War of the Worlds

Perhaps the father of science-fiction, H.G. Wells, is best known for his celebrated classic War of the Worlds. The book was written between 1985 and 1897, and first published in Pearson's Magazine in the U.K. and Cosmopolitan in the U.S. The serial transitioned into a novel in 1898, and has been reprinted and offered in numerous formats since then. The seminal alien invasion novel has also been adapted into radio drama, films, comics, and television.

The novel, presented in third-person by an unnamed narrator, begins in Southeast England as a cylinder launches from Mars and arrives on Horsell Common in Surrey. The narrator approaches the pit where the capsule is laying. He then gets a neighboring journalist to accompany him and the news spreads as more and more people arrive to gaze into the pit. Eventually, the cylinder's top spins open and the aliens, possessing tentacles and a beak-like moth, emerge. Within a few minutes the aliens incinerate over 40 people with a devastating heat ray. The human slaughter commences and another capsule arrives.

The book's prose intensifies with more descriptions of battle. Wells focuses a great deal on catastrophe and destruction, elevated with the emergence of the tripods, three-legged Martian fighting machines that simply annihilate military forces. Entwined in the narrative is the narrator's flee with his wife to the nearby town of Leatherhead, leaving her there with relatives. The narrator (for reasons unclear to me) returns to the Woking area to witness more carnage and then the mass exodus of people abandoning London.

The book's second half (labeled Book 2) is more atmospheric as the nature of the novel expands into a more despondent post-apocalyptic tone. London, referred to as “Dead London” in chapter eight, is described as a truly dismal place littered with corpses and alien scavengers. These scavengers seemingly squeeze the blood from humans as a source of nutrients. 

The more intimate details of the book's second half features the narrator and a soldier trapped in a deserted house. The narrator is concerned with his wife's safety and irritated with the soldier's deteriorating mental state. There's a lack of food and water that adds more misery to the situation. Both characters eventually leave the house, only to find themselves trapped in another dwelling as the alien scavengers continue to scrape the streets and houses with probing tentacles. 

The book's climax comes as the narrator travels into lifeless London. As he walks through wreckage he begins to hear an eerie sound emanating from the aliens. I won't ruin the surprise here, but this is a hopeful sound that eventually leads to Earth's liberation from the Martian invaders. 

Reviewing literary classics is challenging. These works are over a century old, and my personal exposure to their legacy – various adaptations of the material, decades of critique, imitators, and overall cultural awareness – means I have been desensitized from the novel's initial grandeur. I hadn't read the book before, but I had watched the movies, heard the radio drama, and was made aware of the book's importance in science-fiction and as a catalyst for the genre's sub-genre of alien invasion. One watch of something as flashy as Independence Day (1996) makes this novel's action sequences a little underwhelming. But that's a personal problem reflective of my absorption of media, not any fault of the author or the work. 

With all that in consideration, I found War of the Worlds to be a good novel. I enjoyed the atmosphere, and the narrator's survival horror perspective. The Martians appearance as tall blood sucking creatures with large eyes, tentacles, heat rays, and deadly gas played on my fears of being flesh-squeezed by a hideous alien invader. The description of England as a lifeless and decimated husk was described in the darkest way imaginable. In post-apocalyptic situations, humans can be the worst horror of all. Wells does an excellent job presenting human suffering and the mass lunacy of everyday people forced into extreme circumstances. Selfishness and greed leads to the greatest suffering of all.

I think my only real complaint with the book was the inability to really hone in on the narrator. Often this character would tell me things happening in other parts of England or explaining in great detail his brother's exploits to survive the invasion, including a naval battle between a battering ram and an alien. I felt that I lost the intimacy of things directly occurring with the character, his personal predicament and the things affecting only him. It took me out of the moment and made the narration more epic in nature than personal. 

Needless to say, War of the Worlds is an important book, and a praised work of science-fiction worthy of imitation, inspiration, and discussion. Read the book and appreciate the novel's legacy and impact. You won't be disappointed.

Get the book HERE.

Savages

Like many of Greg F. Gifune's books, Savages originally began publication life with a small publisher, Sinister Grin Press, in 2016. Beginning in 2022, Savages was reprinted in both physical and digital editions by Cemetery Dance Publications. 

There's something to be said about islands in horror fiction. Richard Laymon played with the idea in his 1995 slasher bloodbath Island. Brian Keene did it twice – once in 2009 with Castaways and again in 2023 with the aptly titled Island of the Dead. The idea certainly isn't a new one, not even for those guys. H.G. Wells created the ultimate island literary luau with his terrifying classic The Island of Dr. Moreau. So, it was just a matter of time before a horror mastermind like Greg F. Gifune (Judas Goat, Oasis of the Damned) took his shot at this little subgenre of horror.

A man named Dallas awakens on a sandy beach. With blurred memories, he recalls that he and his wife Quinn, along with several friends, chartered a yacht to take them out into the Pacific ocean. The captain unfortunately ran aground on some reefs and the ship sunk. Eight people were able to get away on a raft and they drifted at sea, in and out of consciousness, for three days and nights. They saw no signs of land, no planes, and no rescue ships. Dallas, thinking he had died, is astounded that he has somehow washed ashore on a beach....somewhere.

Dallas is able to reunite with his wife and a few of their surviving friends. One of their pals is a guy named Gino, one of those survivor-type prepper dudes that shops at REI every weekend. He explores their tiny island initially and determines it's a few square miles with nothing but thick jungles and a small lagoon. He also positively believes this island isn't on any major maps and that help will never arrive. Mr. Positive. 

The book begins with the typical survivor stuff – gathering supplies, finding water, creating little factions. As if things couldn't possibly become worse, the group stumbles on a severed arm that may have been attached to one of their friends from the boat. Also, it appears from a blood trail in the trampled foliage that a body was dragged. Soon the group discover an old Japanese military base. Gifune's description of this dilapidated base with three or four crumbling buildings is just so atmospheric. He sets the tone and mood by describing the jungle seemingly eating up these abandoned buildings. Inside, the survivors find hospital beds and medical supplies along with some really bizarre evidence that something supernatural occurred here. Then the killings begin. And the slaughter. And deadly things that live in an underground tunnel system on the island. 

Savages is like a popcorn horror flick with disposable characters being mauled by a supernatural killer. The author's smooth prose and propulsive action sequences drive the narrative into a frenzied kill-or-be-killed story saturated in blood and guts. Gifune may be one of my favorite horror storytellers in terms of combining quick character development, a suffocating atmosphere (usually with weather-related phenomenon) and a supercharged panic that seemingly lives and breathes in the character's behavior and dialogue. The exotic locale, brutal killings, and macabre infrastructure of this horrifying research facility elevate the book into an extremely entertaining read. Like Gifune's Oasis of the Damned, Savages is survival horror at its finest. Highest recommendation. Get it HERE.

The Island of Doctor Moreau

H.G. Wells (1866-1946) is widely considered the father of science-fiction. He authored over fifty novels, some of which are still being adapted today into mixed media formats. Sci-fi, fantasy, and even horror writers often cite Wells as an influence on their work. His most popular novels include The Time Machine (1895), The Invisible Man (1897), War of the Worlds (1898), and the subject of this review, The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896). 

In the novel's beginning, Edward Prendick and two other passengers board a lifeboat as their passenger ship sinks into the southern Pacific Ocean. Eventually Prendick, a dehydrated starving husk, is the only survivor. A ship spots Prendick and rescues him, but in a wild turn of events Prendick is forced from the vessel and placed in a dinghy where he must face the very real possibility that his terrifying ordeal is recycling. Thankfully, a passenger on the ship named Montgomery takes pity on Prendick and allows him a stay on a very strange island. 

Prendick, who possesses a scientific education, learns that this eight-mile island is a type of laboratory owned by Dr. Moreau. Prendick remembers that he had read about Moreau's macabre experiments in vivisection and his subsequent banishment from England. Here on the island Moreau continues his work with the assistance of Montgomery and a surgically altered manservant named M'ling. 

Wells' narrative submerges Prendick into the Hellish world of a mad scientist with delusions of Godhood. Prendick learns that Moreau is surgically combining humans and animals. Disgusted and frightened he escapes Moreau's compound only to discover that the island hosts Moreau's terrifying lab result – beast folk. These beasts include humans merged with bears, dogs, sloths, hyenas, wolves, and ape. These beast folk have a bestial lust for Moreau which plays havoc on Prendick's escape.

The Island of Doctor Moreau is a horror novel like no other. Wells ignites a sense of terror as Prendick slowly pulls the curtains from Moreau's freakish lab and discovers the nightmarish prison that he has now joined. There's panic and then a heightened frenzy as Prendick attempts to disable Moreau and Montgomery while also becoming a new “god” for the Beast Folk. Wells easily transforms the mood from moments of somber solitude into grueling action and gun play. The finale is a type of role reversal that was fitting for the nature of the story. 

In a time when humans are now receiving animal organs to survive (ex. Towana Looney), The Island of Doctor Moreau is a grotesque vision of the future. Wells was ahead of his time in predicting favorable medical revolutions through painful trial and error. Gene edits and lab-created organs were a thing of the future but Wells was mired in the wonder. The author presents some trigger-points on Darwin's evolution, animal cruelty, and mankind's pursuit of an animal-state of freedom and survival – no gods, no masters. 

The Island of Doctor Moreau is a classic for a reason. Get your copy HERE.

The Maze and the Monster

The August 1963 issue of Magazine of Horror and Strange Stories featured stories by powerhouse authors like Robert Silverberg, Frank Belknap Long, Ambrose Bierce, H.G. Wells, Donald A. Wollheim, and Robert W. Chambers. I've been reading a lot of Edward D. Hoch stories recently and wanted to try a stand-alone short by the writer. I found his story “The Maze and the Monster” included in this issue. The story is also included in an anthology collecting 52 shorts called Devils and Demons, edited by Marvin Kaye and published by Doubleday in 1987.

The beginning of “The Maze and the Monster” begins with a tourist named William Nellis traveling from London's West End to the wild waters off the Atlantic Coast of North Africa. Like the typical pulp nautical adventure things go awry quickly and the ship Nellis is aboard crashes on an island during a storm. Alone on the beach, washed up and in distress, William is delighted when two men wearing a sort of greenish uniform appear. But, they level their rifles at him and march him to an island fortress.

After his half-day stay in a dungeon, William is brought in front of Captain Cortez. It is explained that William has arrived on the Island of Snails. He discovers that Cortez owns the entire island and controls all of the people. He has also devised a wicked game for his prisoners to play. William is brought to a dark underground level of the fortress and explained the rules of his game.

Before him is two miles of passageways that form a dark maze. The door behind William be sealed and and his only choice is to enter the maze with no weapons. Inside, he will find two possible exits – one leads to a paradise of pleasure beyond his wildest dreams and the other leads to a savage beast. To instigate things Cortez has his men enter the maze and pull out the remains of the last prisoner that entered. Then, the door shuts and William is left in darkness.

This was a creepy short read that showcased Hoch's penchant for placing ordinary people into extreme circumstances. The writer thrived for decades and penned numerous stories for the pulps and digests. The ending is a slamming door that surprises the reader (and the main character) and it left me feeling something after reading the last line. Recommended. You can read the story below. 

The Island Monster

I've recently become enamored with the writings of Arthur D. Howden Smith (1887-1945), particularly his glossy magazine stories. His offering “Pirate's Lair”, published in the October 1933 issue of Blue Book, was mesmerizing as a highly-charged revenge yarn on the high seas. Thumbing through more back issues of Blue Book, I found his August 1937 novella The Island Monster and had to read it.

The first-person narrative is told by Terry O'Malley, an adventuresome newspaper reporter that globe-trots for sensational stories. While back in his office in New York, a Major Rattray walks in and introduces himself as an officer in King's African Rifles, a British Colonial Auxiliary force. With a letter of explanation, Rattray explains to O'Malley that his fiancé went to work for a man named Lipscomb Hope, a scientist that focuses on breeding different types of animals together – like pythons and crocodiles. In letters that she writes to Rattray, she happily advises him that she will continue to work for Hope and that she will need to postpone their wedding arrangement. But it is just a front. Beneath the stamps on each envelope is a small hand-written message urging Rattray to come rescue her from the hideous experiments and the psychotic Hope. She's in real danger.

Rattray and O'Malley immediately form a plan to go to the Bahamas and rescue the young woman from the dastardly Hope. In doing so, they hire a pilot and yacht captain that can navigate the scientist's well-placed fortified encampment in Nassau. The foursome discuss the base's defenses, including robot machines that spit lead from watchtowers and hideous mutant pythons that patrol the churning waters leading into the base's spacious lagoon. 

It is obvious that Smith's writing is heavily influenced by H.G. Wells' 1896 novel The Island of Doctor Moreau. But, the high-adventure adrenaline remains the same as my prior Smith reading of “Pirate's Lair”. While not a revenge yarn, this is still a hard-hitting violent affair as the group battle the monsters, bomb the camp, and ultimately attempt to rescue the vulnerable beauty in distress. Aside from some racist things that were unfortunately a product of the time, this story was just so easy to read and enjoy. It's a simple formula, but Smith seems to excel when he allows himself very little to work with. The old adage of “keep it simple stupid” works just as well in 2023 as it did in 1937. The Island Monster is a recommended read for adventure fans.