The Conjurers

by Marilyn Harris

Harris, Marilyn, Conjurers, An Extraordinary And Terrifying Novel

Genres: Horror, Fiction

305 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

Harris was born on June 4, 1931, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, the daughter of John P., an oil executive, and Dora (nee Veal) Harris. Harris was educated in her home state, attending Cottey College from 1945 to 1951, then transferring to the University of Oklahoma, from which she received a bachelor of arts degree in 1953 and a master of arts degree in 1955.

Harris's first collection of short stories, King's Ex, was published by Doubleday in 1967. After that Harris proved a prolific author, publishing seventeen books, including novels, short stories, romance/ historical fiction and children's fiction in a twenty-year period from 1970 to 1989. These works, in addition to those listed above, include In the Midst of Earth (1969), The Peppersalt Land (1970), The Runaway's Diary (1971), The Conjurers (1974), Bledding Sorrow (1976), The Portent (1980), The Last Great Love (1981), Warrick (1985), Night Games (1987), and Lost and Found (1991). Harris's work has received a wide readership; in 1983, nine million of her books were in print, and her work has been translated into many languages, including French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, and Japanese. She has also been an author in residence at Oklahoma's Central State University.

She died January 18, 2002.

Reviews

[Kenneth McKinley · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Conjurers was a lot like being on hold waiting for a customer service representative and that person never picks up the phone.

Harris’s writing is solid enough, but this one was a tough slog to get through. The premise gives the impression that everything will take place at Stonehenge. I can get into that. Well, that’s not exactly what happens. There are some monoliths on one of the Downs somewhere in England, but not Stonehenge. There’s also the impression we’ll get lots of good cult ceremonies. Not exactly. There’s some sacrifice, but you have no idea who did it or why. The main character, Easter (cool name, by the way), takes in wandering teenagers, feeds them, let them stay for free. Why? No clue. All she says is that they’re scared and lonely. The villagers don’t like it. They think that they’re responsible for bad happenings in the village and want them gone. Are they responsible or why do they think they are? No clue. I enjoy a slow burn as much as the next person, but The Conjurers never got above lukewarm. The story never materializes. I felt like I was trying to grab a handful of fog. If you’re going to be this shadowy with your storytelling, you better have one hell of a payoff. Nope. It ends without so much as a whimper. No explanations. No revelations. No a-ha moment. Nothing.

Two bored-stiff monoliths out of Five

[Sarah Mac · Rating 1 out of 5]

What the... o___O

Seriously, I can't summarize the premise of this because who the hell knows what was going on?

I generally dislike horror that paints the evil so very shrouded & ethereal & vague that you can't pinpoint it except as a metaphysical Other.** I like to know what the opponent is -- ghost, vampire, evil-imbued house, satanist nutball, whatever. But this...there were human sacrifices, yes (including a brief scene of cannibalism *gag*), yet these weren't really the crux of the evilness. So what WAS the evil?? Damned if I know. The characters didn't help themselves, either; everyone was a blathering, psychotic whackjob, a blathering, uptight local, or a blathering, mealy-mouthed conduit for that boring, overused, & cliché conflict of Youth vs Age in 1970s fiction.

In short: zero fucks were given.

I'm genuinely sad to say this, but dude. BLEDDING SORROW aside, Marilyn Harris' contemps really suck. BLEDDING is such a masterwork of karma & apparitions -- how she could polish such a wonderfully tangible, macabre gothic feast & yet put her name to such confusing, poorly-defined drivel as CONJURERS or THE DIVINER is beyond me. (As a sidenote, I wanted to punch MC Easter in the face -- the woman was so obnoxiously naive & oblivious. 🙄Compared to BLEDDING's Ann & James...ugh. Nevermind. There is no comparison.)

My advice re: Marilyn Harris: if you like contemp gothics, read & enjoy BLEDDING. If you like historicals, read & enjoy the Eden series. But you're better off skipping her horror paperbacks altogether.


**Two exceptions to this rule: THE RED TREE & THE GHOST WRITER. See, sometimes I can embrace something different. ;)

[Rabbit {Paint me like one of your 19th century gothic heroines!} · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 2.5

[Gilda Felt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Harris is a good writer; I truly enjoyed The Portent. But she has the unfortunate habit of often leaving too much unexplained. The characters don’t ask the questions that most people would ask, do things that you can’t help but wonder what the hell they’re thinking.

This is especially true of the main character, Easter Mulraven. Her husband mysteriously disappeared years before. Her parents are dead. Lonely, she starts taking in the young people who wander into the village. She asks nothing about them; seems to be under the spell of one particularly striking young man. But the people of the village want them gone. They won’t really tell her why, other than a rather odd warning “they’re evil.”

There are some truly gruesome and terrifying events that take place, but since everyone talks, and thinks, in riddles, it’s hard to figure what exactly is going on. I’m still not totally sure.

[Werefox by moonlight: Half man, half beast, but all horror · Rating 2 out of 5]

Upon finishing this book, my first thought was that my copy must have been missing a few pages. That was not the case. I suppose I can take solace in the fact that everyone else seems as baffled by this book as I was. I'm normally all for ambiguity in horror, but I'm afraid Harris is no Aickman.

[Tracey · Rating 1 out of 5]

The tiny English village of the Domehaven lies close to Stonehenge and there is a primal evil that lurks in the stones. A group of outsiders who are led by young American Tom Brude, who holds a special power over them as they try to harness the supernatural. It is Easter Mulraven, a maternal, middle-aged woman who cares for this group of youngsters. She finds herself caught between protecting the young people in her care and trying to keep the prejudice of the townspeople at bay.
That is what I think happens because I really did find this book to be confusing. Easter just seems to be there as a link to the community and a place for the young people to live. She spends most of her time in denial about the actions of the youngsters and lamenting the death of her father. Tom talks to Madame Blavatsky and exerts mind control over the group and Easter. The other characters have no real purpose but to be a contrast with young people versus old people, progress versus regression and the fear of change. Yet these themes that run through the book does not make a horror novel.
There is promise of horror, lots people disappear, the group has members sacrificed and you have some locals who have lots of scary potential. The threads are never brought together to make this novel truly frightening.

[Bookwyrm13 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in the English countryside this book revolves around a group of teenagers who have discovered a way to use the local stone circle (like stonehenge) and a sacrifice to resurect an ancient supernatural horor. its been years since I piced up this book, but it always seems to escape the box headed for the used book store or charity. I dont seem to recall any glaring complaints about charicters / story line or style of writing. something keeps me from parting ways with it so i will probably read again soon.