The Manse (1987) by Lisa W. Cantrell
"The common denominator is fear"
Readers unfamiliar with The Manse may prefer to read these notes only after reading the novel.
The bitter rush of bile resurged as his eyes took in the scene—a scene that could inspire a hundred Dantes, a thousand Poes.
Around him, children caught before they could escape the room were being absorbed into the mirrors. Small, contorted bodies were merging with their mirror images, becoming monstrous, swollen child-things. Here and there a body part protruded, a reaching arm, a jerking foot, a silent, screaming head, wrapped in glass the way a spider wraps a fly, cloudy plastic bubbles of writhing bodies, innocent child faces staring wild-eyed, features smeared, screams locked behind glass. Paul’s mind shut down. He became fascinated with the spectacle surrounding him. It was like watching a silent horror movie, one of the old, surrealistic ones, all blunted shapes and blending colors and merging scenes…
He didn’t even flinch when something cold touched his back.
The Manse (1987) by Lisa W. Cantrell adds few new notes to the familiar paperback horror template of the late 1980s.1 However, I believe it is one of the first dozen horror novels with a Halloween setting. It has a three-year cumulative time span. It takes place in a small North Carolina town. The plot centers on a local Jaycees haunted house.
The specter that hangs over The Manse and other novels of the time is of course Stephen King. The year of publication for The Manse was 1987, and the horror boom of the '80s was at the time going strong. In many ways, The Manse recalls 'Salem's Lot: a spectrum of local high and low characters, all interacting with a house that overlooks their town and exerts a malign influence on those venturing too near. The only thing missing: Barlow and Straker, though the local Jaycees president initially seems to be angling for the Straker position.
* * *
'Salem's Lot had an obvious central point-of-view character in Ben Mears. The Manse does not offer readers that luxury. Chapters and subchapters alternate between principals, but ultimately none emerge with sufficient agency or broad and complicating vitality to claim the top of the pyramid like Mears. In fact, some characters begin with promising set-ups and back stories, but vanish after a few brief appearances.
* * *
For the first half of The Manse, several characters seem like they'll emerge as the lead and build a team of allies to save attendees at the final Jaycees Haunted House:
Samantha Evers is the local newspaper's savvy reporter and Jaycees VP.
Leroy James Hopkins, “Dood” to his friends, is the local clothes horse and video store owner. Samantha's best friend.
Zack Dalton, Samntha's ex and Jaycees president, is the controlling, paranoid former high school football hero who never moved on. His volatility shares the manse's wavelength.
Miss Florence Mae and Miss Fanny Elizabeth Beaufort (fondly known as Miss Flossie and Miss Bessie, or simply the Beaufort Twins), own the Manse, but are relegated to a nursing home. To keep their childhood home out of real estate developer nephew Peter's clutches, they have leased the property to the Jaycees for the last thirteen years. At first the twins have a charming kind of Baldwin sisters act, but it turns out to be camouflage disguising a host of darker secrets from the past.
Sherman “Tank” Worley is another former high school football player. But unlike Zack, he's not a jerk about it. A stalwart Jaycee, Tank turns out to be great in a crisis. He can also do wonders with a bourbon-flavored toothpick.
Pojo, like Weasel Phillips in 'Salem's Lot, is the homeless town drunk and a casual overnight guest at the manse during cold weather.
New in town, local lawyer Ted Nathan handles legal affairs for the Jaycees and the Beaufort Twins. He seems like a natural Ben Mears lynchpin p.o.v. protagonist. A prospective partner for Samantha and friend of Dood, his outsider perspective lets him acknowledge the manse's malignant agency.
But Ted gets lost at the periphery of the action.
In fact, a key shortcoming of The Manse is that each of these characters gets stuck on the periphery until the apocalyptic climax. But by then, it's too late to make an investment.
* * *
The Manse was a good idea for an entertaining horror novel. As a first novel, it was clearly poorly served by its editors and publishers. Overall focus and cohesion are absent.
However, for readers who want to lend historical range to their October fiction consumption, The Manse is a useful supplement to more contemporary fare. While my notes and conclusions may point out shortcomings, it was still a novel worth reading, and is indicative of its time.
Jay
28 October 2023
The blog Too Much Horror Fiction's 2011 review of The Manse does a very funny and very critical job on the novel's shortcomings. Retrieved 26 October 2023: http://toomuchhorrorfiction.blogspot.com/2011/01/manse-by-lisa-w-cantrell-1987-mayberry.html