December

If you are digging into the horror novels that Phil Rickman wrote prior to his wonderful Merrily Watkins series, you will meet four of the characters in "December" (1994) who later appear in "The Cure of Souls" (2001): Moira, the folksinger; Simon, the vicar; Isabel, the sex-starved, wheelchair-bound accountant; and Prof Levin, the alcoholic recording engineer.Boy, will you meet them--and like them too, even though Moira is a recluse who might be responsible for the death of her mother; Simon is a self-confessed homosexual necrophiliac; Isabel's first sexual adventure killed her partner; and Prof Levin stays drunk through most of "December" (a very reasonable response to finding oneself in the midst of a Rickman horror novel.)What little sex there is in this novel is very dark, as in corrupted, or sometimes darkly humorous, as in Isabel's aerial deflowering. Loathsome, brown candles are a regular supernatural visitation foretelling death and/or really hellish sex. However, this book isn't really about sex (even though I keep talking about it.)It's about music.I learned more than I thought I ever wanted to know about John Lennon, Jim Morrison, Bob Dylan, and even Simon and Garfunkel--well, Goth horror is something else this book is not--mostly it concerns musicians from the 60's who didn't make it very far into the 80's. One of the main characters, Dave the guitarist, is plagued by the notion that he could have prevented John Lennon's death on December 8, 1980. Dave has some pretty snappy dialogues with Lennon who now seems to be living in his head.Dave isn't the only one with a psychic problem. All of the musicians who attempted to record an album in an ancient abbey-turned-recording-studio on the date of Lennon's death are traumatized by a tragedy that gradually works its way to the surface through the course of this novel.Rickman piles horror upon horror until thirteen years after Lennon's death, the musicians are compelled to return to the abbey to complete the song that had called up an ancient evil.You'll be reading this one through the night--even though you shouldn't.

Phil Rickman writes lengthy novels. But, in my opinion, long, labyrinthine texts are the hallmark of most good novels of the horror/supernatural genre. His writing style mirrors the twists and turns of the plot, and December is a great example of Rickman at his tortuous best. The title hints that the action of the story is moving toward a crisis in "December", perhaps more horrific than the events of Decembers past. This novel incorporates events and intrigues that span hundreds of years, some fact, some fiction, but by the middle of the book, I was so entangled in the narrative intricacies that the blurred boundaries of the real and the imaginary just made the tale more delicious as it unravelled. Having lived with a musician for ten years, I could appreciate Rickman's careful development of that theme, and as one who is still "stuck in the 60s", I could relate to the almost cosmic significance of John Lennon's life and death. Yes, Rickman takes his sweet, twisted time getting to the climax of the story, but I rather enjoy a writer with a slow hand.

When I first got this book, I read about 80 pages and found it to be, well, confusing, so I put it down for 6 months. Last week, I picked it up again, and after about page 150 or so, could not put it down again. I definitely recommend this book, even though it may take some time to get the hang of the story. The book may not be a fast read, a la the abovementioned Koontz and King (whom I also admire), but it's a great story filled with amazing detail, and one of the most beautifully written books I've ever read. Phil Rickman and this book are definitely in my top 10. No, on second thought, my top 5. No, top 4..

If you've been reading the standard Koontz, King and Laymon fare prepare yourself for December. The characters are so much more vivid and likeable or hateable. The story blends modern rock music with ancient tales and the supernatural, musos will find many in jokes and references. But overall this is just a damn good book, you have to read it at least twice to understand the complex storyline, I have read it 4 times because I love it so much. I HIGHLY recommend this book.

If you like a well-written novel about supernatural horror with plausible, likeable characters and a great, twisting plot, this is the one for you. No gore, no splatter, just great storytelling that's much more scary than your usual run-of-the-mill King or Koontz book. Almost as good as "The Man in the Moss", which for some reason hasn't been published in the US yet (but you can order it from online bookstores in the UK ;).