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I bought this book because I am very fond of the Hammer film, and wondered how the book compared. I have to say I enjoyed it tremendously. It was a very fast read, it was written quite simply, but there were very effective passages of action as well as lots of interesting discussion between the characters on the nature of magic and good and evil. . I was amused by the introduction which mentioned how in order to do research he met with both Crowley and Montague Summers, and that it was Montague Summers who disturbed him the most, inviting him to stay at his house and then trying to sell him a very rare occult book that Wheatly didn’t want and couldn’t afford, after which Summers apparently freaked out and Wheatly had to fake an excuse to leave.
At first I was surprised to see how closely the book followed the film and had a hard time picturing everyone in nice 1930s clothes instead of their 60s Hammer attire. But as I read further it was easier to see the characters in the book quickly over shadowed their counterparts in the film, (with the exception of De Richelieu who always remained a lot like Christopher Lee). This started with the abduction of the friend Simon; the older and wiser De Richelieu in order to protect him from the occult influences put a swastika around his neck. His young friend was horrified that he’d do this being that their friend was Jewish and it was 1935! The book was a sequel and there were constant references back to their previous adventure in Russia I found this rather reassuring rather than annoying. As that adventure has simply been a straightforward adventure story with no supernatural or occult events, to me it added further spookiness to what they were going through this time.
There were a lot of great moments, one of my favourite early on was when they were exploring their friend’s house to discover the nature of his involvement in the occult and made a point of bringing the champagne with them on their explorations. There was also a very striking scene set on the river as they young American hero attempted to woo the beautiful medium and she told him why she was attracted to the left hand part and why she wanted to participate in the ritual.
I found it very interesting and highly enjoyable book.
At first I was surprised to see how closely the book followed the film and had a hard time picturing everyone in nice 1930s clothes instead of their 60s Hammer attire. But as I read further it was easier to see the characters in the book quickly over shadowed their counterparts in the film, (with the exception of De Richelieu who always remained a lot like Christopher Lee). This started with the abduction of the friend Simon; the older and wiser De Richelieu in order to protect him from the occult influences put a swastika around his neck. His young friend was horrified that he’d do this being that their friend was Jewish and it was 1935! The book was a sequel and there were constant references back to their previous adventure in Russia I found this rather reassuring rather than annoying. As that adventure has simply been a straightforward adventure story with no supernatural or occult events, to me it added further spookiness to what they were going through this time.
There were a lot of great moments, one of my favourite early on was when they were exploring their friend’s house to discover the nature of his involvement in the occult and made a point of bringing the champagne with them on their explorations. There was also a very striking scene set on the river as they young American hero attempted to woo the beautiful medium and she told him why she was attracted to the left hand part and why she wanted to participate in the ritual.
I found it very interesting and highly enjoyable book.