For this year's Halloween article I was going to post some traditional cover art featuring ghouls, ghosts and goblins, but after a recent encounter of the critter kind I decided to switch to beasts instead.
You see, about a month ago I noticed a large raccoon sitting atop the cedar fence in my back yard. It was late in the day, maybe two hours before sunset. I called my wife over and we both watched the critter watching us until it finally got bored and moved out of sight behind the roof of our shed, all the while balancing on the pickets like Olga Korbut. We figured it was just making its way down the fence-line to somewhere else. I didn't have time to grab my camera but afterward we did discuss things like distemper and rabies. Here in the city you almost never spot raccoons in the daytime, or at least we never have. Seeing one sunning itself so blatantly was definitely unusual, and could be the sign of a malady.
The next morning when I looked on the far side of shed I was horrified by what I found. Scat everywhere! On the shed roof, in its rain-gutter, and littering the concrete space between the fence. Gross! Disgusting! And yes---Scary!
I swear it couldn't have been more than three weeks since I had been back there putting something away (wheel-barrow, ladder, etc). Had the raccoon been living there just since then? Well, yes, apparently so---but to be more exact it was living underneath my neighbor's shed, which sits on dirt and backs up against our shared fence. Needless to say there was some serious cleanup to be done. Yuck! Since then the raccoon hasn't returned, and that's a huge relief. Whew!
So to celebrate Halloween, and the successful removal of a most unwelcome yard guest, here are some beasts for you to marvel at, each one safely emblazoned on the cover of a book, with no cleanup required.
Panther by Alan Ryan was published in paperback by Signet in 1981. The cover art depicts a BLACK PANTHER, and was produced by Tom Hallman.
"The black panther. The most feared of all deadly creatures of the jungle--untamable and insatiable in its blood lust. New York was the last place on earth where this creature should have been set loose. But now it had happened, as twenty of these great killer-cats--brought to Manhattan through one man's greed, and released by his madness--made the glittering capital of the beautiful people their hunting ground, and every man, woman, and child their prey..."
Panther by Roderick Haig-Brown was published in paperback by Armada Lion (U.K.) in 1971. The cover depicts a COUGAR, and was produced by an unknown artist.
"Ki-yu's father had been the meanest panther on Vancouver Island. Ki-yu grew up to be just as mean and even more cunning. Every living thing became his enemy--man especially. The seasons passed in killing, feeding, and roaming, sometimes with a mate, sometimes alone. With his brute strength Ki-yu brought down deer, wolves, and even a bear. Then out of daring and disdain he came down from the mountains to attack the farm animals. And so he became the hunted as well as the hunter."
"A young linguist, doing research in a remote part of Mexico, stumbles on a strange and terrifying mystery--he finds a lost tribe of Indians who apparently have the power to turn themselves into savage jaguars! As he tries to determine whether he is going insane, the young man is drawn into a deadly adventure that seemingly crosses the barriers of time and space!"
"Dr. Mondrick's expedition returned from the Gobi Desert with an iron-bound chest and a haunting burden of dread. Will Barbee, a reporter covering the return for his newspaper, meets gorgeous April Bell, who claims to be a reporter for a rival sheet. But there are times when she seems more than human. Will gets a story far stranger than he expects... and becomes involved in a desperate drama of dark human conflict and darker victory." --- Lancer edition.
"Professor Mondrick brought proof of it from the depths of Asia... but something silenced him forever before he could reveal it. Mondrick's wife and his three disciples carried on his crusade... but something brought ghastly death to three of them and branded the fourth a murderer. Newsman Will Barbee was dreadfully afraid that he knew what the something was... and that he was part of it." --- Dell edition.
Man-Eater by Ted Willis was published in hardcover by William Morrow in 1976. The jacket art depicts a TIGER, and was produced by Honi Werner. The U.K. hardcover was published in 1977 by The Book Club Associates, with jacket art by Tom Adams. The paperback edition that followed was published in 1977 by Pan Books---its cover artist remains unknown. Bantam issued the first U.S. paperback edition in 1977, with cover art by t Lou Feck.
"Someone unlocked the cage and set a pair of tigers loose on the unsuspecting countryside. The first victim was a philandering husband on lovers' lane. The next was a girl who wandered too far from her picnic. Suddenly the suburb exploded with horror, exposing the raw passions and vicious secrets locked inside the quiet community. While outside, the cats continued to prowl..." --- Bantam edition.
Caracal by Guy N. Smith was published in paperback by New English Library (U.K.) in 1980. The cover art depicts a CARACAL, and was produced by an unknown artist.
"An illegal immigrant who comes ashore on the Welsh coast, a scared Asian with his arms around a dark-furred creature... his pet, his only friend. In an isolated hippy commune in the Radnor hills, the kittenish creature grows into a ferocious feline predator. The quiet country side is terrorized by death after hideous death..."
The Neophyte by Guy N. Smith was published in paperback by Arrow/New English Library in 1986. The cover art depicts a PERSIAN CAT. Thanks to this unknown artist, I don't think I'll ever see a house cat in the same way I used to.
"Once, in the time of persecutions, of fear and death, the witchfinder had come. And out of the deaths Evil had been born, to feed and fatten in all the dark places of the village; in the minds, twisted and hungry to hate, of its people. Now, Obscene and lusting, that Evil's hour of fulfillment was at hand. The man died first, gored and stamped into the mud. Next, the woman, alone and mad. Then the young boy, throat sliced open..."
Cat Magic by Jonathan Barry and Whitley Streiber was published in hardcover by Tor in 1986. The cover art depicts a TABBY CAT, and was produced by Paul Stinson.
"Maywell, New Jersey, is a sleepy little town, the forces around it quiet, until in a laboratory George Walker completes his first experiment in reanimation: He kills an animal and brings it back to life. Next he will try a human subject. But before he does, he and the entire town of Maywell will have to deal with the force his first success unleashes..."
The Haven by Graham Diamond was published in paperback by Playboy Press in 1977. The cover art depicts a DOG, and was produced by Wayne McLoughlin.
"Creatures out of the caves, mountains, forests, and swamps--after hundreds of years of scheming and waiting--came surging across the broad land to the very outskirts of the remaining bastion of human life, The Haven. They were a howling horde of cunning wild dogs and savage, blood-thirsty bats united now with only one goal in mind--to destroy their enemy: thousands of doomed men, women and children. It would be a massacre so vicious, so horrible and so complete that they would finally be able to rule the world unopposed forever."
The Pack by William Essex was published in paperback by Leisure in 1987. The cover art depicts a DOG, and was produced by by Brian Kotzky.
"Fueled by an insatiable hunger, driven by a consuming madness, the pack ravaged the countryside, killing for sport--killing for food. Possessed of an unnatural intelligence, skilled at stalking and attacking, they chased and devoured their human prey with the icy, snarling efficiency of the perfect killing machine. Once they had been pets, now they were man's worst enemy--and their numbers were swelling."
The Accursed by G. S. Burdick (pseudonym?) was published in paperback by Playboy Press in 1982. The cover art depicts a DOBERMAN DOG, and was produced by an unknown artist.
"Dr. Nicholas Christoff and Dr. Rebecca Meehan run the most exclusive cosmetic surgery practice in New York, catering to America's high society and power elite. But suddenly their Gramercy Park clinic is plagued by a series of inexplicable 'accidents,' each involving a different client. A healthy patient nearly dies of cardiac arrest for no reason. Another is attacked by a nurse who goes berserk. Then another... and another. But why? The answer, Dr. Christoff realizes, lies not in the present, but in the darkest recesses of his family's past, in a legacy of unspeakable evil that has vowed to destroy the accursed."
"From the silent tombs of the pharaohs it came, infecting the world with an insidious disease more terrifying than the Black Plague. The vile infection transformed those it touched into savage, demented beasts. But the victims of this ancient curse did not die, they overran the earth, thriving on the meat of the healthy. Survivors had two options: contract the hideous sickness, or meet a violent death in the rabid jaws of an inhuman killer..."
"The lethal, body-pulping pile-up on this winding Welsh mountain road was sickening enough, but leaking through the hidden channels of the earth to contaminate the pond at hobb's Farm, miles away, produced an unimaginably more horrific effect. As the farm animals drank the tainted water, something strange and sinister began to happen. Soon, previously docile beasts were moving in on their increasingly panic-stricken human 'masters'. Moving in---for the kill..."
Razorback by Peter Brennan was published in paperback by Jove in 1981 (upper). The cover art depicts a WILD BOAR, and was produced by an unknown artist (Don Brautigam, perhaps?). The British paperback was published by Fontana in 1982, and its cover art was also produced by an unknown artist also (Les Edwards, perhaps?). French publisher J'ai Lu released their version in 1985. The cover artist is unknown as well.
"Australia. The Outback. It was a cracked, red land, A cruel land, where tusked predator and prey locked in a cycle that predated man. It was in that land that the American conservationist, Beth Taylor, vanished. And where her husband must go to avenge her, to find the men that kill and the way that they kill, to learn the primitive ways of the razorback, the cruelest predator of all. Only then would he know who. And how. And why. If he survived..." --- Jove edition.
"It was a parched, lonely cruel land. It was the land of the cruellest predator of all, the razorback. It was there that the American woman, beautiful, well-known, controversial for her conservationist views, disappeared without a trace. It was there that the smart New York lawyer, her husband, must go, to find the men who kill, to uncover the greater conspiracy of greed and violence, to face the truth about himself. Only then would he know who killed his wife. And how. And why. If he survived in the land of the razorback." Fontana edition.
The Pet by Charles L. Grant was published in hardcover by Tor in 1986. The cover art depicts a HORSE, and was produced by an unknown artist (Jill Bauman, perhaps).
"The village of Ashford, New Jersey, is about to discover terror. The Howler, a bloody killer who has already shredded six teens, is moving in. Seventeen-year-old Don Boyd doesn't need the grief. He's already under siege---jock trouble, girl trouble, school trouble, family trouble. Then one frosty autumn night, Don is jumped by the Howler. Suddenly they're surrounded by fog, green fire, the sound of iron striking iron... And Ashford's real horror begins."
Bethany's Sin by Robert R. McCammon was published in paperback by Sphere (U.K.) in 1980. The cover art depicts a HORSE, and was produced by British born artist Terry Oakes.
"When Evan Reid brought his wife and small daughter to Bethany's Sin it seemed the perfect setting. A small village, far from the noise and pollution of the city, it was quaint and very peaceful. Too peaceful. There were no sounds at all... almost as if the night had been frightened into silence. Then Evan noticed there were very few men in the village, and that those he knew of were crippled. And sometimes he thought he heard the sound of horses galloping in the dead of night. Soon he would know the superhuman secret that kept the village alive. And he would watch in horror as Kay and Laurie underwent a hideous transformation right before his eyes. He would know the terror that happened at night---and only to men... in Bethany's Sin."
Rattlers by Joseph L. Gilmore was published in paperback by Hamlyn (London) in 1979. The cover art depicts a RATTLESNAKE, and was produced by British born artist Melvyn Grant.
Fangs by William Dobson was published in paperback by Signet in 1980. The cover art depicts a HOODED COBRA, and was produced by Tom Hallman.
"Where would death strike next? In the bedroom of a great actress wrestling with her private demons of drink and desire... In the midst of an orgy of sex and drugs as a rock superstar took his pleasure from other's pain... In the heavily guarded suite of an Arab oil sheik and his treasured young son... In the private paradise of a newlywed couple learning how to love... The most vicious killer-creature in the world--an incredibly large and deadly King Cobra-- was loose in the human jungle of a great city... and the victims that it lusted for were everywhere..."
Gila by Les Simons (a pseudonym of Kathryn Ptacek) was published in paperback by Signet in 1981. The cover art depicts a GILA MONSTER, and was produced by Tom Hallman.
"Just a moment before, Maria had been shuddering with pleasure in the arms of her teenage lover. Now she lay frozen as she saw the bedroom wall of the cottage bulging inward, then cracking wide open. 'God Almighty!' the boy moaned, and tore himself from Maria's arms. But he could not escape the nightmare creature coming into the room. He shrieked over and over as the giant jaws closed about his torso, snapping him in the middle as his body was a twig. The creature raised its head. Blood and bits of warm, wet flesh slipped from the mouth, down onto the bed and the naked girl. An overwhelming rotting odor flooded the room, and Maria began to pray as the orange-and-black creature opened its mouth to let what remained of her lover's body slip out... to make room for her...
"London is struck by an invasion. Women, children, old and young, none are safe from the deadly menace. The attacks are swift and sure, escape is impossible. A state of emergency is declared. Evacuation seems the only solution in the face of a growing panic and mounting death toll. War is declared on the public enemy number one. The Rats!" --- NEL edition.
"The humans believed they had rid themselves of the killer strain of rats forever. But now from the secret darkness the rats were pouring forth again--their maniacal intelligence and murderous strength honed for the triumph denied to them once, and now about to be seized in their ravenous razor-sharp fangs..."
The Folly by David Anne was published in hardcover by W. H. Allen (London) in 1980. The jacket art depicts a RABBIT, and was produced by artist Lynn Duncombe.
"The peace of the quiet English country village of Frickley, situated a few miles from the Government Research Station of Porton Down is abruptly shattered by a series of inexplicable, violent death. The victims are so badly mutilated as to be unidentifiable. Among the dead are the parents of Guy Corling. Propelled by both personal and professional feelings, Guy starts to uncover the grotesque story of one man's folly--leading him on a trail of death and terror until the final, hair-raising denouement."
Abracadabra by Stephen Gresham was published in paperback by Zebra in 1988. The cover art depicts a RABBIT, and was produced by Richard Newton.
"Eleven-year-ol Juice Smith's favorite place in the whole world was the old abandoned Wilner Theatre. There on its dark and dusty stage she could pretend to be "Juice the Magnifico" performing magic with her bag of tricks. Her grandfather, a long-time member of the local Sleights-of-Hand, had given her a special skeleton key, and to Juice's surprise it fit right in the lock of the ornate old trunk that had been left backstage... The Sleight-of-Hands were furious when they discovered at their next meeting that Nat Smith had given his skeleton key--the skeleton key--to his granddaughter. Nat wondered what they could possibly be afraid of after all these years. But one by one over the next few weeks, the venerable members of the Sleights-of-Hand would find their magical talents failing them at crucial--and gruesome--moments. And Nat would discover there was good reason to be afraid. Very afraid."
Night's Yawning Peal by August Derleth (editor) was published in an abridged paperback edition by Signet in 1974. The cover art depicts three WOLVES with CORAL SNAKES for tongues, and was produced by Don Ivan Punchatz.
"A terrifying treat for those who like to have their blood run cold! Here is the master spell-weaver of them all, H. P. Lovecraft, with an unforgettable novel set in the shadowland of madness and demonic possession. Here is infinite evil and the black arts as portrayed by Lord Dunsany, Algernon Blackwood, Robert Bloch, and other supremely chilling storytellers. So turn on your reading light. Listen to the wind howling outside. And plunge into the dark depths of the most spinetingling eerie imaginations of our time."
Wolfen by Whitley Strieber was published in hardcover by William Morrow in 1978 (upper). The jacket art depicts a WOLF, and was produced by Judith Kazdym Leeds. The second paperback edition was published by Bantam in 1981 (lower), with new cover art that also depicts a WOLF, produced by an unknown artist (Don Brautigam, perhaps).
"In the dark they are watching... The are waiting for you. No one has ever lived to tell the horrifying truth about them. Yet even now the Wolfen are gathered in the night-dark alleys... unseen, poised... ready to destroy their helpless human prey. Only one man and one woman, trained cops, willing to risk their lives, stand in their way." ---1st Bantam edition (not shown).
"They can stare into our souls. They know the color of our fear, the hidden weaknesses of our bodies. In the darkness... they can see where we are blind. They can tear the scream from your throat." --- 2nd Bantam edition (movie-tie-in).
Thirteen Tales of Terror by Jack London was published in paperback by Popular Library in 1978. The cover art depicts a TIMBER WOLF, and was produced by an unknown illustrator.
"Before JAWS, Before the EXORCIST, Before THE DEEP, There was Jack London. The nightmare cruelty of nature... the killing lusts of beasts of prey... the shadowy power of the supernatural... the demons that rise from the primordial depths of the human heart... all a part of the fearful world created and charted by the supreme storytelling genius of Jack London. In this remarkable collection of the most hauntingly compelling tales he ever wrote are some of the most chilling and gripping experiences the printed page has ever offered. Here is a volume uniquely designed for those who dare come nakedly face to face with the ultimate in terror."
Blood Snarl by Ivor Watkins was first published in paperback by Signet in 1982. The cover art depicts a TIMBER WOLF, and was produced by an unknown artist. The United Kingdom paperback edition from Futura was published in 1994, depicting what looks to be the lower jaw of a TIMBER WOLF.
"They were big--very big. Their slanting green eyes seemed to glow even in the daylight. Huge teeth gleamed white in the pale winter sun. They were creatures out of a folk nightmare, and they were coming from the northern wilderness in the midst of the most savage winter in centuries. They were led by a giant killer creature, unlike any other great gray wolf that man had faced in the age-old struggle for supremacy on the planet. The firs victims of the slashing fangs were the domestic animals. Next were the children, who gave the wolves a taste for human flesh. Now as the hungry howling and the gnawing horror spread over the land, no one was safe--and no way was in sight to stop the slaughter..." --- Signet edition.
"They were big--very big. Their slanting green eyes seemed to glow even in the daylight. Huge teeth gleamed white in the pale winter sun. They were creatures out of a folk nightmare. Now the harshest winter has forced them to leave their mountain fastnesses in search of prey. At first it was Man's animals that fed their raging appetite. Now it is Man himself... THE BLOODSNARL, a nightmare of Man against Nature, fought to a pitiless crescendo in the frozen barrens of the North." --- Futura edition.
When Darkness Falls by Sidney Williams was published in paperback by Pinnacle in 1992. The cover art depicts a WOLF, and was produced by an unknown illustrator.
"Something is hunting down the inhabitants of Petittville, Louisiana. As howls shred the quiet of the chill autumn night, the sleepy suburb once more becomes the arena for another frenzied chase, another desperate victim, another brutal death. Unfazed by the community's mounting terror, a beautiful teacher takes a job at the local high school. The older boys make passes; but Miss Nielson seems preoccupied with only one boy, a shy misfit teenager named Charlie. Charlie Black can't figure why his best friend was ripped to shreds by a pack of wild creatures. The police say it was dogs, but Charlie believes the bloody hunts are part of an ancient legend--and that the secret rituals he's seen Miss Nielson perform are somehow linked to the creatures that stalk."
"Its first victims: A screeching swan... A fisherman overboard... A drunken woman in a dinghy... One by one, the mysterious killer in Lake Windermere claims its terrified victims. Tearing off limbs with its monstrous teeth, horribly mutilating bodies. Fear sweeps the peaceful holiday resort when experts identify the creature as a giant pike... A hellish creature with the strength to rupture boats--and the anger to attack them. But for some the terror becomes a bonanza--the traders who cater to the gathering crowds of ghouls on the shore. And they will do anything to stop the divers finding the killer. Meanwhile the ripples of bloodshed widen..."
The Lake by Karl Largent was published in paperback by BMI in 1993. The cover art depicts a GARPIKE, and was produced by an unknown artist.
"To save the environment, it had to be controlled. To save the people, it had to be stopped. To save the town, it had to be destroyed. The Lake: from out of the depths rose a horror born of a technological disaster--a terrifying force that defied the laws of nature and threatened mankind with a new kind of death."
Savaged by actress Victoria Burgoyne was published in paperback by Futura (U.K.) in 1980. The cover art depicts a HYENA, and was produced by an unknown artist.
"His daughter lay dying. Her last wish, a present from her favourite nursery rhyme. He could deny her nothing. Wile a city slept, four footed death was smuggled in and soon the cries were heard--the spinechilling prelude to vile destruction. And within days a child's innocent dream became a terrifying nightmare of blood and violence, and a horror over the edge of madness."
Try as I could, I struggled to find even even one horror cover depicting
raccoons*. I guess they're just not scary enough as far as beasts go (the proof may be in this 1960 cover painting by Lawrence Tyler Dresser for Rutherford Montgomery's novel Weecha The Racoon. Cute, eh?).
BUT, WAIT...
Persistence usually pays off, as finally evidenced below from R. L. Stine's bestselling children's series Goosebumps...
Now that's more like it! Fright Camp, No. 8 in R. L. Stine's Goosebump Series 2000, was published in digest sized softcover by Scholastic in 1998. The cover art depicts a RACOON, and was produced by Tim Jacobus.
"I lowered my head and started to swim slowly, steadily out to the white, floating platform. I was four or five strokes away from it when I felt something wrap around my ankle. At first, I thought it was a piece of seaweed. But then I felt it grip me. I thrashed the water with both hands. 'Let go--!' But the hard, bony hand held on, tugging me, tugging me underwater."
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| Racoon Claw Marks On Neighbor's Shed |
HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!
[October, 2020, © Jeffersen]
