I've reviewed two of his Tor horror novels, Dead White (1983) and Cast a Cold Eye (1987), and recommend both to readers looking for quiet, unassuming and atmospheric scares. Panther (Signet 1979) and The Kill (Tor 1982) remain on my find-and-read list; then you'll see a sampling of covers for his holiday-themed Halloween Horrors from '86, and you can read a good review of that one here. You find any Ryan's titles on your used bookstores searches, grab 'em!
4 comments:
I haven't read any of his novels but his Halloween Horrors anthology (I have the edition pictured last on your list) was a great find for me in the late 80s.
I've read and enjoyed both DEAD WHITE and CAST A COLD EYE, thanks to your reviews. I was thrilled to score both THE KILL and THE PANTHER from a local bookstore (always check the mystery/thriller section, not just horror!).
Does anyone know if the Deacon's Kill of THE KILL is the same as DEAD WHITE? If so, it appears all the townspeople in DEAD WHITE had already forgotten about whatever horrors had happened in THE KILL, even the two novels were released a year apart. For some reason that's distracting to me. Like, it must not be TOO horrific if no one even mentions it a year later when terrible things start happening again, with the clowns. Still, I'm excited to start reading it.
I'm sure it's the same fictional town, kinda like Grant's Oxrun Station, or King's Derry...
Yeah, I guess, but I know if I lived in some town where crazy killer phantom clowns showed up one day, I'd be like, "What the hell. Last year it was child murders, now this?" Yet no character in DEAD WHITE mentions the terrible tragedies that should still be fresh in everyone's minds, or even thinks about it in passing, when we get inside characters' heads. That's more incredulous to me for some reason than ghost clowns, so I wasn't sure if THE KILL's Deacon's Kill was like Alan's dry-run version.
Or I'm just overly anal.
Keep up the great work, Will!
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