Rating: 
Summary: Unconventional horror . . .
Review: There's something delightfully seductive about being invited to poke through another person's private life - and in the opening of "Some Of Your Blood," that's exactly what Theodore Sturgeon does. Here, says the author, showing you the desk drawer full of file folders, look through these a while. Not that one, not that one . . . there, try that one. Sit back, relax, enjoy yourself . . . It's tempting; and of course you, me, The Reader, we succumb, open the file folder, and begin to read. The novel itself comes in the form of a case history: letters, memos, transcriptions, all detailing the life history and psychological study of a young man known as George Smith. It's not a conventional horror story, particularly not for the time in which it was written: nothing jumps out at you in the dark, no supernatural happenings take place, there are no curses, no ghosts, no monsters . . . well, maybe there's a monster. Maybe not. Shuffle through the desk drawer of Dr. Phillip Outerbridge and decide for yourself. Only watch out: with traditional flair, Theodore Sturgeon will have you believing one thing and realizing another, right up until the final pages. The ending of the book is a stunner. Not for the blood or the body count; something much subtler than that. Just be prepared to walk around feeling very chilled afterward. It's worth it, though. It really is. "Some Of Your Blood" was the first book by Theodore Sturgeon I ever read, and from the moment I closed the book - carefully, because the copy was quite literally falling to pieces - I was a Sturgeon addict. It's rare to find a book that is both heartbreakingly sweet and truly terrifying at once, but I think this might be such a book. It's probably not to everyone's taste; it may even offend some people, for the suggestions it makes and the conclusions it draws; but it definitely deserves to be read. So read it . . . You have the key. You know the way. And it is your privilege.
Rating:
Summary: Unconventional horror . . .
Review: There's something delightfully seductive about being invited to poke through another person's private life - and in the opening of "Some Of Your Blood," that's exactly what Theodore Sturgeon does. Here, says the author, showing you the desk drawer full of file folders, look through these a while. Not that one, not that one . . . there, try that one. Sit back, relax, enjoy yourself . . . It's tempting; and of course you, me, The Reader, we succumb, open the file folder, and begin to read. The novel itself comes in the form of a case history: letters, memos, transcriptions, all detailing the life history and psychological study of a young man known as George Smith. It's not a conventional horror story, particularly not for the time in which it was written: nothing jumps out at you in the dark, no supernatural happenings take place, there are no curses, no ghosts, no monsters . . . well, maybe there's a monster. Maybe not. Shuffle through the desk drawer of Dr. Phillip Outerbridge and decide for yourself. Only watch out: with traditional flair, Theodore Sturgeon will have you believing one thing and realizing another, right up until the final pages. The ending of the book is a stunner. Not for the blood or the body count; something much subtler than that. Just be prepared to walk around feeling very chilled afterward. It's worth it, though. It really is. "Some Of Your Blood" was the first book by Theodore Sturgeon I ever read, and from the moment I closed the book - carefully, because the copy was quite literally falling to pieces - I was a Sturgeon addict. It's rare to find a book that is both heartbreakingly sweet and truly terrifying at once, but I think this might be such a book. It's probably not to everyone's taste; it may even offend some people, for the suggestions it makes and the conclusions it draws; but it definitely deserves to be read. So read it . . . You have the key. You know the way. And it is your privilege.
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