classic, most notably Momo(1973), in which a girl
outwits a mysterious group of people who turn
children into adults by forcing them to conform to
the rules of time. The Neverending Storyappeared
in German in 1979 and in English in 1983, its im-
mense popularity leading to a disappointing film
version in 1984 and two even less interesting se-
quels. The Neverending Storyemploys an interesting
recursive device in that the story, read by young
Bastian Bux, turns out to be, in part, the story of
his own adventures. Initially, he escapes his own
world only metaphorically, reading of the adven-
tures of Atreyu, a young warrior in a magical king-
dom who is, unfortunately, unable to defeat the
insidious threat hanging over everyone.
Bux is later magically transported into a magi-
cal world called Fantastica, which is quite literally
disappearing from existence. The queen of that
world is personally affected by the magical deple-
tion, although eventually Bux is able to counteract a
portion of the curse by giving her a new name and
then completes a renewal of that world after a series
of quests and adventures during which he makes the
transformation from child to adult. The film version
concentrated on the first half of the story, and al-
though it is sometimes effective in translating the
impact of the book to a different medium, most of
the time we are treated to just a succession of
episodes involving clever animation and special ef-
fects. The Neverending Story II(1990) is even less co-
herent as a story, and The Neverending Story III
(1994) bears virtually no relationship to the book.
Ende has written occasional young adult fan-
tasy since, most notably The Night of Wishes, or The
Satanarchaeolidealcohellis Notion Potion(1992), but
none of his subsequent work has caught the imagi-
nation of his readers as effectively as The Neverend-
ing Story.Had he embellished his imaginary world,
it might have gained the stature of Narnia as cre-
ated by C. S. LEWIS. As a single novel it is less
likely to have a secure position as a modern classic
of children’s literature, although it certainly merits
that stature.
Newman, Kim (1959– )
The film historian and critic Kim Newman began
writing fiction during the late 1980s, often under
the name Jack Yeovil for novels set within the
Warhammer shared universe series. His first book
under his own name, The Night Mayor(1989), is
technically science fiction, although it often feels
like fantasy as the characters explore the world of
dreams. Bad Dreams(1991) was his first overt hor-
ror novel. A woman investigates the death of her
sister and discovers that the cause was supernatu-
ral, a kind of psychic vampire who is drawn to the
sister in turn. Vampires soon became a common el-
ement in Newman’s fiction, but his next novel,
Jago(1991), deals with a religious cult that man-
ages to tap into the collective unconscious of hu-
manity, giving nightmarish creatures and fears
physical form.
Anno Dracula(1992) was the first of New-
man’s vampire novels set in an alternate world, in
this case a Victorian England where vampires are
accepted members of society, and Dracula himself
is the consort of Queen Victoria and the power be-
hind the throne. The mix of supernatural themes
and historical characters is very well managed and
the novel itself is very similar to The Empire of Fear
(1988) by Brian M. STABLEFORD. The first sequel
was The Bloody Red Baron(1995), set during the
equivalent of World War I. Vampires are on both
sides of the conflict, and they are able to transform
their bodies quite literally into weapons of warfare.
Judgment of Tears(1998) moves forward to 1959.
Dracula has been disgraced and expelled from Eng-
land, but the mix of human and vampire has now
become inextricably interwoven. Not everyone is
happy with that fact, however, and someone is me-
thodically assassinating vampires who have
achieved positions of prominence. The fourth
book in the series, Dracula Cha Cha Cha(2000),
reprises that same theme less successfully.
Newman’s remaining horror novels are well
done but less widely known. The Quorum(1994) is
a modern take on the story of Faust. Seven Stars
(2000) is a sequel to Jewel of the Seven Stars(1903)
by Bram STOKERand deals with living mummies
and an ancient curse. It is an occult adventure
story rather than horror. Newman has also been a
prolific short story writer, with notable stories such
as “The Big Fish” (1993) and “Out of the Night,
When the Full Moon Is Bright” (1994). His collec-
tions include The Original Doctor Shade and Other256 Newman, Kim