Have you ever wondered what the movie Porky's would be like if directed by David Cronenberg? Or perhaps how the movie adaptation of The Monkey's Paw would fare if made by John Waters? Does your mind go irrevocably down such, erm… squelchy pathways? Well, wonder no more. Now we have Hellraiser for perverts in the shape of James Newman's and Mark Steenslan's The Special.
There is a place that few know about, and in that place is a room in which a box is placed on a table. Fewer still would be interested in the unsettling pleasures the box provides, but when a man believes he is wronged by his wife, he sets out on a bizarre form of vengeance with The Special as his closest ally.
Welcome to the strange and stomach-churning world of The Special.
There is a point when listening to The Special when a listener should probably ask themselves, “What the Hell am I listening to?” Which should be followed closely by, “Is it wrong that I’m smiling?” If you don’t ask yourself such questions while experiencing this nauseating and entertaining tale then I wonder whether you have some dysfunction, either that or you’re one of its authors. There is an undeniable depravity displayed in James Newman and Mark Steensland’s The Special, and I was pleased when I realised that I could not relate to any of the characters in any way. This is not the kind of book that a reader should be able to. The fast-paced story relies on a level of dysfunction that should make the reader blanch as they laugh at the absurdity.
The Special reminded me more of the sex comedies of the early 80s than it did any of the horror stories it follows. It is a gruesome tale, filled with death and misery to be sure, but its defining moments are those of sexual deviancy that we would associate with those rule-breaking pieces of irreverent entertainment of yesteryear. What makes The Special more amusing than frightening is the simple fact that no reasonable person would be involved in the first place.
In a way, this destroys any attempt at real ‘horror’. It’s simply impossible to care what happens to any of the characters because they are all equally despicable, but this does make the story more amusing simply by removing any deep empathy the reader might develop with characters who seem driven by the most basic of instincts. Though the situation becomes increasingly awful for all involved the characters are so superficial and lacking in any great worth that all that remains is a carnival of atrocity that raises more than the occasional guilty laugh. Even as I knew what was happening was awful and repulsive I could not help but smile, and I couldn’t help but wonder if I was behaving how some vicious psychopath might act, witnessing the pain of others while experiencing nothing but amusement and entertainment at their suffering, because they suffer a lot in this story, and at no point does the reader see any alternative but a bloody and probably disgusting end for everyone.
The Special is a throwback to the type of entertainment made in the 1980s when everything didn’t need to have a deeper meaning and a ‘Great Lesson’ was not hiding around every corner, leaving The Special a little, well… special in its desire to do that thing that is often forgotten in modern entertainment. Which is to say, it entertains.
Final word; read this book, it’s quick and very entertaining, but be sure to remember that this is Porkys by way of Hellraiser, so keep a barf-bag handy.