Slimer

I hate to admit that I ignored "Slimer" when it was first published in the 80s. It sounded stupid and I thought it was about the character/mascot in Ghostbusters. How wrong I was. I came around when I first rented the "Proteus" movie adaptation back in the early 2000s on VHS. When I realized that the movie was an adaptation of the "Slimer" novel, I promised myself that I'd snag a copy of the book if it were reissued or if I could find a reasonably-priced, used copy. I was glad to see that the book had been reprinted by Valancourt Press. I still think the "Slimer" title is silly, but that doesn't affect how much I enjoyed the story written by "Harry Adam Knight" (a pen name of John Brosnan and Roy Kettle). As I enjoyed the "Proteus" movie, I likewise enjoyed the novel. Both were similar to "The Thing" (although the titular creature was a man-made chimera instead of an extraterrestrial). I also enjoyed the "Carnosaur" novel by Harry Adam Knight & greatly prefer the brisk pace and creature portrayals of both novels. Both the "Slimer" and "Carnosaur" novels were better than the low-budget, cult films adapted from them. I'm glad I have both of the HAK novels in my collection.

If you enjoy cheesy B horror movies, you should enjoy this book. Three couples find themselves stranded at sea after the yacht they are using to smuggle drugs sinks. When they come upon an oil rig, they think their troubles are over. Unfortunately, their troubles have just begun. You have the typical characters in these six: the leader/hero and his girlfriend, the sniveling drug addict and his eco-hippie girlfriend, and the jerk and his girlfriend. This group does all of the things that every horror movie fan knows NOT to do (of course) and the book reads almost like a screenplay. From the beginning, I was reminded of "The Thing" and "Alien", which were both super scary movies in their own right. The creature that is aboard the rig has been created by an evil corporation and a bunch of scientists that think they can control nature (of course), but nobody expected it to become the ultimate killing machine. Why is this not a surprise? The author does a good job with building up the tension and scares throughout the book and it really held my attention. My main complaint about this book is the overuse of sexual innuendo and rape; I felt that it was a little overdone and really didn't add anything to the book except to make the reader especially hate one character. It seems like the author decided to add in the sex scenes/violence to give a certain group a thrill. This book is more than just a horror story, though, with descriptions of heroin addiction and the lengths that a person will go to in order to get their next fix. It almost feels like the book was written to show just how horrific that addiction can be by using the creature and its reign of terror in a metaphor of addiction. The narrator, Hannibal Hills, does a great job for the most part, but some of his "American" voices were a little grating. Otherwise, his pacing and voices were just right to keep building the tension of the story. I was given the chance to listen to the audiobook version of this book by the narrator/publisher and chose to review it.

Slimer is a fun horror tale about a group of people dealing with, basically, something very similar to John Carpenters “The Thing” but it’s a creation, not an alien, there are some small differences but overall it’s similar. I love The Thing so that’s ok. The pace is good at a little over 100 pages. The characters are average. The horror is good. I wanted to give it four stars, but it descends into too many horror tropes (specifically people splitting up and being alone too much). Less if that would have led to a higher rating. At the books short length and it’s overall quality, anyone who has interest in things similar to The Thing should give it a read.

Though I prefer carnosaur, I really enjoyed this book. There’s elements from the thing and alien to be found here, and it contains some sleezy elements that were common in the 80s. If you know what you’re getting into, you’ll have a good time with this book.

Stranded in the high seas,a group of young people take refuge on an oil rig.NOT a great decision! This was good,like a B movie.You know what is coming,but still cringe. Excellent narration by Hannibal Hills brings it up a notch. I was given this book by the narrator,author or publisher free for an honest review.

When their yacht sinks, the six castaways adrift in a lifeboat think their ordeal is over when they discover a seemingly disused oil rig in the middle of the ocean. But nothing is what it seems and soon they realize that they have stumbled onto a bizarre scientific laboratory where a strange creature has killed the entire crew...and they're next. There's plenty of excitement and believable science to entice the reader, not to mention a great cover. I'm a big fan of Harry Adam Knight. Another one of his books worth noting is The Fungus as well as Tendrils by Simon Ian Childer, who is the same author.

Book arrived in mint condition, this book in particular is a hard find, but this was a great deal for an amazing book!

It's interesting to see how this book influenced later monster-horror stories, most notably Alien. But the story itself is only OK. The characters are flat, the foreshadowing is overbearing, and scientific gobble-de-gook explanations are not even well thought out enough to be humorous. The nature of the monster itself is mildly interesting and clever, but that positive is overwhelmed by the weak story telling.

If you are a fan of the Thing you'll enjoy this one too!

Excelente novela de terror/suspenso y como siempre las ediciones de Valencourt una belleza. Muy recomendable.

well worth the read

Great story in a superb location (more oil rig stories,you horror writers, please). A particular person in the story was just about worse than the monster and I glad he...well I won't tell. Good book.