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Hell Train
Imagine there was a supernatural chiller that Hammer Films never made. A grand epic produced at the studio's peak, which played like a cross between the Dracula and Frankenstein films and Dr Terror's House Of Horrors... Four passengers meet on a train journeying through Eastern Europe during the First World War, and face a mystery that must be solved if they are to survive. As the Arkangel races through the war-torn countryside, they must find What is in the casket that everyone is so afraid of What is the tragic secret of the veiled Red Countess who travels with them Why is their fellow passenger the army brigadier so feared by his own men And what exactly is the devilish secret of the Arkangel itself Bizarre creatures, satanic rites, terrified passengers and the romance of travelling by train, all in a classically styled horror novel.
360 pages, Paperback
First published December 23, 2011
48 people are currently reading
837 people want to read
About the author
Christopher Fowler
266 books1,286 followersLibrarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
Christopher Fowler was an English writer known for his Bryant & May mystery series, featuring two Golden Age-style detectives navigating modern London. Over his career, he authored fifty novels and short story collections, along with screenplays, video games, graphic novels, and audio plays. His psychological thriller Little Boy Found was published under the pseudonym L.K. Fox.
Fowler's accolades include multiple British Fantasy Awards, the Last Laugh Award, the CWA Dagger in the Library, and the inaugural Green Carnation Award. He was inducted into the Detection Club in 2021. Beyond crime fiction, his works ranged from horror (Hell Train, Nyctophobia) to memoir (Paperboy, Film Freak). His column Invisible Ink explored forgotten authors, later compiled into The Book of Forgotten Authors.
Fowler lived between London and Barcelona with his husband, Peter Chapman.
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
Christopher Fowler was an English writer known for his Bryant & May mystery series, featuring two Golden Age-style detectives navigating modern London. Over his career, he authored fifty novels and short story collections, along with screenplays, video games, graphic novels, and audio plays. His psychological thriller Little Boy Found was published under the pseudonym L.K. Fox.
Fowler's accolades include multiple British Fantasy Awards, the Last Laugh Award, the CWA Dagger in the Library, and the inaugural Green Carnation Award. He was inducted into the Detection Club in 2021. Beyond crime fiction, his works ranged from horror (Hell Train, Nyctophobia) to memoir (Paperboy, Film Freak). His column Invisible Ink explored forgotten authors, later compiled into The Book of Forgotten Authors.
Fowler lived between London and Barcelona with his husband, Peter Chapman.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 98 reviews
April 4, 2021
Great fun. Pays homage to the great Hammer horror movies of the 60s. Even features cameos fro the late Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee.
February 22, 2012
Synopsis:
An American screenwriter is up for a job at Hammer Studio in 1960s England and to prove his talent he must write a new script for the studio. The movie must showcase the studios actors, notably Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, must have the requisite amount of horror, gore, and tantalizingly revealed young women, and must be finished in a week. What follows is the script, starting with its own prologue of a girl in Chelmsk finding an old board game in the attic called "Hell Train." The game depicts a train starting off in her small town which travels from stops with four passengers on a journey through their sins. The story then follows the four passengers and the tests they must face aboard the "Arkangel," a demonic train on a one-way trip to Hell. Each passenger faces mysteries and horrors created to bring out their worst traits. Along the way, the mystery of the train and its unholy passengers is revealed. How can they get off the train and where will it end? But the ultimate question is "Can the train be stopped?"
Review
The Story:
Early on while reading this story, it seemed like there was an awful lot going on in this story that didn't always fit together. First we start with a fascinating look at Hammer Studio in the 60s, just as their decline from the top of the horror film industry is beginning. Then on to this strange interlude with the girl and the board game. Then the game becomes the actual story, set during WWI in Eastern Europe and following an English married couple, a con-artist Londoner, and a peasant girl facing an imminent marriage and the invasion of her town by soldiers. By chance (or is that Fate?) all four end up onboard the "Arkangel," a train that at first seems normal, albeit unlikely, and then slowly reveals itself as demonic. This story is occasionally interrupted by chapters returning to the scriptwriter. The ending, however, begins to tie it all together, where the little girl with the game board is integral to the people on the train and the scriptwriter uncovers his own little mystery.
Once I finished the book and began thinking back to the early chapters, more facets became clear. Such as how instructions given to the scriptwriter show up through the story. Or how faithful to old horror movies the story is. And that I could see the characters Lee and Cushing would relish playing. What at first seemed a strange cobbling of different tales became a collection that tells a deeper story about the golden age of horror films. And I love it when books become better each time I think about them.
The Writing:
I knew the writing would be good, because I'm a fan of Fowler's Bryant and May PCU series and I enjoy his writing a great deal. I was not disappointed. I was drawn into each aspect of the story, even when questioning their relevance, and Fowler does a great job building suspense and then exploding it across the page in a horrific showdown of good and evil.
Recommendation:
I don't typically read horror as a genre, though some books I enjoy cross over into that genre. I picked up "Hell Train" because I've enjoyed Fowler's other books, and because it was set in WWI, which is a period I've studied. What I was happily surprised to find was a book that went beyond horror and WWI and into the business of movie-making in the 1960s. Having a husband and several friends who are connoisseurs of horror movies, I've seen a number of old Hammer films, and it was fun to envision actors from those films in the roles of characters in the book. I loved the homage paid to the old age of horror, which is still one my favorite periods of films. And I love that I continue to see depth in the book when I think about it even a week after having finished reading it.
For horror enthusiasts, especially those who love the old B-movies, I heartily recommend this movie. To anyone with an interest in the film industry of old, this is a fun read. Even WWI enthusiasts will find the setting unique. And if you like trains, well, the train is one of the most fearful characters in this book. Think Maximum Overdrive on rails. Pun intended.
An American screenwriter is up for a job at Hammer Studio in 1960s England and to prove his talent he must write a new script for the studio. The movie must showcase the studios actors, notably Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, must have the requisite amount of horror, gore, and tantalizingly revealed young women, and must be finished in a week. What follows is the script, starting with its own prologue of a girl in Chelmsk finding an old board game in the attic called "Hell Train." The game depicts a train starting off in her small town which travels from stops with four passengers on a journey through their sins. The story then follows the four passengers and the tests they must face aboard the "Arkangel," a demonic train on a one-way trip to Hell. Each passenger faces mysteries and horrors created to bring out their worst traits. Along the way, the mystery of the train and its unholy passengers is revealed. How can they get off the train and where will it end? But the ultimate question is "Can the train be stopped?"
Review
The Story:
Early on while reading this story, it seemed like there was an awful lot going on in this story that didn't always fit together. First we start with a fascinating look at Hammer Studio in the 60s, just as their decline from the top of the horror film industry is beginning. Then on to this strange interlude with the girl and the board game. Then the game becomes the actual story, set during WWI in Eastern Europe and following an English married couple, a con-artist Londoner, and a peasant girl facing an imminent marriage and the invasion of her town by soldiers. By chance (or is that Fate?) all four end up onboard the "Arkangel," a train that at first seems normal, albeit unlikely, and then slowly reveals itself as demonic. This story is occasionally interrupted by chapters returning to the scriptwriter. The ending, however, begins to tie it all together, where the little girl with the game board is integral to the people on the train and the scriptwriter uncovers his own little mystery.
Once I finished the book and began thinking back to the early chapters, more facets became clear. Such as how instructions given to the scriptwriter show up through the story. Or how faithful to old horror movies the story is. And that I could see the characters Lee and Cushing would relish playing. What at first seemed a strange cobbling of different tales became a collection that tells a deeper story about the golden age of horror films. And I love it when books become better each time I think about them.
The Writing:
I knew the writing would be good, because I'm a fan of Fowler's Bryant and May PCU series and I enjoy his writing a great deal. I was not disappointed. I was drawn into each aspect of the story, even when questioning their relevance, and Fowler does a great job building suspense and then exploding it across the page in a horrific showdown of good and evil.
Recommendation:
I don't typically read horror as a genre, though some books I enjoy cross over into that genre. I picked up "Hell Train" because I've enjoyed Fowler's other books, and because it was set in WWI, which is a period I've studied. What I was happily surprised to find was a book that went beyond horror and WWI and into the business of movie-making in the 1960s. Having a husband and several friends who are connoisseurs of horror movies, I've seen a number of old Hammer films, and it was fun to envision actors from those films in the roles of characters in the book. I loved the homage paid to the old age of horror, which is still one my favorite periods of films. And I love that I continue to see depth in the book when I think about it even a week after having finished reading it.
For horror enthusiasts, especially those who love the old B-movies, I heartily recommend this movie. To anyone with an interest in the film industry of old, this is a fun read. Even WWI enthusiasts will find the setting unique. And if you like trains, well, the train is one of the most fearful characters in this book. Think Maximum Overdrive on rails. Pun intended.
Read
January 3, 2021Old school horror novel set on a devil-train, with a framing device of it being the story of an unmade Hammer horror movie, which unbalanced the book for me because I found myself just wanting to read more about Cushing and Lee, and now I may have to go on a Hammer binge of some kind.
February 18, 2012
An Hammer production movie script meets Night Train & Strangers on a Train. This is what I say. I always enjoy watching Hammer films so when I read the synopsis of this book I had to read it. The first read of the year 2012. I had never read anything by this author and after reading this book I will try again I guess (If I have the time).
This story is a story within a story. The story is about a writer who has come from America to write a script for Hammer Production but the great chunk of the book is about the script itself that he wrote in a couple of days. I must say it was a nice tale and I good see it as a movie script. If Hammer productions had the money to do it. We get to see Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing and that's always a joy.
The tale itself is set on the brink of WWI and four passangers embark on a train on their way to hell. They must confront their worst fears and battle it's residents.
Of course the writer wrote this as a tribute to Hammer films so you've got several stereotypes that are presented on the movies. The fatale female or the problematic vicar are two examples. Even the monsters are there. The writer even says that there is no problem with the budget because most of the set would be taken from other movies (like it was done in real hammer films).
In the end you will be satisfied with the book if you used to see the Hammer films. If you didn't you will want to see them. Nice book, nice characterization, nice plot. A good read.
This story is a story within a story. The story is about a writer who has come from America to write a script for Hammer Production but the great chunk of the book is about the script itself that he wrote in a couple of days. I must say it was a nice tale and I good see it as a movie script. If Hammer productions had the money to do it. We get to see Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing and that's always a joy.
The tale itself is set on the brink of WWI and four passangers embark on a train on their way to hell. They must confront their worst fears and battle it's residents.
Of course the writer wrote this as a tribute to Hammer films so you've got several stereotypes that are presented on the movies. The fatale female or the problematic vicar are two examples. Even the monsters are there. The writer even says that there is no problem with the budget because most of the set would be taken from other movies (like it was done in real hammer films).
In the end you will be satisfied with the book if you used to see the Hammer films. If you didn't you will want to see them. Nice book, nice characterization, nice plot. A good read.
March 28, 2014
This is an homage to Hammer Horror films and the studio itself and it's undoubtedly clever in it's construction and delivery of a screenplay writer writing a new script for Hammer while we read his story as it is written, with the occasional drop back into reality to keep the plot line of a studio in decline running along. It's not Christopher Fowler's best work by a long way (and he has written some fantastic books) but it's fast and fun, especially if you grew up with the Hammer films - there are plenty of references to the actors and the classic films - but I wouldn't race out and buy a copy - borrow one if you can...
April 7, 2019
2,5 Sterne
Buch 15 in 2019: "Höllenexpress" von Christopher Fowler
Ich gehöre noch der Generation von Horror-Fans an, bei denen das Herz höher schlägt, wenn der Begriff "Hammer-Film" fällt. Die guten alten B-Movies aus den Hammer-Studios schaue ich noch heute gerne mal an und wenn ein Buch mit je einem Zitat der beiden berühmtesten Schauspieler aus den Studios beginnt, dann liest man grinsend weiter und freut sich auf einen wohlig gruseligen und vor allem atmosphärischen Lesegenuss.
Erzählt wir eine Geschichte in einer Geschichte. Shane Carter reist aus den USA an und möchte ein Drehbuch für einen Hammer-Film schreiben und bekommt hierfür eine Woche Zeit. Er nimmt diese Aufgabe gerne an und hofft, dass seine Ideen den Weg auf die Leinwand finden werden. Dieser kleinere Teil der Geschichte lebt vor allem von der Nostalgie, da man hier Schauplätzen aus den bekannten Filmen sowie den bekanntesten Schauspielern begegnet.
Die eigentliche Geschichte ist dann das Drehbuch, welches Carter schreibt. Hier befinden wir uns in der ersten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts in Karpatien, einem fiktiven Land, dass an Rumänien erinnern soll. Hier hält ein Zug, der auf keinem Fahrplan hinterlegt ist und bei dem man es bereut, wenn man den Zustieg wagt. Hauptsächlich lernen wir die Geschichte von Isabella und Nicholas kennen, die eine Fahrt mit dem Höllenexpress unternehmen und um ihre Seelen und ihr Leben bangen müssen. Der Zug ist nämlich nicht nur von Menschen bevölkert und wer mit ihm reist spielt ein Spiel mit dem Teufel.
Mir fällt es schwer dieses Buch mit anderen Worten als "ganz nett" zu beschreiben. Das Zurückerinnern an die guten alten Zeiten und Filme der Hammer-Studios war toll und der Versuch einen Hammer-Film in Buchform neu zu kreieren ist schön, dennoch konnte mich das Ergebnis nicht überzeugen. Wenn man die Filme kennt, dann weiß man, dass diese nicht vor Gewalt und Effekten trotzten, sondern durch neblige Landschaften und eine gruselige Atmosphäre. Für explizite Gewalt ist damals weder Geld noch ein Billigen der Zensur da gewesen. Zu Beginn wird dies auch noch so umgesetzt, jedoch verliert sich die Geschichte dann etwas zu sehr in expliziten Gewaltdarstellungen diverser Horrorideen und kann für meinen Geschmack den Tenor der Filme damals nicht transportieren.
Der Schreibstil ist schlicht, aber gut zu lesen und kann einen schon passabel durch die Geschichte tragen. Die Kapitel sind recht kurz und eiern trotzdem manchmal lange um ein Thema herum, so dass leichte Längen auftreten.
Die handelnden Charaktere sind für mich leider alle sehr blass geblieben und konnten mich nicht überzeugen. Ich war eher genervt von ihnen und dann streckenweise froh, wenn sie das Zeitliche segnen durften.
Die Gruselideen, die es hier gibt, sind schon interessant und reichen von phantastischen Wesen bishin zum Horror eines realen Krieges und was dieser mit der mentalen Gesundheit seiner kämpfenden Soldaten anstellen kann.
Wie schon gesagt, ich fand dieses Buch ganz nett. Es hatte seine Momente, aber ebenso auch seine Schwächen und ist meines Erachtens einfach nichts, was man gelesen haben muss. Mir wird es nicht lange in Erinnerung bleiben. Da schaue ich lieber wieder einen Hammer-Film und wundere mich nicht, dass es dieses Drehbuch nicht auf die Leinwand geschafft hat.
Buch 15 in 2019: "Höllenexpress" von Christopher Fowler
Ich gehöre noch der Generation von Horror-Fans an, bei denen das Herz höher schlägt, wenn der Begriff "Hammer-Film" fällt. Die guten alten B-Movies aus den Hammer-Studios schaue ich noch heute gerne mal an und wenn ein Buch mit je einem Zitat der beiden berühmtesten Schauspieler aus den Studios beginnt, dann liest man grinsend weiter und freut sich auf einen wohlig gruseligen und vor allem atmosphärischen Lesegenuss.
Erzählt wir eine Geschichte in einer Geschichte. Shane Carter reist aus den USA an und möchte ein Drehbuch für einen Hammer-Film schreiben und bekommt hierfür eine Woche Zeit. Er nimmt diese Aufgabe gerne an und hofft, dass seine Ideen den Weg auf die Leinwand finden werden. Dieser kleinere Teil der Geschichte lebt vor allem von der Nostalgie, da man hier Schauplätzen aus den bekannten Filmen sowie den bekanntesten Schauspielern begegnet.
Die eigentliche Geschichte ist dann das Drehbuch, welches Carter schreibt. Hier befinden wir uns in der ersten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts in Karpatien, einem fiktiven Land, dass an Rumänien erinnern soll. Hier hält ein Zug, der auf keinem Fahrplan hinterlegt ist und bei dem man es bereut, wenn man den Zustieg wagt. Hauptsächlich lernen wir die Geschichte von Isabella und Nicholas kennen, die eine Fahrt mit dem Höllenexpress unternehmen und um ihre Seelen und ihr Leben bangen müssen. Der Zug ist nämlich nicht nur von Menschen bevölkert und wer mit ihm reist spielt ein Spiel mit dem Teufel.
Mir fällt es schwer dieses Buch mit anderen Worten als "ganz nett" zu beschreiben. Das Zurückerinnern an die guten alten Zeiten und Filme der Hammer-Studios war toll und der Versuch einen Hammer-Film in Buchform neu zu kreieren ist schön, dennoch konnte mich das Ergebnis nicht überzeugen. Wenn man die Filme kennt, dann weiß man, dass diese nicht vor Gewalt und Effekten trotzten, sondern durch neblige Landschaften und eine gruselige Atmosphäre. Für explizite Gewalt ist damals weder Geld noch ein Billigen der Zensur da gewesen. Zu Beginn wird dies auch noch so umgesetzt, jedoch verliert sich die Geschichte dann etwas zu sehr in expliziten Gewaltdarstellungen diverser Horrorideen und kann für meinen Geschmack den Tenor der Filme damals nicht transportieren.
Der Schreibstil ist schlicht, aber gut zu lesen und kann einen schon passabel durch die Geschichte tragen. Die Kapitel sind recht kurz und eiern trotzdem manchmal lange um ein Thema herum, so dass leichte Längen auftreten.
Die handelnden Charaktere sind für mich leider alle sehr blass geblieben und konnten mich nicht überzeugen. Ich war eher genervt von ihnen und dann streckenweise froh, wenn sie das Zeitliche segnen durften.
Die Gruselideen, die es hier gibt, sind schon interessant und reichen von phantastischen Wesen bishin zum Horror eines realen Krieges und was dieser mit der mentalen Gesundheit seiner kämpfenden Soldaten anstellen kann.
Wie schon gesagt, ich fand dieses Buch ganz nett. Es hatte seine Momente, aber ebenso auch seine Schwächen und ist meines Erachtens einfach nichts, was man gelesen haben muss. Mir wird es nicht lange in Erinnerung bleiben. Da schaue ich lieber wieder einen Hammer-Film und wundere mich nicht, dass es dieses Drehbuch nicht auf die Leinwand geschafft hat.
November 20, 2015
Wow its been far too long since I have read Christopher fowler and even longer since I have read one his full bodied in your face horrors books (dont get me wrong I love Bryant and May) so this has been a real pleasure - probably too much so - to read Hell train.
Similar to Calabash there is a story in a story - what it is, well read the book since I wont give anything away but what I can say is that it has Mr Fowlers trade mark style and pace and something that I realised I have missed. Now in many ways you can predict what is coming but without labouring the train metaphor too much - sometimes its not the destination but the trip that is the fascinating part and that is certainly the case here.
I know that peoples views of this book are varied and they are entitled to them but what I will say is that they should take a step back and read more of Christopher Fowlers portfolio - he has written in different styles and in different genres and as a result he can mix and transfer between them so of course the story is not going to be formulaic or stereotyped and that is what always keeps me coming back to his work (the twist in Psychoville still makes me smile) and for some it does not sit well for others it makes turning the page a must.
I am not a writer so I will put my hand up in ignorance and admit it but I am sure that writers have several books in progress while one is being published - however I do feel that dark fantasy and horror have been missing from Mr Fowlers titles for far too long and I am glad they are making a come back. I still remember the day I finished Roofworld and started on Rune. So all I can say is that for Christopher Fowler fans out there this is certainly a must and for those who are not fans - give it time and read more of his work and see if you are not impressed.
Similar to Calabash there is a story in a story - what it is, well read the book since I wont give anything away but what I can say is that it has Mr Fowlers trade mark style and pace and something that I realised I have missed. Now in many ways you can predict what is coming but without labouring the train metaphor too much - sometimes its not the destination but the trip that is the fascinating part and that is certainly the case here.
I know that peoples views of this book are varied and they are entitled to them but what I will say is that they should take a step back and read more of Christopher Fowlers portfolio - he has written in different styles and in different genres and as a result he can mix and transfer between them so of course the story is not going to be formulaic or stereotyped and that is what always keeps me coming back to his work (the twist in Psychoville still makes me smile) and for some it does not sit well for others it makes turning the page a must.
I am not a writer so I will put my hand up in ignorance and admit it but I am sure that writers have several books in progress while one is being published - however I do feel that dark fantasy and horror have been missing from Mr Fowlers titles for far too long and I am glad they are making a come back. I still remember the day I finished Roofworld and started on Rune. So all I can say is that for Christopher Fowler fans out there this is certainly a must and for those who are not fans - give it time and read more of his work and see if you are not impressed.
February 25, 2012
You may also read my review here: http://www.mybookishways.com/2012/02/...
The year is 1966, and a screenwriter from the states travels to Hammer studios in the UK, where he is given 5 days to come up with a new horror script for consideration. So begins the story of the Arkangel, a big, dark, beast of a train that travels through Eastern Europe during the horrors of WWl, collecting souls for harvest. Four rather unlucky passengers will meet on the Arkangel and will be put to the test; a test that will dictate the fate of their lives, and their souls.
Hell Train was a change of pace for me, and I’m so glad I picked it up. The story begins with a young girl finding a game in her family home containing a mechanical train and game pieces representing the passengers. In spite of her trepidation, she places the passengers on the train and winds it up. We then join our four main characters on the Arkangel. There is Isabella, a beautiful girl from Chelmsk, eager to get away from her arranged marriage and the increasing darkness of her village, Nicholas, a handsome rogue with a shadowy past, and a vicar and his scheming wife. They will encounter a number of horrors aboard the Arkangel, including a casket with a very nasty inhabitant, killer beetles, a lady in red who is as dangerous as she is beautiful, zombie soldiers, and much more. They’ll be forced to confront the darkest parts of their hearts and face their deepest fears if they’re to survive the Arkangel’s descent into Hell.
Christopher Fowler is a pro, and it certainly shows in Hell Train. It’s very well plotted, moves along at a breakneck pace (fitting for a book about a Hell Train, yes?), and his references to classic horror and horror greats, such as Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee will make any horror fan smile. Don’t be fooled by the somewhat campy cover (which I love, by the way). Hell Train covers some serious and disturbing territory, but the author manages to do so without sacrificing (sorry about the pun) the fun that was ever present in classic horror. There are some gruesome scenes, as well, but you’ll have fun cringing (and you will cringe), and rooting for the heroes to escape with their souls intact. Hell Train is a helluva fun ride and not to be missed by horror fans. Even if you don’t consider yourself a horror fan, give this one a try. You just may be surprised!
The year is 1966, and a screenwriter from the states travels to Hammer studios in the UK, where he is given 5 days to come up with a new horror script for consideration. So begins the story of the Arkangel, a big, dark, beast of a train that travels through Eastern Europe during the horrors of WWl, collecting souls for harvest. Four rather unlucky passengers will meet on the Arkangel and will be put to the test; a test that will dictate the fate of their lives, and their souls.
Hell Train was a change of pace for me, and I’m so glad I picked it up. The story begins with a young girl finding a game in her family home containing a mechanical train and game pieces representing the passengers. In spite of her trepidation, she places the passengers on the train and winds it up. We then join our four main characters on the Arkangel. There is Isabella, a beautiful girl from Chelmsk, eager to get away from her arranged marriage and the increasing darkness of her village, Nicholas, a handsome rogue with a shadowy past, and a vicar and his scheming wife. They will encounter a number of horrors aboard the Arkangel, including a casket with a very nasty inhabitant, killer beetles, a lady in red who is as dangerous as she is beautiful, zombie soldiers, and much more. They’ll be forced to confront the darkest parts of their hearts and face their deepest fears if they’re to survive the Arkangel’s descent into Hell.
Christopher Fowler is a pro, and it certainly shows in Hell Train. It’s very well plotted, moves along at a breakneck pace (fitting for a book about a Hell Train, yes?), and his references to classic horror and horror greats, such as Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee will make any horror fan smile. Don’t be fooled by the somewhat campy cover (which I love, by the way). Hell Train covers some serious and disturbing territory, but the author manages to do so without sacrificing (sorry about the pun) the fun that was ever present in classic horror. There are some gruesome scenes, as well, but you’ll have fun cringing (and you will cringe), and rooting for the heroes to escape with their souls intact. Hell Train is a helluva fun ride and not to be missed by horror fans. Even if you don’t consider yourself a horror fan, give this one a try. You just may be surprised!
wish-list
March 6, 2014spotted on wanda's update
to hunt down as it's
horror season
duck season
wabbit season
red deer season
elk season
to hunt down as it's
horror season
duck season
wabbit season
red deer season
elk season
November 22, 2016
Hell Train
Author: Christopher Fowler
Publisher: Solaris / Rebellion Publishing
Published In: Oxford, UK
Date: 2012
Pgs: 319
REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
Summary:
Conceived as an unfilmed Hammer film that bridges Dracula, Frankenstein, and Dr. Terror.
Eastern Europe, the First World War. A train traveling a war-torn countryside. The Arkangel comes. A casket full of fear. A mysterious red clad Countess. The Brigadier who commands through fear. Satanic rites and creatures of the bizarre, the train has left the station, hope you survive the ride.
Genre:
Fiction
Haunted
Horror
Monster
Mythology
Occult
Pulp
Thrillers
Vampires
Werewolf
Witches
Why this book:
A Hammer film unmade. Got me.
______________________________________________________________________________
Favorite Character:
The Red Countess starts out as a cliche, but she’s a bad ass.
Least Favorite Character:
Nicholas Castleford is an arrogant prig, con man; he is all that’s worst in the Britain of that WW1 era. As his backstory fills in, Nicolas is even more of the quintessential turn-of-the-century English cad.
Miranda, the vicar’s wife, is a very unlikable characters and well deserving of whatever fate is going to reach out of the darkness and devour her.
The difference in the two is that Nicolas seems repentant for his past life and Miranda seems on the verge of doubling down on all that is worst in her psyche.
Character I Most Identified With:
The Writer. Believe we’re all supposed to latch onto the writer and hang our hat on his accomplishment and his disappointment.
The Feel:
Opens with two quotes from Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. Respectively, “There is little chance for a person to exercise the imagination today in this complex, programmed society, we have.,” And, “For a while, we really were family.” Fowler is reaching for that Hammer movie feel and I’m aboard.
I can see the Hammer Film-esque story and motif, not so much the classic horror promised on the book jacket. Though that hangs on whether and what you consider classic horror.
Poe-ish elements do build into the story as we move along.
This is very much a Hammer-ish Twilight Zone.
Great mix of everything in this story. All that’s really missing is the creepy clown. The Showman twinges a few of the same feelers, but doesn’t go full Pennywise.
Favorite Scene / Quote:
Is the coffin scratching only in Thomas’s head? He doesn’t react to the red eye staring back at him through the keyhole. He’s already Igor-ed.
When the Prince comes out, he goes big time monstrous. Thomas’s claustrophobic nightmare came alive is oogie inducing.
The Boy is tragic and a much better test for Nicholas than the Brigadier was.
Isabella’s confrontation with her uncle, the Controller. His expounding on their having always been sacrifices in their village even before the Arkangel, and their family’s involvement in all those actions.
The last game bit climax of the story within the story, but not the overarching story, is classic horror, very Hammer-esque. Love it. Poor Isabella. Well done cyclic bit of storytelling there.
Pacing:
Well paced, short chapters. A good fast read.
Plot Holes/Out of Character:
If the paradigm doesn’t shift, the “each chapter introduces another character” trope will become ungainly.
The characters wanton disregard of their current circumstances and suspension of disbelief is trying. Especially in light of their constant reference to their life circumstances outside of the scope of the novel.
Hmm Moments:
Between the tavern sign showing a monstrous train running over the dismembered nude body and the description given by the urchin at the train station for the train running at midnight reminds of Blaine the Mono is Stephen King’s Dark Tower series.
The Specimen escaping the collector’s cage and going on his rampage. Eeewww. Bug that eat people, considering everything else in this story, this skeeves me out.
And, finally, the Conductor stacks the deck. Zombies.
WTF Moments:
The Tortured Virgin Inn and its train running over a victim sign wouldn’t have made it passed the Censor in the story inside the story inside the story. Convoluted sounding, but, at least early on in the book, it works. May be overleveled.
Is the cliched innkeeper’s daughter the eponymous virgin from the inn’s name and sign? She is described as looking just like the victim on the sign. That’s downright grubby. Nicolas when he enters the tavern does comment, internally, on her resemblance to the train’s victim on the sign.
Meh / PFFT Moments:
The chauffeur swerves in with a huge backstory that overwhelms what is going on around him, and, then, topples from the train.
Expected Nicholas’s test to end in redemption, and it seemed to, but it goes pretty ambiguous when he leaves the Arkangel.
The origin of the Arkangel is half good and half cliche that pastiche its 1880s era founding with the Holocaust trains of Germany feels stretched when the time frames are considered.
The Conductor’s zombie assault comes up short in the potential horror aspects of it. Nicholas is wounded and could be dying. Isabela has lost the majority of her clothes and is largely clothed in just her resolve to save Nicholas and herself. The zombie factor set against those two set pieces could have ramped up the tension, but it comes across as just one more thing to overcome in a long line of circumstances to overcome.
Why isn’t there a screenplay?
Don’t believe the story would work as a movie, too many moving parts. A rewrite to script form might save it, but you’d probably need to lose the story within a story, within a story, within a story matrix that abounds.
______________________________________________________________________________
Last Page Sound:
They screwed the writer. Set him up to write the best story that he could and...then, passed on the script, his “greatest” work, and, thereby, blocked him from taking it to their rival. Damn. That’s slick. And as the writer suspects, the Devil’s bargain of his own.
Author Assessment:
I’d read more by Fowler in a heartbeat.
Editorial Assessment:
Well put together.
Knee Jerk Reaction:
instant classic
Disposition of Book:
Denton Public Library,
Denton, TX
Dewey Decimal System:
F
FOW
Would recommend to:
friends, family, colleagues, genre fans
________________________________________________________
Author: Christopher Fowler
Publisher: Solaris / Rebellion Publishing
Published In: Oxford, UK
Date: 2012
Pgs: 319
REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
Summary:
Conceived as an unfilmed Hammer film that bridges Dracula, Frankenstein, and Dr. Terror.
Eastern Europe, the First World War. A train traveling a war-torn countryside. The Arkangel comes. A casket full of fear. A mysterious red clad Countess. The Brigadier who commands through fear. Satanic rites and creatures of the bizarre, the train has left the station, hope you survive the ride.
Genre:
Fiction
Haunted
Horror
Monster
Mythology
Occult
Pulp
Thrillers
Vampires
Werewolf
Witches
Why this book:
A Hammer film unmade. Got me.
______________________________________________________________________________
Favorite Character:
The Red Countess starts out as a cliche, but she’s a bad ass.
Least Favorite Character:
Nicholas Castleford is an arrogant prig, con man; he is all that’s worst in the Britain of that WW1 era. As his backstory fills in, Nicolas is even more of the quintessential turn-of-the-century English cad.
Miranda, the vicar’s wife, is a very unlikable characters and well deserving of whatever fate is going to reach out of the darkness and devour her.
The difference in the two is that Nicolas seems repentant for his past life and Miranda seems on the verge of doubling down on all that is worst in her psyche.
Character I Most Identified With:
The Writer. Believe we’re all supposed to latch onto the writer and hang our hat on his accomplishment and his disappointment.
The Feel:
Opens with two quotes from Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. Respectively, “There is little chance for a person to exercise the imagination today in this complex, programmed society, we have.,” And, “For a while, we really were family.” Fowler is reaching for that Hammer movie feel and I’m aboard.
I can see the Hammer Film-esque story and motif, not so much the classic horror promised on the book jacket. Though that hangs on whether and what you consider classic horror.
Poe-ish elements do build into the story as we move along.
This is very much a Hammer-ish Twilight Zone.
Great mix of everything in this story. All that’s really missing is the creepy clown. The Showman twinges a few of the same feelers, but doesn’t go full Pennywise.
Favorite Scene / Quote:
Is the coffin scratching only in Thomas’s head? He doesn’t react to the red eye staring back at him through the keyhole. He’s already Igor-ed.
When the Prince comes out, he goes big time monstrous. Thomas’s claustrophobic nightmare came alive is oogie inducing.
The Boy is tragic and a much better test for Nicholas than the Brigadier was.
Isabella’s confrontation with her uncle, the Controller. His expounding on their having always been sacrifices in their village even before the Arkangel, and their family’s involvement in all those actions.
The last game bit climax of the story within the story, but not the overarching story, is classic horror, very Hammer-esque. Love it. Poor Isabella. Well done cyclic bit of storytelling there.
Pacing:
Well paced, short chapters. A good fast read.
Plot Holes/Out of Character:
If the paradigm doesn’t shift, the “each chapter introduces another character” trope will become ungainly.
The characters wanton disregard of their current circumstances and suspension of disbelief is trying. Especially in light of their constant reference to their life circumstances outside of the scope of the novel.
Hmm Moments:
Between the tavern sign showing a monstrous train running over the dismembered nude body and the description given by the urchin at the train station for the train running at midnight reminds of Blaine the Mono is Stephen King’s Dark Tower series.
The Specimen escaping the collector’s cage and going on his rampage. Eeewww. Bug that eat people, considering everything else in this story, this skeeves me out.
And, finally, the Conductor stacks the deck. Zombies.
WTF Moments:
The Tortured Virgin Inn and its train running over a victim sign wouldn’t have made it passed the Censor in the story inside the story inside the story. Convoluted sounding, but, at least early on in the book, it works. May be overleveled.
Is the cliched innkeeper’s daughter the eponymous virgin from the inn’s name and sign? She is described as looking just like the victim on the sign. That’s downright grubby. Nicolas when he enters the tavern does comment, internally, on her resemblance to the train’s victim on the sign.
Meh / PFFT Moments:
The chauffeur swerves in with a huge backstory that overwhelms what is going on around him, and, then, topples from the train.
Expected Nicholas’s test to end in redemption, and it seemed to, but it goes pretty ambiguous when he leaves the Arkangel.
The origin of the Arkangel is half good and half cliche that pastiche its 1880s era founding with the Holocaust trains of Germany feels stretched when the time frames are considered.
The Conductor’s zombie assault comes up short in the potential horror aspects of it. Nicholas is wounded and could be dying. Isabela has lost the majority of her clothes and is largely clothed in just her resolve to save Nicholas and herself. The zombie factor set against those two set pieces could have ramped up the tension, but it comes across as just one more thing to overcome in a long line of circumstances to overcome.
Why isn’t there a screenplay?
Don’t believe the story would work as a movie, too many moving parts. A rewrite to script form might save it, but you’d probably need to lose the story within a story, within a story, within a story matrix that abounds.
______________________________________________________________________________
Last Page Sound:
They screwed the writer. Set him up to write the best story that he could and...then, passed on the script, his “greatest” work, and, thereby, blocked him from taking it to their rival. Damn. That’s slick. And as the writer suspects, the Devil’s bargain of his own.
Author Assessment:
I’d read more by Fowler in a heartbeat.
Editorial Assessment:
Well put together.
Knee Jerk Reaction:
instant classic
Disposition of Book:
Denton Public Library,
Denton, TX
Dewey Decimal System:
F
FOW
Would recommend to:
friends, family, colleagues, genre fans
________________________________________________________
January 3, 2012
Imagine there was a supernatural chiller that Hammer Films never made. A grand epic produced at the studio’s peak, which played like a cross between the Dracula and Frankenstein films and Dr Terror’s House of Horrors…
Four passengers meet on a train journey through Eastern Europe during the First World War, and face a mystery that must be solved if they are to survive. As the Arkangel races through war-torn country side, they must find out:
What is in the casket that everyone is so afraid of? What is the tragic secret of the veiled Red Countess who travels with them? Why is their fellow passenger the army brigadier so feared by his own men? And what exactly is the devilish secret of the Arkangel itself?
Back in 1989 I was an impressionable fifteen year old and I had just started to develop a passion for reading and a never-ending love for cinema. One of the first books I read, through what I thought at the time were adult eyes, was Roofworld by Christopher Fowler.
Meanwhile my introduction to horror cinema, via a wonderful horror obsessed grandmother, was the works of Hammer. Little did I realise some twenty-three years later these two seemingly unconnected events would find their way back into my life.
Hell Train starts with an intriguing premise. American screenwriter Shane Carter has left Hollywood and come to the UK during the ‘swinging sixties’, when Hammer Films are at the zenith of their popularity. He is given the opportunity to write a script for the studio. It is the story of the Hell Train, The Arkangel, he writes and this forms the main body of the novel.
I don’t want to give away too much plot detail but suffice to say that the four main protagonists fall nicely into the well-established stereotypes you would expect to find in many Hammer films. Just remember that Hell Train is meant as a homage and everything will make perfect sense. There is the innocent wide-eyed female villager, the womanising army deserter, a weak willed vicar and his over-bearing wife. Each character has their own secrets and flaws and these are revealed as the story unfolds. This is where a novel gets the opportunity to excel over the visual medium of film. Readers get a deeper glimpse into the motivations of the characters. We get to learn more of their back story and their reasons for boarding the train the first place.
Interspersed throughout the main narrative we get a few occasional jumps back to Shane as he continues to write. I have to admit the first time this happened I was so engrossed in the goings on aboard the Arkangel this caught me completely off guard. Kudos to Christopher Fowler, I had all but forgotten that this was a story taking place within the confines of another story. It was also an unexpected and pleasant surprise to have the likes of Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee appear in cameo. The suggestion of their proposed roles in the Hell Train movie was a particularly nice touch.
Hell Train is a visceral love letter to Hammer Films. If you have ever been entranced by any one of Hammer’s classic movie outings, then you will adore this novel. Personally the thing I remember most about my exposure to Hammer’s films was their constant use of bright vivid colours, especially the bloody reds. There is plenty of that here. It’s rare that you read a book that feels like it has successfully captured that feeling in its imagery. Hell Train feels like it has been written in glorious full screen technicolour.
The storytelling in Hell Train perfectly recreates the atmosphere of sixties horror cinema. With reverential nods not just to Hammer, but also to the portmanteau style film making of Amicus, every page contains horrific delights to discover. Characters are dispatched with the manic glee you would find in any one of the films. I’ll happily admit that within minutes of finishing reading the book I found myself on the Hammer Films website, keen to refresh my memory of their magnificent output and learn more about their contribution to the British film industry.
I’ve been waiting to read Hell Train since I first heard about it at the tail end of 2010. Now I can confirm, what I already suspected, that the wait was well worth it. This was a great novel to kick off 2012 with. Christopher Fowler continues to deliver expertly crafted, gripping work. Now all we need to do is convince someone over at Hammer that the film version of Hell Train really needs to be made. We’ll get Christopher Fowler to write the script and direct. It’ll be great.
Still have book vouchers left over from Christmas? Hell Train is published by Solaris Books and is available from 5th January 2012.
Four passengers meet on a train journey through Eastern Europe during the First World War, and face a mystery that must be solved if they are to survive. As the Arkangel races through war-torn country side, they must find out:
What is in the casket that everyone is so afraid of? What is the tragic secret of the veiled Red Countess who travels with them? Why is their fellow passenger the army brigadier so feared by his own men? And what exactly is the devilish secret of the Arkangel itself?
Back in 1989 I was an impressionable fifteen year old and I had just started to develop a passion for reading and a never-ending love for cinema. One of the first books I read, through what I thought at the time were adult eyes, was Roofworld by Christopher Fowler.
Meanwhile my introduction to horror cinema, via a wonderful horror obsessed grandmother, was the works of Hammer. Little did I realise some twenty-three years later these two seemingly unconnected events would find their way back into my life.
Hell Train starts with an intriguing premise. American screenwriter Shane Carter has left Hollywood and come to the UK during the ‘swinging sixties’, when Hammer Films are at the zenith of their popularity. He is given the opportunity to write a script for the studio. It is the story of the Hell Train, The Arkangel, he writes and this forms the main body of the novel.
I don’t want to give away too much plot detail but suffice to say that the four main protagonists fall nicely into the well-established stereotypes you would expect to find in many Hammer films. Just remember that Hell Train is meant as a homage and everything will make perfect sense. There is the innocent wide-eyed female villager, the womanising army deserter, a weak willed vicar and his over-bearing wife. Each character has their own secrets and flaws and these are revealed as the story unfolds. This is where a novel gets the opportunity to excel over the visual medium of film. Readers get a deeper glimpse into the motivations of the characters. We get to learn more of their back story and their reasons for boarding the train the first place.
Interspersed throughout the main narrative we get a few occasional jumps back to Shane as he continues to write. I have to admit the first time this happened I was so engrossed in the goings on aboard the Arkangel this caught me completely off guard. Kudos to Christopher Fowler, I had all but forgotten that this was a story taking place within the confines of another story. It was also an unexpected and pleasant surprise to have the likes of Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee appear in cameo. The suggestion of their proposed roles in the Hell Train movie was a particularly nice touch.
Hell Train is a visceral love letter to Hammer Films. If you have ever been entranced by any one of Hammer’s classic movie outings, then you will adore this novel. Personally the thing I remember most about my exposure to Hammer’s films was their constant use of bright vivid colours, especially the bloody reds. There is plenty of that here. It’s rare that you read a book that feels like it has successfully captured that feeling in its imagery. Hell Train feels like it has been written in glorious full screen technicolour.
The storytelling in Hell Train perfectly recreates the atmosphere of sixties horror cinema. With reverential nods not just to Hammer, but also to the portmanteau style film making of Amicus, every page contains horrific delights to discover. Characters are dispatched with the manic glee you would find in any one of the films. I’ll happily admit that within minutes of finishing reading the book I found myself on the Hammer Films website, keen to refresh my memory of their magnificent output and learn more about their contribution to the British film industry.
I’ve been waiting to read Hell Train since I first heard about it at the tail end of 2010. Now I can confirm, what I already suspected, that the wait was well worth it. This was a great novel to kick off 2012 with. Christopher Fowler continues to deliver expertly crafted, gripping work. Now all we need to do is convince someone over at Hammer that the film version of Hell Train really needs to be made. We’ll get Christopher Fowler to write the script and direct. It’ll be great.
Still have book vouchers left over from Christmas? Hell Train is published by Solaris Books and is available from 5th January 2012.
April 6, 2012
Christopher Fowler is not always a consistent writer but what he does do very well is gut existential horror, the sort that really suggests the possibility of loss and despair.
This novel spends its first third being a tolerable pastiche of the Hammer genre (deliberately so) but it really takes off around page 100.
What can be said straightaway is that he has made a real effort to understand the Hammer Horror studio, its history, its business and its 'memes'. The picture he draws matches precisely that offered in the history of the studio that we reviewed two and a half years ago.
[For that history, go to: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... - "A Thing Of Unspeakable Horror: The History Of Hammer Films']
Key characters ARE Peter Cushing, Frances Matthews and Christopher Lee. We see the actors in their roles as we read. As for the heroine, she is less identifiable as an actress but perfectly identifiable as a Hammer heroine, albeit one permitted to have many more lines and a presence.
There is even the inn in a town threatened by an unspeakable evil where our heroine is the bar maid, courted by yokels far less interesting than our hero – although there is a nice twist to that cliché at the end (of which nothing may be said here).
One way to handle a review of this book would be to express admiration, with example after example, of the way that Fowler has memorialised almost every aspect of the era, even the rival portmanteau style of Hammer's rival Amicus (with a nod to Corman as well).
But this would be self-indulgent. Worse, I would be showing off my own knowledge of the tradition as a British horror geek. Just to let you know that, if you know your British horror, and especially your British horror of the 1970s, you will get great pleasure from his weaving of themes.
If you do not know the tradition, don't worry. You may find the first 100 pages just a little bit hackneyed but what follows will certainly engage you fully. Once, for the first time in decades, I actually felt the presence of evil just behind my right shoulder and my spine really did shiver.
We don’t do spoilers here. The plot line is in the GoodReads introduction but suffice it to say that our protagonists, three English travelers and a ‘rescued’ peasant wench, have to go through a test. If they fail, they lose their souls – none in the past have been known to do other than fail.
Each of the tests is a variation on a well known tale of terror - not just from Hammer films: hommage is paid to Hoffman, Bosch, Corman, Wheatley and Lovecraft amongst others. You could bring out a highly annotated special edition that would be a course in itself on horror memetics.
There is one section that is quite remarkable for bringing fictional horror into line with reality. The story is set in an indeterminate wartime period that does not hold water historically but which somehow holds water artistically.
It is a landscape made fit for ghoul-vampires, deadly diseases, zombies en route to eternal perdition. We are in Carpathia as you might expect and, by a strange route, the horrors of trench warfare intrude. I have to be careful here because of the rule on spoilers.
But I defy anyone not to find that the fantastical horror based on mythic creatures is as nothing to the story of the maiden trip of the Hell Train … we know what Fowler is getting at here. It reminds us that horror is not a fiction in the world but a periodic reality of staggering evil.
This would be a great work but Fowler can be a little stolid in his writing when he is not engaged in the business of scaring the hell out of us.
Characterization was not a strong suit for Hammer with its stock figures but Fowler still errs an edge too far in following that tradition.
We know he can write very well but we also know that he can dumb himself down for his reading public. He is not the only contemporary writer doing this. Perhaps something is happening in the mass market that requires a ‘tumpty-tum’, ‘this-then-this’ style of narrative. Who knows?
Still, the framework story, which he keeps firmly within the real world and which he refuses to allow to be infected by his fantasy, is very well written. This book shows him on the edge of greatness and is highly recommended for horror buffs, whether cinematic or literary.
This novel spends its first third being a tolerable pastiche of the Hammer genre (deliberately so) but it really takes off around page 100.
What can be said straightaway is that he has made a real effort to understand the Hammer Horror studio, its history, its business and its 'memes'. The picture he draws matches precisely that offered in the history of the studio that we reviewed two and a half years ago.
[For that history, go to: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... - "A Thing Of Unspeakable Horror: The History Of Hammer Films']
Key characters ARE Peter Cushing, Frances Matthews and Christopher Lee. We see the actors in their roles as we read. As for the heroine, she is less identifiable as an actress but perfectly identifiable as a Hammer heroine, albeit one permitted to have many more lines and a presence.
There is even the inn in a town threatened by an unspeakable evil where our heroine is the bar maid, courted by yokels far less interesting than our hero – although there is a nice twist to that cliché at the end (of which nothing may be said here).
One way to handle a review of this book would be to express admiration, with example after example, of the way that Fowler has memorialised almost every aspect of the era, even the rival portmanteau style of Hammer's rival Amicus (with a nod to Corman as well).
But this would be self-indulgent. Worse, I would be showing off my own knowledge of the tradition as a British horror geek. Just to let you know that, if you know your British horror, and especially your British horror of the 1970s, you will get great pleasure from his weaving of themes.
If you do not know the tradition, don't worry. You may find the first 100 pages just a little bit hackneyed but what follows will certainly engage you fully. Once, for the first time in decades, I actually felt the presence of evil just behind my right shoulder and my spine really did shiver.
We don’t do spoilers here. The plot line is in the GoodReads introduction but suffice it to say that our protagonists, three English travelers and a ‘rescued’ peasant wench, have to go through a test. If they fail, they lose their souls – none in the past have been known to do other than fail.
Each of the tests is a variation on a well known tale of terror - not just from Hammer films: hommage is paid to Hoffman, Bosch, Corman, Wheatley and Lovecraft amongst others. You could bring out a highly annotated special edition that would be a course in itself on horror memetics.
There is one section that is quite remarkable for bringing fictional horror into line with reality. The story is set in an indeterminate wartime period that does not hold water historically but which somehow holds water artistically.
It is a landscape made fit for ghoul-vampires, deadly diseases, zombies en route to eternal perdition. We are in Carpathia as you might expect and, by a strange route, the horrors of trench warfare intrude. I have to be careful here because of the rule on spoilers.
But I defy anyone not to find that the fantastical horror based on mythic creatures is as nothing to the story of the maiden trip of the Hell Train … we know what Fowler is getting at here. It reminds us that horror is not a fiction in the world but a periodic reality of staggering evil.
This would be a great work but Fowler can be a little stolid in his writing when he is not engaged in the business of scaring the hell out of us.
Characterization was not a strong suit for Hammer with its stock figures but Fowler still errs an edge too far in following that tradition.
We know he can write very well but we also know that he can dumb himself down for his reading public. He is not the only contemporary writer doing this. Perhaps something is happening in the mass market that requires a ‘tumpty-tum’, ‘this-then-this’ style of narrative. Who knows?
Still, the framework story, which he keeps firmly within the real world and which he refuses to allow to be infected by his fantasy, is very well written. This book shows him on the edge of greatness and is highly recommended for horror buffs, whether cinematic or literary.
July 20, 2016
How could you say no to that cover? Even if this wasn't written by Christopher Fowler, I would have purchased this solely for the Satan train, goatee and all, and the "NON STOP. ONE WAY. STRAIGHT DOWN!" tagline. I was surprised to see Christopher Fowler as the author since I love his Bryant and May detective series, about a pair of elderly British detectives solving strange crimes no one else can, that usually tie back to World War II or the city of London itself. They're strange, meandering mystery/thrillers, which special note: you can basically read them in any order, since most are flashbacks to begin with.
Anyways, not sure what I was in for, especially since recently I was burned by Bentley Little's The Burning, about a ghost train from hell, and was very surprised the turn this book took. The Hammer films from the 1960s starring Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing is the road this train chugged down, so that was something of a delight. I went through a period a few years ago (and recommend this phase to all) where I chain watched a bunch of those movies—House of Wax, Vincent Price, Die! Die! My Darling--even The Gorgon gets a shout out in this book, a movie I fondly remember from my childhood for some reason.
Recommend all, but especially Die! Die! My Darling starring a Tallulah Bankhead, well marinated in bourbon, with a VERY young Donald Sutherland as her oafish assistant in terrorizing Stephanie Powers.
Anyways, Hell Train is the brainchild of a script writer trying to sell this to the struggling film studio, so it's a story within a story. Between chapters, they argue who Christopher Lee gets to play (the conductor), and this device allows the book to sort of skirt past the obvious lunacy of its WW1 premise--the butterfly collecting reverend and his wife going vacationing in the Balkans in 1917 probably was less likely than a train from hell that tricks sinners on its demonic voyage. The hero is a British soldier/con man who has deserted his regiment and the heroine is the busty innkeeper’s daughter who flees with him in the night to avoid being mutilated, raped, or murdered by basically everyone in the area.
Once on the train, and the grisly story of the train's history and how it came to be--and I guess classic Fowler in making sure no t goes uncrossed in his book, the hero and heroine & the henpecked reverend and his frustrated wife have to fight their way to the head of the car, while being secretly tested along the way. Vampires, a Countess of Death, bugs, crazed soldiers, several serial killers, demons, and more are all along the cars. The book never even gets THAT hokey either since it exists in the universe of those films. An atypical horror novel and I'm happy Christopher Fowler is doing other genres.
Anyways, not sure what I was in for, especially since recently I was burned by Bentley Little's The Burning, about a ghost train from hell, and was very surprised the turn this book took. The Hammer films from the 1960s starring Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing is the road this train chugged down, so that was something of a delight. I went through a period a few years ago (and recommend this phase to all) where I chain watched a bunch of those movies—House of Wax, Vincent Price, Die! Die! My Darling--even The Gorgon gets a shout out in this book, a movie I fondly remember from my childhood for some reason.
Recommend all, but especially Die! Die! My Darling starring a Tallulah Bankhead, well marinated in bourbon, with a VERY young Donald Sutherland as her oafish assistant in terrorizing Stephanie Powers.
Anyways, Hell Train is the brainchild of a script writer trying to sell this to the struggling film studio, so it's a story within a story. Between chapters, they argue who Christopher Lee gets to play (the conductor), and this device allows the book to sort of skirt past the obvious lunacy of its WW1 premise--the butterfly collecting reverend and his wife going vacationing in the Balkans in 1917 probably was less likely than a train from hell that tricks sinners on its demonic voyage. The hero is a British soldier/con man who has deserted his regiment and the heroine is the busty innkeeper’s daughter who flees with him in the night to avoid being mutilated, raped, or murdered by basically everyone in the area.
Once on the train, and the grisly story of the train's history and how it came to be--and I guess classic Fowler in making sure no t goes uncrossed in his book, the hero and heroine & the henpecked reverend and his frustrated wife have to fight their way to the head of the car, while being secretly tested along the way. Vampires, a Countess of Death, bugs, crazed soldiers, several serial killers, demons, and more are all along the cars. The book never even gets THAT hokey either since it exists in the universe of those films. An atypical horror novel and I'm happy Christopher Fowler is doing other genres.
March 15, 2016
I have no idea why I didn't read this when I got it. I started it and it just didn't seem interesting but when I found and picked it up this week I discovered I had been missing out on a truly horrific tale that matches well with the flame red and black cover. However... are you supposed to laugh in the middle of a horror story? There was Isabella, having freed a beetle that bored into people, through them and through walls or anything else in its path, trying to lure said beetle into the engine of the train when up comes Nicholas. Their conversation and events around that had me laughing out loud.
The idea of a horror or ghost train is totally foreign to me, having never seen one, but it's easy to accept the concept as well as the idea that Hammer is proposing to make this story into a film There are three levels, though: the Hammer studio where the writer is working, a little girl finding a board game in the attic and opening it in spite of a label warning her not to, and the train with the scenes and characters from the game. The twists and turns require careful attention and there are a couple of places where stopping and thinking about the rules and deals in the book would be a good idea, although I allowed the train to just barrel along, offering more and more violence and blood as we carried on. Funnily enough, although there really was a great deal of blood and horrific events, I wasn't frightened the way I might have been years ago. They say that children have to be mildly frightened fairly often in order to develop endocrines or something that they will need. I must have been frightened enough.
The idea of a horror or ghost train is totally foreign to me, having never seen one, but it's easy to accept the concept as well as the idea that Hammer is proposing to make this story into a film There are three levels, though: the Hammer studio where the writer is working, a little girl finding a board game in the attic and opening it in spite of a label warning her not to, and the train with the scenes and characters from the game. The twists and turns require careful attention and there are a couple of places where stopping and thinking about the rules and deals in the book would be a good idea, although I allowed the train to just barrel along, offering more and more violence and blood as we carried on. Funnily enough, although there really was a great deal of blood and horrific events, I wasn't frightened the way I might have been years ago. They say that children have to be mildly frightened fairly often in order to develop endocrines or something that they will need. I must have been frightened enough.
March 6, 2013
“Imagine there was a supernatural chiller that Hammer Films never made…” This takes that enticing prospect and builds on the conceit brilliantly, with Shane Carter - a screenwriter in 1966 who has been working with Roger Corman - taking on the challenge from Hammer to write a screenplay in five days. What he produces - and we read - is a horror tale set during the First World War. Nicholas is an adventurer, an upper class Englishman who encounters Isabella in a small Eastern European town that is about to fall to enemy soldiers. Along with another English couple, Nicholas, a vicar and his wife Miranda, they board the Arkangel, a terrifying train that might be taking them directly to Hell, alongside a mysterious casket, a veiled Red Countess, an insane army brigadier and worse. Fowler is a great writer and perfectly captures the Hammer mood getting this off to a good start - in 1966 (though I would have liked to have seen more of that time-period) and in Eastern Europe - before the action moves onto the hellish, perfectly realised train. The characterisation is great, with the roles clearly defined, the location and atmosphere is pitch perfect and the gore is cheerfully splashed around (Michael Careeras says, early on, that the screenplays are always more violent to give the censor something to get his teeth into), though the pace (whilst perfect to replicate Hammer) was a bit too slow for me at times. Good fun and - pacing caveat aside - well worth a read.
February 18, 2012
Now , this is lovely!
Christopher Fowler (@peculiar on twitter...!) is a brilliant writer , & , like me , he's obviously got Hammer Horror as 1 of his guilty pleasures...so , welcome to Hell Train!
The main plot is simple - 4 characters (Nicholas , a deserting soldier , Tom & Miranda , a vicar & his wife , & Isabella , a local peasant girl) are trapped at a railway station in Carpathia in WW1 - there's only 1 train out , & guess where it's going.......
There is a veritable gallery of grotesques on Board , including The Conductor , The Stoker , The Red Countess , Mr Feeley , & The Controller , all of whom want our heroes to end up at the train's final destination .
There's also a very clever arc around the story , telling the tale of how the writer of the movie left Roger Corman's studio & ended up writing the tale (I suppose you could call it postmodern , but I call it fun....).
Well-told , & you can imagine it on screen . For the record , my cast would be :
Nicholas - Shane Briant
Isabella - Angela Douglas
Tom - Francis Matthews
Miranda - Barbara Shelley
The Conductor - Cristopher Lee
Professor Io - Freddie Jones
Mr Feeley / The Undertaker - Peter Cushing
Stoker - Patrick Troughton
The Controller - Robert Morley
The Ghoul - Oliver Reed .
Excellent . Buy It . Now.
Christopher Fowler (@peculiar on twitter...!) is a brilliant writer , & , like me , he's obviously got Hammer Horror as 1 of his guilty pleasures...so , welcome to Hell Train!
The main plot is simple - 4 characters (Nicholas , a deserting soldier , Tom & Miranda , a vicar & his wife , & Isabella , a local peasant girl) are trapped at a railway station in Carpathia in WW1 - there's only 1 train out , & guess where it's going.......
There is a veritable gallery of grotesques on Board , including The Conductor , The Stoker , The Red Countess , Mr Feeley , & The Controller , all of whom want our heroes to end up at the train's final destination .
There's also a very clever arc around the story , telling the tale of how the writer of the movie left Roger Corman's studio & ended up writing the tale (I suppose you could call it postmodern , but I call it fun....).
Well-told , & you can imagine it on screen . For the record , my cast would be :
Nicholas - Shane Briant
Isabella - Angela Douglas
Tom - Francis Matthews
Miranda - Barbara Shelley
The Conductor - Cristopher Lee
Professor Io - Freddie Jones
Mr Feeley / The Undertaker - Peter Cushing
Stoker - Patrick Troughton
The Controller - Robert Morley
The Ghoul - Oliver Reed .
Excellent . Buy It . Now.
May 1, 2012
The year was 1966 and a screenwriter, Shane Carter arrives in Great Britain to attempt to snag a job with the greatest Horror filmmaker of it's day and age, Hammer Films. Shane notices the decay of the studio, but, this is hard times for the industry all over the world.
Almost too easily Shane is hired to write an epic in less than five days. For inspiration, Shane searches the library where he is set up and finds an old game board "The Hell Train."
The story takes off from that stage to one of the passengers upon the train. Fact mixes with Fantasy. Good versus evil emanates the pages as you read onwards.
This was a good old-fashioned horror story. It managed to make me feel uneasy and yet I had to continue reading to find the ending out. Find out the mystery of the Arkangel Train for yourself, but, perhaps in the daytime?
Almost too easily Shane is hired to write an epic in less than five days. For inspiration, Shane searches the library where he is set up and finds an old game board "The Hell Train."
The story takes off from that stage to one of the passengers upon the train. Fact mixes with Fantasy. Good versus evil emanates the pages as you read onwards.
This was a good old-fashioned horror story. It managed to make me feel uneasy and yet I had to continue reading to find the ending out. Find out the mystery of the Arkangel Train for yourself, but, perhaps in the daytime?
November 29, 2012
I thought the story of the abandoned tale was hard for me to follow. I am only 13 years old and this book is meant for adults, but I still think it should've been easier to follow the story. What I got from this book is that the main story of the book is a horror movie that Hammer Horror Films abandoned because they didn't think that it was worth the money. The only part of this book that I could really follow was the part where Nicholas meets Isabella in a small rotten town, where women are treated as servants. Other than that, I couldn't really piece the rest of the story together.
May 21, 2012
This is a well-written, fast moving horror story that reminded felt like a gorier version of the stuff I watched on Creature Feature as a kid. Fowler's intention (I'm asssuming) was to evoke that sixties horror vibe and he did so very successfully. Sit back, imagine the characters being played by Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee and heck, even some Vincent Price for good measure (look 'em up, kids), and enjoy a gruesome, scary tale.
September 4, 2017
Great fun.
February 9, 2015
Es gibt internationale Autoren, da fragt man sich, warum zum Teufel wird dieser Mist ins Deutsche übersetzt. Ich will jetzt keine Namen nennen, aber mir würden auf Anhieb einige einfallen. Und dann gibt es Autoren, da fragt man sich, warum wird nicht jedes verdammte Buch von denen ins Deutsche übersetzt. Christopher Fowler gehört eindeutig in diese Kategorie. Anfang der 1990er Jahre erschienen seine ersten Romane noch bei Bastei Lübbe. Das waren 1989 Über den Dächern von London (Roofworld, 1988), 1992 Die rote Braut (Red Bride, 1992), 1993 Runen (Rune, 1990), 1994 Die Gilde der Nacht (Darkest Day, 1993) und 1995 Spanky (Spanky, 1994). Seitdem herrschte absolute Flaute, was deutschsprachige Veröffentlichungen angeht. Das lag aber nicht daran, dass Fowler seitdem nichts mehr geschrieben hat. Im Gegenteil, in schöner Regelmäßigkeit erscheint im Vereinigten Königreich ein neuer Roman oder gar ein Band mit Kurzgeschichten. Und nicht nur das: Die Sachen sind auch noch erfolgreich. Allen voran seine Serie um die beiden Detektive Bryant & May, die bei der Peculiar Crimes Unit (Abteilung für sonderbare Verbrechen) arbeiten, von der es mittlerweile zehn Bücher gibt und die nächsten in den Startlöchern stehen. Und ist eines dieser Bücher, für die zweifelsohne ein Markt in Deutschland vorhanden wäre – eher als für seine Storysammlungen und Horrorromane vermutlich – bei einem deutschen Verlag erschienen? Nein.
Umso erfreulicher, dass sich der Luzifer Verlag seines Ende 2011 erschienenen Romans Hell Train angenommen hat und ihn in der Übersetzung von Stefan Mommertz Ende 2014 dem deutschsprachigen Publikum zugänglich gemacht hat. Das einzige Manko ist, dass sich nach der Lektüre dieses sehr guten Romans ein gewisses Gefühl der Enttäuschung einstellt. Weil man nämlich, merkt, was für ein großartiger Autor einem vorenthalten wird, wenn man nicht auf die Originalfassungen zurückgreifen kann oder möchte. Ich hege noch ein klein wenig Hoffnung, dass sich irgendwann ein Verlag, an seine Bryant & May-Serie heranwagt. Aber für seine Kurzgeschichten und seine beiden autobiographischen Bücher (Paperboy und Film Freak) sehe ich eher schwarz. Für die beiden Romane, die nach Hell Train abseits der Bryant & May-Serie erschienen sind (Plastic und Nyctophobia) wünsche ich Der Höllenexpress einen so großen Erfolg, dass Steffen Janssen vom Luzifer Verlag gar nicht anders kann, als diese auch zu veröffentlichen.
Der Titel seines zweiten autobiographischen Buches deutet es schon an. Fowler ist ein Film Freak, aber nicht nur das: Er hat neben dem Schreiben auch noch ein zweites Standbein. Er gründete eine der erfolgreichsten britischen Filmmarketingfirmen überhaupt und verdiente sich mit Filmplakaten und Trailern eine goldene Nase. Er arbeitete mit vielen bekannten Filmgrößen zusammen. Aber trotz- und vor alledem ist er wohl immer noch ein Filmliebhaber. Das erklärt dann auch, dass Der Höllenexpress eigentlich eine Liebeserklärung an ein bestimmtes britisches Filmstudio ist.
Schon die dem Roman vorangestellten Zitate von Peter Cushing und Christopher Lee zeigen wohin die Reise gehen wird und nach dem ersten Kapitel besteht kein Zweifel mehr. Shane Carter, ein Drehbuchautor, der gerade (Mitte der 1960er Jahre) bei Roger Cormans AIP in Ungnade gefallen ist, bekommt den Auftrag für die legendären Hammer Studios ein Drehbuch zu schreiben, das den langsamen, aber stetigen Niedergang des Filmstudios beenden soll. Und das beschreibt dann schon die Rahmenhandlung des Romans. Der Leser liest vom zweiten Kapitel an Carters Drehbuch in Romanform, unterbrochen nur von wenigen Sequenzen der Rahmenhandlung, wo auch die Hammer-Größen Christopher Lee und Peter Cushing ihre Auftritte haben, wenngleich man sie natürlich auch während er Fahrt des Höllenexpress vor Augen hat, weil man genau weiß, welche Rollen ihnen in dem Drehbuch zugedacht sind.
Die Binnenhandlung beginnt in dem osteuropäischen Städtchen Chelmsk. Dorthin verirrt sich während des ersten Weltkriegs ein englischer Abenteurer namens Nicholas Castleford. Er trifft dort die schöne Wirtstochter Isabella, die er innerhalb eines Abends soweit bezirzen kann, dass sie mit ihm Chelmsk verlässt. Aber nur noch ein Zug verlässt den Ort an diesem Abend und Isabella weiß, dass es kein gutes Ende nehmen wird, wenn man ihn diesen Zug mit Namen Ärzengel (im Original: Arkangel) einsteigt. Die Umstände zwingen sie trotzdem dazu. Sie sind aber nicht die einzigen Gäste die in Chelmsk zusteigen. Einem britischen Ehepaar, Thomas und Miranda, bleibt auch nichts anderes übrig als diesen Zug zu nehmen. An Bord gibt es erste Überraschungen, da auf keiner Streckenkarte die Endstation eingezeichnet ist. Und schnellt wird den vieren klar, das mit den anderen anderen Passagieren irgendetwas nicht stimmt. Dazu kommt Isabella Wissen aus alten Geschichten: den Mitreisenden stehen kaum lösbare Prüfungen bevor, um ihr Seelenheil zu retten.
Dieser Roman sticht wohltuend aus dem Extrem- und Zombiehorror heraus, mit dem der Markt in der letzten Zeit überschwemmt wurde. Keine stupiden Untoten bevölkern den Ärzengel und es werden auch keine Foltersequenzen bis ins kleinste Detail beschreiben, auch wenn das Buch nicht mit Splatterszenen geizt. Was hier vor allem aufgebaut wird, ist Atmosphäre, und zwar die Atmosphäre der alten Hammer-Filme. Natürlich ist das Buch gewalttätiger als alle Hammer-Filme zusammen. Aber trotzdem hat man bei jeder Seite des Romans den Hammer-Film vor Augen, der nach diesem „Drehbuch“ gedreht worden wäre. Angefangen von der osteuropäischen Locations bis hin zu den Figuren, in denen man die bekannten Schauspieler jener Zeit direkt vor sich sieht, atmet der Film das Kolorit der britischen Horrorfilme der 1950er und 1960er Jahre. Wie Fowler das einfängt ist meisterlich.
Das allein wäre zwar schon genug, um von einem sehr guten Roman zu sprechen, aber es kommt noch etwas dazu. Die Hauptfiguren müssen, wie schon erwähnt, Prüfungen absolvieren. Und in diesen Prüfungen werden ihnen ihre schlechten Eigenschaften pointiert vorgeführt. Ob sie in ihrem – falschen? – Trott weitermachen oder nicht, bestimmt über ihr Weiterleben. So kriegt man so ganz nebenbei, einige moralische Fragestellungen vor den Latz geknallt, über die sich ein weiteres Nachdenken lohnen dürfte.
Womit wir es also bei Der Höllenexpress zu tun haben, ist nichts anderes, als einem Horrorroman, der zeigt, was alles in diesem Genre steckt und auch, was es ausmacht. Christopher Fowler beantwortet die Frage, ob er immer noch Horrorgeschichten schreibt, in seinem Blog so: „I‘m certainly no fan of kitchen sink drama I like stories that soar into strangeness rather than ones that faithfully replicate the ordinariness of life.“ (Quelle: http://www.christopherfowler.co.uk/bl..., zuletzt besucht am 05.02.2015 - zur Erläuterung der Wikipediaeintrag zu Kitchen Sink Realism). Und das ist es, was neben allen Unterhaltungswert gute Horrorliteratur ausmacht. Die Seltsamkeiten, die Abnormitäten von Horrorgeschichten verleiten einen oftmals eher über manche Sachverhalte nachzudenken, als deren bloße realistische Abbildung.
Fowler sagt in seinem Blog noch andere kluge Sachen über Genreliteratur: „I dont appreciate the ghettoisation of the genre, and many of the stories I consider to be horrific do not fit into easy horror categories.“ (Quelle: http://www.christopherfowler.co.uk/bl..., zuletzt besucht am 05.02.2015) Das spricht mir aus der Seele. Vieles, was nicht als Horrorliteratur eingestuft wird, ist der pure Horror. Trotzdem wird über das, was als Horrorliteratur eingestuft wird, sehr oft der Stab gebrochen: Das ist doch alles nur trivialer Schund. Klar, es gibt ihn auch, diesen trivialen Schund, aber den gibt es in der Literatur überall. Doch wenn man sich mal die Mühe macht und ein bisschen tiefer gräbt, dann findet man solche Perlen wie Der Höllenexpress. Das gilt natürlich auch für beide Seiten. Man sollte sich als Leser nicht nur auf ein Genre versteifen, sondern durchaus auch einmal über den Tellerrand schauen. So ein Blick lohnt sich immer.
Aber genug der Abschweifungen, zurück zum eigentlichen Thema: Alle horror-affinen Leser erhalten von mir einen Lesebefehl. Der Höllenexpress zählt zum Besten, was in letzter Zeit im Genre veröffentlicht wurde. Damit verbunden ist eine Aufforderung an die deutschen Verlage gefälligst bald weitere Sachen von Fowler ins Deutsche zu übersetzen. (Wie wäre es beispielsweise mit der Kurzgeschichte Arkangel, die 2008 in der Anthologie Exotic Gothic 2 erschienen ist, und so etwas wie die Vorgeschichte des Höllenexpress ist? – Entschuldigung, ich habe vergessen, dass sich Kurzgeschichten nicht verkaufen – also vergessen wir die Frage ganz schnell wieder). Einen Leser hätten alle weiteren deutschen Fowler-Veröffentlichungen schon mal sicher, denn wenn sie nur halb so gut geraten sind wie Der Höllenexpress, wären sie immer noch besser als vieles, was man sonst so zu lesen bekommt. Ich will mehr von Fowler. Also tut mir bitte den Gefallen und macht diesen Roman zu einem Erfolg. (14/15)
Umso erfreulicher, dass sich der Luzifer Verlag seines Ende 2011 erschienenen Romans Hell Train angenommen hat und ihn in der Übersetzung von Stefan Mommertz Ende 2014 dem deutschsprachigen Publikum zugänglich gemacht hat. Das einzige Manko ist, dass sich nach der Lektüre dieses sehr guten Romans ein gewisses Gefühl der Enttäuschung einstellt. Weil man nämlich, merkt, was für ein großartiger Autor einem vorenthalten wird, wenn man nicht auf die Originalfassungen zurückgreifen kann oder möchte. Ich hege noch ein klein wenig Hoffnung, dass sich irgendwann ein Verlag, an seine Bryant & May-Serie heranwagt. Aber für seine Kurzgeschichten und seine beiden autobiographischen Bücher (Paperboy und Film Freak) sehe ich eher schwarz. Für die beiden Romane, die nach Hell Train abseits der Bryant & May-Serie erschienen sind (Plastic und Nyctophobia) wünsche ich Der Höllenexpress einen so großen Erfolg, dass Steffen Janssen vom Luzifer Verlag gar nicht anders kann, als diese auch zu veröffentlichen.
Der Titel seines zweiten autobiographischen Buches deutet es schon an. Fowler ist ein Film Freak, aber nicht nur das: Er hat neben dem Schreiben auch noch ein zweites Standbein. Er gründete eine der erfolgreichsten britischen Filmmarketingfirmen überhaupt und verdiente sich mit Filmplakaten und Trailern eine goldene Nase. Er arbeitete mit vielen bekannten Filmgrößen zusammen. Aber trotz- und vor alledem ist er wohl immer noch ein Filmliebhaber. Das erklärt dann auch, dass Der Höllenexpress eigentlich eine Liebeserklärung an ein bestimmtes britisches Filmstudio ist.
Schon die dem Roman vorangestellten Zitate von Peter Cushing und Christopher Lee zeigen wohin die Reise gehen wird und nach dem ersten Kapitel besteht kein Zweifel mehr. Shane Carter, ein Drehbuchautor, der gerade (Mitte der 1960er Jahre) bei Roger Cormans AIP in Ungnade gefallen ist, bekommt den Auftrag für die legendären Hammer Studios ein Drehbuch zu schreiben, das den langsamen, aber stetigen Niedergang des Filmstudios beenden soll. Und das beschreibt dann schon die Rahmenhandlung des Romans. Der Leser liest vom zweiten Kapitel an Carters Drehbuch in Romanform, unterbrochen nur von wenigen Sequenzen der Rahmenhandlung, wo auch die Hammer-Größen Christopher Lee und Peter Cushing ihre Auftritte haben, wenngleich man sie natürlich auch während er Fahrt des Höllenexpress vor Augen hat, weil man genau weiß, welche Rollen ihnen in dem Drehbuch zugedacht sind.
Die Binnenhandlung beginnt in dem osteuropäischen Städtchen Chelmsk. Dorthin verirrt sich während des ersten Weltkriegs ein englischer Abenteurer namens Nicholas Castleford. Er trifft dort die schöne Wirtstochter Isabella, die er innerhalb eines Abends soweit bezirzen kann, dass sie mit ihm Chelmsk verlässt. Aber nur noch ein Zug verlässt den Ort an diesem Abend und Isabella weiß, dass es kein gutes Ende nehmen wird, wenn man ihn diesen Zug mit Namen Ärzengel (im Original: Arkangel) einsteigt. Die Umstände zwingen sie trotzdem dazu. Sie sind aber nicht die einzigen Gäste die in Chelmsk zusteigen. Einem britischen Ehepaar, Thomas und Miranda, bleibt auch nichts anderes übrig als diesen Zug zu nehmen. An Bord gibt es erste Überraschungen, da auf keiner Streckenkarte die Endstation eingezeichnet ist. Und schnellt wird den vieren klar, das mit den anderen anderen Passagieren irgendetwas nicht stimmt. Dazu kommt Isabella Wissen aus alten Geschichten: den Mitreisenden stehen kaum lösbare Prüfungen bevor, um ihr Seelenheil zu retten.
Dieser Roman sticht wohltuend aus dem Extrem- und Zombiehorror heraus, mit dem der Markt in der letzten Zeit überschwemmt wurde. Keine stupiden Untoten bevölkern den Ärzengel und es werden auch keine Foltersequenzen bis ins kleinste Detail beschreiben, auch wenn das Buch nicht mit Splatterszenen geizt. Was hier vor allem aufgebaut wird, ist Atmosphäre, und zwar die Atmosphäre der alten Hammer-Filme. Natürlich ist das Buch gewalttätiger als alle Hammer-Filme zusammen. Aber trotzdem hat man bei jeder Seite des Romans den Hammer-Film vor Augen, der nach diesem „Drehbuch“ gedreht worden wäre. Angefangen von der osteuropäischen Locations bis hin zu den Figuren, in denen man die bekannten Schauspieler jener Zeit direkt vor sich sieht, atmet der Film das Kolorit der britischen Horrorfilme der 1950er und 1960er Jahre. Wie Fowler das einfängt ist meisterlich.
Das allein wäre zwar schon genug, um von einem sehr guten Roman zu sprechen, aber es kommt noch etwas dazu. Die Hauptfiguren müssen, wie schon erwähnt, Prüfungen absolvieren. Und in diesen Prüfungen werden ihnen ihre schlechten Eigenschaften pointiert vorgeführt. Ob sie in ihrem – falschen? – Trott weitermachen oder nicht, bestimmt über ihr Weiterleben. So kriegt man so ganz nebenbei, einige moralische Fragestellungen vor den Latz geknallt, über die sich ein weiteres Nachdenken lohnen dürfte.
Womit wir es also bei Der Höllenexpress zu tun haben, ist nichts anderes, als einem Horrorroman, der zeigt, was alles in diesem Genre steckt und auch, was es ausmacht. Christopher Fowler beantwortet die Frage, ob er immer noch Horrorgeschichten schreibt, in seinem Blog so: „I‘m certainly no fan of kitchen sink drama I like stories that soar into strangeness rather than ones that faithfully replicate the ordinariness of life.“ (Quelle: http://www.christopherfowler.co.uk/bl..., zuletzt besucht am 05.02.2015 - zur Erläuterung der Wikipediaeintrag zu Kitchen Sink Realism). Und das ist es, was neben allen Unterhaltungswert gute Horrorliteratur ausmacht. Die Seltsamkeiten, die Abnormitäten von Horrorgeschichten verleiten einen oftmals eher über manche Sachverhalte nachzudenken, als deren bloße realistische Abbildung.
Fowler sagt in seinem Blog noch andere kluge Sachen über Genreliteratur: „I dont appreciate the ghettoisation of the genre, and many of the stories I consider to be horrific do not fit into easy horror categories.“ (Quelle: http://www.christopherfowler.co.uk/bl..., zuletzt besucht am 05.02.2015) Das spricht mir aus der Seele. Vieles, was nicht als Horrorliteratur eingestuft wird, ist der pure Horror. Trotzdem wird über das, was als Horrorliteratur eingestuft wird, sehr oft der Stab gebrochen: Das ist doch alles nur trivialer Schund. Klar, es gibt ihn auch, diesen trivialen Schund, aber den gibt es in der Literatur überall. Doch wenn man sich mal die Mühe macht und ein bisschen tiefer gräbt, dann findet man solche Perlen wie Der Höllenexpress. Das gilt natürlich auch für beide Seiten. Man sollte sich als Leser nicht nur auf ein Genre versteifen, sondern durchaus auch einmal über den Tellerrand schauen. So ein Blick lohnt sich immer.
Aber genug der Abschweifungen, zurück zum eigentlichen Thema: Alle horror-affinen Leser erhalten von mir einen Lesebefehl. Der Höllenexpress zählt zum Besten, was in letzter Zeit im Genre veröffentlicht wurde. Damit verbunden ist eine Aufforderung an die deutschen Verlage gefälligst bald weitere Sachen von Fowler ins Deutsche zu übersetzen. (Wie wäre es beispielsweise mit der Kurzgeschichte Arkangel, die 2008 in der Anthologie Exotic Gothic 2 erschienen ist, und so etwas wie die Vorgeschichte des Höllenexpress ist? – Entschuldigung, ich habe vergessen, dass sich Kurzgeschichten nicht verkaufen – also vergessen wir die Frage ganz schnell wieder). Einen Leser hätten alle weiteren deutschen Fowler-Veröffentlichungen schon mal sicher, denn wenn sie nur halb so gut geraten sind wie Der Höllenexpress, wären sie immer noch besser als vieles, was man sonst so zu lesen bekommt. Ich will mehr von Fowler. Also tut mir bitte den Gefallen und macht diesen Roman zu einem Erfolg. (14/15)
February 6, 2025
2.5 stars rounded up.
Score is 100% because of me, not the book, hence rounded up. I really like the Bryant & May series by Fowler and picked this one up for the author, but it is very different and not my kind of thing at all. I maybe could have guessed from the blurb, and it would be a good one for someone who likes the genre, but I just couldn't . I can do .
Score is 100% because of me, not the book, hence rounded up. I really like the Bryant & May series by Fowler and picked this one up for the author, but it is very different and not my kind of thing at all. I maybe could have guessed from the blurb, and it would be a good one for someone who likes the genre, but I just couldn't . I can do .
June 1, 2018
The story of a demonic train bound for hell (ish) that has picked up some unsuspecting passengers. I liked the old school horror vibe, lots of nods to hammer horror movies and the greats like Christopher Lee, etc. A solid little horror novel with some seriously well written gory parts, but having read several Fowler books I couldn’t give it a 4 it wasn’t as good as Nyctophobia or some of the older stuff.
July 31, 2021
I liked the premise, I liked most of the characters especially Miranda, who slaps a horse in the face?
It was Hammer horror on steroids and a big budget which I guess is the meta narrative that runs parallel to the main one.
There were some trials that might have done with a bit more embellishment and floweriness like the red countess and the big old bug but apart from that I appreciated the zaniness and sheer delight of the ride.
4/5 would ride the line down again.
P.S. M died too soon
It was Hammer horror on steroids and a big budget which I guess is the meta narrative that runs parallel to the main one.
There were some trials that might have done with a bit more embellishment and floweriness like the red countess and the big old bug but apart from that I appreciated the zaniness and sheer delight of the ride.
4/5 would ride the line down again.
P.S. M died too soon
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 18, 2019
Also das war ja wohl nichts, das Buch war nichts halbes und nichts ganzes.... ich fand es für 354 Seiten (was die echte Seitenzahl ist) sehr abgehackt, der Autor hat zuviel gewollt auf wenig Seiten. Genauso finde ich es übertrieben wie der Autor mit den Hammer Studios ins Gericht zieht und schon ehr schlecht redet. Und was die Autorin Val McDermid sagt stimmt zum Teil, klug überhaupt nicht aber dafür so sarkastisch dass es das Buch auch zerstört hat. Dass einzig gute an dem Buch ist das wunderschöne Cover, leider eine Enttäuschung.
November 15, 2019
A good old bodice-ripping, blood-curdling, crucifix-wielding, coffin-opening, coal-shovelling, devil-worshipping, virgin-sacrificing ride!
May 22, 2018
awsome... the atmosphere, dialogues, characters...
actually BBC should adapt it as a mini series.
actually BBC should adapt it as a mini series.
September 4, 2014
Fans of Hammer will love Hell Train, Christopher Fowler’s homage to the glory days of the Britain’s greatest horror movie studio. Hell Train comes on as the ‘greatest supernatural chiller that Hammer never produced, a grand epic that plays like a cross between Dracula and Dr Terror’s House of Horrors’.
Shane Carter is a washed-up Hollywood scriptwriter who comes to England to sell his wares to Michael Carreras, chief executive of Hammer Films. It is 1966. Hammer have produced a string of phenomenally successful horror films, but the wind of change is beginning to blow as American distributors are starting to show concern that Hammer’s brand of Gothic is becoming old hat to the new generation of youngsters looking for more contemporary thrills.
To his surprise, Carter is commissioned to produce a script that will appeal to the new breed of film-goer, but he is given only five days in which to write it. The only stipulation that Carreras gives him is that the story must be set on a train…
From its opening chapter set in Bray Studios, Fowler evokes the era of Hammer beautifully. Carreras is presented as an avuncular figure, dedicated to the quality of Hammer’s output but concerned with the threat from young upstarts Amicus and Tigon. Carter’s process of writing the screenplay and his presentations to director Freddie Francis and actors Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee forms an intriguing fictionalised documentary wrap-around story which intersperses with the story of the script itself – set aboard the Arkangel, the titular Hell Train, carrying the souls of the undead as it hurtles through war-torn 1916 Eastern Europe towards its final destination – Hell.
On board is rakish British army deserter, Nicholas, who, along with Isabella, an innkeeper’s daughter with whom he is planning to elope, is fleeing the wrath of villagers and Isabella’s jilted fiancé. Two more English tourists, the Reverend Thomas Wellesley and his discontented wife, Miranda, are forced to board the strange train to escape the approaching Russian army. Watched over by the mysterious Conductor, the four passengers are each obliged to enter into a wager with the Devil in a bid to save themselves, or face the rest of eternity riding the Hell Train.
From this premise Fowler creates a phantasmagoria of surprisingly gory set-pieces as the four passengers battle the bizarre emissaries of Hell, which take the form of a veiled Red Countess, a giant flesh-eating insect, a blood crazed army brigadier and the reanimated corpse of a Carpathian monarch, known as the Biter.
The Arkangel is an intriguing character in itself, and as Fowler reveals its satanic origins, Hell Train starts to take on allegorical meanings, referencing the mass slaughter of the First World War, the Holocaust and the genocide of Bosnia. Fowler doesn’t overload Hell Train with this, but the idea of waging with the devil is there in the background throughout. Plot wise, Hell Train resembles Euro-production Horror Express (1972) and the Amicus-produced Dr Terror’s House of Horrors (1965) more than any Hammer film. But that is all part of the in-joke: as Carter finds his ill-fated script in ‘development hell’, increasingly falling victim to the rivalry between Hammer and the other studios, he begins to realise that he, too, is waging with the devil.
Shane Carter is a washed-up Hollywood scriptwriter who comes to England to sell his wares to Michael Carreras, chief executive of Hammer Films. It is 1966. Hammer have produced a string of phenomenally successful horror films, but the wind of change is beginning to blow as American distributors are starting to show concern that Hammer’s brand of Gothic is becoming old hat to the new generation of youngsters looking for more contemporary thrills.
To his surprise, Carter is commissioned to produce a script that will appeal to the new breed of film-goer, but he is given only five days in which to write it. The only stipulation that Carreras gives him is that the story must be set on a train…
From its opening chapter set in Bray Studios, Fowler evokes the era of Hammer beautifully. Carreras is presented as an avuncular figure, dedicated to the quality of Hammer’s output but concerned with the threat from young upstarts Amicus and Tigon. Carter’s process of writing the screenplay and his presentations to director Freddie Francis and actors Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee forms an intriguing fictionalised documentary wrap-around story which intersperses with the story of the script itself – set aboard the Arkangel, the titular Hell Train, carrying the souls of the undead as it hurtles through war-torn 1916 Eastern Europe towards its final destination – Hell.
On board is rakish British army deserter, Nicholas, who, along with Isabella, an innkeeper’s daughter with whom he is planning to elope, is fleeing the wrath of villagers and Isabella’s jilted fiancé. Two more English tourists, the Reverend Thomas Wellesley and his discontented wife, Miranda, are forced to board the strange train to escape the approaching Russian army. Watched over by the mysterious Conductor, the four passengers are each obliged to enter into a wager with the Devil in a bid to save themselves, or face the rest of eternity riding the Hell Train.
From this premise Fowler creates a phantasmagoria of surprisingly gory set-pieces as the four passengers battle the bizarre emissaries of Hell, which take the form of a veiled Red Countess, a giant flesh-eating insect, a blood crazed army brigadier and the reanimated corpse of a Carpathian monarch, known as the Biter.
The Arkangel is an intriguing character in itself, and as Fowler reveals its satanic origins, Hell Train starts to take on allegorical meanings, referencing the mass slaughter of the First World War, the Holocaust and the genocide of Bosnia. Fowler doesn’t overload Hell Train with this, but the idea of waging with the devil is there in the background throughout. Plot wise, Hell Train resembles Euro-production Horror Express (1972) and the Amicus-produced Dr Terror’s House of Horrors (1965) more than any Hammer film. But that is all part of the in-joke: as Carter finds his ill-fated script in ‘development hell’, increasingly falling victim to the rivalry between Hammer and the other studios, he begins to realise that he, too, is waging with the devil.
January 17, 2014
This book is a gem. It's clear from just the book blurb the author is paying respects to the 60s' era horror films. I can't really speak on whether it succeeded in that, being unfamiliar with them. I can talk about the success of it as a book.
The crux of the story revolves around four travelers who are tested by the Devil to see if they can overcome the flaws of their character, with their soul on the line.
On top of this is the slow build and atmosphere of train travel on the Old World with a gothic mood so thick you could cut it with a knife, written in a Very English style. The descriptions are excellent, the characters well presented, and the narrative is strong all the way through.
Hell Train could have been a five star, but it had certain flaws. For starters the frame story is that of a script writer working on a screenplay for Hammer Films. This frame story is entirely unnecessary and adds nothing to the book except letting you know that the book is a send-up to Hammer and that era (which I can understand but still it does not help the story). The book takes about 80 pages before things actually start getting going, the rest is setup, and some elements of the resolutions don't quite track (I don't think Isabella's test and its ending is all that good).
Ultimately the book didn't amaze me, it isn't quite my cup of tea, but to those that like this style or feel that it hits the emulation of hold horror films, this should be a classic to you. Still I'm rather pleased that I found it.
The crux of the story revolves around four travelers who are tested by the Devil to see if they can overcome the flaws of their character, with their soul on the line.
On top of this is the slow build and atmosphere of train travel on the Old World with a gothic mood so thick you could cut it with a knife, written in a Very English style. The descriptions are excellent, the characters well presented, and the narrative is strong all the way through.
Hell Train could have been a five star, but it had certain flaws. For starters the frame story is that of a script writer working on a screenplay for Hammer Films. This frame story is entirely unnecessary and adds nothing to the book except letting you know that the book is a send-up to Hammer and that era (which I can understand but still it does not help the story). The book takes about 80 pages before things actually start getting going, the rest is setup, and some elements of the resolutions don't quite track (I don't think Isabella's test and its ending is all that good).
Ultimately the book didn't amaze me, it isn't quite my cup of tea, but to those that like this style or feel that it hits the emulation of hold horror films, this should be a classic to you. Still I'm rather pleased that I found it.
June 4, 2015
This was a total disappointment, I love Dracula and frankenstein both the books and films, I've read so many reviews that this book is on par with those, you know proper old school horror set on a train to hell.
First the characters are so under developed the only one I cared about was Nicholas he at least was interesting to read about. Isabella is the typical beautiful heroine who has no personality to speak of. at all.
The book focuses on the characters needing to save their souls by winning a test based on their personality flaws such as, greed, lust, curiosity etc, this was to begin with really interesting but it just didn't seem to flow properly, it was hard to tell what was a test and what was some random pointless thing happening, I found the tests and how to win them seemed to contradict themselves. which I'm sorry I can't describe that better but I don't want to spoil anything if you do decide to read this.
Parts of the book just didn't seem to make sense at all.
If someone could explain the ending to me I would appreciate that.
I finished it thinking what was the point of that. If you can spend the time to describe a bug burrowing out of an eyeball then why is it so hard to write an ending that makes sense.
First the characters are so under developed the only one I cared about was Nicholas he at least was interesting to read about. Isabella is the typical beautiful heroine who has no personality to speak of. at all.
The book focuses on the characters needing to save their souls by winning a test based on their personality flaws such as, greed, lust, curiosity etc, this was to begin with really interesting but it just didn't seem to flow properly, it was hard to tell what was a test and what was some random pointless thing happening, I found the tests and how to win them seemed to contradict themselves. which I'm sorry I can't describe that better but I don't want to spoil anything if you do decide to read this.
Parts of the book just didn't seem to make sense at all.
If someone could explain the ending to me I would appreciate that.
I finished it thinking what was the point of that. If you can spend the time to describe a bug burrowing out of an eyeball then why is it so hard to write an ending that makes sense.
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