This capable romp is the literary equivalent of a gritty, nouveau-noir horror movie of the '70s. You can almost see the polyester! That said, it's a short, entertaining read that isn't short on gore. Cliches and stereotype also abound, so fair warning. It's also rather graphic, involving a violent sex crime perpetrated on the main character, and the descriptions of her post attack mental health struggles are all too real, and may be excessively intense and disturbing for some readers.
After she is violently attacked by her apartment maintenance man, Karyn and her less-than-supportive husband decide to take a break from civilization and move from Los Angeles to a minuscule, seemingly dying town a couple hours north of the violent inner city, to what they think is a peaceful mountain retreat that ends up being anything but. They bring their beloved dog Lady and move into the run-down, former home of an elderly couple who, it seems, died of some type of unspecified "accident." The town has an odd history of its own, being populated by eastern European descendants, most of whom are suspicious of outsiders.
Still reeling from PTSD following the attack, Karyn still has difficulty settling in. She meets some supportive townspeople, but is continues to experience conflict at home. To make matters worse, she's having difficulty sleeping on account of an odd howling noise coming from the nearby woods. The townspeople seem reluctant to talk about it and generally dismiss her concerns ... but a librarian with a backstory as curious as Karyn's, who hails from a nearby town, shows up at her door with an unbelievable tale, which becomes more believable when the couple's beloved dog disappears and Karyn starts having experiences she can't explain. The disappearances, the loss of her beloved dog, and the noises from the woods all point to something almost unbelievable.
Most people will be familiar with this series on account of a movie of the same title, released in the 80s, which became far more popular than the book. In fact, the first one spawned a whole host of howlingly-bad (sorry, couldn't resist!) sequels, so now there's a whole "howling" franchise. I'm kind of a sucker for cheesy 80s horror movies, so I guess I'm guilty as charged in that regard as well. In fact, that's how I came across the book.
The first movie's plot doesn't mirror this book at all, actually. The closest film to the book is Howling IV, which does take place in the village of Drago, and the events will be familiar even if the writers do take some artistic license with the details. I read this, as well as some other short horror-type novels recently, for just some light, entertaining reading, and despite its obvious shortcomings, this one definitely fits the bill.
After she is violently attacked by her apartment maintenance man, Karyn and her less-than-supportive husband decide to take a break from civilization and move from Los Angeles to a minuscule, seemingly dying town a couple hours north of the violent inner city, to what they think is a peaceful mountain retreat that ends up being anything but. They bring their beloved dog Lady and move into the run-down, former home of an elderly couple who, it seems, died of some type of unspecified "accident." The town has an odd history of its own, being populated by eastern European descendants, most of whom are suspicious of outsiders.
Still reeling from PTSD following the attack, Karyn still has difficulty settling in. She meets some supportive townspeople, but is continues to experience conflict at home. To make matters worse, she's having difficulty sleeping on account of an odd howling noise coming from the nearby woods. The townspeople seem reluctant to talk about it and generally dismiss her concerns ... but a librarian with a backstory as curious as Karyn's, who hails from a nearby town, shows up at her door with an unbelievable tale, which becomes more believable when the couple's beloved dog disappears and Karyn starts having experiences she can't explain. The disappearances, the loss of her beloved dog, and the noises from the woods all point to something almost unbelievable.
Most people will be familiar with this series on account of a movie of the same title, released in the 80s, which became far more popular than the book. In fact, the first one spawned a whole host of howlingly-bad (sorry, couldn't resist!) sequels, so now there's a whole "howling" franchise. I'm kind of a sucker for cheesy 80s horror movies, so I guess I'm guilty as charged in that regard as well. In fact, that's how I came across the book.
The first movie's plot doesn't mirror this book at all, actually. The closest film to the book is Howling IV, which does take place in the village of Drago, and the events will be familiar even if the writers do take some artistic license with the details. I read this, as well as some other short horror-type novels recently, for just some light, entertaining reading, and despite its obvious shortcomings, this one definitely fits the bill.
The ISBN and cover illustration are correct, but the summary is wrong- this is the first book in the The Howling series, the Howling. Not The Howling 2.
