A review by verkisto
Slimer by Leroy Kettle, Harry Adam Knight
3.0
Valancourt has been doing some great things as a publisher. They reissue books that have been long out of print but still have some public interest, including old Gothic novels, novels of gay interest, and 20th century horror. That last one interests me the most, and it was through Valancourt I discovered Michael McDowell, Ken Greenhall, and Bernard Taylor, so I pay attention when they reissue new books.
Slimer is one of three books they released in October, and I went into it with high expectations. Published in 1983, it's about six friends who are stranded at sea when their boat sinks, and who find their way onto an oil rig to survive. What they find there is mysterious and murderous, and right on par with what one would expect to find in a horror novel published in 1983.
Unfortunately, there's much else one finds in a book from that time, including sexism and misogyny. Knight (a pseudonym for two authors) creates an antagonist straight out of the '80s, complete with a drug habit, an indestructible libido, and enough swagger and banter to fit a Schwarzenegger movie. I get that we're not supposed to like him, but dang, there's no subtlety to this guy.
That fits the story, though, since there's no subtlety there, either. Knight doesn't go into the story hoping to make a point or to make the reader think; Slimer is just a relentless concept taken to its inevitable conclusion. It's a brief novel (less than 200 pages), so there's not much room for character or plot development. It comes across as pretty schlocky, but I get the feeling that was the point.
Slimer isn't a bad read, but it's not something that would appeal to readers outside of the horror genre. Even for me, someone who is a horror reader, I'm reading these mostly out of curiosity. I recognize that most of these books are going to be bad, but the good authors I've discovered through Valancourt have been so good that a book like this doesn't deter me from reading more.
Slimer is one of three books they released in October, and I went into it with high expectations. Published in 1983, it's about six friends who are stranded at sea when their boat sinks, and who find their way onto an oil rig to survive. What they find there is mysterious and murderous, and right on par with what one would expect to find in a horror novel published in 1983.
Unfortunately, there's much else one finds in a book from that time, including sexism and misogyny. Knight (a pseudonym for two authors) creates an antagonist straight out of the '80s, complete with a drug habit, an indestructible libido, and enough swagger and banter to fit a Schwarzenegger movie. I get that we're not supposed to like him, but dang, there's no subtlety to this guy.
That fits the story, though, since there's no subtlety there, either. Knight doesn't go into the story hoping to make a point or to make the reader think; Slimer is just a relentless concept taken to its inevitable conclusion. It's a brief novel (less than 200 pages), so there's not much room for character or plot development. It comes across as pretty schlocky, but I get the feeling that was the point.
Slimer isn't a bad read, but it's not something that would appeal to readers outside of the horror genre. Even for me, someone who is a horror reader, I'm reading these mostly out of curiosity. I recognize that most of these books are going to be bad, but the good authors I've discovered through Valancourt have been so good that a book like this doesn't deter me from reading more.