2014 read #91: The Lost and the Lurking by Manly Wade Wellman.

The Lost and the Lurking by Manly Wade Wellman
179 pages
Published 1981
Read from September 26 to September 27
Rating: ★★½ out of 5

I find no end of amusement in the thought of the Satanic scares of the '80s. Covens lurking behind the suburban façade, ready to pounce from the shadows and snatch up your child for their midnight outrages! A coordinated conspiracy to indoctrinate little Billy and Suzie with Dungeons & Dragons! Some shadowy elite out to corrupt the youth and destroy The American Way of Life! Finding that silly urban mythology in this book, front and center as the primary plot point, deflated what could have been my favorite Silver John novel yet. Somehow, an evil village of Satanists bent on world domination is even sillier to me than two (two!) separate novels of creatures "here before the Indians" rising to reclaim the hemisphere, counteracting the good parts of an otherwise better-paced and more assured outing.

Well, the Satanic silliness isn't the only thing that detracted from this book. You could even say that Satanic conspiracies are fully consistent with the story universe established thus far. In a world where battles between good and evil go on seemingly every night in the hills and hollers, where it is clear that there is some force of ultimate good in the universe, where other conscientious and well-meaning religions are given token sympathy and ecumenical respect (but Christianity, clearly, is given ultimate precedence) -- in such a world, it would actually make sense for some sort of black witchcraft to set up shop and plot to rule the world from a forgotten hill country hamlet. However, none of that calls for the president of the United States to summon a backwoods troubadour for some kind of Appalachian X-Files investigation, and none of it requires a subplot of foreign dignitaries hoping to use Satanic power to overthrow American power -- plot threads which get forgotten anyway, left unaddressed in the abrupt climax and immediate finale. The young federal agent, the investigation, the foreign dignitaries, what anyone expected to gain from an alliance with a hill country cult -- whatever happened with all that stuff? Why was it even included to begin with?