Revisit “The Sphinx” by Graham Masterton, the same author who gave us the cult classic paperbacks “The Manitou” and “The Djinn!” »
EGraham Masterton’s first horror novels appeared around the same time in the Waldenbooks I frequented as a child. Pinnacle was pushing for US paperback editions with a promising blurb an upcoming film version of The Manitou. The Manitou was on the rack, of course, and The Djinna follow-up adventure for Masterton’s fortune-telling hero, Harry Erskine. All three suggestions might be an author worth checking out. I don’t know why I was led to resume The Sphinx First of all. It was third in order of publication, even though it was in the fine print.
Maybe it was the color combination and mixing of the illustrations. The lettering was a striking teal blue. The indented cover has been made slightly narrower on the outside page so you can access the full collage on the inside page. Despite the raunchy content, I don’t remember that being the selling point.
It was probably this cover. The internal coverage of The Sphinx featured a full collage mix rendering of the green-eyed main character, fully human on one side with a splash of big cat as well as an image of the novel’s protagonist and a gothic-looking mansion incorporated into the flowing strands.
Perhaps the text below also caught my attention, hinting a bit at the steam.
She was a woman no man could forget,
especially the only man who discovered
his terrible secret…
Surprisingly, none of it revealed too much, like a movie trailer it was forgotten as I was drawn into the story from its first gripping line: “He always remembered the first time he saw her. He later joked about it and called it ‘Love at first bite.’
This first meeting between US State Department officer Gene Keiller and the beautiful Lorie Semple takes place at a party in Washington, DC. When Lorie enters, the crowd parts “like the Red Sea” and Gene is captivated as the striking 5-foot-11 1/2-inch Lorie moves across the room.
She is of Egyptian descent and somewhat distant at first, even suggesting that they remain strangers. Gene is surprised to learn that she is there because it was actually his father who was invited. He has just passed away and attending is a way to celebrate his life. Family tradition. One of many strange ones.
Gene and Lorie end the night with a kiss which results in the aforementioned bite, her closing her teeth on his tongue to the point of drawing blood.
Despite all the strangeness, as that first line suggests, Gene becomes a little obsessed, maybe too much, and soon sets off on a ’70s-style chase, delving into Lori’s life and family history and ultimately deciding he needs to “sneak over the wall of the Semple estate and check the place out.”
While he’s on the roof, something that isn’t a dog growls at him and eventually makes a huge leap to his position to rip him apart.
He wakes up to find that Lori, claiming she trained as a nurse in Egypt, treated his wounds instead of calling an ambulance and the cops.
Warning signs are there for the reader and protagonist, but Gene and Lori eventually get married and he continues to reveal family secrets, not just about their strange ways. Lori’s feline qualities are more numerous than he could have imagined, even discovering rows of superfluous nipples under her breasts.
The very nature of the Ubasti blends myth and science and delivers a page-turning experience that channels a bit of the title and perhaps some memories of the Val Lewton film. Cat people.
The book may be a bit like Whitley Streiber’s The Wolfensreleased the same year. I’ve probably already spoiled too much, but the novel has been around for a while. You’ve had your chance, but it’s still worth the detour and still has a few surprises in store.
I have strong memories of reading the book on the school bus on my way home from high school, and the story of the book continues for me long after that first reading.
I have read many of Masterton’s other novels in a short time, including The Manitou And The Djinnand I probably learned a lot during this process on the way to my first novel.
I wouldn’t have thought to send a copy to Masterton, England if I hadn’t met C. Dean Andersson at a convention. Under his own name and pseudonym, Dean has contributed to numerous titles to the Paperbacks from Hell era including Raw Pain Max and later I am Draculaand when we were on a panel together, he mentioned the Feast.
This led us to talk about other Masterton titles, and Dean mentioned that he had sent the author a copy of one of his books.
“I should do this too,” I thought, realizing I would have to leave a note that he was an “influence.”
I wasn’t expecting anything, but he sent me back a kind letter and a blurb: “Sidney Williams has the ability to conjure up a true smell of hell.” » It was a thrill. It made its way onto a blurb page for my latest novel under my name Pinnacle.
Shortly after, and more than 20 years after the first reading, I saw that Graham Masterton would be in the United States for a global fantasy convention that I would be attending near Chicago. Fortunately, I still had my copy of The Sphinx. I put it in my suitcase.
And I ran into him in a hallway. He wore a very English gentleman’s suit, very pleasant and cordial.
I gave him a brief reminder of who I was and even quicker I had this paperback in hand to have him sign and complete the circle of The Sphinx.
