Shaun Hutson, Spawn

Shaun Hutson, Spawn - Synopsis:

"A book portraying two disturbed men and the unnatural consequences of their deeds. Harold Pierce is released from a mental hospital where he has spent all of his adult life. His new job as a hospital porter involves him in the burning of aborted foetuses - an act which brings back nightmare memories of the death by fire of his baby brother Gordon. The trauma is such that the deranged but gentle Harold begins to neglect his duties.

Paul Harvey is a convicted murderer and his escape from prison places the Exham police force under a great deal of pressure. Their vigorous manhunt yields no results but when they begin to investigate a brutal series of murders no one has any doubt that it is Harvey who is decapitating the hapless victims".

Originally published in 1983 by W.H. Allen, this novel is one of Hutson's earlier pieces. Spawn is just one of those classic Hutson novels that has shaped him into the respected splatterpunk author he is today. The novel doesn't weave a particularly complex plot, or delve into strong charcterisation, but what it does do is produce some light horror entertainment that will keep you gripped from the start.

Nothing notably outstanding sticks out from the book, but I must say that I did enjoy it. It's one of those novels that you really don't want to put down as your dragged from page to page, until you're at the gorey climax. The important thing with this novel, as with most, if not all, Hutson novels, is not to expect a masterpiece. Mr. Hutson writes gorey, enjoyable, easy to read, splatterpunk horror with no complex or detailed plots. And he is superb at what he does!