The Demonologist is book that actually escaped on me last year. The book came out and must of sold on very quickly on every store on Long Island. Well I my wife got it for me for Christmas and the fact that I was caught up on promised book reviews that were sent to me to be reviewed on the site. I was left with a month window to actually finally sit my ass down and read The Demonologist.
Michael Laimo is a Long Island native such as myself, in fact he only live a few towns north of me. I fist was introduced to his work when a former writer for the site set up a contest for The Demonologist last year. As you tell I never got a copy of the book, but I did got out and buy Laimo’s Deep in the Darkness, which is probably one of the best books I’ve ever read in my entire life.
The Demonologist is a different book however one that has seriously messed with my psyche a bit. What Laimo does with this book is he gives you a story where on every page a sense of uneasiness is slowly developing right before you eyes, and as the story goes on you find yourself wondering how and why this story being told is actually happening. I guess what really hit me hard was the time and research that went into this book. I guess you can say I myself an a very spiritual person. I believe in God and have a high interest in religious history. Laimo obviously knows a lot more about religious and cult history a lot more than I do. And what he does with this book would have many religious folks finding it hard to root for anyone of the characters in this book. I had the problem as well. I’ll explain below about what the book is about, but I’ll warn you know it will include minor spoilers.
The Demonologist follows the life of rock star Bev Matters. The book starts off with Bev. on stage playing the last show of his nine month tour. His daughter Kristin is an aspiring writer for a top music magazine and she is the apple of Bev eyes. While on stage he begin to sense that something is starting to invade his mind, he finishes the show and just ignores it. He can’t wait to see his daughter and catch up with her about what’s been going on since he left on the tour. One thing leads to another and Bev finds himself in a diner late at night, a mysterious man hands him a letter with his name on it. When Bev opens the letter, all it says is that he will be picked up at 6pm on a certain date as his by a limo. While trying to make sense of this letter very strange things start happen to Bev. He begins to blackout and lose time. He begins to see things such as large bugs crawling all over the place, odd demon like faces in the mirror and so on. Bev soons tells his daughter about the letter, and as time moves on he finds out that his own daughter herself is also involved with the story behind the letter. As the story moves along Bev. starts to find out about his deceased wife, the reason why she died and the dark secret she hid from her family. Bev soon begins to unravel the mystery, however Bev soon realizes the transformation he himself is going though, and with help from his daughters associate and a priest. We soon find out that there is a evil being who trying to take over the world by gathering all the demons of hell and creating the ultimate legion, one that not even God or Satan can stop. We soon find out that in order to stop such evil, that the forces of God and the Devil must fight together to stop this event from occurring.
So I did leave a lot more detail out of that short synopsis above. I tried my best not to give away the surprising elements that make this book so dam interesting. As I mentioned above, and as you can tell by the synopsis above that this book might effect someone with a spiritual background. What I found hard was the fact that while reading this book not only am I routing for the powers of God that are exampled in the book, but it was kind of hard on my mentally to find myself routing for Satan. Yeah I know it sounds crazy, but the devil is actually the hero of this book. It kind of fucked up because while reading this book, everyday it made me think that there are more powerful more evil thing in the world that Satan, and that maybe the devil should be the least of my religious worries. That maybe he just want to be left alone in his own selfish hell. As long as the legion is his to control all is well. But when you come knocking on hell’s door and want to take over. Well; that’s when all hell will break louse. Literally!
Anyway, The Demonologist is a book where I liked the overall story, but the psychology involved really took a toll on my spiritual being. Normally I try to separate my love of horror with my faith all the time. Because they really don’t go hand in hand with one another. Laimo opened a door here in my mind where I actually had to bring the two together. I’m not no crazy zealot or committed to one religion, But I have my own strict beliefs which I myself abide by everyday. The Demonologist has made me question a few of my beliefs and that in itself is what ultimately bought me to the conclusion that this book is not only full of scary moments, but it also plants these ideas of fear into your mind. A lot of “What if” fears. Laimo has created the ultimate novel of fear, one that will linger in your mind well after you read it.
Overall it’s pretty obvious as to why in my last review I called Laimo a new master of horror. The Demonologist citifies that. That same quote is now used on the front cover of his new book Dead Souls, which is my next venture into the mind of this master horror writer. Make no mistake; Laimo’s novels are not just there to give you a good scare, but they can scar your psyche as well. If you want to know why I only gave this book three and a half stars over giving it four, it’s because I needed to take a half a star away just to let myself know that it’s only a book. a book that’s left me feeling a bit uneasy.
– Horror Bob
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
