de arena.
Cosas como su seudo-romance con la ayudante de dentista, no fue de mi agrado, entiendo que pudo agregarlo para que el protagonista caiga en la idea de parar con los asesinatos y tener una vida normal o seguir con sus atrocidades, pero siento que lo pudieron hacer mejor con la madre o "la galgo"en ese ámbito; el mismo hecho de que cuando empiezan a irse las personas a su alrededor, decide ser más sanguinario para "vengarse" de la vida. También me sentí disgustado por las escenas sexuales, o descripciones sexualizadas a las mujeres,entiendo que al ser un depravado pueda haber esas descripciones de las mujeres detalladamente de sus cuerpos, pero las escenas de sexo...si...no. Un ejemplo que sí me gusto relacionado a descripciones era cuando estaba planeando los crímenes contra la mucama (soy malo con los nombres jaja), era con un propósito relacionado a su asquerosa naturaleza pero las demás escenas no llegaban a nada.
Sacando esas cosas de la historia, sería mi libro favorito acerca de un asesino despiadado.

[Maddie Sanchez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although short this is everything a true crime lover could want in a book from the perspective of a killer. It is witty and dark. I loved it and finished it in about a day. Would definitely re-read, which I never do.

[Shane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't know that this book was still in print! I read this 24 years ago and really liked it. Quirky!

[Catherine Baum · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favourite books

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Akelig goed geschreven, maar het plot is te dun.