Deadite Press
Review by: Ronnie Tucker
Review posted 4/07/2012
I'd heard good things about Edward Lee, but had never read any of his books until now. One other thing: The Haunter of the Threshold is, by Mr. Lee's own admission, a sequel (of sorts) to H. P. Lovecraft's story, The Haunter of the Dark. Thus far there are two things that cast doubt on this book: reputation, and sequel. That's a lot to live up to.
Well, he's certainly as sick as I'd heard. No doubt about that. The Haunter of the Threshold starts off, right from the get-go, with a woman being violently raped. Later said woman and her heavily pregnant friend (and co-worker) head off, on vacation, to a shack in the forest which the pregnant woman's husband has just inherited.
The red-neck area seems quaint enough, with many a friendly villager, and with our heroine developing a crush on one of the residents. Meanwhile our pregnant, hormonally-challenged, co-star is none to happy that her husband is delaying his arrival at the house due to rifling through the papers of the recently deceased.
Our heroines crush dispenses information to her which starts the ball rolling in this Lovecraftian mystery. It's all to do with strangely lettered boxes and the mysterious 'ST'. Whatever it may be.
Haunter of the Threshold is definitely a good book. I expected it to be pulpy trash, but Ed Lee can definitely write, and write a good mystery too. By the end of the book all the loose ends were tied, even those I'd forgotten about since the start of the book, and it definitely had that Lovecraftian ending. Mr. Lee's reputation remains intact.
What I will say though is that the book is sick throughout. This is not your typical indescribable, unnameable, Lovecraft short (if you haven't read Haunter of the Dark, you'll still be OK in reading Haunter of the Threshold) Lee reveals every detail of the rape, murder and fetishes involved in the mystery. Caveat emptor!
