Graham Masterton Books

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Graham Masterton is a British author that writes horror and who has accrued more than a hundred books under his name over the decades. Graham was born in 1946 in Edinburgh. His family was made famous by Thomas Thorne Baker, his grandfather and a scientist who is responsible for the creation of DayGlo, a luminous printing ink.

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Graham studied journalism in school and his hard work paid off relatively quickly when he was assigned the role of Executive Editor of Penthouse, this while he was in his mid-20s. Graham had set his sights on producing fiction at an early age. Journalism was a bit of a detour and he used it to further his goals.

However, rather than pursuing fiction the first chance he got, the author first made a name by writing instructional manuals on the subject of sex. It was in 1971 that the author’s first sex guide came out under Graham’s pseudonym. And it wasn’t the last. After writing a few dozen such guides, it wasn’t long before people began to associate Graham Masterton with sex and health, a reputation that earned him gigs with magazines like Cosmopolitan and Men’s Health.

As far as the author’s reputation as a master of horror is concerned, Graham began shaping it when he wrote The Manitou in 1976, his first fictional work. The author wrote a number of sequels for his first book before branching out to experiment with other forms of horror.

Graham’s books have always taken on an adult nature, featuring considerable violence and visceral sex. Though Graham always endeavored to diversify by also writing horror stories for children, the most renowned being The House of Bones. Many of the author’s fans and critics were surprised that he had the capacity to water the sex and the gore in his books down to an extent where his stories could actually appeal to younger readers.

And his efforts went a long way in cementing his capabilities as a versatile writer that could produce horror within any given genre or for any given age group. Graham Masterton had a tendency to start writing series under pseudonyms, only revealing his real name once the books in question gained traction and attracted an appropriate level of interest.

During his lengthy career, the author has collaborated with peers like William S. Burroughs in order to experiment with unique approaches to storytelling.

Graham had a wife who passed away in 2011.

Graham Masterton Awards

Graham’s renown has more to do with the impressive number of fans he has garnered over the years than the literary awards he has taken home. Though, the author hasn’t lacked in the area of literary recognition, having been nominated for the British Fantasy Society Prize for Best Novel, the Bram Stoker Award for Best Short Story and the World Fantasy Society Prize for Best Collection.

Graham Masterton Books into Movies

The Manitou was Graham’s first ever horror novel. It became a live action film in 1978, directed by William Girdler, starring Susan Strasberg, Tony Curtis, and Michael Ansara. The movie follows a girl with an ancient demon growing out of a lump on her back.

Best Graham Masterton Books

Graham Masterton has used the last couple of decades to become a legend in the arena of horror, with some of the best books from the author including:

The Manitou: When Karen Tandy notices a lump under her skin, she doesn’t think much of it. She only grows concerned when she takes it to doctors and specialists and they do not know what to make of it. An attempt to cut the lump out fails when it moves.

Karen learns that her lump is no ordinary biological anomaly but, rather, an ancient spirit that has returned to wreak vengeance upon the white man for the evils they visited upon the Indians centuries ago. Karen’s body and soul are chained to this evil entity and there is nothing she can do to gain her freedom.

Broken Angels: Detective Inspector Katie Maguire must unveil the secrets being St. Joseph’s Orphanage. Her hunt begins when a priest is found dead in the river, his hands bound and his neck clearly having been garroted. There’s also the castration.

When another priest suffers the same fate, Kate’s attempts to find the truth are hampered by the Catholic diocese which holds a lot of power in County Cork.

Family Portrait: This book is one of Masterton’s best as it won the prestigious Prix Julia Verlanger award. Not only that, he is the only non-French person to ever win this award. A great honor, to be sure. This novel is a loose re-telling of the classic novel The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde.

The novel is set in contemporary Boston and Moscow after the end of World War II. There is a body found in Europe of a beautiful young girl and all her beauty has been taken away as all of her skin has been expertly flayed from her body. Even worse, the investigation concludes that not only was she skinned, but she was skinned while she was still alive.

Another body is found soon after, a blood-raw corpse in New England that puzzles the police. Then yet another body is found, a victim of extreme composition and the body is found covered in maggots. These deaths take place far apart, but they are connected and police manage to connect them to a single, crumbling painting. There are those that think the investigators have gone mad thinking a painting could possibly be responsible for such horrid crimes, but the painting holds a terrifying secret that could explain everything.

This is classic Graham Masterton as he never hits you over the head with plot and takes his sweet time in delivering the scares. Never slow, but never fast either. A great novel about murder with just the right dose of supernatural, it’s easy to see why this book is so beloved.

When Does The Next Graham Masterton book come out?

Graham Masterton doesn't seem to have an upcoming book. Their newest book is Pay Back The Devil and was released on October, 10th 2024. It is the newest book in the Katie Maguire Series.

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1 thought on “Graham Masterton”

1. “The Manitou” was the first Graham Masterson novel I read and reading its name still makes my skin crawl. Masterson’s writing is incredibly powerful and will make your spine tingle with horror. He blends the supernatural elements seamlessly. You’ll be scared out of your wits but won’t be able to put the book down. I haven’t read all his books but I’m well on my way!

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