Night Caller

by Daniel Ransom, Ed Gorman

As a little girl answers a telephone ringing in the attic, she is compelled to obey the caller's horrifying bidding.

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Novels

301 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

a pseudonym of Ed Gorman

Reviews

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

1930's: A woman murders her husband in the Royal Hotel.
1969: 12 year old Anne Edmunds is found guilty of murdering her mother and four guests with an axe at her father's hotel - Royal Hotel.
Present day: Sally Baines and her 13 year old daughter, Jaime have stalled out on the side of the road, during a road trip. They have no option but to get a room at the local Royal Hotel. But for years, the hotel has been the subject of numerous rumors, having to do with the sordid history there.
People claim to see a strange glow coming from the attic window. Anne claimed to receive phone calls from an old telephone in the attic - calls from the spirit of the original killer - who exuded a strong power over her and urged her to kill. People also hear knocking sounds coming from the attic.
Jaime, who bears a strong resemblance to Anne, begins to see Anne in her dreams. Soon after, she feels pulled to the attic as if in a trance. Then she even hears Anne speaking to her in her head. Is Anne possessing Jaime, just as she herself was possessed?
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I liked this; it was a quick, easy read, although it turned out to be way different than I thought it would. I'm looking forward to reading the authors other works.

[Dez Nemec · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun ghost/haunted hotel story. Love these 80s paperbacks!

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Night Caller by Daniel Ransom (aka Ed Gorman) is a fun, cheesy, super-quick read. After breaking down on the side of the road in a small town, Sally and her daughter, Jamie, have no choice but to spend the night in a hotel with a sordid history. An ax murder, to be specific. Mysterious thumping sounds and middle-of-the-night phone calls stir up past shenanigans and we are treated to a high body count and a fair amount of gore a la the sharp blade of an ax. The narrative was decent, if a bit rushed at the conclusion. It played out like a forgotten VHS film from the 70s or early 80s. Good, messy fun.

[Jordan Anderson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Zebra books had some decent authors and some fairly well-received novels during their run, but, like most of the stuff they produced in the 80’s, Night Caller is far from great.

While it’s quick and an easy read, the rest of this book feels just cliche and kind of plain. Things happen that don’t make sense or aren’t explained. What is explained could be kind of fun but Ransom’s writing style is far too plain or simple to make it stand out. The ending also lacks closure and feels rushed.

I guess one good thing is Night Caller‘s cover, complete with the famous Zebra skeleton.

[Nick Krenn · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's funny to me that Ed Gorman used the pseudonym of Daniel Ransom when he already had a great name for horror. Just add an 'e' to it and be Ed Goreman. I was in the mood for some trashy pulp, so I checked out Gorman's Night Caller. Unfortunately, the book doesn't live up to the promise of that spectacular cover. In fact, a lot of it is poorly written with silly dialogue, continuity errors, and bland characters.

But with this being a Zebra horror novel, I wasn't expecting a great work of literature. That was really the fun of reading the book, like watching some cheesy, poorly made horror film from the 80s. I wanted something bad and strange, and Gorman delivered the goods often. When the book decides to get bloody, it does so with an over-the-top glee that calls back to campy slasher films.

I look forward to delving more into these vintage pulp paperbacks. I can say after having recently re-read several old Fear Street and Christopher Pike books that they deliver more quality than you'd expect, especially when compared to this. I don't know if Zebra thought much of its readers. Crazy to think these little books are in such high demand now when they just cluttered the bookstore shelves back in the day.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ out of 5. Fear Nerd says, "Check it out!"

[YellowBlackKing · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ich hatte mich sehr darauf gefreut, einmal etwas von Daniel Ransom/Ed Gorman zu lesen, von dem nur wenig ins Deutsche übersetzt wurde, „Anruf um Mitternacht“ enttäuschte mich leider jedoch. In dem Buch geht es um (da man den Inhalt im Internet nirgendwo findet) Jamie, die von dem Geist eines anderen Mädchens besessen ist und unter dessen Einfluss zu einer mordenden Bestie wird. Mich konnte die Geschichte einfach nicht packen, was unter anderem vermutlich daran lag, dass ich zu den Charakteren keine richtige Bindung aufbauen konnte. Dafür, dass die Grundidee so simpel ist, gab es in dem Buch aber auch eine ganze Menge Charaktere, welche die Geschichte unnötig kompliziert machten. Abgesehen davon konnte mich der Plot leider genauso wenig überzeugen.

[y.a.s · Rating 2 out of 5]

All I can say is wow I was not expecting this book to end how it did. It’s a good book but giving it 2 stars because it can be confusing the way prospectives change and a little boring at times it took me over a month to finish because I took so many breaks in between to read other things.

[Philip · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was not bogged down by over explaining details. It was straight and to the point, which made this feel like an actual pocket book. The characters and dialogue are all written very well and I did not see that ending by.

[Marina · Rating 3 out of 5]

At the start, I thought it would be a horror novel, but it's more of a ghost story and the ghost isn't the malevolent character I expected it to be.

[FutureBoy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I love 80s horror novels, even the cheesy ones, and I wanted to love this book. But I just can't like this.

The writing was awful. It reads like a 9 year old boy wrote it. And not a particularly bright or talented 9 year old boy. And the story was a mess of uninteresting characters.

I would love to have loved this book. But I can't.

[M · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Girl in the Attic by Ed Gorman and Patricia Lee Macomber

[Jason Nickey]

This book is about what you would expect from the cover. It's like when you watch an 80s horror movie that's not amazing, but at the same time, still pretty cool. I enjoyed it.

[DJMikeG · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yet another extremely entertaining Daniel Ransom aka Ed Gorman horror novel. This is pulp, but the writing transcends the trappings of the genre. These books are very enjoyable and addictive!

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

An 80s horror classic from the master, Ed Gorman.