Zod Wallop by William Browning Spencer
A Brilliant Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror Novel From St Martin's Press
Aug 19, 2009
William Browning Spencer's second novel, and also the most popular, "Zod Wallop" is an amazingly unpredictable trip through one man's grief and the bizarre reality that he is dragged into,along with some less than normal fans.
A Bizarre Story With Varied Characters
"Zod Wallop" begins with a wedding- a wedding in the rain, between a lunatic and a comatose girl in a wheelchair. The wedding party includes a giant, a beauty in a white bathing suit and a small monkey.
This motley crew, along with Harry Gainesborough, a children's author, are the book's key characters, though various others seem to pop out of the woodwork as the plot thickens, twists and transforms into the nightmarish world of "Zod Wallop". Perhaps even more frightening than the transformation of the "natural world", is the transformation of the characters.
Though the villains in this novel are sometimes difficult to identify, the staff of Harwood Psychiatric, where the aforementioned characters first met, are among them. Others include Ralewings, enormous flying stingray type creatures and various other evil supernatural beings. Again, the villains in this novel are subject to flickers and eventually full on transformations, as their world melds with that of a very dark unedited version of an already bizarre world, created by Harry.
The Plot
After the tragic death of Harry's young daughter, his life falls apart. His wife leaves him, he holes up, drunk and depressed and throws all his books into the lake and refuses to write. With his child gone, drowned, he has no reason to write children's books. Then the phone calls start.
Raymond Story, a whimsical lunatic, is coming for Harry.
A flashback tells us that Harry, Raymond and the gang mentioned above, met at Harwood Psychiatric. Raymond is a crazed fan of sorts, who has stumbled upon the earlier incarnations of Harry's latest children's book, "Zod Wallop".
Though the published work is a children's book, this earlier version is not. Written as a therapy tool during Harry's stay, it is full of evil, spite, and has no happy endings.
Raymond is convinced that, not only is the story real, and happening, but that Harry is the only one who can make it right.
The story continues, taking unexpected turns at every juncture, revealing more chaos behind each unopened door, until the world as Harry knows it has virtually disappeared and he has entered a terrifying world of his own creation.
Reviews and Comparisons
The New York Times review began: "Imagine dropping acid with Dr. Suess..." which, with "Zod Wallop"'s whimsical, yet terrifying monsters and imagery, does indeed, seem an apt comparison.
"Zod Wallop" is often compared to Jonathan Carroll's "The Land of Laughs", as well. Both deal with children's authors whose books, in one way or another, come to life and they share a similar sense of chaos within guise of normal, everyday life. Most of Carroll's other books however, though also Grade A sci-fi/ fantasy/ horror, run a slightly different vein and tend to interconnect.
Other Works By Spencer
Though William Browning Spencer has not acheived the level of fame he deserves, he does have a rather large following and several other books.
In 1990, "Maybe I'll Call Anna" was released in the US as William Browning Spencer's first published novel.
"The Return of Count Electric", a collection of never before published short stories followed in 1993.
1995 held the release of two more novels, "Zod Wallop" and "Resume With Monsters".
"Irrational Fears" followed, in 1998.
"The Ocean and All Its Devices", a second short story anthology, came in 2006.
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