D E Athkins - The Cemetery

Off we go again, this time with a D.E Athkins. Given the first five letters of the name spell death, I have to wonder if this is a ghost writer with one funky pseudonym. If not, this is one cool name for a Point Horror writer!

I recognised the title and thought that I'd read this one before. On reading it, all I can say is that if I have, I must have forgotten every single event in it. And I'm not surprised – I got to the end of the book not really have understood what the hell had just happened.

So, I shall break with what I said about no blow by blow reviews for this one, because seeing as I am going to have to read “The Cemetery” again in order to review it, I may as well explain what is happening. I can't be the only one not to understand this book! I have an A Level in English Literature, so if it's beaten me, it must be a right literary muddle.

The book opens on “All Hallows Eve” (specifically called this as opposed to Hallowe'en) in the town of Point Harbor, which used to be called Cemetery Point, but events in the past caused the towns people to rename the place. Out to sea, is a group of rocks known as Devil's Teeth. Sometimes lights have been seen out at sea, and these are believed to be lights from ships wrecked in years gone by.... spooky!

The cemetery is indeed on a point of land, that juts out into the sea. Here we join Cyndi, Lara, Dade, Wills, Georgie, Foy, Jane, Charity and Rick for some scary All Hallows Eve high jinks at the graveyard.

I can't say I remember anything about these people nor really caring. There's just too many of them to really get attached to.

Everyone is all poshed up in suitably scary and spooky attire and is off to a school dance, and thence to the graveyard. As everyone leaves their houses, already you get the idea that this will not be any type of normal party at a graveyard. If any party at a graveyard can be remotely considered normal.

Cyndi is going with Dade. Cyndi just seems to have a grudge against everyone somehow.

Lara right from the off comes across as sexually aware and bit of a player. She is going to the party with Wills.

Georgie is planning on gatecrashing the party to get even with Cyndi, who she hates. Georgie has a date who when Cyndi sees them is not going to be happy, apparently.

Foy and Jane appear to be on the verge of breaking up because things aren't really turning up boyfriend/girlfriend.

Jane wants some action with Cyndi, because Cyndi insulted her to Charity once upon a time.

Rick is bit of an ill omen. His father is a funeral director and Rick cannot stand still or move slowly as to him, slow and still mean death and he's been surrounded by it all his life. But to everyone else, Rick appears a jokester and THE man to have at a party.

Wills is mad with himself because he's agreed to double date with Dade and Cyndi. Wills is already mad at Dade because Dade has upstaged him in his outfit.

Ah, blow this. They're all off to the party and everyone has a bone to pick with someone else. See, there's just too many of them to actually care. Right, there's that done!

Chapter 2 and we are finally off to Cemetery Point. The road at some point has been shut off due to landslides and getting to the Point, a sign reading “DANGER. TRESPASSING. GO BACK.” greets the partiers. Suddenly an axe comes crashing down onto Jones' head but opening into chapter 3 it's just Rick with a plastic axe. Right.

Coolers and blankets are unloaded from the car and the party starts. A bit of drinking, a bit of dancing... Jones and Charity tear themselves apart and go for a walk in the graveyard. Several of the tombstones have strange inscriptions like “Believed taken by the sea. May God have mercy on his soul”, “Borne on the tides up to heaven” and “Asleep but not at rest. May death bring her peace” and Charity thinks the last person must have been turned into a zombie.

Back to the party, and Cyndi is dancing on a marble crypt, which the others think is not a good idea. But Cyndi thinks the dead are just having the best time in ages! Hmmm... making enough noise to wake the dead?

Chapter 4 and Georgie arrives and the date that will make Cyndi mad turns out to be her brother Dorian. Weird name... they tell a few ghost stories ncluding one about a vampire than ran out of living bodies and had to suck on corpses. Midnight comes around they link hands and try to contact the dead. Jones breaks the circle out of fear and Charity feels the Point tip fractionally and an earth tremor and Jones decides it's time to get the hell outta there.

The Point continues to have earth tremors and as everyone plays a game of hide and seek among the tombstones, Something is unleashed and shortly Wills is found brutally killed.

(Written down like this, the story makes a bit more sense. There's just something about the way the story is written that makes it confusing).

Presumably it's a couple of days later and Char is in the library. Char thinks that there may be a pattern with this murder and by going through old newspapers she will find the answer. Jones sees Char in the library and confronts her over looking at his diary and it turns out that they are both thinking along the same lines but Jones has got further in his enquiries and refuses to let Char in on what he knows.

Georgie and Dorian decide to head back to the cemetery and look for clues. Apart from the painted white outline of Wills' body, they don't really find much. But the Something comes after them and just before getting back into Dorian's car, Georgie falls to the ground.

In Chapter 10, it turns out that Lara knows who killed Wills and is scared for her life. Charity finds an old journal belonging to a whaler on her desk and in it are references to hauntings on Cemetery Point and monsters in the sea from England that devour human flesh. This thing can also change form, fly and suck from the heart. Sounds like a vampire alright! All I need is the earth coffins and then it's a dead cert baby!

It then starts becoming apparent that Cyndi has a past of weird pranks with her brother, Dorian. One went wrong when Dorian was locked up in a cupboard and then a fire started. Dorian believes that Cyndi started the fire and deduces from this that Cyndi is capable of murder. Cyndi however says she saved his life because she told the fire brigade where Dorian was. Ooh... is creepy Cyndi our culprit? Dorian however is convinced that this is all Cyndi's doing and then.... Georgie walks into the garage!

Cue twist, Georgie's father is at the emergency room and receives the news that Georgie has gone the same way as Wills. Which is real? Is Georgie alive or dead? Or even a combination of both?

The Georgie in the garage has a “dead smell” and the more Dorian talks to Georgie, it becomes obvious that she is possessed by Something. This Something also admits to killing Wills and wants to be known as Jack, after Jack The Ripper. Jack throws a match and the whole garage with Dorian in it, goes up in flames.

Dorian doesn't survive the fire. Now, three are dead, Wills, Georgie and Dorian. Georgie is confirmed dead at the A&E. Cyndi has seen the hook on the side of the car and tells everyone that it is just like the story Rick told back at the graveyard.

This is starting to remind me of “It” now. Pennywise comes back over the years and takes the form of whatever scares the individual most. Given the whaling journal mentions the Something can fly and take whatever form, it probably feeds on your fears. Whatever you fear most, is the form it will take. Rick told the story of the vampire who sucked on corpses and we have Something in the form of a vampire.

Charity tells the group of the strange book Jones left her, and the realization hits that they have woken something up during their party in the cemetery.

Cyndi suddenly runs away from the group, takes Dade's car and heads out the the cemetery to stop the Something. It dawns on Charity that Cyndi at the graveyard may not be Cyndi at all! Thinking about it, they realize that they weren't with her when Dorian died and as Dorian had been talking to Jack, it is possible that Cyndi came into contact with Jack too.

They form a chain through the graveyard and go after Cyndi. Rick panics and tried to break away – Foy socks him one on the jaw to stop him running and he's out cold.

Chapter 12 opens with Charity discovering a tombstone with her name on it, a date of birth but no date of death: Charity Webster 1888 – reads the inscription. She shows Jones who doesn't appear to be surprised by the discovery. The ground rocks again as Charity feels a surge of power standing next to her namesake's grave. She has a vision of a strange woman appears, standing at the edge of the sea. The sea boils around her.

The vision becomes true (presumably as the Something takes on a form relevant to Charity) and the woman tells Charity to turn around and she sees a river of fire heading towards her. The woman overpowers Charity and Charity chooses to go with this woman.

Lara appears from the shadows, but of course, it is not Lara. Lara knocks Jones out – damn, who will save Charity now?

Charity grabs Lara and sees the faces of her dead friends flicker through. Wills. Georgie. Dorian, Charity summons up all the mental power she has and refuses to accept the possession and pushes the Something out.
Charity feels herself in a grave. She kicks and struggles and slowly the grave soil becomes twisted bedding. She wakes up in her own bed, free from the something.

It is winter now and after the events at the cemetery, the ground has given way and the graveyard has fallen into the sea. Charity says that Jones saved her when he pulled her from her grave by her ankles – Jones must have come round in time. Hooray!

Thinking, Charity works out that the Something was actually 1888 Charity all along. Somehow 1888 Charity wasn't buried in the graveyard and needed Charity to come along and help be buried inside the grave, The owner of the whaling journal had a grave marked just in case Charity ever got inside.

It also turns out that Lara never died. She must have seen the Something enough to scare her out of her wits, but it really was a trick on the Something's part.

Dade, Jane, Cyndi, Foy and Rick turn up on their way to a party. All's well that ends well! Jones and Charity appear to be getting closer and the story ends.

I have to say, I didn't really initially or like this story. Having to write it out as a recap was the only way I could understand it. The events just happen and I think more dialogue amongst the characters to explain their thoughts and what is going on would have helped. Things just happen and it's too quick to understand.

It's rather bullet pointed in some ways and not connected. It's hard to explain but when you read other Point Horrors, it is more apparent. I think the best example of this would be the Nancy Drew series – the editing has really ruined the flow of the story. In one paragraph, they are at the cinema. Next, at home. Next, at a party and then ON WITH THE MYSTERY!

I suppose it is all wrapped up, but I would have liked to have known where the Something came from. I suppose the answer lies in Stephen King's “It” - it has always been there as a life force since the creation of the universe. Also, was there any significance in the strange inscriptions on the other graves?

There were just too many characters for me to like and makes the tale confusing. I think you could easily have cut Foy and Jane, and possibly even Rick. It really doesn't matter who tells the story that makes the Something take it's shape. These people just aren't needed.

Given the current interest in vampires and the undead what with shows like “Twilight” this story is contemporary, but I have to say, I don't think it would compare to these shows and books.

And finally – weird references! Why was Rick singing “I Heard It Through The Grapevine”? Seems an odd choice to me.

Bobbsey Twins and Keystone Cops?

I googled Bobbsey Twins and my comment about Nancy Drew was a bit weird in hindsight. The Bobbsey Twins were a series of books from around the early 1900s and are adventure series for children. Edward Stratemeyer wrote these under the pseudonym Laura Lee Hope. The Stratemeyer Syndicate also wrote the Nancy Drew series. I wonder if D.E. Athkins is somehow part of this syndicate given the similar narration style? And why the outdated reference? Would a child in 1992 (publishing date) have a clue as to WHO the Bobbsey Twins were? I read Enid Blyton and other old authors and this one had passed me by, even in hearsay. Is this book out of the Stratemeyer Syndicate and it's a bad bit of self advertising?

Lastly, Keystone Cops. These were comedic characters in silent films in the 1910s. Again, a very weird reference and same for Bobbsey Twins – would a 1990s kid have heard of them? Or have I just not heard of them being English?

In some ways, I feel that this story could have been written way before the 1990s with these references. Maybe it's just copyright and Bobbsey Twins and Keystone Cops were the only similes they could use. Maybe it is an old story that has been Point Horror-ified and severely edited down and released under a pseudonym. There's something not right about this story at all.

So, to round off I can't say I enjoyed the story what with the narration issues. However, I do like the fact that this story leaves a mystery as to why it is the way it is and what may have happened to the story in the editing and publishing process. Sorry, D.E Athkins, you didn't rock my world!