sores break out on the monster’s body, and he be-
comes steadily weaker, as though wasting away
from some mysterious disease.
Eventually, the monster escapes and throws it-
self into the sea, confirming the local theory about
its origin. Kersh amuses himself by naming two
of the witnesses Herbert George and Rebecca
West, an obvious reference to H. G. Wells and his
wife, Rebecca West. The real end of the story takes
place in the 1940s, when the fictional version
of Kersh, having owned the pamphlet for some
years, encounters an intelligence officer who was
acquainted with a Japanese martial arts expert
named Sato, who disappeared when Hiroshima
was destroyed. Sato was heavily tattooed, and his
decorations exactly matched those described in the
pamphlet. The reverend’s faithful depiction of the
symbols on the monster inscribed before its disap-
pearance confirm his identity. Somehow, Sato was
transported back through time to the 18th century,
where radiation sickness doomed him to a slow
and painful death in captivity. Kersh, who wrote
only occasional fantastic pieces, produced one of
the most tightly constructed and effective time
travel fantasies of all time.
Brite, Poppy Z. (1967– )
Poppy Brite began writing predominantly horror
fiction during the 1980s, quickly gaining a reputa-
tion for her distinctive characterizations and her
rich prose style. Several of these early short sto-
ries attracted considerable critical attention, in-
cluding “His Mouth Will Taste of Wormwood”
(1990), “The Taste of Blood and Altars” (1992),
and “Calcutta, Lord of Nerves” (1992). She was
chosen the best new writer in the British Fantasy
Awards for 1994, and her first collection, Worm-
wood(also published as Swamp Foetus) appeared
in 1996.
Lost Souls(1992) was her first novel, a very
unusual vampire story that avoided supernatural
explanations. Her vampires are simply another
race of mortal beings who live concealed within
human society, hiding their existence in fear of the
pogrom that would inevitably follow their discov-
ery. The novel explores the characters of several of
these creatures, some fully aware of their nature
from the outset and some gradually awakening to
the truth. There is no strong, central plot but
rather a series of interlocking character studies
that together create a fascinating and just slightly
alien worldview. A shorter, earlier version of the
novel was later published as The Seed of Lost Souls
(1999). Drawing Blood(1993) shares some similari-
ties and contains some extremely vivid scenes as
well as some explicit scenes of homoeroticism. Two
young men are sharing a house whose former
owner murdered most of his family. The house
contains a dark strain of magic that influences the
personalities of its residents, although this is not,
strictly speaking, a haunted house story.
Brite’s third novel, The Lazarus Heart(1998),
is set in the universe of the Crow films and is a
comparatively disappointing story of revenge from
beyond the grave. She has continued to write short
fiction sporadically, of which the title story of the
collection Are You Loathesome Tonight?(1998) and
“Nothing of Him Doth Fade” (2002) are the best.
Her remaining collections are Self Made Man
(1999) and The Devil You Know(2003). Brite’s
style is much more layered and intense than is that
of most of her contemporaries, and her horror fic-
tion is generally more ambitious and complex in
structure.Brooks, Terry(1944– )
Terry Brooks was the first major new writer of fan-
tasy to base his work openly in imitation of J. R. R.
TOLKIEN, starting with The Sword of Shannarain- In the tradition of the Lord of the Rings se-
ries, Brooks created a fantasy world replete with
goblins, gnomes, and other legendary creatures,
dominated by an evil wizard whose efforts to rule
the world result in a heroic quest for a magical ob-
ject, in this case an enchanted sword, and an epic
battle. Two sequels followed in short order, each of
which consists of an independent story, although
both involve similar quests. In The Elfstones of
Shannara (1982) a somewhat inept magician
strives to protect an elven maiden from the un-
wanted advances of a demon using magic seeds to
bring forth a forest of protective trees. A druid
and a woman who can invoke the basic force of
nature unite in The Wishsong of Shannara(1985)
Brooks, Terry 37