Mirror
by Graham Masterton
horror
copyright 1988
read in December 2015
rated 6/10: read to pass the time
This is very much a horror story by the numbers. Take an immortal, all-powerful, incredibly evil villain and a very small number of people who want to fight it. Add a regular series of gruesome deaths, temporarily defeat the villain...
The "best" villains are immortal. When the hero sticks it to them with the magic sword, they vanish. Yet there is always a final paragraph which shows that the villain could well be back again... If this book is popular enough.
The gruesome deaths are the main ingredient of these potboiler novels. The author's key skill is to invent more and more unlikely, blood-drenched deaths. I don't usually mind this. It was when the cat was killed that I decided that I do not really like horror stories.
And speaking of the cat...
The cat is sucked into the evil mirror -- and is never seen again. The sexy woman next door suffers a similar fate. Yet when the hero steps into the mirror -- he remains, clearly visible, inside the mirror !?!
And then, inside the mirror world, all is reversed. Beautiful becomes ugly, good becomes evil. (Although evil shows no sign of becoming good...) The reverse of the hero is an evil monster with a toothed tongue which eats people. Yet the reverse of a kindly Italian grandfather -- is a kindly Italian-stereotype grandfather ! Hardly a reverse.
The evil magic is ridiculous -- I have no problem with that. It is also inconsistent. This book follows the numbers... but poorly.
Mirror is a standard horror story. Better than some. Read it to pass the time. Not on a full stomach.
====
"A city without trees is not fit for a dog"... per Ginger Meggs
No comments:
Post a Comment