Book Review: The Heirloom by Graham Masterton (1981)

It is a sorry sight to see The Heirloom on my shelf with perhaps the worst cover in Masterton history, but one should never judge by it. If you did, you would never read this novel.

The story follows the Dellatolla family after they acquire an item of curiosity, namely a chair that resembles entwined human bodies with a malevolent, gothic countenance made from solid mahogany. From the instant the chair arrives, the family is thrown into a constant stream of capricious events, from the spontaneous combustion of clothes to a hospital laundry room. But what is the history of the chair, and why is everything around the family crumbling like chalk in the fist of adversity? The longer they retain the chair, the more evil it becomes until the chair evolves into the life that has tried to possess it for centuries.

I prefer a style of story to be in first person with long, meaty chapters, and The Heirloom is precisely that. Although shorter chapters may be the preferred length over the last decade or so, if done well, longer chapters with solid scenes are still as entertaining as long as the story is promoted. The Heirloom falls into this category.

The concept of an evil object is not new. Many horror authors have followed the same path, attempting to catch that unusual angle to draw a reader into the plot. The Heirloom does this by inventing the fact that it isn't the chair that is possessed: it is a gateway between worlds and the throne of the Devil himself.

Although well written, I can't pretend that this is Masterton's finest work, but it is as addictive as most of his other novels. The blurb didn't have me at hello, but it doesn't take long to be absorbed into the everyday and humdrum world that Masterton cleverly creates for us.

The Heirloom is a short novel, but very well paced with a strong plot. It lacked the extra depth of subplots or other major characters (the latter predominantly due to the first person narrative). In contrast, it contains a number of styles I would associate with Masterton's work, including the fresh descriptions of people and places, the evil within ordinary, everyday situations, and short, sharp and at times shocking scenes that initially made me a Masterton fan!

The main characters are lifelike and follow the story's trail as any reasonable individual would, although there were situations I thought the characters accepted with too much faith. In contrast, if you have an evil chair that threatens your family, perhaps faith would be the only thing you have left. If you have read any of Masterton's work, you will understand that the characters must take a leap of faith during the story, due to the explicit and frightening scenes that are so 'Masterton', combined with the often ancient spirits that try to manifest themselves in the modern world.

Masterton also tries to use the divine to intervene with his story, which is always a probable balance in many stories where evil must be challenged. When you consider the precarious position the protagonists are subject to, there is little left in the world to afford their trust. In retrospect, the sequence of events is well aligned through this story, and doesn't throw at the reader too much too soon, or too many resolutions too early. I feel sorry for the priest. So much faith - in the wrong diety!

Overall, The Heirloom is a novel that puts the fear into fear-niture, and Masterton evokes a strong sense of supernatural horror in a splendid tale of terror and the gift of evil. For a novel that is over 25 years of age, it hasn't lost much of its appeal, although if written today, perhaps the viewpoint would have been different although I like to hope not.

I gave this story three out of five skulls because of the reasons above. It is an over-average score because it is an entertaining story, regardless of the lack of originality or depth of sub-plots or other characters. There are plenty of side-tracks in the story including time shifts, moving paintings and a trolobite (Devil familiar). Masterton did a very good job of making me empathic with the main character and his feelings towards his family.

RATING: 3 OUT OF 5

If you are interested in learning more about Graham Masterton, please visit his website at www.grahammasterton.co.uk. Like this review? Please give me your comments in my guestbook!