Old Death

by David Britton

In this posthumously published novel Lord Horror steps into his creator's shoes, to become Death himself. Soon to claim his prize. But for now he wanders Holy Auschwitz, allowing the author to bid farewell to his characters. Meng & Ecker, Ozymandias and the crew of the Kraft Durch Freude, the dog boys and others of old, rub shoulders with the new new – the Rooster of Birkenau, the monstrous Der Struwwelpeter (Warden of Auschwitz) and the Iron Bone Grinder ("a weird facsimile of The Bobs", the big dipper ride at Manchester's Belle Vue amusement park). Along the way, Superman's arch-enemy MR. MXYZPTLK, in the guise of an Ouroboros-like identity comprised of suffering humanity, puts in a grisly appearance, whilst in Meng & Ecker's newly opened Auschwitz café, characters from The Beano and The Dandy sit down to lunch. The Rabbi of the Treblinka Church tries to 'save' Old Death, so that he can live "a long afterlife", but Death, "on his high horse", will have nothing of it.

240 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2022

Reviews

[Kim Cowie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the latest in David Britton's 'Lord Horror' works. Priced at £35, this luxuriously produced volume, with colour illustrations by Kris Guido, is one for Britton afficionados and collectors. Britton writes extreme and grotesque horror, intended as an ironic critique of anti-semitism. Many opponents, repelled by the content of the earlier books, have failed to see the irony.
The contents are highly imaginative, and Guido's illustrations do justice to the bizarre characters, who include figures from obscure old comic books. But definitely not a book for the easily offended.

[Justice4Gaza · Rating 5 out of 5]

So. In terms of issues around Old Death, David Britton's final book for Manchester-England-based Savoy Books, I can report that it unflinchingly maintained two core Savoy traditions. Thusly:

Core Savoy Tradition #1: Write a disturbingly deviant, determinedly depraved, downright dangerous book...

Core Savoy Tradition #2: Give said book a feeble, fatuous, flatulent title...

Yup, that's exactly what Britton and Savoy did with Britton's final book. The text is mega, the title is meh. Who's gonna be attracted by a book called Old Death? No-one, I suggest. Unless you already know how good Britton is, you'll dismiss title-and-text in an instant.

But what if -- off the top of my head -- they'd called the book Thanatos Rising? Or Theta-23? Or simply Θ? (That's the capital form of the Greek letter theta.)

None of those is perfect, but ALL of 'em are WAAAAAAY better than Old Death. They intrigue, they entice, they invite. Savoy's titles usually do the exact opposite. As I've already suggested at Good Reads: If Savoy hadda published the text of A Clockwork Orange (quite possly the best title EVAH!), they woulda called it Bad Alex. And thereby lost millions of readers for Burgess's core counter-cultural classic.

So here are some more core counter-cultural classics given Savoy-esque titles:

• 120 Days of Sodom → Holiday in a Castle
• Naked Lunch → 7.30 Breakfast
• Les Chants de Maldoror → Les Chants de Maldemer
• The Satanic Verses → The Peeved Prophet
• Last Exit to Brooklyn → Road Work Ahead
• American Psycho → American Businessman
• The Soft Machine → The Round Circle
• Story of the Eye → Story of the Eyedrops
• The Ticket That Exploded → The Ticket That Tore A Bit
• Killing for Company → Working for Government

Get it? With Savoy-esque titles, those books wouldn'ta bin core counter-cultural classics. Nobody woulda given 'em a second look. If Savoy wanted Britton to have a proper chance of gaining the readership and respect he deserves, they'd re-issue all his books with good titles.

Except mebbe for Reverbstorm. That already has a good title. Can you guess whether Savoy came up with it or not? 1, 2, 3...