Guy N Smith, The Son of the Werewolf Reviews

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“First published back in 1978, Guy N Smith's pulp...”

★★★★☆

written by Dreadlocksmile on 02/08/2009

First published back in 1978, Guy N Smith's pulp horror novel 'The Son of the Werewolf' was the third and final instalment into his early 'Werewolf' trilogy. The novel saw itself written and subsequently published in the same year that also saw the publication of 'Killer Crabs' and the classic pulp horror title 'Bats out of Hell'.

The novel is once again set around the rural woodland of the Black Hill area, situated close to the village of Llanadevy on the Shropshire and Welsh border. It's exactly nine months since Margaret Gunn was raped by Tom Davies (aka Tom Owen) whose bloodthirsty rampage under the disguise of a werewolf ultimately ended with his death.

Sure enough, Margaret Gunn conceived on the night Davies raped and abducted her. Margaret Gunn and Gordon Hall had observed the stubbly skin that covered Davies's dead body as he lay impaled on the wooden stakes which was detailed at the end of 'Return of the Werewolf'. Now, nine months later and Margaret Gunn is giving birth to Davies's child. At its birth, Margaret Gunn observes the longer third finger on both of the baby's hands, a tale-tale sign of lycanthropy. They name the baby Hugh Gunn, whilst Vic Gunn remains none the wiser to whom is the true father of the child they will be raising as their own.

Hugh Gunn grows up to be an aggressive outcast at school, bullying the other pupils at every opportunity. Two weeks before he is set to leave school for good, he has a run in with the head master Clive Williams over some recent bullying. Soon enough, Williams is murdered and his corpse is found mutilated in his school study. Hugh Gunn is quickly picked up for the murder whilst walking away from the school drenched in the blood of the head master.

Two years later and Hugh Gunn has been released from prison on good behaviour after serving the small sentence handed to him for manslaughter. During his time incarcerated in prison, Hugh Gunn learns of his dark secret after he begins to change into the altered state of a werewolf during the periods when the moon is full in the night sky. Hugh Gunn, now in his late teens and once again a free man, returns to Llanadevy for a brief period before deciding to head off for the luring lights of a city. On his journey, Gunn arrives at a small town where he is almost immediately involved in a brutal fight with some local youths who put him in hospital.

Gunn awakens in the hospital and decides to leave the premise as quickly as possible, on account of his werewolf state, now that the moon is out. Upon departing the hospital, Gunn comes across a nurse, who he subsequently rapes, murders and mutilates.

Now on the run, Gunn hides within a train's cargo of coal, and waits for the train to leave the town on its own accord. After travelling for quite some time on the train, Gunn awakens this time in the city centre of Birmingham. He has made it to the city at last.

Now in Birmingham, Gunn hides out in a derelict building that is waiting to be demolished. Whilst there he has a run in with three muggers who end up being killed and devoured at the hands of Gunn. Now with a considerable amount of money obtained from the muggers, Gunn stumbles across a local prostitute who escorts him back to her abode. The night doesn't last long before Gunn once again transforms into his werewolf state and rips the prostitute to pieces.

Now with the body count rising and a police hunt in full swing, with a hefty reward also on Gunn's head, he decides to return to the safety of the Llanadevy, and more importantly the desolate woodlands of Black Hill that he knows so well.

Gunn meets up with some gypsy travellers who take him the majority of the way back to the Shropshire and Welsh border. During a stop off, Gunn murders the gypsy's leader, Patrick Docherty, forcing him to leave the gypsies and travel the rest of the way to his parent's farm under his own steam.

Once back in the relative safety of the area he grew up in, Gunn hides away in a derelict old chapel until the night comes and now in werewolf form, he goes out into the wilderness of Black Hill and murders the local hunter Major Simpson. Vic Gunn is phoned by Simpson's wife regarding his disappearance and Gordon Hall (who has been rather surprisingly staying at the Gunn's household) goes out to Black Hill to once again face his worst enemy.

But Black Hill has more evil secrets than just the werewolf son of Tom Davies roaming under the silvery light of the moon. The legend of the Black Dogs has come about once again.

With Smith's final novel in the 'Werewolf' trilogy, the first question that is in the readers mind is "if Tom Davies was indeed a werewolf, then how did this transpire?" Alas, at no stage during the novel does Smith take on board this taxing question, leaving the reader somewhat baffled by the whole premise of the tale. Mere suggestions that Hugh Gunn's father had stubbly skin covering his body, does not lay to rest the questions regarding the werewolf's legacy.

With this annoying aspect put to one side, 'The Son of the Werewolf' is otherwise a thoroughly enjoyable and involved tale with a full and varied storyline. The character of Hugh Gunn is very well described and developed upon, with his dark and primordial side taken on more weight as the story develops.

With the tale predominately following the steps of Hugh Gunn, Smith leaves little to no time to develop any subplots with the characters of Vic and Margaret Gunn or indeed that of the ever-present reporter Gordon Hall.

The novel packs in more gore soaked violence and bestial rape scenes than either one of its processors. Gunn's violent and sexually motivated attack on the young and defenceless nurse is nothing short of brutal reading.

For sheer pulp horror violence alone, this novel delivers in abundance. With a well crafted storyline that takes numerous twists and turns throughout the course of its life, the novel remains truly gripping from start to finish.

Smith manages to wrap the tale up nicely, with a dark conclusion that brings over an eerie air of mystery, whilst still leaving the reader satisfied with how the werewolf's story finally comes to an end.

The novel runs for a total of 124 pages and was published through the New English Library.

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