In Garton's view, Mace represents the misery, disaffection and rage that children feel when their parents abuse them, actively or passively. Mace is not exactly human: he possesses a tongue that extends several feet (with which he does disgusting things), and he is always accompanied by a coterie of ratlike ``pets.'' He is opposed by a bad boy (who turns good), a good boy (who almost turns bad) and a dedicated social worker, none of whom manage to stop him though they all at least survive. The horror story concerns charismatic but sinister Mace, who shows up in the San Fernando Valley one day, intent on luring youngsters to his decadent lifestyle and, ultimately, into mass suicide. Though not very well written, the book succeeds because of Garton's enthusiasm and his sure sense of adolescent weltschmerz.

Garton has a skill in connecting the reader to his characters, much more so than many of his contemporaries in the sub-genre, and it's no different here. Hallies Crucifax autumnRay Garton, Colours of NatureR F RICHARDS, Stay Alive: A Handbook of SurvivalMaurice Dunlevy, Thoughts on the religious. Voila, Crucifax Autumn, the second book by the author of Live Girls, a vampire novel. Crucifax is one of the best examples of the late 80s splatterpunk movement, and the tension and horror remain ramped up throughout. Take a group of teenagers, mix with sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll, add blood, death and a storyline out of the Pied Piper by way of Dracula, and shakeviolently. Set in California's dark underworld of sexual deviants, pornographers and sadomasochists, Garton's (Dark Channel) latest thriller is an unremittingly grim smorgasbord of child abduction, incest.

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