Robert Faulcon is the pseudonym for Robert Holdstock which is appropriate considering he is writing occult and wicca heavy novels. Robert Faulcon sounds mystical, like he would definitely be able to give you a tarot reading on the spot. Holdstock sounds like he owns the local hardware store.
The Nighthunter was a six-part series started in 1983 with this book, The Stalking (though the title doesn’t appear on the cover) and ending in 1988 with book six, The Labyrinth.
The basic premise: Paranormal scientist and his young family are attacked in their rural house by men in animal masks who kidnap his wife and children and leave him for dead. He comes out of the hospital with a vengeance and teams up with a fellow victim to fight the conspiracy. Telekinesis, witchcraft, and demons ensue.
Dan Brady is a UK scientist testing out the psychokinetic power of fear in wild gerbils in his lab. He gets an odd feeling of intense fear himself. Weird, but it’s Christmas break and the family is waiting. After setting up the tree they have that moment of perfect loving bliss which is the telltale sign in any horror story that some shit is about to go down. While enjoying eggnog, the front door explodes and in comes a band of animal masked invaders. They rape his wife in front of him and the kids and then scoop her up along with the children and head out the door. Oof! He goes to fight back but is choked to almost death by an invisible entity.
He's in a coma for a while. Wakes up to news that people have been brutally killed in the hospital on his ward along with strange goings on. Also, the cops have no idea what’s going on with his missing family other than there have been three other similar attacks.
On his release he meets a fellow survivor woman. Her family was also taken. She also works in the paranormal field. She has all the answers to his occult questions and seems to know exactly what’s going on except who took the families and why.
The first half of this book cruises. The kills are over the top gory brutalization. There aren’t a lot as there aren’t that many characters in the main storyline but if you happen to be a random standing next to these fools watch out because you’re going to have your guts ripped out. This was during the video nasties ban in the UK in the 80s so maybe without their cinema gore fix they had to up the ante in their books.
The second half of the book slooows down. We get a big ol’ chapter dedicated to the explanation of psychic energy; how it works, how to fight it, etc. It’s very in depth and on par with real world lore.
I reviewed an adult western called Foxx! a little while ago and in the review I said the book is bogged down with old western description and technical jargon and that if I was really into that stuff it would have been amazing. This book suffers the same course. Only this time it’s bogged down with wiccan type Magick. It is lengthy and in detail and though I’m no expert on the subject, my wife loves this stuff, and I’ve been to many a witch store/museum and the things mentioned in this book are completely legit. It’s impressive but if you’re not into that stuff it will definitely bore you to tears.
I knew this was a series going in so I really don’t have much right to complain but I wish they would have just wrapped this up in one book. There is obviously the mystery of who the cult is and why they are kidnapping people’s families. I want to know the answer, but do I want to know the answer bad enough to track down the rest of the books? Not really.
That being said, it was still highly enjoyable. Especially the beginning. I would find myself thinking about it throughout my day. Standing in the shower wondering, “why is the psychic force elemental killing random people?” And sure enough, that night as I pick the book back up, the question is answered. It is really well written. Everything fits into place perfectly like a puzzle. It is well researched in modern day witchcraft lore. It has astral projection, mental telepathy, séances, and apportation (the ability to teleport inanimate objects from one location to another). Yeah see, I love this type of stuff I had never even heard that word before. The occult in this book is on point. The only downside is the over explanation and that it’s a series and not a stand-alone.
Charter Books 1987
Video review here:
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