Darkborn

by Matthew J. Costello

Twenty-seven years ago, five friends decided to play a game... But if it was just a game, why is there blood? If it was all in their imagination, why is it crawling toward them? If it was dead, why are they afraid?

Darkborn. To stop it is to believe in it. To believe in it is to sacrifice yourself to it. It could be anywhere... anyone... any thing. And those who unleashed it years ago may pay for it with their lives—and their souls for all eternity.

Genres: Horror

332 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1992

About the author

Matthew John Costello (born 1948) is an American horror, Gothic, and science fiction writer. His articles have appeared in publications including the Los Angeles Times and Sports Illustrated. He scripted Trilobyte's bestselling CD-ROM interactive dramas The 7th Guest and its sequel The 11th Hour, as well as many other video games.
(source: Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Jack Tripper · Rating 4 out of 5]

One night five friends decide to perform an ancient summoning ritual using an old, rare grimoire they happened upon, just for shits and giggles. Sure beats going to the school dance. The night ends in a horrific and tragic death, though none of them really thought it related to their drunken ceremony. Now, nearly 30 years later (circa early 90s), as much as they'd all like to forget, death is coming for them all, and there may be no way to escape whatever it is they conjured up.

I'm not sure why there are so many low ratings for this here, but I found it to be a well above-average novel of its ilk. It's somewhat derivative of books like IT and Dan Simmons' Summer of Night and countless other coming-of-age horror tales from the era, but I thought it was pretty damn creepy, with an eldritch supernatural threat and well-drawn characters that I rooted for. It's a slow burn, too much so toward the middle perhaps, but the tension and eerie atmosphere steadily builds, and I was never bored. I even got seriously unnerved a few times, a rarity for me considering I've been reading these things for 30-plus years.

My first two Costello reads (Midsummer and Beneath Still Waters) were merely okay, but this one makes me eager to check out more of his work. Unlike those aforementioned books, this one stays focused on the main players as opposed to constantly hopping back and forth between a dozen different viewpoints, which allowed me to better connect to the characters. It wasn't super original or mind-blowing though the tripped-out ending is pretty damn close but then I rarely go into these old midlist paperback originals expecting that. It offered more than enough chills and mystery and strangeness to suit me.

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am hovering between a 3 or 4 here, but will go with three stars, as this one took a bit to get into, and I had to start it twice. Our main protagonist Will starts the novel off sitting in a rented Toyota in a sleazy part of NYC late one night. He has a bag of tricks, including a gun, and is obviously very nervous, waiting for something. The prose here is rather scattershot, perhaps mimicking Will's emotions at the moment. Then, the first chapter starts some 27 years earlier, when Will, along with his 'rat pack' of friends, is still in his Jesuit high school as a senior in NYC. Will is more of a follower than a leader, and his buddy Tim seems to call the shots, although Kiff, a newcomer, often leads them on adventures. One of the adventures leads to Kiff and Will 'coming across' an old 'banned' book of satanic worship and they decide to try out a summons late one fall evening...

I really liked the creep factor here and Costello does a great job building the tension after a rather rocky start. He also gives us some rather gruesome body horror scenes that, while not frequent, help to punctuate the impending sense of dread. I was also pretty mixed on the denouement. Besides Darkborn being a bit hard to get into, and the lackluster (for me) ending, this really was a find horror novel in Catholic genre; hence my hemming and hawing about my rating. Still, looking forward to finding some more of his work!

[Wayne · Rating 2 out of 5]

The best way I can describe this book is average. It was nicely written. The problem is nothing really happens. There was really no suspense. Thrills or terror. It was good enough to keep reading to see how things turned out, but other than that, not much happens. A person is even decapitated at the height of this, and well, it just was not that interesting.

The story goes that a group of friends hold a drunken ( occult ) ritual that only ends in vomit and a scraped chin. Years later it seems that something from this act took. One by one the group is dying in what should be horrid ways, but only comes off as a bit inconvenient. Leave this one in the dark.

[Lostaccount · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fairly readable but old-fashioned horror novel about a group of friends plagued by an evil entity called up in their youth. The book is a bit long winded - even after two thirds nothing much has happened. The horror scenes are a little tame and uneventful. The prose is okay but the book is let down by a humdrum plot.

[Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed this little novel. Original w/ cool images. The only fault I would give it is that the narrative feels underdeveloped sometimes. Would have loved for the author to take it more easy, especially toward the climax. Still, a worthy read. 3½ stars

[Bobby Stringini · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun book that loses some momentum with shifting timelines. Still, the writing is smooth like butter and the book flies by. Not Costello's best, but pretty fun.

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting play on demonic deals that suffers a bit for it's over-playing with slow tension and dawdling, before coming back to it's best self for a surprising climax.

[Troy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was fairly good but was probably a much better read when it first came out in 1992. This is not really dated but my tastes have changed in horror over the years.