Movies
[Book Review] Grisly ‘NightWhere’ Not for the Squeamish
With six successful horror novels notched into his belt, Bram Stoker Award-winner John Everson is no stranger to sex and violence, but the BDSM-addled NightWhere is easily his most graphic book to date. In Everson’s dark, harrowing tale, a bondage enthusiast gets herself deeply involved with a cultish S&M nightclub, compelling her crazily devoted boyfriend to endure tests of torture and humiliation in an attempt to rescue her. It’s a “love story” for pain freaks, and Everson handles the subject matter with a deft touch, but be warned, this is some very strong stuff. Readers who dig gross-out horror will love the hell out of this one. Samhain Publishing isn’t releasing the trade paperback until October 2, but the e-book is currently available from Amazon. Read on for the full review.
In 1981’s Danse Macabre, Stephen King wrote, “I recognize terror as the finest emotion and so I will try to terrorize the reader. But if I find that I cannot terrify, I will try to horrify, and if I find that I cannot horrify, I’ll go for the gross-out. I‘m not proud.” Although NightWhere has some undeniably horrifying moments, it’s obvious that author John Everson has decided to go for the gross-out. His narrative starts out tawdry and dirty, as young couple Mark and Rae receive a personal invitation to NightWhere, a pain-and-bondage-themed nightclub, and things only get worse from there. While Rae is totally into the whips, chains, and hooks, Mark isn’t nearly as enthusiastic about the whole pain aspect of S&M, and eventually Rae is visiting NightWhere alone.
Everson depicts Rae’s journey through NightWhere––from The Red, to The Black, to the mysterious Night Mother––with escalating details of orgiastic sex, rampant beatings, and gut-wrenching violence. And yet, considering the actions taking place, Everson handles the material with considerable restraint. If he wanted to, he could certainly push even harder toward the gross-out. As a result of this restraint, there’s a forbidden appeal to NightWhere, a guilty desire to find out what happens next. And yet….I still found a couple of scenes actively unpleasant.
That’s not Everson’s fault. In fact, it may have been his intention. Aggressively violent horror fiction like The Summer I Died ore The Girl Next Door has never really been my bag. But while reading NightWhere I nevertheless felt a strange sort of admiration for Everson. He knows exactly what he’s doing here, knows exactly what buttons he’s pushing. The dialogue is crisp, the plotting is fast-paced––it’s a very confident piece of work, regardless of the subject matter. And is it scary? Yes, at times NightWhere is very scary…because this is a novel that can go anywhere. And it does.
Official Rating: 4 out of 5 Skulls
A contemporary reimagining of H.P. Lovecraft’s short story Herbert West: Reanimator is on the way, and Deadline has unveiled the first look at the new Herbert West and the pathologist drawn to his orbit.
Adam Simon (The Haunting in Connecticut, “Salem”) and Tim Metcalfe (The Haunting in Connecticut, Kalifornia) penned the script. The original screenplay and storyline come from Jade Sandberg Wallace.
Michael Grossman (“The Originals”, “Pretty Little Liars”) directs.
The new images introduce star Joseph Morgan (“Vampire Diaries“), who plays “brilliant surgeon and scientist Herbert West, who is obsessed with creating a serum to reanimate the dead.” Katie Cassidy (Speed Demon) stars opposite as the pathologist with a troubled past who joins his efforts.
Together, they prove that conquering death may be the ultimate sin against life itself.
The film’s official synopsis: “As a child, Herbert West watches his father Peter reanimate his dead mother Judith in a secret basement lab — only for Judith to mortally wound Peter and nearly kill Herbert before Peter shoots her. The trauma leaves its mark on Herbert, but so does one final image: his mother’s finger, twitching after death. Thirty years later, Herbert West is a brilliant, secretive surgeon still chasing his father’s obsession.
“Pathologist Kate Locke arrives in town and is drawn into his orbit — first through a spark at a hospital fundraiser, then through his secret lab, where he reveals a serum capable of reanimating severed tissue. Kate, hiding a dark past of her own, is thrilled rather than horrified, and moves into West’s mansion to work alongside him. Their early experiments on a cadaver succeed only briefly. West concludes that dead tissue is the problem — they need something fresher.”
Supporting cast includes Scott Aiello, Ira J Amyx, Randall Newsome, Emma Reinagal, James D. Bryce, Kathryn A Bentley, Jack Lancaster, Amy Holland Pennell, John Pierson, Mindy Shaw, Eric Dean White, Tristan Wilder Hallet, Adrienne Lamping, Aaron Crippen, and Drew Patterson.
Makeup artist Jeff Lewis (“Star Trek: Voyager,” “Star Trek: Enterprise”) and cousin Roger Lewis are heading the production via their newly established Woodlake Entertainment.
Lovecraft’s short story, first serialized in Home Brew magazine in 1922, is the first among his works to mention the fictional Miskatonic University. It was most famously adapted into a 1985 horror movie from Stuart Gordon, starring Jeffrey Combs as Herbert West.
Herbert West: Reanimator is set in Alton, Illinois, where production is now underway.
Herbert West: Reanimator. Photo credit: Matt Lief Anderson
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