Carrion Comfort (1989) by Dan Simmons

I need to start this review with a qualifier: Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons is easily one of my top 3 favorite horror novels of all time, even though it straddles multiple genres, including espionage, historical fiction, and revenge thriller. But make no mistake—this is ultimately a horror novel of the first magnitude. It won the Bram Stoker Award, the Locus Poll Award for Best Horror Novel, and the August Derleth Award for Best Novel.

The rewards are many and rich for those who have the patience to allow Simmons to slowly unfold his epic tale. To accomplish this, Simmons employs a large cast of characters, good and bad, spanning decades, from World War II through to the 80s, where he sets the bulk of his action. Be forewarned, anyone can die at any time and there is a lot of carnage spread out across its length.

To boil the concept down to its barest foundation, Carrion Comfort deals with a small fraction of humanity that manifests a psychic ability, dubbed “The Ability,” which enables them to overtake and control the actions of others against their will to carry out heinous acts. However, though their bodies are no longer under their own control, these victims are perfectly aware of the horrifically shocking and murderous actions they are perpetrating. This creates a paralyzing terror deep within them that can then be fed upon by those with “The Ability,” enabling them to remain young and vibrantly alive at their victim’s expense. In this regard they are similar to vampires. 

We learn that those with this psychic gift play an escalating game among themselves in which they influence world events for their own perverse pleasure. However, over time they have left human debris in their wake, collateral victims who nurse a need for vengeance and justice that must be satisfied. These protagonists are deeply relatable, physically and emotionally damaged, and wonderfully fleshed out as they slowly find each other to form a strengthening group banded together in their pain and commitment to a life-or-death mission of destroying this evil cabal.

Although it takes a while to get going, once it does this is a runaway freight train of brutal action and unbearable suspense that contains perhaps the single best ending to a novel that I have personally ever read with multiple plot threads smashing together in its final 100 pages. As great as anything written by Stephen King or Robert McCammon and leagues better than Dean Koontz, this is darkly grand entertainment of the highest magnitude and unreservedly earns my highest recommendation!

Reviewed by Steve Carroll