The Wyrm by Stephen Laws

 

The Wyrm

by Stephen Laws

As autumn descends, it is almost time for our annual family holiday to Northumberland. It's been quite a summer with one thing and another, and frankly even the end of October seems too far off. So, denied actually being there, I am visiting the county in a literary sense.

Stephen Laws is a British horror writer, and his works include 11 novels and a number of short stories. He started writing (or at least was first published) in the mid 1980s, and is still going at the time of writing (though his work seems to have slowed down). The Wyrm was Laws' third novel and is pretty standard fare. A writer moves to an isolated town in Northumberland where there is discussion about moving an historic gibbet. Most people are for removing the said executionary structure except for the local lunatic. It comes as little surprise that the lunatic turns out to be right, and the town is doomed to an ancient evil. In the process, the writer falls in love with the lunatic's daughter.

Scoring the book was rather awkward. There are a lot of things Laws doesn't do well, but they are all things that aren't really integral to a pulp horror novel. And the things he does do well are things that one would be disappointed not to find in such a novel. I am glad my scoring method awards 30 points (out of the total 140) to 'Genre Expectations'.

Photo by Cliff Hellis and used under
Creative Commons license

The beginning of the novel is clunky. The characters are sketched in cliches and are not overly believable. The day-to-day life of the townsfolk, the setting up of 'normal', is pretty lacking. However, once the novel gets going, Laws finds his stride, and he handles action and tension very well. The plot doesn't go into any new or original territory, and doesn't bear thinking on in too much detail, but it moves along at a good lick, and is exciting and eerie. The whole 'emotional arc' falls flat. The introduction of the protagonist's issues with writing is ham-fisted, and then fails to go anywhere, missing an opportunity to add depth.

If you want subtlety, nuance or a story that makes you think, or feel, in a different way, The Wyrm isn't for you. If you want a pulp horror story that will divert you for a few hours, you could do a lot worse.

93/130: ★★★★☆