Spawn

by Shaun Hutson

An ex-mental patient becomes a hospital porter and an escaped convict join together to cause violence and bloody havoc. The author also wrote "Assassin", "Death Day" and "Slugs".

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Ebooks, Pulp, Supernatural, Horror Thriller, Splatterpunk

288 pages, Hardcover

First published June 16, 1983

About the author

British horror novelist, including horror and urban thriller novels.

His novella Slugs was made into a movie, although Hutson didn't like the movie. He also appeared in two horror movies himself.

Hutson is a Liverpool F.C. fan.

Reviews

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. There’s a sort of spoiler-y summary ahead, so consider yourself warned.

If you’re into burn victim mental patients who plant dead fetuses in the ground, which subsequently return to life because electricity (FrankenFetuses?) and then proceed to run around as these hideous telepathic/telekinetic creatures with a penchant for drinking blood and eating brains, and whose other hobbies include drooling a hell of a lot of this nasty yellow pus/mucus substance and engaging in bloody psychic warfare on the wombs of the mothers who had them aborted, then this is the book for you! Cabbage patch kids from hell, for sure.

[Grady Hendrix · Rating 2 out of 5]

You'd think a book about rotten, psychic, zombie abortions reanimated by lightning, fed on bleeding man-boobs, and capable of making a woman's womb explode in "a shower of blood and pus" would be better than this. You'd be wrong.

[Phil · Rating 1 out of 5]

Having reacquainted myself Hutson after decades with his Slugs, I opted for another of his I picked up figuring that it would also be some trashy fun. It may be that, but that is about it. You would think a novel about frankenfetuses with mind control ability, coupled with a deranged homicidal maniac, would at least have some entertainment value, but even that is pretty low here. Perhaps Slugs was his magnum opus as it certainly was better than this.

The story starts with Harold finally leaving the mental hospital he has been in for three decades or so and now working in normal hospital as an orderly. When he was 14, Harold, playing with matches and torturing bugs accidentally set his room on fire and with it, his baby brother. He was left horribly burned (his only parent, his mother, tried to save the baby but she died in the attempt) and hence his institutionalization. One of Harold's jobs is to toss recently aborted fetuses into the burner but this reminds him too much of what his baby brother went through, so he smuggles them out and buries them close to his 'hut' where he lives (on the hospital grounds). One day during a lightening storm the electricity brings a few of the fetuses to life (ok) and they grow/survive by drinking Harold's blood. You know this is going to be ugly, but if you can get around how dissected, dead fetuses magically come back to life as quasizombies with mind powers and a taste for blood, the rest of the story limps along nicely.

Yeah, this is trashy, bad science and of course some detailed sleazy sex scenes (I think the latter were mandatory in 70s/80s pulp horror), but I can deal with that; in fact, I have a strange affinity to such pulp. Yet, this also has a blatant 'pro-life' theme that really sticks in my craw. Somehow, the aborted fetuses manage to take revenge on their mothers (don't ask) as they wanted to kill them. We have, basically, a morality tale about the sanctity of life of fetuses loosely covered up in trashy pulp that really does not need to be here. I might give Hutson another go as Slugs was fun, but this one? It makes Slugs look like a masterpiece. Unless you like getting beaten over the head with such a morality tale, stay away from this one. 1 stinking star.

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Over the last few years, I have been reading some of the finest horror literature in the world, delving deep into the British ghost story masters James and Le Fanu, the spritualist-horror masterpieces of Machen and Blackwood, the darker American visions of Bierce, Chambers and that dark prince of the macabre, Poe, the early 20th-century efflorescence helmed by talents like Lovecraft, Smith and Howard and of course the current masters of the form such as Ligotti and Campbell as well as emerging giants like Barron and Pugmire.

And now I've read Shaun Hutson.

This isn't the worst thing ever - writers like Richard Laymon and the authors of a hundred disposable splatter paperbacks from the 80s boom were as bad and often worse - but it's not good by any means. The writing is amateurish and in need of editing, the plot is a mish-mash of cliches and poor taste, the characters are cardboard cut-outs and there's no real moment of dark epiphany, just a series of rather obvious gross-outs that culminate in the usual predictable 'twist' ending.

For all that, I'm giving this a two-star rating simply because of its honesty - Hutson clearly set out to write exactly the kind of novel that he wound up writing. It's trash, but at least it's honest trash and nothing - the title, the blurb, the cover art or what you can glean by scanning the first few pages in a bookstore - pretends otherwise.

[Franki · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is one of the few books that I cannot read without suffering from a bitter aftertaste of cynicism. For example, the story mainly revolves around a severe burns victim who accidentally caused the death of his mother and baby brother through his pyromania. When the insane asylum he has lived in all his adult life is closed, he is released and sent to a hospital as a porter whose main job is disposing of aborted foetus' in the hospitals incinerator.
I mean, really? As much as I'm aware that this is a work of the imagination, even my imagination finds it hard to believe that such a blatant, glaringly obvious cruel mistake would be made.
The story basically involves Harold (said burns victim) salvaging the foetus' he's charged with burning and, in an elaborate freak storm (what else?!) the mass grave he's dug for them is struck by lightning and three of them come to life and have mad-telepathic powers.
I'm normally all for a scary, gory, generally unexplained story every now and then but I'm afraid that this is just awful- the escaped serial killer seems to just hide in a barn and eat rats and that's exactly what this book made me want to do... The hiding away from it bit, not the eating vermin.
I think this book may excite, disgust and shock you if you can travel back in time and give it to your twelve year old self.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Buddy read with Curtis!!!!
Review to come…

[Dreadlocksmile · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spawn is just one of those classic Hutson novels that has shaped him into the respected splatter author he is today. The novel doesn't weave a particularly complex plot, or delve into strong charcterisation, but what it does do is produce some light, horror entertainment. The book is basically about two disturbed men and the unnatural consequences of their deeds.

Harold Pierce is released from a mental hospital where he has spent all of his adult life. His new job as a hospital porter involves him in the burning of aborted foetuses - an act which brings back nightmare memories of the death by fire of his baby brother Gordon. The trauma is such that the deranged but gentle Harold begins to neglect his duties.

Paul Harvey is a convicted murderer and his escape from prison places the Exham police force under a great deal of pressure. Their vigorous manhunt yields no results but when they begin to investigate a brutal series of murders no one has any doubt that it is Harvey who is decapitating the hapless victims.

Nothing notably outstanding sticks out from the book, but I must say that I did enjoy it. It's one of those novels that you really don't want to put down as your dragged from page to page, until you're at the gorey climax. The important thing with this novel, as with most if not all Hutson novels, is not to expect a masterpiece. Mr. Hutson writes gorey, enjoyable, easy to read, splatter horror with no complex or detailed plots. And he's a master at what he does!

[Curtis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the kind of book I would have tried to write in middle school. Evil aborted fetuses -- random blowjob scenes -- exploding wombs -- baby-trapping sluts! They don't make books like this one anymore.

[Dez Nemec · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not great, but seriously, it has telekinetic zombie fetuses. What else do you need?

[Charles · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't care for it. I tried Hutson because I'd been told his books were the goriest out there. Unfortunately, that doesn't appear to be true. This one was certainly gross, but there's a difference between grossness and goriness. As a good example, one scene early in the book dwells on the burning of hospital linens stained with urine, feces and other bodily fluids. This isn't gory. It's gross. Later, we have several people who get their heads hacked off with a sickle. This could well have been gory, but in this book it really wasn't.

I ended up pretty much just scanning the rest of the work.

[Zachary Ashford · Rating 3 out of 5]

Apart from the huge plot twist that doesn't really make sense, this is tonnes of fun. One of the old-school horror ones I've always wanted to read, and I burned through most of the audiobook in a day. I finished it this morning on paperback. Enjoyable.

[Sam Whitehouse · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise of this book pleases my horror loving heart greatly but the actual book didn't please me so much. It's all very dated and offensive. The writing isn't terrible but it isn't particularly good either.

[Chris ( librocubicularist ) King · Rating 2 out of 5]

? Wtf ?

[Nicholas Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

These Hell Spawns will drive you mad!

This story was so freaking good and just creepy as all Hell! I thought this was a real page turner and I highly recommend it to anyone ready for a crazy, balls to the wall
Horror story!

The story has a lot going on, but it’s mostly about Howard Pierce, who, at a young age, killed his younger brother, torching him and his mother alive til they succumbed to their wounds. Sometime later, Howard works at a hospital where he has to burn “children”, as he refers them as, in a furnace.

Also, there’s other side stories going on in this book, but you get the main jest of it, right?

This one was fantastic! This makes me want to read more Shaun Hutson for sure!

Overall, I give this one 5/5 stars!

P.S. I listened to the audiobook, which was a blast! The Narrator did a fantastic job.

[Wayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Revenge of the aborted fetus. A disfigured mental patient is sent to a hospital to work because his institution is closing it's doors. A killer escapes from prison and is believed to be coming back home. The same home he killed two people. Women who had abortions are dying mysteriously. A detective and a doctor are trying to tie it all together. This was a great cheesy horror novel. Everything you would expect from the time period. My only complaint would be the under use of the fetus's. Read the book and you'll know what I'm talking about.

[Jessica T. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Shawn Hutson's Spawn was originally written in 1983. I'm assuming that at that time writing thinly anti abortion/feminism horror propaganda was okay. I could have gotten past that fact if perhaps it was written well or perhaps fun and campy... but no readers Hutson manages to make mutant abortion baby monsters boring. The dialogue is atrocious and the characterization is awful. I'll never get the time back I wasted reading this.

[Petra Be · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sorry but I am giving up on this book. Not very well written (amateurish), but that would not be my reason to stop reading. I only got to page 45 and there have already been two very explicitly described scenes of animal torture and suffering. No, thank you. I do like horror books, but this one is not scary at all, it is disgusting.

[Jim Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars.

I found the gory descriptions of the fetuses delightful and the main character's trauma harrowing. Characterisation (I forgot who everybody in the supporting cast was once each chapter started) and pacing (pointless serial killer subplot bogs the entire thing down) were inept. A meandering mess with some great pulp horror imagery tucked away within.

[LC · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finished this book over 6 months ago and it has haunted my life. I still think of this book too often. Parts of it are disgusting ....actually most of it is disgusting but it is still a very unique horror.
Updating from my original rating of 4 stars now to 5 stars

[Amos Lamb · Rating 2 out of 5]

Giving this a 2 star but would consider it a 2.5 if Goodreads allowed it. There are times where I really like the book and what it was doing (especially the ending which I really liked) but there's also too much meandering and waffle that drag the book out unnecessarily.

[Carmen Drake · Rating 1 out of 5]

Worst book ever!

[Catherine Whitaker · Rating 2 out of 5]

Let's be honest here - this is the dumbest book I've ever read. It could have been great in an 80s b-movie kind of way, but it was littered with problems.

One unavoidable issue is how dated it is. I'm sure it was fine in the early 80s, but for a modern reader it was just uncomfortable seeing the one black character referred to as "the coloured porter" in every page he showed up on. That one can't be helped, really. Similarly, there was a sexist tone in there a lot of the time. I can usually get away with it in older books but this one felt different for some reason.

There was a lot of pretty terrible grammar and some bad spelling peppered throughout the book. It also could have done with better editing - some of the pages were correctly indented and formatted but others were just huge blocks of text with no breaks.

One of the hardest things to stomach was the hideous lack of decent research, which lead to a plethora of innacuracies. Now, I realise this is bad horror and therefore subject to overblown imagination and extreme images. However... The author based a book around aborted foetuses but clearly had zero idea of what size or how well formed they would be. As someone who used to work in Pathology, I've seen more than a few and it made the whole thing ridiculous. The author had a vision in his head of large babies which were capable of opening their eyes and mouths, yet were somehow jellylike in texture. It was just so wrong that even suspension of disbelief couldn't cover it. There were similar issues with things even schoolchildren are taught - he wrote about lightning immediately following a thunderclap in a storm, despite the fact that thunder is caused by the lightning, and not the other way around. I realise that's probably petty, but so many little things like this added up over the book, and by the end I was almost wondering if the author had finished school. Here and there he threw in the medical name for a piece of equipment which no one would ever actually know or say - but he described machines in the hospital as "cancer scanners", which had me laughing out loud.

There were also several areas of the book where he contradicted himself a couple of paragraphs after writing the initial description. An Inspector opens a folder with 3 single sheets of paper in it, but the first report he pulls out of the folder goes on for four pages. A coroner confirms a cause of death as ectopic pregnancy but goes on to say there was no egg, embryo or foetus involved. Just weird, weird stuff, over and over again.

On top of all of the above, the whole thing just felt like a pro-life lecture - zombie babies kill their mothers for having them aborted. Every woman in the book is presented as promiscuous, having had so many sexual partners in the past that they can't even remember how many. Give me a break.

The age of the book obviously hasn't done it any favours, but I don't think that's what made it bad (for me), unfortunately.

[Maria Lago · Rating 1 out of 5]

Vamos a ver. El libro trata de un retrasado deforme que tiene un trauma porque de pequeño quemó vivos a su madre y hermano y que se dedica a enterrar a fetos abortados porque no se siente con fuerzas de incinerarlos, pero que a estos fetos les cae un rayo y reviven y tienen poderes telepáticos y comen sangre.
Así que no logro entender cómo es posible que sea todo (o casi) taaaaan aburrido.
Le doy una estrella por pura decepción y hasta por rabia.
Caca pa ti Hutson.

[Oliver Clarke · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review first appeared on scifiandscary.com: https://www.scifiandscary.com/spawn-r...

After the blistering ‘Slugs’, ‘Spawn’ was a bit of a disappointment. It certainly doesn’t feature the strong storytelling and enjoyably cinematic gore of the other novel. Like most of his books, it’s one I have read before, but I didn’t remember it well, beyond the concept. What a concept it is though, absolutely bonkers and arguably extremely offensive, it’s certainly a book that it’s hard to imagine being published any time other than during the 80s horror boom.
The book follows Harold, a hospital porter and ex-psychiatric patient, horribly scarred in a fire when he was a child, who rescues the corpses of aborted foetuses from the clinical waste furnace and buries them in a nearby field. When lightning strikes the mass grave, some of the foetuses come back to life. This happens without any real explanation and for no reason other than that’s what happens when lightning strikes dead things in horror books and movies. The reanimated babies then psychically communicate with Harold and make him do nasty stuff.
Alongside all of this, again for no real reason, is a parallel storyline about an escaped murderer and the policeman who is searching for him. There are loose connections, beyond geography, as the stories progress, but it’s only really at the end that they come together. This is a narrative technique that Hutson uses in a lot of his books and it’s not that successful here. More often than not, it feels like two different books stuck together to bring the word count up.
That probably wouldn’t matter too much if the gore was more fun, but it really isn’t, especially when compared to the delirious heights of ‘Slugs’. The book is undeniably horrible, but that horror comes most often from lingering descriptions of the aborted foetuses. As a result, it’s often hard to read rather than enjoyable. On the plus side, there’s tonnes of sex and he only uses the world “cleft” once.

[Stephen McQuiggan · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is more than a dash of James Herbert about Hutson's work - but Hutson is darker, and not prone to a happy ending. In fact, he seems to lack any scruples at all - the piece de resistance of this wonderfully nasty little tale is the discovery of three aborted foetuses feeding on the brains of decapitated heads in the shit stained confines of a derelict asylum. The trick ending made me smile too.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I originally read this when I was fifteen years old, and back then it scared the hell out of me. I enjoyed this re-read, although I'd forgotten how riciculous the whole plot is. Nevertheless, Hutson is up there with the best of them when it comes to splatterpunk. It's quite surprising that his name doesn't still come up in more in current .horror circles.
If you enjoy 80s style splatterpunk, then you'll love this author.

[Don Woods · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my first Shaun Hutson book to read. I wasn't disappointed either. In fact, I was hooked. I have bought several more of his books since. Have yet to read them, but will get around to them eventually. He writes TV like scenes(chapters). Never too long, so easy to read. Anyway, I thought this book was top class. !

[Katsumi · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book disappointed me ,the stuff about aborted fetuses coming to life etc was just disturbing and the killer that was on the loose all he did was eat rats and use a sickle nothing happened. Definately one of his weaker books I'm sorry to say :(

[Iola · Rating 3 out of 5]

As far as Shaun Hutson books go this was average at best. I have read far better material from him. It wasn't what I expected but I soon worked it all out, except the very end. I didn't see that coming but wasn't shocked by it either. Mediocre at best.

[Mikepottz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three aborted foetuses buried in the earth brought back to life by a surge of electric energy from a downed powerline and fed on blood grow and via telekinesis get revenge on their mothers. Really fast pace, visceral and extremely out there.