From the blurb:
Toby was just a boy the first time he saw the creature in the woods. His parents convinced the terrified child it was only his imagination. The next time Toby saw the creature he was a lonely, unhappy teenager without friends. But the creature would be his friend. It would be there when Toby needed someone to talk to. And it would take care of the bullies who wouldn’t leave Toby alone. After all, the creature needed to eat. And during their macabre, decades-long friendship, there will be other meals…
A pet monster. It's one of those wonderful fantasies that an imaginative boy could indulge in. Imagine having a pet monster, wouldn't that be cool? It could protect you from bullies. Allow you to live out some revenge fantasies. Make other geeks green with envy. Impress girls. Okay, perhaps not that last one. Unless she has some weirdo hairy beast fetish or something.
Though the idea is hardly common in the modern novel format, a boy and his monster is not new to the horror genre: A favourite example of mine is Mongster by Randall Boyll (Berkley, 1991). What Jeff Strand does to differentiate his work is have the story occur over a literal lifetime.
This is no mean feat, especially given the limits imposed by the 300-odd page Leisure format, but Jeff Strand manages it deftly. Sometimes as little as a few lines will mark the passing of a year, and this works surprisingly well. It's enough to keep the reader's finger on the pulse, to have an idea of how Toby's life and relationship with the monster is progressing, with the bigger tracts saved for when something of significance occurs.
The story follows Toby through all the normal milestones of life - love gained and lost, career developments, family, accidental murderous carnage - okay, plenty of not-so-normal milestones as well. He soon learns that having a pet monster is not everything it's cracked up to be; in fact, integrating a man-eating monstrosity into an ostensably normal lifestyle is pretty damn hard. Pretty damn messy.
There are times when Toby finds that some hard choices have to be made between the love of man-and-monster and the more familial kind. (No not that kind of man-and-monster love; it's not that kind of book.) Some of these choices would seem pretty easy to someone, well, normal, but not Toby, who at the very least you could say is not particularly socially well-adjusted. He is also prone to making some very unwise, even selfish choices. At times the monster seems like a more sympathetic character.
As a whole the book walks the line somewhere between comedic and horrific, but not leaning too far in either direction. There were times where I thought it could do with a bit more bite (ho! a pun!), but even in parts where things slow down a little, it is never less than entertaining.
I was pretty certain that Strand's light, accessible style would mean I wouldn't get so involved, that I wouldn't feel much sorrow as the inevitable tragedies played before my eyes, but... but... despite this there were times near the end of the book where a certain dampness was felt around my eyes, a certain pang felt in my heart...
That manipulative bastard, I thought. Well played.
4 out of 5 scalpels
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I would be remiss if I didn't mention the Dark Regions Press version of this book. If you want a really handsome volume, that's the one to get; it's even been on special as I've been formulating this review, though my tardiness in actually publishing it has probably meant you've missed out - oh well.
Anyway, here's a picture of the cover:
Alas, it doesn't come with a cool mountable werewolf head like Jeff's most recent book, Wolf Hunt, but there's an easy fix for this:
- Obtain a very shaggy piece of carpet, or alternatively, a fur coat.
- Cut out a vaguely head-shaped silhouette.
- Staple your new monster head to the wall.
There you go, a mountable Dweller head!*
(*Disclaimer: may not look like the Dweller as pictured)
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