Witch Beast

by Bernard King

Retired widower, Donald Eves, always a dog-lover, decides to replace his previous animal that was put down after the death of his first wife. Folly, a spaniel, is hit by a bus outside the home of her desolated 9-year old owner. Pretty Sally French is mugged in a shopping precinct and decides to buy a large dog for company and protection. All coverage on Salvation, the local private animal refuge where the proprietor, the executive Geaves, has a frightening morning. When a baby is torn to bits and a child is eaten by rats, Det. Serg. Grace starts to wonder if the animals are conspiring against the humans...From Back Uptown – the depressed Victorian slum area of Monkhampton long overdue for development – is its shopping precinct boarded up, its church abandoned, its people moved away – into thin air, it seems. At the heart of Uptown, in Salvation, an affectionate white Newfoundland recovers slowly from the vicious maltreatment of his previous owner. And as Leader regains his strength, his coats begins to change colour and he grows – and he grows…Detective Inspector Ben Wilson, investigating a strange case of arson in Uptown, is attacked by a pack of dogs turned feral – a pack that behaves like a disciplined army. The there are the murders…and Wilson begins to see a hideous connection; a link that shatters all the comfortable preconception about domestic pets. If he and the eccentric Professor Harker are correct, man’s best friend is now man’s most dangerous enemy, and beyond human control.

Genres: Horror

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

Reviews

[Jack Tripper · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you get excited by the thought of endless minutia involving city planning and statistical analysis of various neighborhoods’ income levels and crime rates for the first few chapters, comprehensive descriptions of the myriad characters’ everyday lives for the next several (with some light animal cruelty on the side), and a tediously slow buildup of horror overall…it’s not bad. But not at all what you’d expect from a “possessed dogs on the attack” story.

The only thing I liked was the setting, a rundown section of an English town/small city where the local church, mall, and businesses in general are boarded up, and the residents all seem to live in the past, still using items and consuming media from the 50s (instead of the late 80s when this was written). And yet zero crime despite the impoverishment. There was a mystery and sinister atmosphere to the place that I dug, but the pace throughout is pretty brutal, with several chapters at a time going by without much of interest happening, and too many characters to become invested in any of them.

Which is disappointing since I’m a fan of much of Bernard King’s other horror and fantasy work from the 80s (especially The Destroying Angel, which is a blast). His writing just isn’t very engaging here, with little tension, thin characterization, haphazard plotting, and no real horror or canine carnage until the very end.

[Andrée · Rating 3 out of 5]

If only all dog owners knew that failing to 'scoop da poop' would lead to supernatural nastiness and a hideously painful lingering death by disembowelling.....(and no, I don't prefer cats)
Extra star for fecal art

[Ryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

For such a short novel, this took me entirely to long to read. It starts off interesting enough, a tale about a demonic entity known as Black Shuck possessing a dog in an English suburb, but it drastically slows down for a majority of the book. Entire sections of the novel are dedicated to the political and social structure of this town, Monkhampton, and none of it is particularly interesting to read. Nor is a lot of it relevant once everything is said and done.

The book is written well enough, though I am not sure if Bernard King went on to have any kind of horror novelist career as I have never heard of him. The prose is good and the descriptions are well done, and the detailed kill scenes are nice and visceral, but beyond that everything else is pretty lacking. Dialogue is hit or miss, character development is either rushed, inconsistent, or non existent. And as I mentioned, there is a lot to be desired with the pacing overall.

Really the only saving grace is the final 60 or so pages. For the first 250 pages there are 2 deaths, only one of any real interest or gore, and there is a lot of back and forth and round abouting that gets incredibly tedious. A lot of "I have a plan", "would you care to share it?", "Nah I'm good" exchanges, almost as if Bernard King was making this all up as he went along, completely unsure of what he was going to do until he had actually written it. There's nothing wrong with that approach to storytelling, but only if it's handled in a controlled and compelling way, which this was not. But the climax does really deliver. There are only two kills in the first 250 pages, but in the final sixty I believe 11 main or named characters are killed and most of them quite brutally.

The gore is solid and when people are getting ripped apart by the dogs and cats it is as savage as I would hope for. I wouldn't classify this as a "splatterpunk" book simply because almost all of the gore and grue and splatter is contained in that final segment, but limited or not this book has some gore in it. There is also a lot, and I mean a lot, of talk about shit shaping and feces molding that while gross to consider is just boring to read about. I would have much rather had a lot more animal attacks spaced out throughout the novel then multiple returns to the shit mold icon thing.

It's a decent, albeit incredibly obscure, addition to my collection of horror novels from the 70s and 80s and there's plenty of gruesome kills and eighties cheesiness to enjoy, but the book is a bit of a slog to get through for the vast majority. I enjoyed the ending, the massacre and battle of man vs. beast, but it was rushed and entirely to little to late considering all the bullshit that came before it. For those that adore man vs. animal/beast horror novels I say, sure it can't hurt to give it a try. For completionists or collectors of all things 70s and 80s horror, I obviously wouldn't disparage you from hunting it down to say you have it. But for anyone else, horror hounds or just those that like to dip their toes in the blood stained waters of the horror genre, I'd say read the last third of the book and fuck the rest.

[Scott Oliver · Rating 4 out of 5]

More poop-art than pop-art (you’ll understand when you read it)

It’s true like the other reviewers say this is a bit slow going in places but it makes up for it when there is some action.

I find most books set in the UK aren’t as fast paced as books set elsewhere (especially the USA) but you just have to steel yourself and plough through

A good all round demonic animal army attacks book

[Haley Dye · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tough going in parts and leaves some questions unanswered. Very chilling and amazing imagery throughout.