Product Description

Yellow light filled the attic. The light locked with the dust--tons of dust up here--and the atmosphere of the place stuffed his head like a fever. It seemed that he perceived this light with every nerve of his body.

The attic was mostly empty but toward the south wall was a queer arrangment of chains; the ends dangled about seven feet from the floor and had broad iron bands attached. The bands were hinged on one side so they could open and shut. The chains looked red in the yellow light.

He held one of the bands and stroked his finger along the inside and it came away reddish. Rust, he thought; but it didn't flake; it wasn't gritty like rust. It was old, caked blood. . .

Slowly, Peter is mesmerized and begins a journey into madness where a bloodstained god waits to claim the mind and soul of the last of the Lelands.

"I am honestly convinced that Fred Chappell is one of the finest writers of this time, one of the rare and precious few who are truly 'major.'" -- George Garrett, author of Death of the Fox and The Succession.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #348734 in Books
• Published on: 2002-04
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 177 pages

Download Description
Yellow light filled the attic. The light locked with the dust-tons of dust up here-and the atmosphere of the place stuffed his head like a fever. It seemed that he perceived this light with every nerve of his body. The attic was mostly empty but toward the south wall was a queer arrangement of chains; the ends dangled about seven feet from the floor and had broad iron bands attached. The bands were hinged on one side so they could open and shut. The chains looked red in the yellow light. He held one of the bands and stroked his finger along the inside and it came away reddish. Rust, he thought; but it didn't flake; it wasn't gritty like rust. It was old, caked blood. . . Slowly, Peter is mesmerized and begins a journey into madness where a bloodstained god waits to claim the mind and soul of the last of the Lelands. "I am honestly convinced that Fred Chappell is one of the finest writers of this time, one of the rare and precious few who are truly 'major.'" - George Garrett, author of DEATH OF THE FOX and THE SUCCESSION. Fred Chappell is the Poet Lareate of North Carolina. Boson Books also offers THE GAUDY PLACE and MOMENTS OF LIGHT by Fred Chappell. For an author bio and photo, reviews and a reading sample, visit bosonbooks.com.

Download Description
Yellow light filled the attic. The light locked with the dust-tons of dust up here-and the atmosphere of the place stuffed his head like a fever. It seemed that he perceived this light with every nerve of his body. The attic was mostly empty but toward the south wall was a queer arrangement of chains; the ends dangled about seven feet from the floor and had broad iron bands attached. The bands were hinged on one side so they could open and shut. The chains looked red in the yellow light. He held one of the bands and stroked his finger along the inside and it came away reddish. Rust, he thought; but it didn't flake; it wasn't gritty like rust. It was old, caked blood. . . Slowly, Peter is mesmerized and begins a journey into madness where a bloodstained god waits to claim the mind and soul of the last of the Lelands. "I am honestly convinced that Fred Chappell is one of the finest writers of this time, one of the rare and precious few who are truly 'major.'" - George Garrett, author of DEATH OF THE FOX and THE SUCCESSION. Fred Chappell is the Poet Lareate of North Carolina. Boson Books also offers THE GAUDY PLACE and MOMENTS OF LIGHT by Fred Chappell. For an author bio and photo, reviews and a reading sample, visit bosonbooks.com.

From the Publisher
Chappell is the Poet Laureate of North Carolina. He was born in Canton, North Carolina. He attended Duke University. He has received grants from the Rockefeller Foundation and the National Institute of Arts and Letters. A professor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, he resides in Greensboro with his wife Susan.

He is known for his novels, some of which are It's Time, Lord; The Inkling; The Gaudy Place; I Am One of You Forever, and his collections of short stories. Of those, his first story collection Moments of Light is available from Boson Books. Some of Chappell's books of poetry are: The World Between the Eyes, River, Bloodfire, and Wind Mountain.

Customer Reviews

One of the best horror novels ever written
Hybrid literature is a tough sell, especially when one of the component genres has a following as finicky as the fans of H.P. Lovecraft. While some readers are content to read the same scenarios over and over, others might want something more.
If you are a fan of the Cthulhu mythos, I urge you to give this book a shot, despite the negative reviews on this page. If you are unfamiliar with H.P. Lovecraft, be glad to take this book on its own rewarding terms.

Both deeply disturbing and compelling, DAGON is full of images and hints of sensation that linger in the subconscious long after reading. Chappell phrases the most mundane details in the most interesting ways so that you are forced to pay attention and consider what he is describing. These details collect like drops of water, until the atmosphere is so thick with dread and oppression that it is almost unbearable, so that even after you finish the book the feeling of unease remains inescapable.

It's a subtle, short read that quietly builds to it's inevitable climax and bizarre coda. The story is on its surface simple, but the way in which it is told is a major achievement.

Not worth your time or money
Dagon is a short novel written by Fred Chappell, with a copyright in 1987. I have the LSU Press edition from 2002. It is a standard 5.5" x 8.5" trade paperback with 177 pages, seemingly substantial, but the font is larger than usual with trade paperbacks so it actually reads fairly quickly. Production values are high; there is a cover illustration by Dave Ross showing a half man with a scaly lower body from behind, held captive in chains in some sort of ancient temple.
Evocative but no wow factor; there is no interior art (too bad, it might have relieved the tedium). List price is $15.95. This book was manufactured according to some standard on book longevity (again too bad, it will take that much longer to crumble away).

Spoilers may follow, but who cares?

I tend to buy and read almost anything mythos associated so of course I lapped it up. JUst after the title page there is a page devoted to Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn. Very auspicious! Unfortunately that was also the highlight.

I really did not like this book even a little bit and I have been trying to figure out why. Sometimes mythos books fall apart because the prose is poor, like Other Nations, or the prose, plot and characterizations all stink, like Island Life, or because the book has really nothing to do with the mythos and instead has to do with schlocky gross out horror, like A Darkness Inbred. This novel clearly was living and breathing in the world of the mythos, had a clearly thought out plot and had prose that was highly polished. So what was the problem?

First of all, I couldn't stand any of the characters, particularly the protagonist, I was more concerned about Thomas Covenant than Peter Leland, and I wanted Thomas Covenant to meet an unseemly early end. Second, it was dull, tedious, boring, a chore to read. There was precious little forward momentum here. Finally, although highly crafted, the prose was almost entirely devoted to Peter's tortuous and disinteresting introspection. Also there was no awesomeness of a mythos entity or any sense of terror at all. He was mostly pathetic and worth only the reader's disdain.

In a typical (mercifully 10-15 page only) mythos story in the sort, a protagonist goes to an ancient mansion/estate/farm and falls under the influence of some evil dabbler in mythos books, or their own dabbling in mythos books, who then loses control over their free will and gets used for or comes to unseemly ends. The reader mainly sees it as either their journal entries or from a birds eye third person viewpoint. This novel rather originally places you in the mind of the victim protagonist who doesn't have any understanding of what is going on, who knows nothing of the mythos and who only catches glimpses but does not understand them of what the evil sorcer type is doing. The
mythos happenings are never made explicitly clear. This *could* have been so cool. So Peter gradually loses his will and his life to the vaguely fihsoid appearing Mina, with his wife an innocent bystander victim along the way. Nice premise, a slow disappointing slog to drag yourself through.

Not recommended to anyone at all anywhere anytime. Go reread Balak or something good instead.

Major disappointment
I found this book on a list of "Cthulhu Mythos" related items and thought it would be good. Big mistake. The first couple of chapters were good, with the proper atmosphere and creepiness. Then came the next hundred or so pages, which suddenly turned the story into a mishmash of sex, sadism, and filthy language, and even a bizarre message of "oneness with the universe". A few vague references to Cthulhu does not make a "Mythos" story.