The back cover of Alan Ryan's horror novel Dead White contains blurbs from fine authors like Peter Straub, Stephen King, and Whitley Strieber applauding the book. Here's news for you – they never read this book! It's not even remotely plausible that these talented wordsmiths read a single word of this lousy unedited poorly constructed excuse for a horror novel. If they read one chapter of this book they would have unanimously panned it as amateur nonsense. Somehow, Alan Ryan was able to get this novel through Tor's editing department, which clearly had no input as to the novel's structure, basic plot outline, or any pedestrian passerby say in what the cover should be. This book is absolutely horrible and somehow Tor allowed these 356 pages to escape a destiny of pulverized packing materials.The book (using the term sparingly) is set in a rural upstate New York town called The Kill. Ironically, this is the same town featured in Ryan's first novel, the equally deadpan Hall of Shame-winner cleverly titled The Kill. A blizzard of epic proportions is hitting the town and most of the residents decide to seek shelter in the Centennial Hotel. The Kill haven't had a train in town for decades and the railroad station and tracks are abandoned now. But, a train of carnival clowns has just rolled up to create mayhem for The Kill.
Anyone with any sense of storytelling talent can easily make this book work. It seems so simple. The town is sheltered in the Centennial Hotel. The carnival clowns show up and hunt the residents in the hotel's hallways and rooms. It would have been a wonderful survival horror novel with a handful of characters fighting the clowns while trapped in a blizzard. Would have. Could have. Should have. But, Alan Ryan doesn't do any of that. No, he completely circumvents this entire plot device to focus on day to day activities of the residents. Each chapter is the time of the day. For example, the chapter is 8:42 A.M. and a character that has no impact on the book's resolution or plot is making coffee and eating breakfast. That's it! Then the next time, a few minutes later, will be another character walking to the mailbox or tying their shoe. Nothing happens in the book until the last couple of pages – as senseless as they are.
I agree with your assessment. I read this back in the 80's when it came out after I think I saw it advertised in Cemetery Dance. What a stinker! Definitely the worst "horror" novel I read during that period.
ReplyDeleteI am glad we agree. It was really quite awful.
DeleteI've read this book twice, because I liked the plotline and cover art and description on the back so much that I wanted it to be THAT book. I read it once and hated it... but then re-read it a few decades later, hoping I'd just given it a "bad read" the first time and might like it better the second when my expectations were different and I was more matured. NOPE! It wasn't me, it was the book. Nothing happens in it but a clown putting his hands on someone's face at one point. That's about all. And it's a shame, because it wastes a really good, creepy idea. I don't even mind "quiet horror" -- even if it was going for "subtle" I'd have played along with it, I was trying to give this thing every possible chance to be good. But it really isn't. I don't see how anyone could screw up such a good idea as badly as Alan Ryan did. I almost want to just steal the back cover description and write my own version of THAT book... but, I have enough ideas of my own.
ReplyDeleteI applaud your fortitude to try the book a second time. That took courage :) I can’t believe any published novel could be this bad. Boggles the mind.
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