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The Restless Dead
A curse lingers over the Everol mansion -- a voodoo curse, born of evil, steeped in blood. The tormented family who lives in this house of horrors is best by insanity, visions ... and death. They have shut themselves off from the world, allowing no one to trespass on their blighted property. No one except Jeff Gordon, a university professor with a special knowledge of voodoo and the occult. Reluctantly, in desperation, the Everol family has permitted Gordon to enter the mansion. But all Gordon's experience could never prepare him for the unearthly creatures that await him there -- or the ultimate terror of the mysterious caves beneath the house.
352 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
1 person is currently reading
87 people want to read
About the author
Hugh B. Cave
248 books34 followersHugh Barnett Cave was a prolific writer of pulp fiction who also excelled in other genres.
Sources differ as to when Cave sold his first story: some say it was while he still attended Brookline High School, others cite "Island Ordeal", written at age 19 in 1929 while still working for the vanity press.
In his early career he contributed to such pulp magazines as Astounding, Black Mask, and Weird Tales. By his own estimate, in the 1930s alone, he published roughly 800 short stories in nearly 100 periodicals under a number of pseudonyms. Of particular interest during this time was his series featuring an independent gentleman of courageous action and questionable morals called simply The Eel. These adventures appeared in the late 1930s and early 40s under the pen name Justin Case. Cave was also one of the most successful contributors to the weird menace or "shudder pulps" of the 1930s.
In 1943, drawing on his experience as a war reporter, he authored one of his most highly regarded novels, Long Were the Nights, telling of the first PT boats at Guadalcanal. He also wrote a number of other books on the war in the Pacific during this period.
During his post-war sojourn in Haiti, he became so familiar with the religion of Voodoo that he published Haiti: High Road to Adventure, a nonfiction work critically acclaimed as the "best report on voodoo in English." His Caribbean experiences led to his best-selling Voodoo-themed novel, The Cross On The Drum (1959), an interracial story in which a white Christian missionary falls in love with a black Voodoo priest's sister.
During this midpoint in his career Cave advanced his writing to the "slick" magazines, including Collier's, Family Circle, Ladies' Home Journal, Redbook, and the Saturday Evening Post. It was in this latter publication, in 1959, that "The Mission," his most popular short story, appeared—subsequently issued in hardcover by Doubleday, reprinted in textbooks, and translated into a number of languages.
But his career took a dip in the early 1970s. According to The Guardian, with the golden era of pulp fiction now in the past, Cave's "only regular market was writing romance for women's magazines." He was rediscovered, however, by Karl Edward Wagner, who published Murgunstrumm and Others, a horror story collection that won Cave the 1978 World Fantasy Award. Other collections followed and Cave also published new horror fiction.
His later career included the publication in the late 1970s and early 1980s of four successful fantasy novels: Legion of the Dead (1979), The Nebulon Horror (1980), The Evil (1981), and Shades of Evil (1982). Two other notable late works are Lucifer's Eye (1991) and The Mountains of Madness (2004). Moreover, Cave took naturally to the Internet, championing the e-book to such an extent that electronic versions of his stories can readily be purchased online.
Over his entire career he wrote more than 1,000 short stories in nearly all genres (though he is best remembered for his horror and crime pieces), approximately forty novels, and a notable body of nonfiction. He received the Phoenix Award as well as lifetime achievement awards from the International Horror Guild, the Horror Writers Association, and the World Fantasy Convention. (From Wikipedia.)
Used the pseudonyms John Starr and Justin Case
Sources differ as to when Cave sold his first story: some say it was while he still attended Brookline High School, others cite "Island Ordeal", written at age 19 in 1929 while still working for the vanity press.
In his early career he contributed to such pulp magazines as Astounding, Black Mask, and Weird Tales. By his own estimate, in the 1930s alone, he published roughly 800 short stories in nearly 100 periodicals under a number of pseudonyms. Of particular interest during this time was his series featuring an independent gentleman of courageous action and questionable morals called simply The Eel. These adventures appeared in the late 1930s and early 40s under the pen name Justin Case. Cave was also one of the most successful contributors to the weird menace or "shudder pulps" of the 1930s.
In 1943, drawing on his experience as a war reporter, he authored one of his most highly regarded novels, Long Were the Nights, telling of the first PT boats at Guadalcanal. He also wrote a number of other books on the war in the Pacific during this period.
During his post-war sojourn in Haiti, he became so familiar with the religion of Voodoo that he published Haiti: High Road to Adventure, a nonfiction work critically acclaimed as the "best report on voodoo in English." His Caribbean experiences led to his best-selling Voodoo-themed novel, The Cross On The Drum (1959), an interracial story in which a white Christian missionary falls in love with a black Voodoo priest's sister.
During this midpoint in his career Cave advanced his writing to the "slick" magazines, including Collier's, Family Circle, Ladies' Home Journal, Redbook, and the Saturday Evening Post. It was in this latter publication, in 1959, that "The Mission," his most popular short story, appeared—subsequently issued in hardcover by Doubleday, reprinted in textbooks, and translated into a number of languages.
But his career took a dip in the early 1970s. According to The Guardian, with the golden era of pulp fiction now in the past, Cave's "only regular market was writing romance for women's magazines." He was rediscovered, however, by Karl Edward Wagner, who published Murgunstrumm and Others, a horror story collection that won Cave the 1978 World Fantasy Award. Other collections followed and Cave also published new horror fiction.
His later career included the publication in the late 1970s and early 1980s of four successful fantasy novels: Legion of the Dead (1979), The Nebulon Horror (1980), The Evil (1981), and Shades of Evil (1982). Two other notable late works are Lucifer's Eye (1991) and The Mountains of Madness (2004). Moreover, Cave took naturally to the Internet, championing the e-book to such an extent that electronic versions of his stories can readily be purchased online.
Over his entire career he wrote more than 1,000 short stories in nearly all genres (though he is best remembered for his horror and crime pieces), approximately forty novels, and a notable body of nonfiction. He received the Phoenix Award as well as lifetime achievement awards from the International Horror Guild, the Horror Writers Association, and the World Fantasy Convention. (From Wikipedia.)
Used the pseudonyms John Starr and Justin Case
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
July 26, 2019
This is a fun Southern Gothic horror novel with a nice swampy/voodoo flavor. It's a rather old-fashioned book (hey, the author was over ninety when it appeared!), but captures the creepy weird-menace feel that Cave was noted for in his long-ago pulp stories.
December 1, 2011
This isn't a great book but, if I did the math right, Cave wrote this novel when he was 93-years-old. I like that.
September 4, 2011
I really wanted to like this book. I've read a lot of Cave's short fiction, and though it varies, I have enjoyed a lot of it. Alas, not so with The Restless Dead. The main characters were thin and uncompelling. Despite their reputation for profound menace, the evil Everol clan were too doddering and ineffective ever to seem like a real threat. And it never became clear what the monsters were, where they came from (and why), nor why the hero's magic symbols kept them at bay. Then there was the strangely pointless episode early on where the hero suffered complete amnesia. Yet he still ended up exactly where he was supposed to go, and everyone there recognized him (but pretended not to). Then when his memory was restored, everything continued exactly as it had before. The amnesia angle had absolutely no impact on the story!
Actually the prologue and epilogue, involving a chilling voodoo revenge plot, were excellent and by far the best parts of the book. They might have made a great short story. If only there hadn't been a 300-page novel stuck between them.
Actually the prologue and epilogue, involving a chilling voodoo revenge plot, were excellent and by far the best parts of the book. They might have made a great short story. If only there hadn't been a 300-page novel stuck between them.
July 9, 2013
After the disappointing Lucifer's Eye, honestly didn't expect much of this one and was pleasantly surprised by it. Not great and it wouldn't do to overthink the plot here, but solidly entertaining, Cave once again returns to voodoo with this story and the man is certainly qualified to do so having actually lived in the Caribbean for years. There are some genuinely spooky parts and the ending (ulimate revenge ending) is particularly scary. Very quick fun read. Any genre or voodoo fan would probably enjoy this one.
June 3, 2013
I hate to give a legend like Hugh Cave a mere 2 stars, but this one just didn't grab me. I'm not much of a fan of his voodoo stuff, which is really weird, because he actually lived in Haiti and had first hand experience on the matter. However, the idea for this book was really cool. The imagery was awesome. The execution didn't do much for me.
July 5, 2024
This just wasn’t great. It had a lot of potential but seemed to be meandering from the plot too much to really keep up. Minus one point for conflicting POVs, minus one point for anti-pitbull rhetoric for several paragraphs spanning multiple chapters, and minus one point for just having too many themes shoved into one book. The voodoo revenge story would have been great, had that been it.
December 24, 2019
2.9 stars Started fast... petered out fast.
July 2, 2025
I'm a huge fan of horror and was looking forward to reading this. Sadly, I could not get into the plot, so I struggled reading it.
October 2, 2012
The voodoo angle was convincing and detailed, the story silly and not remoteley scary or horrifying. But, as another reviewer suggested, the book was written at the end of a prolific career when the author was in his nineties.
The cover is the best part of the book, but the illustration and the back blurb are misleading.
Pretty much a waste of time. Not recommended.
The cover is the best part of the book, but the illustration and the back blurb are misleading.
Pretty much a waste of time. Not recommended.
September 18, 2014
Read this too long ago to remember very much about it. Picked it up on a whim. Something with Voodoo? There was some violence involving a mother and son that really put me off and the writing on the whole was just okay.
May 4, 2012
I liked this voodoo horror story. I especially liked how Jeff helped the Everol family get rid of the creatures that were haunting there home.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews