Film Review: A Moment of Romance

Early Andy Lau Classic:

This is a movie I have been meaning to watch for over ten years. This is an early film in the career of one of my favorite actors Andy Lau (Infernal Affairs, House of Flying Daggers). This movie is an interesting entry in the 90’s Hong Kong action genre sometimes referred to as Heroic Bloodshed. I sometimes call this subgenre Guns and gangsters that are known for classics like John Woo’s Hard Boiled or more recently Johnnie To’s Election.

This film was directed by Benny Chan who went on to direct several Jackie Chan movies and glitzy action films like Gen X Cops. This early film in his career is produced by Johnnie To (Election) and Ringo Lam (City of Fire,Full Contact).

This movie starts strong on the action front starting with a jewelry heist that ends with Andy Lau’s character taking a woman hostage. The first half of the movie is typical Hong Kong action, with Andy Lau rocking a Suzuki crotch rocket, as funny and dated as this looks it is fun stuff. The second half of the movie turns up the romance and melodrama. It is a pretty effective story all in all.

This movie is dated, so unless you are serious fan of 80s/90s Hong Kong movies or Andy Lau I would not suggest you seek this out. I am a fan of both so I enjoyed it.

Book Review: The Chosen Seed (Dog-faced Gods #3) By Sarah Pinborough

The Chosen Seed (Dog Faced Gods #3) by Sarah Pinborough

Paperback, 384 pages Published February 16th 2012 by Gollancz

Chosen seed is a fantastic final act in a trilogy that is one epic story. Each novel has a distinct story with it’s own strengths. Each one builds off of the previous books but the foundation and atmosphere in the first book “A Matter of Blood” worked on me like being hit by lightening. Pinborough has created a cross genre masterpiece in this trilogy that defies simple classification and is impossible to speak of without hyperbole. It is that good.

Is it horror? Is it a Dytopia? Is it a weird crime mystery? Is it cosmic horror? Is it an alternate history? Yes all those things and then some. Tightly plotted and masterfully told as an author I read every juicy page jealous of Pinborough’s skill.

The story of DCI Cass Jones once an embattled cop now on the run in a near future dystopic London. He has been framed for murder just as he started connect the shadowy banking hyper-capitalist “The Bank” to the kidnapping of his brother’s son Luke. As Jones gets closer to the truth he begins to realize that events he has been investigating connect to a false history of the world. The first book was about a serial killer, the second a series of suicides and the third is about a killer speading a killer virus.

It is hard to write about this novel without spoilers as this is the end of the line. The final reveal is a doozy and I can honestly say I didn’t see it coming. You’ll feel silly you didn’t see it coming. There is some aspects to the alternate history that may bother very serious religious readers.

Is it perfect? Damn near. I don’t think the second and third books sell the dystopic feel of the first book. Perhaps I just couldn’t create the new feeling I had reading the first. Fans of the F.Paul Wilson’s excellent Repairman Jack will enjoy this trilogy which is like a darker English cousin to those books.

Read this series. If you like horror you won’t be disappointed.

Wuxia film review: Swordsman (1990) Directed by ????

The Swordsman

I had not seen the swordsman movies in over a decade. Since I first watched them I became a huge fan of King Hu who was credited as co-director of this movie. The reality is not a minute of this movie looks like a King Hu movie.

King Hu is the closest thing Hong Kong has to Kurasawa. He was the most artistic director of martial arts/ Wuxia movies of the 60’s/70’s. His film A Touch of Zen is classic considered to be the biggest influence on Crouching Tiger hidden dragon and other art-house Wuxia movies.

His films Come Drink with Me, Dragon Gate Inn and The Valiant Ones are excellent films built on characters, quiet tension and building suspense. Swordsman is not a bad movie per se but it has none of the nuance that his films are known for.

The film ended up with three credits at director. It looked more like Producer Tusi Hark or fight director Ching Siu Tung. The story is a total mess. It has fun moments. The story is based on a Louis Cha novel about the martial world fighting over secret scrolls. The second film added Jet Li and re-told the same story with only Ching Siu Tung. I remember it being less of mess.

This is for serious Wuxia fans only.

My Top Ten Horror novels of all time! Number #3 Clive Barker's short masterpiece!

My Number three is:

I enjoy doing top ten lists and I have meant to do this one for awhile. The art of the horror novel is a very special one for me. My first horror novel that I remember reading was The Stand by Stephen King, it was my seventh grade year(I still have that copy which has note in the inside cover to do a Social Studies report!). Skeleton Crew by King and Clive Barker's Books of Blood had a bigger impact on me personally were talking novels at the moment. Over the years I have grown to love the feeling of closing the book on a well written horror novel.

Generally you have been taken on a journey, often it is one filled with terror. The most important elements often come from well defined characters. For a horror novel to work to have to either care about the characters or imagine yourself in the shoes of the character. No story can be scary if you can't imagine yourself in the moment with the characters.

Imagine for a moment you lying in bed at 2 AM and someone starts to bang on the door. You will likely go to the door confused and sacred. In a novel that might not seem to be a scary moment but if you put yourself in the moment it will scare you. These are novels I find scary, and why. You may have read them already, and if not I hope you'll check them out. Leave a comment tell me what you think I missed.

David Agranoff is the author of two published novels the Wuxia Pan style horror fantasy crossover "Hunting The Moon Tribe," and the satire "The Vegan Revolution With Zombies. He is also the author of the Wonderland award short story collection "Screams From a Dying World." His next novel Bootboys of the Wolf-Reich is due to be released soon by Deadite press.

Number 10: (tie) Testament by David Morrell & The Girl next Door by Jack Ketchum

Number 9: A Perfect Union by Cody Goodfellow

Number 8: The Sheep Look Up by John Brunner

Number 7: The Keep (Adversary cycle #1) by F.Paul Wilson

Number 6 : Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z.Brite

Number 5 is: What Dreams May Come by Richard Matheson.

Number 4 is The Shining by Stephen King

Number three is Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker: Again there are many novels by Barker that could make the list. While better known as the source of Barker's first film Hellraiser this short novel is a classic for good reason. Barker was a revolutionary as far as horror developed in the late 80’s however most of that creative energy came from his short stories collected over six collections called the Books of Blood(In the U.S. the last three Inhuman Condition,In the Flesh and Cabal). The largest impact this story had was in the film written and directed by Barker himself.

Is this short novel Barker’s best? I am huge fan of the Great and Secret show and it’s sequel Everville. Those are both horror novels but more dark fantasy. For me ‘Hellbound heart’ just barely edges out his debut The Damnation Game as his best horror novel. After careful consider I placed Hellbound Heart right here for good reason.

The greatest strength of this novel and Barker's work in general is that is creative and like nothing else. Not since Lovecraft has an author created such an intense and original mythology. The thing is Barker has done several times (The book of the art novels, Imajica). Just as the characters open the puzzle box and enter the mystical world of the cenobites. This is an original demonic world, beyond the bizarre look of the demons, to the way interface with our world. The bizarre sexuality, the creepy family dynamic, the haunted old house setting.

The characters are strong, Kirsty stands in for us the one person trying to hold on to sanity in this insane world. While the films has lessened the impact of Cenobites, but they are quite scary creatures. Uncle Frank and the wicked step-mother are perhaps the most frightening monsters in the piece.

This is the most pure horror as Barker has ever did in a longer work. It blends his psycho sexuality, fantastic mythology and strong characters. If you read it now try not to think of the film, as great as it is the awful sequels have watered down it's impact. It was revolutionary horror for it’s time. That makes it the third best horror novel ever in my opinion.

My Top Ten Horror novels #4, which Stephen King novel made my list...

My number 4 is:

I enjoy doing top ten lists and I have meant to do this one for awhile. The art of the horror novel is a very special one for me. My first horror novel that I remember reading was The Stand by Stephen King, it was my seventh grade year(I still have that copy which has note in the inside cover to do a Social Studies report!). Skeleton Crew by King and Clive Barker's Books of Blood had a bigger impact on me personally were talking novels at the moment. Over the years I have grown to love the feeling of closing the book on a well written horror novel.

Generally you have been taken on a journey, often it is one filled with terror. The most important elements often come from well defined characters. For a horror novel to work to have to either care about the characters or imagine yourself in the shoes of the character. No story can be scary if you can't imagine yourself in the moment with the characters.

Imagine for a moment you lying in bed at 2 AM and someone starts to bang on the door. You will likely go to the door confused and sacred. In a novel that might not seem to be a scary moment but if you put yourself in the moment it will scare you. These are novels I find scary, and why. You may have read them already, and if not I hope you'll check them out. Leave a comment tell me what you think I missed.

David Agranoff is the author of two published novels the Wuxia Pan style horror fantasy crossover "Hunting The Moon Tribe," and the satire "The Vegan Revolution With Zombies. He is also the author of the Wonderland award short story collection "Screams From a Dying World." His next novel Bootboys of the Wolf-Reich is due to be released soon by Deadite press.

Number 10: (tie) Testament by David Morrell & The Girl next Door by Jack Ketchum

Number 9: A Perfect Union by Cody Goodfellow

Number 8: The Sheep Look Up by John Brunner Number 7: The Keep (Adversary cycle #1) by F.Paul Wilson

Number 6 : Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z.Brite

Number 5 is: What Dreams May Come by Richard Matheson.

Number 4 is The Shining by Stephen King:

There are probably a dozen novels by King worthy of this list. I decided when I started this process to not repeat authors. I knew Richard Matheson and King might dominate the list. I considered The Dead Zone and The Stand, both of are two of King’s best overall novels, but not traditional horror. I considered Pet Semetery,King was so frightened by Pet Semetery that he almost didn't finish it I considered The Long Walk, Gerald’s Game and I am a huge fan of Salem’s Lot.

All that said I think The Shining is King’s best horror novel and just right on my list at the number 4 horror novel of all time. I first read the Shining as a young adult and most of the horror elements worked for me. The creepy setting of the empty hotel, the ghosts, the things pushing Jack Torrance to insanity. This novel is a classic haunted house tale that has genius setting that perfect isolates it’s characters in a inescapable situation.

You can see why Stanley Kubrick bought the film rights as it is a perfect gothic horror settings. I am with King in not being a huge fan of the film. It looks awesome, and has great moments, but for me Jack Nicholson ruins the movie, by seeming insane from the first scene.

As an adult re-reading The Shining the element of the family unraveling meant a lot more to me. I felt bad for Jack Torrance and felt dread knowing what was coming. To me this is the gut wrenching terror inducing element that makes this novel so scary. Re-reading you know Jack is losing it, and it is a trainwreck that you can’t turn away. The ghost story of the overlook is like a wonderful spice adding flavor, as is the shine storyline about young Danny Torrance.

This is a perfect time to read it as the sorta sequel about Danny Torrance Doctor Sleep is on the way. Below is the cover on my first copy of the novel.

My Top Ten Horror novels #5 Many of you wont think it is horror but...

Number 5 is:

I enjoy doing top ten lists and I have meant to do this one for awhile. The art of the horror novel is a very special one for me. My first horror novel that I remember reading was The Stand by Stephen King, it was my seventh grade year(I still have that copy which has note in the inside cover to do a Social Studies report!). Skeleton Crew by King and Clive Barker's Books of Blood had a bigger impact on me personally were talking novels at the moment. Over the years I have grown to love the feeling of closing the book on a well written horror novel.

Generally you have been taken on a journey, often it is one filled with terror. The most important elements often come from well defined characters. For a horror novel to work to have to either care about the characters or imagine yourself in the shoes of the character. No story can be scary if you can't imagine yourself in the moment with the characters.

Imagine for a moment you lying in bed at 2 AM and someone starts to bang on the door. You will likely go to the door confused and sacred. In a novel that might not seem to be a scary moment but if you put yourself in the moment it will scare you. These are novels I find scary, and why. You may have read them already, and if not I hope you'll check them out. Leave a comment tell me what you think I missed.

David Agranoff is the author of two published novels the Wuxia Pan style horror fantasy crossover "Hunting The Moon Tribe," and the satire "The Vegan Revolution With Zombies. He is also the author of the Wonderland award short story collection "Screams From a Dying World." His next novel Bootboys of the Wolf-Reich is due to be released soon by Deadite press.

Number 10: (tie) Testament by David Morrell & The Girl next Door by Jack Ketchum

Number 9: A Perfect Union by Cody Goodfellow

Number 8: The Sheep Look Up by John Brunner

Number 7: The Keep (Adversary cycle #1) by F.Paul Wilson

Number 6 : Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z.Brite

Number 5 is: What Dreams May Come by Richard Matheson.

This is a timely novel, but I promise you I first made this list before Matheson's recent passing. Considering the subject matter and Matheson's introduction where he states that he basically believed in the after life he writes about this book is probably the one everyone should read in tribute to the passing of this great story teller. I debated myself between this novel and his classic I Am Legend.

What Dreams May Come I am sure will be the most controversial novel on my list. Many will not even consider it horror. They would consider Matheson's classic vampire novel I Am Legend to be his best, and it is amazing. I Am Legend may be a bigger influence, it might be more traditional horror,it might even be a better novel but What Dreams may come moved me very deeply.

It is a romantic fantasy but there are moments of true horror that moved me deeply. The heartbreaking sorrow of Chris watching his still living wife suffer over her death is just one of the most horrible things I could consider. The idea of knowing then that your loved one is in hell itself, wow It requires a belief or a suspension of disbelief but if you ride with it it some of the most hardcore feelings horror there are. The love of the characters is all the heart of it.

You can't judge this novel by the film based on it. What Dreams May Come is a romantic fantasy but has several elements of horror, supernatural story of husband who dies and goes to heaven but has to watch his wife kill herself and end up in hell. The chapters where he goes to hell to save her is one of the best moments of horror Matheson or anyone ever wrote. Those chapters alone were so powerful to me that alone got the book on my list.

Wuxia film review: The Four (Plus Trailer)

The Four

How did I not hear about this movie? The Four features characters from a continuing series of Wuxia novels (Si Da Ming Bu (四大名捕; The Four Great Constables) by Malaysian Chinese writer Wen Ruian. Co-directed by Gordan Chan (Jet Li's Fist of Legend, Painted Skin) and starring Anthony Wong. This movie was right up my alley. It is a great Fantasy film that harkens back to the early 90's Tusi Hark produced/directed films but of course it looks better with modern effects.

Fantastic wire-fu and excellent intrigue abound make this a must see for Hong Kong movie fans getting tired of the dark and massive scale war movies (Red Cliff, Warlords) that seem to be dominating period martial arts film of late. It also has Zombies! ha-ha.

Anthony Wong carries this film well as the star and it sets up nicely for two more films in a trilogy.

Wuxia film review: The Assassins (2012) Chow yun Fat

The Assassins

I think this might be the 500th movie made in China based on the novel The Three Kingdoms.

This movie is worth seeing if you are a Chow Yun Fat fan. He is fantastic in this film. If you didn't like Curse of the Golden Flower however you might want to avoid this movie. It is similar in it's back story family royal palace melo-drama. I enjoyed it and some might consider it better paced than Curse, but I didn't see it that way. During the movie I found my thoughts straying to fantastic moments in Curse of the Golden Flower and thinking about how well that movie was composed and directed.

That said I liked this movie a lot. There were wonderful character moments and Chow Yun Fat was great. There is a scene about an hour in between Chow and his son in the movie that is so tense that I just loved it. Pretty good over all.

My Top Ten Horror novels: #6 A serial killer novel that makes Seven look like disney!

My #6 top horror novel is:

I enjoy doing top ten lists and I have meant to do this one for awhile. The art of the horror novel is a very special one for me. My first horror novel that I remember reading was The Stand by Stephen King, it was my seventh grade year(I still have that copy which has note in the inside cover to do a Social Studies report!). Skeleton Crew by King and Clive Barker's Books of Blood had a bigger impact on me personally were talking novels at the moment. Over the years I have grown to love the feeling of closing the book on a well written horror novel.

Generally you have been taken on a journey, often it is one filled with terror. The most important elements often come from well defined characters. For a horror novel to work to have to either care about the characters or imagine yourself in the shoes of the character. No story can be scary if you can't imagine yourself in the moment with the characters.

Imagine for a moment you lying in bed at 2 AM and someone starts to bang on the door. You will likely go to the door confused and sacred. In a novel that might not seem to be a scary moment but if you put yourself in the moment it will scare you. These are novels I find scary, and why. You may have read them already, and if not I hope you'll check them out. Leave a comment tell me what you think I missed.

David Agranoff is the author of two published novels the Wuxia Pan style horror fantasy crossover "Hunting The Moon Tribe," and the satire "The Vegan Revolution With Zombies. He is also the author of the Wonderland award short story collection "Screams From a Dying World." His next novel Bootboys of the Wolf-Reich is due to be released soon by Deadite press.

Number 10: (tie) Testament by David Morrell & The Girl next Door by Jack Ketchum

Number 9: A Perfect Union by Cody Goodfellow

Number 8: The Sheep Look Up by John Brunner

Number 7 The Keep (Adversary cycle #1) by F.Paul Wilson

Number 6 is: Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z.Brite

EC could have easily been higher on my list. This is a fantastic horror novel that transcends the serial killer sub-genre and creates one of the creepiest reading experiences I have ever had. It is a novel that works on multiple reads as well. Written by the very goth word smith Poppy Z.Brite. Brite made a spalsh on the horror scene with a strong collection Wormwood and a very punk feeling vampire debut Lost Souls. Brite followed up the strong debut with a fantastic haunted house novel Drawing Blood which was one of the most romantic and heart breaking horror novels. (Just happens to be about gay characters).

Brite was quickly establishing herself as a master of the horror novel when her third novel Exquisite Corpse hit like a ton of bricks. The saddest part in horror terms this was Brite's horror swan song. After this she published a few character driven novels set in the New Orleans restaurant scene.

EC is a serial killer novel but not corny in James Patterson sense, and not bloated in a Thomas Harris way. The story of killer Andrew Compton who escapes from prison in a fantastic prologue really sets off this novel strong. He admires the work of transgressive artist Jay Byrne. The two men entered a demented romance that includes sex, murder and many gore drenched moments that had me cringing constantly as I read. The two killers stalk the artist underground and turn their attention to Tran a young Vietnamese-American DJ who they find too exquisite to resist.

Tran is a fully realized character who readers grow to like quickly, that sympathy essential to a horror novel character in jeopardy comes from his family. Watching Tran deal with family and their attacks on his sexuality and life style are heartbreaking and well written. All three of Brite's novels have well realized romances between gay men, while Drawing Blood probably did this most effectively. Exquisite Corpse on the other hand features a romance between nasty killers in that sense the novel is like tip toeing on a sharp razor edge. This novel just bleeds nasty-ness.

EC is a bit of a time capsule released in 1996 in some ways the book is dated in the sense that AIDS is still the terror-inducing automatic death sentence that it was at the time. It operates on many levels but the suspense is there, the nasty gore is there, and most importantly the strong characters are there. This novel is not for everyone but damn it is good.

Book Review: Cold in July by Joe R. Lansdale

Cold in July by Joe R. Lansdale

Paperback, 234 pages Published 2001 by Phoenix (first published 1989)

While Lansdale writes across many genres his southern crime novels are some of the best you'll ever read. I decided to read this novel after David Morrell (author of First Blood)commented that it was a novel that only Lansdale could write. Between my decision to read it and finding the book a movie was green lit based on the novel. Directed by Jim Mickle, whose horror film We Are What We Are just played at the Cannes and Sundance Film Festival. I have not seen that yet, but I enjoyed his earlier film Stakeland. The movie picked up steam when Michael C. Hall made it his first post Dexter gig.

The novel is a short but jam packed thriller, that takes many turns that I didn't see coming. I trust Lansdale enough that I went into the novel cold on the plot and I think I benefited from that. This is an early novel and the narrative was not as strong or sarcastic as Lansdale's more recent work. That said I am glad I read this as it was an important step in his development.

Ok if I have already sold you quit reading and go order the book. The plot is interesting, the main character shoots a man in self defense. Every seems to agree that he was justified, except the father of the burglar he shot. He wants revenge and as interesting as that it is, that is really just the tip of the iceberg.

I have not read a Lansdale novel yet that I didn't like. It is not as strong as his newer work, but Lansdale's weakest novel is stronger than most novels you'll read. Great early novel. Hopefully the movie will get this book new attention.

Movie review: Painted Skin II: The Ressurection

Painted Skin 2: The Ressurection

I liked the first Painted Skin movie, I don’t remember it well but it felt more like a horror-Wuxia Pan dark Fantasy crossover. It also benefitted from a role played by Donnie Yen. The second film doesn’t feel as horror to me, but it feels like a big budget Dark Fantasy along the lines of Bride with white Hair. The plot is crazy weird…How about I just use the description from IMDB…

“An ancient fox spirit embarks on a diabolical quest to become human after escaping an icy prison, and becomes bound to a disfigured princess who seeks the love of a noble guard as her kingdom crumbles in this lavish supernatural epic. Confined to a frozen cell for centuries, malevolent fox spirit Xiaowei (Xun Zhou) regains her freedom and seeks to preserve her beauty by seducing men and consuming their hearts. Should a man offer her his heart willingly, Xiaowei will become mortal, breaking free of the underworld and experiencing living among the living. Meanwhile, as a dark cloud falls over her kingdom, Princess Jing (Wei Zhao) flees, hiding her deep facial scars under a mask of pure gold while seeking the love of her former protector, who remains haunted by his failure to save her years prior. When destiny brings Xiaowei and Princess Jing together, the battle for the princess' heart begins.”

If your keeping count that is to white fox demon movies in a row. I think overall this is better than the first movie. It looks amazing. The story might be a little hard to follow but boy does it look good.

Movie Review: Sorcerer and the White Snake

Sorcerer and the White Snake

This was the movie I was most excited to see all year. I am a huge Jet Li fan in general, I loved most of his films made in China. I am also a huge fan of this movie’s director Ching Siu Tung who directed two of my all time favorite films Duel to the Death and A Chinese Ghost Story. As a director he has made several weird Kungfu movies not only the Chinese Ghost Story Trilogy but also weird ones like Witch from Nepal. Ching Siu Tung has not directed a movie in awhile, mostly directing fights notably in Zhang Zimou’s Hero and house of Flying Daggers.

This is a strange and goofy kungfu movie that I found to be pretty fun. It was not as good as the Chinese Ghost story movies but those are the closest comparison. Jet Li plays a monk fighting lots of CGI demons, snake demons and white fox demons. The bonus features on the DVD were my favorite part, getting to watch Ching Siu Tung and Jet Li work together.

Jet Li said this was his most tiring role to date because he had to hold back every punch against his opponents while they went all out on him. I laughed when one of the other actors said “I spent all day working on my moves Jet learned them in two minutes.”

Trailer: New Ronny Yu Movie:

From the director of two of my favorite movies...Bride with White Hair and Jet Li's Fearless. Looks cool.

My Top Ten Horror novels # 7 Kicks off two epic horror series at the same time

And Number 7 is:

I enjoy doing top ten lists and I have meant to do this one for awhile. The art of the horror novel is a very special one for me. My first horror novel that I remember reading was The Stand by Stephen King, it was my seventh grade year(I still have that copy which has note in the inside cover to do a Social Studies report!). Skeleton Crew by King and Clive Barker's Books of Blood had a bigger impact on me personally were talking novels at the moment. Over the years I have grown to love the feeling of closing the book on a well written horror novel.

Generally you have been taken on a journey, often it is one filled with terror. The most important elements often come from well defined characters. For a horror novel to work to have to either care about the characters or imagine yourself in the shoes of the character. No story can be scary if you can't imagine yourself in the moment with the characters.

Imagine for a moment you lying in bed at 2 AM and someone starts to bang on the door. You will likely go to the door confused and sacred. In a novel that might not seem to be a scary moment but if you put yourself in the moment it will scare you. These are novels I find scary, and why. You may have read them already, and if not I hope you'll check them out. Leave a comment tell me what you think I missed.

David Agranoff is the author of two published novels the Wuxia Pan style horror fantasy crossover "Hunting The Moon Tribe," and the satire "The Vegan Revolution With Zombies. He is also the author of the Wonderland award short story collection "Screams From a Dying World." His next novel Bootboys of the Wolf-Reich is due to be released soon by Deadite press.

Number 10: (tie) Testament by David Morrell & The Girl next Door by Jack Ketchum Number 9: A Perfect Union by Cody Goodfellow Number 8: The Sheep Look Up by John Brunner

Number 7 The Keep (Adversary cycle #1) by F.Paul Wilson:

The first thing many must do is shake off the terrible movie that was very loosely based on this novel. Lots of talented people were involved including scott glen, Ian Mckellen and it was directed by the usually first class director michael Mann. Yet, it is a serious turd.

The novel is however a classic for a reason. Lets start with the creepy setting, World War II, in the most gothic of locations a Castle in Transylvania. This castle is controled by Nazi soldiers but something is killing them one by one. Something so evil it has the nazis shaking in their boots. The castle is build with ancient crosses everywhere when one is removed that is when the evil is unleashed.

The writing is great, the characters and the setting outstanding. The Keep is a fantastic high concept horror novel.

While this novel is excellent and stands on it's own it's greatest strength is that it kicks off a saga that is played out over two dozen novels and two series -The Adversary Cycle (six novels) and The Repairman Jack (17 novels). Be Warned if you read this you might get hooked and the story while it stands alone just find get extended inwonderful ways over two dozen books and comes to an end in the amazing Nightworld ( That novel is both Adversary #6 and Repairman Jack #15).

Nightworld is a a stunning climax to this story and could have been on this list easily but The Keep is where it begins!