The Manitou

I was lucky enough to find a treasure trove of some of these old books at a B&B I stayed at recently. Which is great because I kind of hate how in the 'everything is a collectors market' world its so hard to find a lot of these books.
Its my first long form Masterton, having only read some short stories in the Hot Blood series. This was punchy, fast, and fun. Our not really a psychic, not really a detective, psychic detective protagonist (a sillier precursor to D'Amour?) is a scammer/charlatan who also believes in super natural for real. There's also shades of medical drama here, with several doctors in conversation throughout regarding our female victim of a supernatural pseudo-pregnancy. This tumor eventually births an ancient show more (justifiably) angry Native medicine man/spirit. Does this sound all over the place? Absolutely. Are the characters a little weird? Sure. But it all sort of works. The ending is the only part that really starts to strain credulity to the breaking point for me...that almost literal deus ex machina was hard to swallow.
There are there some things (mostly related to race) that we'd find unacceptable today. But I think ultimately Masterton was actually trying to be progressive for his time here (70s). While he's taking all kind of liberties with NA beliefs and practices, and our villian is a native, the characters repeatedly talk about the fact that he's justified in being angry, that white colonialism was bad and wrong, and even talks about us living on stolen land.
I've the sequal to this, and a couple of his other books I'm looking forward to now. show less

Four full stars. Probably only worth three, but I'll tack on the last one for nostalgia.

A fast-paced horror novel with some really fun set pieces and some actual honest-to-god horror. Harry Erskine has got to be one of the truly terrible protagonists, but Masterton does imbue with with a certain charm.

The strength of the novel is entire basic idea, as well as some of the truly fearsome demons that skitter and squitter through this book's pages.

Of course, as it's also a 45-year-old book, the term "redskin" is much more frowned upon now, as is the inconsiderate and what-would-now-be-considered racist descriptions of both Native Americans and the Jewish (there's a point where the "hooked nose" confuses some of the cast as to whether show more they're an indian or a Jew). Yes, back then we talked like that, unfortunately.

Still, like Lovecraft, if you can get past the odd bullshit sentence here and there (or like me, simply ignore it and pretend it's just not part of the book), then the rest of the ride is actually a lot of fun.

Fun fact, forty-five years ago, as a scrawny, pinheaded 12-year-old, looking for something different from the [a:Arthur C. Clarke|7779|Arthur C. Clarke|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1357191481p2/7779.jpg], [a:Ray Bradbury|1630|Ray Bradbury|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1445955959p2/1630.jpg], [a:Robert A Heinlein|20460870|Robert A Heinlein|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png], and [a:Isaac Asimov|16667|Isaac Asimov|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1341965730p2/16667.jpg] I'd been devouring, I happened across this very cool die-cut paperback with drawing of a beautiful woman, but when I opened that cover, there was this evil (and far too red) nasty bastard rising up behind her. And I was hooked (much like I was when I saw the original almost all-black cover for King's [b:'Salem's Lot|36303|'Salem's Lot|Stephen King|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1328290536l/36303._SY75_.jpg|3048937] paperback).



Back then, this book was my 9-12 or tween book to be read. And honestly, the ending completely and truly blew my 12-year-old mind, and led me on a direct path to pick up [b:Carrie|920686|Carrie|Stephen King|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1455017195l/920686._SY75_.jpg|1552134], and jumpstart my love of both Stephen King (who I still read to this day) and Masterton (who I stuck with for another ten books before tiring of him).

But this was the book. This was my gateway drug to the world of horror. So, for that alone, I owe Graham Masterton a debt I can never repay. show less

Sometimes humorously dated 1975 horror about a salty fortune teller, a young woman with a fast growing tumor on her neck and a medicine man from Colonial America trying to come back into the world. When the going gets tough, everyone grabs a cigarette, including the doctors. Never believable, but very creative, something Stephen King might have dreampt up

A young woman has a rapidly growing tumor on the back of her neck. She has also been having strange dreams of Dutch sailing ships landing in America of the coast of New York in the 1600's. Before going into the hospital to have the tumor removed, she visits a fake clairvoyant named Harry Erskine. Erskine believes that her dreams are supernatural in origin and begins to investigate. The operation does not go as planned. Her doctor, Erskine, and an Indian medicine man team together to save the poor young woman and the world from an ancient evil medicine man named Misquamacus before it is to late.

This is the first Graham Masterton novel I have read. I remember seeing the movie on tv when I was a kid, so I thought the book would be fun to show more read and it was. The story is extremely fast paced. You will not be able to put it down until the end. show less

It was a little heavy handed with the whole "whites vs Native Americans" theme. However, with all the horror I read, I could probably count on one hand the number of times a book has actually given me chills. And this one did for most of the book. So, I will still give this one a high rating despite any minor issues I had with the plot. I would definitely read more books by this author.

Old school 1970s monster horror that seems a bit dated and quaint by current standards. Native American spirits menace the modern world through spiritual manitous and a reincarnated medicine man from 1650. Lots of non-PC references to Redskins, etc.

Fun for a fast read and into the bin.

I had the misfortune to read Blind Panic before knowing that it was a later sequel of The Manitou and the other sequels it has inspired. But thanks to what I've read now, I finally can put things into perspective.

Following fake occultist Harry Erskine, The Manitou shows his fight against the ancient medicine man Misquamacus along with his allies, among them a contemporary medicine man, Singing Rock. What happens after that is a fun battle heavily dependent on Native American folklore with a lot to say.

A very quick read--under two hours--The Manitou is a fun exploration of the consequences of our colonization of America and who was directly changed by it. An excellent novel that comes highly recommended from me.