Post by Dreadlocksmile on Aug 21, 2009 9:06:20 GMT
Dreadlocksmile review:
'Toady' aka 'The Horror Club' is Mark Morris' first horror novel, which was originally published back in 1989 by Piatkus. Corgi have since bought the rights to the novel and re-released the 702 page epic fantasy / horror tale.
From the start, you can clearly see a strong resemblance to Clive Barker. Morris' writing style is superb, with a descriptive nature that sets a atmosphere so vivid, it's incredible. His imagination is at times so bizarre, you feel the world has no bounds...and indeed it doesn't, especially in this novel. The storyline races through, which keeps you gripped from the moment the boys start the s ance. Mark's characterization is second to none, making the reader really feel for each member of the Horror Club. The book ends very well, which was my only problem with his later novel 'The Secret Of Anatomy', which was a fantastic Barker style horror / fantasy novel that built up incredibly to the end, with such a disappointing conclusion. If I'm honest, as I drew close to the end of this novel, I was half expecting a similar thing, as it was nearing the last pages and everything was still up in the air. But no, a fantastic (and a little tragic) ending, that wraps the whole novel up perfectly.
'Toady' does include the usual Doctor Who mention as always, due to this being a little passion of Mark's. We can easily let him off this as it certainly does not interfere with the novel. All in all, 'Toady' was a great horror novel that you can dive into and get totally absorbed by the weird and disturbing world that Mark Morris' bizarre imagination has created.