Heres the synopsis from its Goodreads page:
From the singular mind of horror maestro Rob Zombie comes a chilling plunge into a nightmare world where evil runs in the blood…
THE LORDS OF SALEM
Heidi Hawthorne is a thirty-seven-year-old FM radio DJ and a recovering drug addict. Struggling with her newfound sobriety and creeping depression, Heidi suddenly receives an anonymous gift at the station-a mysteriously shaped wooden box branded with a strange symbol. Inside the box is a promotional record for a band that identifies themselves only as The Lords. There is no other information.
She decides to play it on the radio show as a joke, and the moment she does, horrible things begin to happen. The strange music awakens something evil in the town. Soon enough, terrifying murders begin to happen all around Heidi. Who are The Lords? What do they want?
As old bloodlines are awakened and the bodies start to pile up, only one thing seems certain: all hell is about to break loose.
Remember our October Month of the Macabre? We’re kind of obsessed with horror around here and when we saw that Rob Zombie’s movie The Lords of Salem is also a book we jumped at the chance to review it. Horror aficionado Chad is here to review:
I find Rob Zombie an interesting person. I loved House of 1000 Corpse, struggled to find anything I liked about Devil’s Rejects, and I loved his Halloween remake and sequel. When I heard he was making a new film about witches I was beyond excited. I was hoping for more of a “House” film instead of the sequel “Devil’s” where I found the villains we (i believe) were supposed to “root” for annoying and stupid. Even though I had very much enjoyed all of them in the original film.
When I heard that “Lords” would also be a book I knew I had to read it. I was interested to see how the book and film would compare and relate. It didn’t seem like a typical book adaptation of a film, and yet wasn’t a movie adaptation of a book either. I found the concept interesting and was excited to enjoy this new story Rob had created in both mediums.
The book is by far the most intense and graphic book I have read. Not necessarily in terms of gore(which there is quite a bit of) but more in terms of actual storyline content and the willingness to go “there”. It wastes no time flexing it fearless muscles beginning with a ritualistic human infant sacrifice in the name of worshipping satan. In all honesty some of the actual “worship” was hard to read. I felt sorta dirty even thinking the words, and I believe that was the exact intention of Mr. Zombie in writing this book. The story is an interesting story following a young radio DJ who has struggled with addiction and is finally starting to get her life back when all hell(literally) breaks loose in her life and town.
Rob creates such a fascinating and rich environment for the characters to exist that I couldn’t help but be entertained and enthralled with his story. The way he weaves the story of satan worship, witchcraft, possession and hypnosis is nothing short of an extremely creepy ride.
I’m not going to lie this is not a book for anyone. It is definitely a story for the more “hardened” horror fans. If you have any problem reading books that deal with the devil or demons this is really not for you, but if you enjoyed any of Rob’s past films I think you will very much enjoy this story. I don’t know if the actual writing is anything special, but it also isn’t bad either. Which was something I was interested in seeing as this is the first I have ever read by Rob Zombie (I’m not sure how much he actually wrote as it does have another author’s name credited).
Overall this is a decent book with a unique, creppy and inventive story.
3.5 stars out of 5.
