Finders Keepers, my collab with Michael McCarty, is included in his latest collection…
Biters.
They thrive in the shadows, hungry for blood, hungry for human flesh. BITERS, from 5-time Bram Stoker Finalist Michael McCarty, is a thrilling collection of 4 zombie stories and 4 vampire tales by a veteran author of over fifty books and numerous stories and works of nonfiction since the 1980s. Within these pages you will find excitingly original and macabre tales of biters of all sorts to make you shiver and even question your own sanity, featuring incredible special guest co-authors! Dare, if you will to enter the world of….BITERS!
Starring: Richard Backus, John Marley, Lynn Carlin, Anya Ormsby
Also known as Dead of Night and, The Night Walker, Whispers, King of the Grave, Night Walk, The Veteran, and The Night Andy Came Home (possibly making it a frontrunner for some kind of award for the film with the most titles), this brooding, mid-seventies masterpiece produced and directed by Bob Clark (who later shot to fame with the immortal frat comedy Porky’s before being killed in traffic accident in 2007) was ‘inspired’ by the classic 1902 WW Jacobs short story The Monkey’s Paw. It tells the story of Andy Brooks (Backus), an American GI serving in Vietnam. When he is shot by a sniper and falls to the ground dying, he hears his mother’s voice reminding him he promised to come home. The family is informed of Andy’s death, but sometime later he turns up on their doorstep, still wearing his uniform. The family assume the death notice was a mistake, and are elated to have Andy back. However, he just doesn’t seem the same. Something is definitely off. He is withdrawn, grumpy and sullen, and has taken to hanging out in the local graveyard. The family put this weird behaviour down to PTSD (though they don’t refer to it as such as it wasn’t a widely acknowledged condition back in the seventies) and assume Andy will return to his normal self eventually. When the father Charles (Marley) mentions that they thought Andy had died he replies, “I did,” which should have been a massive clue. After a brief awkward silence, everyone assumes Andy was joking and bursts into fits of giggles. Of course, we the viewers know that Andy wasn’t joking.
The turning point comes when Andy brutally strangles the family pet in front of a bunch of terrified kids. Something guaranteed to stop any party in its tracks. Whilst drowning his sorrows at a bar, Charles discusses his son’s problems with a doctor friend. During an impromptu check up at his office, the doctor is unable to detect a heartbeat or pulse. Before he can say, “By jove, I am unable to detect a heartbeat or pulse!” Andy swiftly kills him, and uses a syringe to inject some of the doctor’s blood into his arm suggesting that Andy has been turned into some kind of vampire that needs the blood of others for sustenance. Things come to a head when Andy goes to a drive-in with some friends, feasts on his date, and is revealed to be the monster he has become. He is chased off and returns home one more time for a final showdown with his father, which doesn’t go as expected. The climax sees him return to a grave he’d dug himself. Poignantly, in some versions, the final scene shows his mother then telling police, “Andy’s home. Some boys never come home.”
There’s a lot to unpack here. You can make a case for looking at Deathdream from any number of angles and drawing any number of conclusions. It focuses heavily on the often fractious relationship between father and son and the role of the doting mother (played here by Academy Award-nominated Lynn Carlin) who will always protect her offspring no matter what he does. Yep, even if he turns into a murderous bastard. This sparks yet more questions. Did he always have these tendencies or did the army bring them out? The analogies are easy to see, as is the obvious refrain of being careful what you wish for. What I found most interesting is the role the Vietnam War plays in the film, which could have been any war, really. At its core, Deathdream is a study of the human psyche and what the trauma of war can do to it, not to mention the common military practice of making monsters out of men. This, I suppose, is necessary in order to make them effective soldiers. But what happens when they are sent home and expected to fit seamlessly back into society? It has long been suggested that historically, not enough has been done to help ex-servicemen and women assimilate and mental health issues are often seen as signs of weakness completely at odds with the macho environment they just left. Deathdream, I think, shows us what happens when ‘monsters’ come home.
These themes are explored further in an exhaustive contemporary review on Canuxploiation.com which says, “Although effective as a flat-out horror film, Deathdream was also one of the first films to be critical of the Vietnam War, focusing on the lingering effects of the conflict on soldiers returning to America. The stress disorders and drug addiction that many veterans experienced are alluded to, but more importantly, this film is filled with sense that the war has changed not only Andy, but the entire country.” Taking a more pragmatic approach, Glenn Erickson of DVD Talk wrote, “The reason Deathdream works is its superior dramatic staging. The actors are excellent, especially John Marley and Lynn Carlin.”
Deathdream seems to be undergoing something of a renaissance in recent years, accumulating an 83% positive rating on review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes and being spoken about at length (and favourably) on influential sites like Macabre Daily, Wicked Horror and Dead Central, whose only complaint was that there was, “Too much horror in one film.”
Trivia Corner:
Richard Backus was cast as Andy because he was able to create a ‘silent stare of intense hatred’ on demand for the casting agent, the creepy facial expression coming into play frequently during filming. Christopher Walken, who ironically went on to make his name in Vietnam flick The Deer Hunter, was also considered for the role.
Today I’d like to share with you one of the most comprehensive, insightful, and generally awesome reviews I’ve ever had for X2: Another collection of Horroron Amazon or anywhere else. Thank you, fluffyredfox, whoever you are!
I have really enjoyed this collection and note that it is number 2, so I will definitely be looking up the first in the series, along with the other novels that CMS has written; I really love the way they write.
Little Dead Girl: Jeff has been seeing a ghost, not the sheet over the head kind or the spooky howling type.
There is a real sense of tongue in cheek in the writing and I love it, however in amongst that humour is the sad, lonely life of Jeff and the haunting little ghostie and her sad tale.
The build up in this story is amazing and the ending so knocked the socks off me, I was not expecting THAT.
An utterly brilliant way to start a group of short stories.
Curiosities: Is a tiny little antique shop in Portsmouth, run by the Needham family for generations, always just getting by on tourists income but shunned by the locals who have wild rumours and stories of murder and Satanism. However now it is in the hands of the last Needhams, Neil and he is as quiet and introverted as is possible.
Spread across four stories the Curiosities shop is a wonderment of a time gone by and in the small storage area the walls are still painted with the magic rituals used by his Grandfather.
Again the humour is snort out loud in this story but tinged with sadness. When an old man comes in one day looking for a certain book he gets more of a bargain than he hoped for.
Intruder: Rosie loves her son Mark and her nightly routine of counting all his drunken paces from front door, to kitchen to bedroom come to an abrupt halt one night.
This tiny little story really gave me the shivers, well played CMS.
The Night Visitor: Brian won’t hurt you, he just wants to watch you sleep and maybe move a few things around in your house – ok freaked out!
This strange little story just got weirder and freakier. The humour flipping to horror/sadness/gore is clearly a signature of CMS and what a brilliant talent to have, it catches you off guard every time.
Hero of the Day: Nathan gets his 5mins of fame after diving into a burning house to try and save a baby.
This story gripped me from the start and I rushed through to the end only to be slapped in the face by the author. Fantastically written, no humour here only shock and horror. The last line is the killer blow.
Embracing Solitude: Rick is finishing up his latest novel and on a whim decides to brave the long drive home to his doting wife, having shut himself up in a caravan for 10 weeks he was ready for some home loving.
The tragic destination was an unusual turn up in this collection so far, whilst horrific and heartfelt it was not in keeping with the current feel of the book; but still immensely well written.
Treat Night: Stuarts love for his wife Valerie is almost obsessive, but not just in a young love kind of way, there is an undertone of something more sinister.
A meal out at their favourite restaurant soon turns sour when she goes missing, as Stuart is frantic in trying to find her no-one else apparently is, the ending was sort of half a surprise for me but not unexpected.
Whilst no humour in this story the building terror is easily conveyed from Stuart to the reader as CMS has built such a rounded view of their life.
Handsome Jack: Rhys and Mark, childhood buddies, are having a drink in a (supposed) haunted pub. Fired up earlier in the night by the Landlord, when something does go bump in the night things start to get a little hairy.
With furniture flying and scratching noises going on what friend wouldn’t run screaming for the door! The last line is fabulous!
Tiny Little Vampires (flash version): Lewis was having a bad few days with mosquitoes. CMS does an amazing job of describing the itchy feeling, the resulting skin trauma and that nauseating buzz sound to the point where I was feeling like I needed to swat something.
Not sure I would go as far as Lewis though, yuck. Another totally brilliant short story with a gory ending.
Roadkill: Tito and Jimmy are trying to work out what happened as they look upon a motorcycle accident but also what they are going to do with the pile of mush that was once a human.
As part of the “freelance” local Brazilian ambulance service they can decide to where to take the body for what price, not to mention for what use!
When something/one starts a tap, tapping in the back of the ambulance poor old Jimmy must have a peek back there. It seems that “Roadkill” as Tito has christened him belonged to a gang whose motto was “live forever” and he appears to be trying to do so.
The gore is so prolific that it became comedic for me, although I am weird. The exchanges between Tito and Jimmy in their disbelief and solution to this problem were also gigglesome.
cmsaunders 