I've been on an old horror books kick recently, started by reading Henderson's Paperbacks from Hell.
There's something nice reading fiction totally removed from the current world. No internet, cell phones, hacking, pandemic, nationalist movements, etc. Diseases tend to be very non-specific, technology is often either benign or a force for good. People still have to go to stores to buy things and go to the library to research matters. It feels so foreign. You also get more unconscious misogyny and racism but you can pretend that belongs in the past.
Currently I'm reading "The Unblessed" by Paul Richards published by Zebra Books in 1982.
The prologue takes us to Sudan in January, 1970 where Dan Hunt arrives at an archeological dig to meet Dr. Mason Raymond and John Garfield who have discovered something amazing, a sacrificial altar from 3500 years ago and an inscription corresponding to legends about a demon named Anthrada, a priest named Cymonatha and the hero who took him down, Niyikang. (According to the foreword this guy is "an actual person whose exploits have been handed down from generation to generation through the oral tradition".)
The trio makes their way into this recently uncovered site while info-dumping about the legend until they get to a giant cavern whereupon they view "the hideous contents of the deep, hollow depression" "aghast". At this point Garfield is apparently possessed and makes at the other two, presumably with murder in mind, but unfortunately mister clumsy trips on a rock and goes whoopsie down into the pit. Where, I guess, he dies. The other two resolve to seal off the site. "What if there were more such creatures?" What creatures, you might ask? I don't know. Whatever possessed Garfield. What did they see in the pit? Beats me. Bodies?
We forward 11 days to Zaire and a small village containing one Christopher Arthur Collin, a journalist researching the illegal ivory trade, there with his partner Terry McPhearson. Collin has "fiery, animated eyes" and "lean weathered features". "The Levi's-clad American" is worried because the "Sedgewick hunting party" is overdue back and he worries for his fellow countrymen. Lord Sedgewick though so I don't know if an Englishman is employing Americans or Richards just wanted to sound fancy or what.
Collin decides to take it upon himself to find them and approaches a "native ranger" he knows "whose tribal name was Lianga" but calls himself Smith. He finds Smith in his small quarters reading "Plutarch's Lives" of course and Smith resolves to take Collin and McPhearson into what is alternately called the deep jungle and the rain forest but only if they stop at a village along the way to find out why going into Anansi, the Spider God's land is verboten.
They reach a village where the chief, Luba, takes them to an old man named Hasha whose "eyes themselves had somehow been burnt out completely, as though red-hot pokers had been thrust ruthlessly into his sockets and held there." Through Smith, Hasha tells a (long, rambling, ungrammatical) story of wandering into the wrong land while hunting and being taken captive by mind-controlled men. He was brought to a cave where the demon spoke into his mind to feed off his brain and had his eyes burned out. Unfortunately for the demon, Hasha has a benign brain tumor and his thoughts are poisoned? Or something? So he was let go and found by another group later on. He's kept by the village as a warning.
Smith is given a medallion to keep him safe and they go on their way. We learn McPhearson has a wife and sons so I'm calling his future death. While on watch McPhearson is invaded by the demon, cuts the medallion off Smith and wanders with Smith off into the trees leaving Collin to wake up alone and confused. Yolana the Priestess said she believed that her entire purpose in life was to be there to give her Great-great grandma's protective amulet to Smith but boy did it seem easily bypassed.
Collin goes looking for them but when he finds them of course they're evil or whatever. They try to bring him into the fold but something about him wards off possession. They try to shoot him and he gets away. He can't stand the thought of leaving them behind so he follows their tracks and comes across a cave entrance being guarded by two men. He uses the Hitman approach to lure them away - throwing things far from where you don't want them so the NPCs will alert and investigate the very obvious distraction. As he slips inside he hopes he can save his friends.
It is a wordy book; not only in length of description but it's the sort where "cogitate" is used when "thought" would do. Also, we keep getting reminded that Collin is "white" and Smith is "black" which is awkward and weird. But despite that it's an entertaining read and I'm curious as to where we're going to end up.
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