Last month’s book, ‘Suckers’ was the first book I’d reviewed for Carry on Screaming by a woman. This month’s is the second by a gay man (the first being ‘The Books of Blood volume 1’ by Clive Barker), although I don’t think either were publicly out when the books in question were first published. Whilst there are some notable female horror authors (Mary Shelley, anyone?), it still feels like an overwhelmingly male genre in a way that genres like crime and sci fi aren’t. I don’t know what that is, but I’d welcome thoughts in the comments below.
Back to the point. ‘Sheep’ is the 1994 debut from Simon Maginn, who lives (it turns out) a a few miles away from me. Maginn published four more horror novels under his own name and a number of comic novels as Simon Nolan. ‘Sheep’ made a bit of a splash when it was published, and it’s not hard to see why. It’s creepy, effective and very British. It was filmed as ‘The Dark’ in 2005, with the screenplay by Maginn), John Fawcett (‘Ginger Snaps’) directing and Sean Bean (almost every film ever) playing the lead. The film was, I think, less well received than the book.
I don’t know if Maginn’s other horror novels are as good as this one, but if they are I need to track down copies. ‘Sheep’ is unsettling right from the start and maintains its tension and subtle menace until the very last word. It tells the story of James and Adèle, a couple with a young son, who are trying to come to terms with the death of their daughter. They move to a dilapidated farmhouse rural Wales to escape their memories, but (this is a horror novel after all) end up facing something just as bad.
‘Sheep’ uses a lot of horror (and rural horror) tropes, but does so very effectively. The house has a dark secret. The locals are secretive and the sheep that graze the land around the farmhouse are freaky. Plus there’s a shit tonne of small bones buried near the house. What lifts the book out of cliché and is the quality of the writing. The grief and guilt that James and Adèle feel over the death of their daughter is palpable and infects the whole book. Their son, 7 year old Sam, is as convincing a child as I’ve read in a horror novel. Likewise, their new neighbour, Lewyn, who owns the sheep is a believable and very well rounded character.
Whilst the book isn’t overly gory, Maginn does a great job of making it disturbing. It’s quietly horrifying, like classic British rural horror movies ‘Blood on Satan’s Claw’ and ‘The Wicker Man’. There’s a sense throughout that there’s something deeply messed up going on and that the final reveal with be shattering. If it doesn’t quite manage to be, it’s not too big a disappointment because the journey is so strong.
It strikes me that, as we’ve moved into the 90s, the books I’ve covered (with the exception of ‘Renegades’) have been far from the Paperback from Hell style of book that I expected to be covering when I conceived this column. They have, however, all been authentically horrifying and distinctly British. The transition from the gory excesses of Herbert and Hutson, to the more psychological horror of Maginn and McGrath and the witty satire of Newman and Billson is interesting observe and probably deserves analysis from someone better at reading pop culture trends than I am.

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