The Pact

by William Schoell

He Is Hell-Born.

Fear of war gripped the heart of young naval recruit Steven Russell. It gnawed at his innards, screamed at him from every New York newspaper, blasted at him from the radio. Poet, dreamer, visionary...he saw a future of blood and bombs...spattered bodies...severed limbs. no stranger to the occult, he took the ultimate survival measure, Steven Russell sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for the promise that he would live through World War II. Kissing his bride good-bye, he sailed off with a knowing smile...but the Devil had the last laugh.

He Is Arisen.

For over forty years, Marjorie Russell has pined for her husband who fell in the thundering attack on pearl Harbor. Yet now, in haunting dreams, she can hear his voice...distant, eerie, beckoning. but Steven went down to the sea in death...or did he?

And He Will Not Be Stopped.

Marjorie Russell is searching for the truth. And a numbing nightmare of diabolical terror is just beginning.

Genres: Horror, Pulp

206 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

WILLIAM SCHOELL was born in Manhattan where he resides. He is the author of over thirty-five books in various genres, including celebrity biographies (some written with co-author Lawrence J. Quirk); horror-suspense novels; biographies of such people as Edgar Allan Poe and Giuseppe Verdi for young people; and books on the performing arts and pop culture. He has been a radio producer and talk show host, worked for Columbia pictures, and is a blogger, playwright, and activist.

Reviews

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

While not Schoell's best, The Pact still entertains in a schlockly, pulpy way. With this, I have now read all 8 or so of the horror novels Schoell wrote in the 80s/90s. The Pact for some reason was the hardest to find of his output, and also the smallest, weighing in at just over 200 pages.

The novel starts in 1941, New York City, with Marjorie and Steve a young couple just starting to make their life. Steve always had 'a thing' for the occult, and just before he got called up to the Navy, he made some deal, a pact, with a demon. Poor Steve! He was on the battleship Arizona in Pearl Harbor and went down with the ship. The bulk of the novel takes place in the 'now', circa 1980, almost 40 years after the onset of WWII. Marjorie never really got over Steve, their infant child died (she was pregnant when Steve left), and never remarried. Lately, however, she has been having dreams, nightmares really, of Steve, in some ghastly metal room full of skeletons with Steve struggling against Something, trying to get away (or warn her?).

Through an unlikely chain of circumstances, Marjorie meets a P.I. (Charles) who specializes in the supernatural; Charles speculates that some demon or something is fighting with Steve, and the best thing would be to go to Hawaii to sort things out...

This really felt like a novel Schoell wrote to pay the bills. The bizarre plot became increasingly difficult to swallow and the characters pretty cardboard. It does have some good foo toward the end, but geez, it did not seem like the same author who wrote some standouts in the genre, like Bride of Satan, or Late at Night. Glad I read it, but definitely not a good place to start with Schoell's horror corpus. 2.5 demons, rounding up...

[DJMikeG · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 Stars, but I like most of Schoell's work so I'll give it the 3 stars. I have enjoyed most of what I have read by William Schoell. Most of it is schlocky, 80s pulp, but it is done well and very fun to read, if you are into such stuff. This one, ehhhhh, kind of a mess. Its very short at 206 pages, but it takes over 100 of those pages to "get going", so to speak. I was really not into the senior citizen love affair of the first 100 pages. That is a long time to read about two people falling in love for a horror novel. The final 50 pages or so are pretty alright, though, with the island of Oahu being engulfed in interdimensional mayhem. Overall, not one of Schoell's better books. Pretty lower tier horror boom dreck for the most part, but some decent pulp horror mayhem towards the end redeemed it somewhat.

[Andi Rawson · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

[Shirley Kingery · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a well-written, fast paced story of the horror genre. I received this book through Library Thing's Member Giveaway/Early Reviewer's program. I am grateful to both Library Thing and the LT member who was so kind as to send me this book for the opportunity to read and review it. Reading books that would not have ordinarily caught my attention for a number of reasons (i.e. different genre, odd-sounding title, obscurity, simply not on to-read list due to too many choices) is, for me, a major benefit of this LT program. That is the case with this book, as I usually forego horror novels.

This story disproved my foregone conclusion of horror novels as poorly written, best-to-avoid books. I'm proud to have it as part of my library. It is actually quite captivating and well written, to boot. From a literary standpoint, the language flows smoothly. My interest was captured right away, and I found myself anxious to get to the final climax. It maintains a high level of intensity throughout and turns into quite a nail-biter. The handful of cast members are well developed by the author. A great deal of imagination has gone into creating the beast who threatens to destroy all mankind. Details pertaining to locale and history are well-researched and factual. While there is, indeed, some gruesomeness; it does not run rampant and is really only used to further the storyline. There's even romance to be found in this novel.

I would not hesitate to recommend The Pact to anyone looking for a change of pace, and a clever twist on the age-old good vs. evil drama.

[Matthew O. · Rating 4 out of 5]

More 3.5 than 4 (out of 5), but still.