Brian McNaughton (1935–2004)

This is a re-publication of Satan's Lovechild series from the 60s/70s. I'm still trying to get a copy of the original, Star Publishing, edition as my understanding is there have been actual revisions as well as possible additions/omissions and I'm curious to see what exactly that entails. I am assuming that the original, being published by Playboy under one of its imprints and from some comments made by the author over the years, is more explicitly racy than this reprint. I would be tempted to say that perhaps it is only a difference in socio-cultural norms between then and now as to what would be considered explicit sexual content, however even some of McNaughton's other works are more direct in their sexuality than this one leading me to believe that some of the changes lie there.
This falls pretty solidly into the satanic/witch cults genre of horror literature and film so prevalent from the 60s-80s. You never know if your neighbor, wife, daughter, those hermit farmers, weird hippies, or literally anyone else in society might be secret satan worshipers, looking to kidnap and/or sexually exploit children and sacrifice babies. The same ideas that the satanic panic and religious right of the 80s decided were real instead of just fiction. We get some hints that this might be a stranger, less judeo-christian, world with to the supernatural goings on than mere satan worship though. Specifically, the nature of certain brothers and sisters begins to show that perhaps this is a more Lovecraftian universe. I believe the farther one gets in the series, the more 'weird' and less just 'horrific' it gets.
As is the case with all McNaughton's work, the prose is beautifully polished throughout. He is an expert wordsmith. However, the pacing feels distinctly uneven. This is fairly short for a novel, coming in at just 144 pages, but long compared to a lot of his short fiction work. I think the pacing suffers from trying to bridge the gap between the more action oriented demands of short fiction (barring atmospheric pieces) and the internal character driven demands of long-form work. We get just enough of characters internal lives to make us want to know more, but not enough for them to feel fully developed. Engaging, more action packed scenes that seem to drop too quickly into denoument. In some of his anthologized works like Throne of Bones, we see characters more fully explored and developed over longer sequences of tales, and I think that may be where McNaughton shines. If there's every an omnibus of this series of books published, it may be better to read them that way, though I'll reserve judgment until I've read the rest of the series.… (more)

Throne of Bones could be considered McNaughton's opus. The collection first put out by Terminal Frights (now defunct), with tantalizing hints that there is significantly more material set in this world, collects McNaughton's work centered around ghouls of the vaguely Lovecraftian sort. I say vaguely because, if you're familiar with that style of ghoul its a good starting point, but this expands greatly on the lore of ghouls, taking it in some interesting and unforeseen directions. Hence it being generally regarded as the 'Dracula' or 'Frankenstein' of ghoul stories. Its also McNaughton's foray in to serious worldbuilding, as these interconnected stories span multiple clearly well developed and thought through cultures and across time in a world that, while horrific in its own right, shows clear influences of early 20th century/late 19th century fantasy and sword & sorcery authors.
I was prepared for the explicity ghoul-porn (though there was far less of that than I was led to believe), I was prepared for the sometimes cumbersone/tiresome older/weirder fantasy world-building naming schemes, I was prepared for the weird/lovecraftian elements. What I was not prepared for was the humor. Because there's been some intense worldbuilding going on, the interconnected nature of the story telling gave McNaughton the chance to do more character development in these short works than we would normally expected from short fiction. Getting to know and understand the internal lives of necromancers, scholars, the bumbling nobles, and the ghouls themselves set up a great deal of dramatic irony for the reader to laugh at. And while much of the action sequences are well written in the sword and sorcery style, even there we get to see and frequently find humor in the exploits of one of our more reluctant protagonists.
Honestly, I think is really where McNaughton's work shines in this collection, though I'm likely to be in the minority. Not the world building, not the horror, not the exceptionally well polished and carefully crafted writing. But in showing us characters and events in the midst of a world every bit as horrific and grey as the skin of his ghouls that can make also make us laugh, and in a few cases, evoke sadness and pity.
Is it my favorite work of weird fiction? No. Is it even the best of the novel length collections Terminal Fright put out in its heyday? Not in my opinion. And I would say lovers of Robert E. Howard sword and sorcery are likely to find more to enjoy here than the lovers of Lovecraftian weird fiction I think its normally directed at. But there are definitely some things to enjoy here. If nothing else, I think the humor alone makes it worth a read. And even the old Terminal Fright hardbacks are out there on secondary markets for relatively low prices, let alone the newer editions.… (more)