Dr. Phibes

Dr. Phibes #1

by William I. Goldstein

The first book of the Dr. Phibes horror classic series. Here the good doctor seeks revenge for the death of his beautiful wife, Victoria Regina Phibes. The victims are murdered horribly and grotesquely; and each are killed as part of a bizarre ritual based on the ten curses of the old Testament.

Genres: Horror, Pulp, Mystery

155 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

WILLIAM I. GOLDSTEIN is the creator of DR. PHIBES and the best-selling author of the CULT CLASSIC DR. PHIBES SERIES including DR. PHIBES, DR. PHIBES RISES AGAIN!, DR. PHIBES IN THE BEGINNING and the recently published DR. PHIBES VULNAVIA'S SECRET. He is also co-writer of the top grossing horror motion picture THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES, starring Vincent Price, recently re-released on Blu-ray. He lives in California and is currently busy collaborating with his son, DAMON J.A. GOLDSTEIN on BOOK IV OF THE CULT CLASSIC DR. PHIBES SERIES, DR. PHIBES AND THE REAL ANDROBOTS.

Reviews

[Wayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good book. Kind of comes to a stop from time to time. What I really want was Dr. Phibes doling out his curses and drinking champagne through his neck. Like the movie better. Nice book too.

[Geoffrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good bit of fun, with richer detail than contained in the original screenplay. Sure, it's a horror story replete with inventive deaths, but the true core of the tale is a love story. The original film is full of campy delight, but I can't help wondering what a remake with a more serious straightforward tone would be like.

[Noel Thingvall · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lush and loving novelization of the first film by one of its co-writers. The vivid, saucy prose is a great throwback to the classic purple of weird fiction. Expands on the characters well, making each victim vignette a story unto itself, and I like how it builds the mystery of "The Master of the P" before Phibes is fully revealed. The final chapter feels rushed, like it lost its wind and was no longer drawing things out with the same level of detail and suspense. But this is still a solid example of what a novelization is capable of being, a great read in its own right, and I'm excited to check out the rest of Goldstein's Phibes novels.

[Victor Mabuse · Rating 5 out of 5]

A phantastic read for any Phibes Philm Phanatic!

[Cthonus · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the moment I first watched the Phibes films I've been hooked on a character that is by turns full of pathos and wrathful vengeance, aided by an always-silent, voluptous Vulnavia, the kind of woman most straight men phantasise about. Or so I'm told, anyway. I mean who can't help but be fascinated by a leading villain(?) who quotes Donne whilst dismembering a victim or replacing the remnants of his own tattered face back into preserving jars.

Phibes isn't a normal evil murder. He's clearly acting out of a deep love of his dead wife whom he misses with every fibre of his being. It doesn't lessen his crimes but it does make him more of a whole piece than someone, say, weilding a knife and an icehockey mask.

The movies themselves are wonderfully camp affairs, at times comical, at others bitingly sharp. I was hoping this novel would add more of a back-story to the events - perhaps even explain Vulnavia's almost-supernatural presence - but it covers more or less the same ground as the first movie even if it does add a little more narrative to the proceedings.

For a Phibes fan, this is a must.

[Jeff McIntosh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I greatly enjoyed "The Abominable Dr. Phibes" and "Dr. Phibes Rises Again" in their celluloid incarnations. I knew a series of books had been written by William Goldstein (4 in number), and assume the books predate the movie.

The book was enjoyable - but adds little to the exploits of Dr. Phibes....the books may be novelizations of the movies, with the last two books in the series, "Dr Phibes: In the Beginning" and "Dr. Phibes: Vulnavia's Secret" may be original works of fiction.....I don't know.

Goldstein also has a Facebook page, and a blog, if anyone wants the additional information.

Pick it up...and watch the movies again....

Jeff McIntosh

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating 3

A solid, if dry, adaptation of the movie.
As novelisations used to do, the reader gets additional background on characters which was omitted (for many reasons) from the movie.
Although I did think it was an okay read, the fact that the film blends this story, with great actors, wonderful design and music, all combined with the black tongue in cheek humour - is why it didn’t really work overall.
Still recommend it for fans of the movies though.

[Kaare Kvenild · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having seen the film many, many times, it was easy to picture the entire story in my head as I was reading. I didn't know that the author/screenwriter continued the Phibes series after the two initial films/books so I'm excited to read on.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great phun.

[Duffy Laudick · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great novelization of the movie, The Abominable Dr. Phibes. It follows very closely to the movie. There is some extra details that isn't covered in the movie, but nothing major.

[Dominique Lamssies · Rating 1 out of 5]

Simply put, this book is trash. For starters, it's not well written. Typically, novelizations are intended to fill in some of the backstory that they couldn't fit in the movie and, even I have to admit, Goldstein did do that. Just not for any of the characters you care about. Dr. Phibes - who you'll notice the book is named after and is the most popular character in the movies and the reason you probably will pick this book up - is barely in it. We don't get any clues as to his mental state, how he pulls off the incredible things he does, why he chose the Biblical curses, anything like that. We do get some background on Victoria and Trout gets a fair bit of wordage, but none of it justifies the apparent genius detective he's supposed to be. Instead, we are treated to a litany of the kinks and weird sexual escapades of the victims because they seem to be "good men" who womanize and have impossibly out of their league women throw themselves at them in cringey sex scenes. We're even told that one of the doctors raped a woman but it's okay because she was a gold digging prostitute anyway.

Basically, this book has a great deal of male wish fulfillment detail about things that Goldstein wanted to write about but that don't actually add anything to the plot or answer any of the questions we had.

If you are a Phibes fan, avoid this. Watch the movie again and think up your own theories and write your own backstory. It's gonna be better than what's in this book.

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was alright, I guess, nothing major. Some of the deaths were amusing, some were absolutely ridiculous and definitely (without doing any research of my own) scientifically impossible but I may be wrong. Perhaps I'll be arsed to watch the films again, probably not as I'm a lazy cunt when it comes to watching stuff.
Forgot just how bloody paedoey some old fiction could be, almost every major male character was schnooping someone at least half his age and there was this 'excellent' passage:

"On the elevator ride down to the lobby, Whitcomb permitted himself to be a bit more effusive. The Woosters, if he remembered correctly, had as neighbors a retired brigadier, his wife and four children. The oldest girl, when he last saw her, was abud with country air and sunshine. At seventeen, she’d be well equipped to brighten his stay in the Cotswolds."

Abud with country air and sunshine, FFS. The guy is like in his fifties, at least. Ah, those halcyon days. Good job he gets impaled on a brass unicorn before he can cum, dirty fat nonce.

[Hydra Star · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sure this book is a bit campy and not exactly a great work of literature, but if you enjoyed the movie you'll probably like this adaptation.