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Demon
When Evil Wakes…
The rains came. And came. Half Wales lay waterlogged. In the depths of an isolated valley, a landslip - and Ancient Evil saw the light of a new day. In the land of the Druids the Demon is awakening to claim Its own - and nothing can stand in Its way.
One man alone has the strength to fight the Demon. But John Casson, on a trip of mercy to the drowning valley, lives in a world where Demons - and evil itself - are unknown. The horror that awaits him lies beyond reason - and unless he can abandon rationality and tap his own internal strength, the Demon will win.
And the world will be lost.
The rains came. And came. Half Wales lay waterlogged. In the depths of an isolated valley, a landslip - and Ancient Evil saw the light of a new day. In the land of the Druids the Demon is awakening to claim Its own - and nothing can stand in Its way.
One man alone has the strength to fight the Demon. But John Casson, on a trip of mercy to the drowning valley, lives in a world where Demons - and evil itself - are unknown. The horror that awaits him lies beyond reason - and unless he can abandon rationality and tap his own internal strength, the Demon will win.
And the world will be lost.
224 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published November 17, 1983
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 25, 2023
The rains came and, soon, half of Wales lay waterlogged. In the depths of an isolated valley in Snowdonia, a landslip awoke an Ancient Evil from the time of the Druids, a demon awakening to claim the lands as Its own - and nothing can stand in Its way. Only one man can stop them but John Casson lives in a world where Demons are unknown. The horror that awaits him lies beyond reason and unless he can abandon rationality and tap his own internal strength, the Demon will win. And the world will be lost.
Originally published in 1983, I was really looking forward to this. Yes, the blurb is over-the-top but hey, that’s the kind of 70s/80s horror paperback I love and I was even more keen when I realised I knew the locations - Snowdon, Ffestiniog - from family holidays. Unfortunately, the book didn’t live up to its promise (and how Mr Watkins must have kicked himself, calling the demon IT in the text but not scooping Stephen King to use the title by three years). Whilst the characterisation is well done and fairly vivid and the locations are realised with good atmosphere, far too much of the action happens off-screen for my liking. We see the characters get into a sticky situation (with decent suspense) and then cut to someone (usually Casson, who works for a power company) being told about it and, I have to say, that got frustrating after a while (the pilot sequence is especially annoying and a policeman - quite a key character - gets killed without anyone apparently noticing). Some of the spooky elements - the deserted power station, for example - work well but too often the set pieces don’t seem to flow as part of the story itself and then there’s the lady vicar changes her stance (on pretty much everything) from chapter to chapter. As for the climax, well, let’s just say that resolving the issue over a couple of pages didn’t really work for me. I wanted to like this but, sadly, it was a bit of a disappointment (and - spoiler alert - there’s no big ‘end of the world’ situation either).
Originally published in 1983, I was really looking forward to this. Yes, the blurb is over-the-top but hey, that’s the kind of 70s/80s horror paperback I love and I was even more keen when I realised I knew the locations - Snowdon, Ffestiniog - from family holidays. Unfortunately, the book didn’t live up to its promise (and how Mr Watkins must have kicked himself, calling the demon IT in the text but not scooping Stephen King to use the title by three years). Whilst the characterisation is well done and fairly vivid and the locations are realised with good atmosphere, far too much of the action happens off-screen for my liking. We see the characters get into a sticky situation (with decent suspense) and then cut to someone (usually Casson, who works for a power company) being told about it and, I have to say, that got frustrating after a while (the pilot sequence is especially annoying and a policeman - quite a key character - gets killed without anyone apparently noticing). Some of the spooky elements - the deserted power station, for example - work well but too often the set pieces don’t seem to flow as part of the story itself and then there’s the lady vicar changes her stance (on pretty much everything) from chapter to chapter. As for the climax, well, let’s just say that resolving the issue over a couple of pages didn’t really work for me. I wanted to like this but, sadly, it was a bit of a disappointment (and - spoiler alert - there’s no big ‘end of the world’ situation either).
September 5, 2009
A Welsh horror yarn, this disappointing tale tells of a hideous, grinning Demon that lurks in the mountains for a long time before emerging to wreak havoc.
Watkins shows a flair for characterisation in creating offbeat, interesting bizarre people like Dewi and his ilk, but this is somewhat wasted in the thin, predictable storyline. The horror is sometimes effective (especially in the echoing basements of the power station) but it lacks substance and this book feels like a string of incidents put together rather than an engrossing story.
Although the death toll is high, the promised full-scale destruction never appears at the end and there's a cheat death for the monster. DEMON has its moments but is ultimately a disappointment.
Watkins shows a flair for characterisation in creating offbeat, interesting bizarre people like Dewi and his ilk, but this is somewhat wasted in the thin, predictable storyline. The horror is sometimes effective (especially in the echoing basements of the power station) but it lacks substance and this book feels like a string of incidents put together rather than an engrossing story.
Although the death toll is high, the promised full-scale destruction never appears at the end and there's a cheat death for the monster. DEMON has its moments but is ultimately a disappointment.
January 8, 2019
Has its pros and cons plotwise, but in its favour, it makes good use of the geographical setting - the spectacular Moelwyns.
October 19, 2022
A very interesting read to all those who love to read about the supernatural world!!!
November 23, 2023
Garbage. Not the worst garbage i've read but bad all the same
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews