to the vampire’s castle in DRACULA (1897) by
Bram STOKER, almost certainly a conscious effort
on the author’s part. The story itself reads like a
cross between Stoker and Edgar Allan POE, specifi-
cally “THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER” (1839).
Her husband, Sardonicus, suffers from a peculiar
ailment. The muscles of the lower half of his face
are paralyzed in a ghastly grin, a disfigurement
both he and Cargrave recognize as being psycho-
logical rather than physical and the result of his
experience as a young man when he robbed his fa-
ther’s grave and was so shocked by the condition
of the body that his face froze in a grimace.
The reason for Cargrave’s invitation is now
evident, and he attempts to alleviate the problem,
knowing full well that it is the man’s mind, not his
body, that is responsible. Sardonicus has become
so disturbed by his situation that he first offers
Cargrave his wife for sexual gratification, then
threatens her with horrible punishments to induce
him to try further treatments. The physician fi-
nally agrees, sending for various chemicals and ex-
perimenting on animals before indicating he is
ready for a human subject. The injections work,
and Sardonicus’s face relaxes into a normal ex-
pression, although his jaw muscles are unres-
ponsive, preventing him from talking. Cargrave
assures him this is a temporary condition and
leaves, taking Maude and a statement of annul-
ment of their marriage along with him.
It is only years later that he learns of Sardon-
icus’s fate. Although his face was restored to nor-
mal, he never regained the use of his jaw muscles
and eventually starved to death. His end is doubly
ironic, because Cargrave did not inject him with
any miraculous experimental drug but with plain
water, suspecting that it was the man’s mental state
that needed treatment. The story is marvelously
well balanced, every paragraph contributing to the
advancement of the plot, with a clever but logical
conclusion that satisfies the reader’s sense of jus-
tice without blemishing the character of the hero.
Sarrantonio, Al(1952– )
Although Al Sarrantonio sold several short science
fiction stories during the early 1980s, his first sev-
eral novels were all horror. His debut was with To -
tentanz(1985), which makes use of the time-hon-
ored horror theme of the mysterious carnival most
notably used in THE CIRCUS OF DR. LAO(1935) by
Charles G. Finney and SOMETHING WICKED THIS
WAY COMES(1962) by Ray BRADBURY. Sarranto-
nio’s carnival springs up overnight, and everyone
in town is fascinated by it except for one young boy
who can see the truth behind the illusion. That
same year saw the publication of Worms,which
borrows its monstrous worms from science fiction,
setting them free to prey on humans.
Campbell Wood(1986) displays far more origi-
nality. A race of mysterious people live in a remote
stretch of woods, They are possibly a kind of fairy,
or perhaps the originals from which fairy legends
developed, capable of using the trees as weapons
against their enemies. Although slow to develop,
the story becomes quite engaging once it is under-
way. Far more impressive is The Boy with Penny
Eyes(1987), in which an orphan retreats into what
appears to be a form of autism but which is actually
a sign that he is watching for a supernatural attack.
Sarrantonio followed up these two thoughtful,
moody horror tales with Moonbane (1989), an
homage to low-budget science fiction films. The
moon is inhabited after all, by werewolves who de-
scend upon the Earth in an all-out invasion. Al-
though the premise cannot be taken seriously, the
result is a gleefully gruesome spoof.
A supernatural creature wears humans as
masks in October(1990), and a powerful entity
from another reality turns people into her puppets
in House Haunted(1991), two satisfying but unre-
markable thrillers. Skeletons(1992) is to date his
most impressive and original novel. Through some
unexplained means, all of the skeletons on Earth
become animated and attempt to resume their for-
mer lives. Lenin and his followers conduct a blood-
bath in the former Soviet Union, for example.
Serious sequences are mixed with broad satire, but
Sarrantonio balances them well enough that the
story succeeds on both levels.
His most recent horror novel is the mildly dis-
appointing Orangefield (2002, also published as
Hallow’s Eve). Two collections of his short fiction
have also appeared, Toybox(2000) and Hornets and
Others(2004). Among his better short fiction are
“Under My Bed” (1981), “The Quiet Ones”306 Sarrantonio, Al