Rating: 
Summary: "It seems a most difficult problem."
Review: It has been said that Ken Russell's 1980s cinematic adaptation of Bram Stoker's "classic", "The Lair of the White Worm", is a travesty of the original, a betrayal of the source material. However, a read of the book in question will in fact reveal that Russell must be some sort of genius to rewrite this thing so that it makes any kind of sense at all.Our story begins in rural England, though I must say that it's not much like the rural England I remember from my childhood. For one thing, every landmark and citizen appears to live within one hundred feet of each other; this almost claustrophobic aspect of the Less Than Great Outdoors proves a plot point later on when not one, but two, places of residence are blown to smithereens by the same bolt of lightning. Still, they were evil places of residence, so let's not trouble ourselves too much about it. Our central characters are young Adam Salton, an allegedly dashing Australian, and his pal Sir Nathaniel de Salis, the kind of individual whose immediate reaction upon hearing that a young lord of the realm was staring at a young woman is that this is "a matter of life and death". The rest of our merry band includes Edgar Caswall, said young lord, whose primary delight in life is flying kites through thunderstorms in a manner that can only be described as Darwinian; Mimi and Lilla Watford, shy blushing young country lasses straight from Central Casting, whose primary role in the proceedings is to engage in inadvertently hilarious staring contests with Edgar; Oolanga, a jaw-droppingly racist caricature of a black man who, since Stoker wants to have his Ku Klux Kake and eat it too, is both manipulative AND stupid; and, last but certainly not least, Lady Arabella March, the White Worm herself, although Stoker can't seem to make his mind up as to whether or not she was originally human and is now possessed by the Worm's spirit (as a flashback by Sir Nate would indicate), or is actually an ancient serpent who has evolved the ability to shape-shift (as everyone eventually concludes). Evidently, when the forces of Good and Evil are collectively as effective as, well, flying a kite in the middle of a thunderstorm, you can immediately see how the story is going to be problematic. This, however, does not do the book justice. Independent of the characters, Stoker manages to cram in so many plot holes that the Worm, were it to really exist, could comfortably dwell inside one of them for many centuries to come. This is a novel where, after the battle lines have been clearly drawn, the deadly enemies STILL keep inviting each other to tea; where two entire chapters are dedicated to a chest that belonged to Mesmer, which turns out to have absolutely no further role to play in proceedings whatsoever; where a villain murders a victim right in front of the hero and then does nothing to stop him telling anyone other than writing him a sternly worded letter. Clearly, we're not in Kansas anymore. I understand they have editors there. In addition to all this, we're treated to Stoker's thrilling theories about such matters as gender (Women! Go figure!), mental illness (mad people are just being selfish), and, especially, race relations, upon which everyone in the novel, good and bad, can agree that black people are just naturally inferior. Isn't it nice that they can all put aside their differences in the face of a common cause? So, yes, all of this contributes to make "Lair of the White Worm" a less than urgent addition to one's book collection. However, I hasten to add that the book, if read as a comedy, is an absolute laugh riot. Keeping that in mind, I shall leave you with my own personal favorite exchange from the novel, one which, I hope, will afford you as much mirth as it did me: "'...God alone knows what poor Captain March discovered - it must have been something too ghastly for human endurance, if my theory is correct that the once beautiful human body of Lady Arabella is under the control of this ghastly White Worm.' "Adam nodded. "'But what can we do, sir - it seems a most difficult problem.'"
Rating: 
Summary: Pure unadulterated wickedness!
Review: Rarely have I read a book which has so entirely created such an atmosphere of abject horror. No author scares me, none except the master, Bram Stoker. He did it with Dracula and now he does it again with Lair of the White Worm. The evil which permeates throughout this horrible tome is beautiful. I highly recommend this book for anyone who wishes to experience the spawn of hell. A warning to all, this masterpiece has absolutely nothing to do with the movie of the same name. The movie is an atrocious bastardization of this phenomenal tale of horror and should be regarded as such.
Rating:
Summary: Pure unadulterated wickedness!
Review: Rarely have I read a book which has so entirely created such an atmosphere of abject horror. No author scares me, none except the master, Bram Stoker. He did it with Dracula and now he does it again with Lair of the White Worm. The evil which permeates throughout this horrible tome is beautiful. I highly recommend this book for anyone who wishes to experience the spawn of hell. A warning to all, this masterpiece has absolutely nothing to do with the movie of the same name. The movie is an atrocious bastardization of this phenomenal tale of horror and should be regarded as such.
Rating: 
Summary: A GOOD IDEA BOTCHED
Review: This is indeed one strange little book, but I agree with no less a critic than H.P.Lovecraft when he says that the central idea--that of an ancient serpent who survives into the "modern" 19th century and exerts a malign influence on the living--is a good one. But the execution IS rather poorly done. This is not the masterpiece that is "Dracula," nor even the well-put-together read of "Jewel of Seven Stars." Stoker could have used a good copy editor on this book. For example, in one scene, Mimi, our heroine, thinks to herself that a nutzy character by the name of Caswall is mad, because of the way he has just spoken to her. However, there has been no dialogue or indication of Caswall saying anything up to that point. Numerous other inconsistencies abound, the net effect being one of almost non sequitur, dreamlike surrealism, which is perhaps Stoker's intent but is seemingly sloppy writing nonetheless. The descriptions of the English countryside are impossible to picture, so that you can never really get a mental view of the locale in which the story takes place. Also, the exact relationship between Lady Arabella and the Worm itself is vague at best, as is the significance of Mesmer's chest, and the "stare fights" that the reader below refers to. The book certainly held my interest, short and compact as it is, but after all was said and done, I certainly wanted more in the way of explication and denouement. More scenes such as the one where Oolanga falls down the wormhole would've been nice. So what we have here is a frustrating read, but an engaging one, nonetheless.
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