06/21/2025 Recent Reads & Reviews: Graham Masterton-Triple Feature

During my reading this past month, I wanted to add in a favorite author of mine, along with my indie reads. Graham Masterton is one of the legends in the horror genre, prolific, entertaining, and widely read across the globe.

He's been around since the pulp horror era and his writing has evolved and changed with the times as one should expect but the horror, the building tension, the original storylines, and the depths of his characters remain true to his style and voice. These three reviews, oddly enough and not intended, span his work from pulp horror to modern day.

Enjoy!

CHARNEL HOUSE

Charnel House by Graham Masterton is a masterclass in vintage pulp horror perfection. With the expected amounts of cheesy lines, sexual tension, and characters just slightly above “average joe” being thrown into the horrific and unbelievable, Charnel House drags the reader along for the ride. What starts as mysterious noises in an old house, quickly turns into a brutal race against time and an old Native American prophesy as the body count rises.

Per the authors note in the opening pages, this story was written in 1978, with the version/format I read being published in 2016. Keeping that in mind, this story is written true to the time and era in which it was written, much like all the pulp horror of the time. You can expect the typical male/female dynamic of the era within these pages.

That being said, I did enjoy the overall story, the attention to detail within the Native American lore, the very visual imagery that presented as clearly as if the author had painted it in front of you, and the build-up to the ending finale was movie screen worthy.

It’s a great vintage story for those that love the grittier style of the era.

THE HEIRLOOM

I almost don’t want to write a review for this one, wanting only to tell you to go read it. This checked all my boxes, possession, occult-biblical horror, dark deals gone horribly wrong. Humans on the very edge of desperation, the lengths they’ll go to, to save those they love, or protect them.

Not intrigued yet? How about this?

What do you do when an antique chair seems to choose you as its next owner, no matter what you do or say?

This one did scare me enough that I had several nightmares about The Heirloom.

Highly suggested reading.

THE HOUSE AT PHANTOM PARK

What’s better than a haunted house story? How about a haunted mansion, that was once a military hospital? Masterton brings another horrific tale of terror to life through the eyes of Lilian Chesterfield, the project manager tasked with turning the estate into luxury housing for her employers.

Life has been difficult as of late for Lilian with not much more than a deadbeat ex-husband to show for it. This project could change her life or ruin it, depending on the outcome. Lilian is determined to let nothing stop her from finishing her task, especially a few noises in the walls of a drafty old mansion but the mansion, and its occupants, have other plans, deadly ones.

This was a much more modern haunted house story, and I loved it. It kept me guessing, kept me up late at night to finish chapters, and kept me fully invested until the last page. This story packed a punch for me with its depth to the characters, the intensity of the emotions each one displayed as the story unfolded and its very humanistic handling of its depiction of soldiers' home from war, of grief, and of being lost in memories one cannot forget.

Highly recommended reading.

Check out his books here:

https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B000APAM8K