#Spooktober #AudiobookReview ‘The Kolchak Papers’ by Jeff Rice

I was hooked.

There were 2 novels, 2 tv series and numerous fan fiction which was bundled together in anthologies and graphic novels, that extended the universe of the not so humble investigative journalist, Carl Kolchak.

This character was said to be the inspiration for programs such as Buffy The Vampire Slayer, The X-Files, Millennium, Inside Number 9, and many more film and tv makers and writers.

It doesn’t appear to be anywhere via streaming channels on the UK, but can be purchased via Apple TV on an episode/series basis.

Set in 1970’s Las Vegas, our erstwhile reporter is called back from vacation to cover a story for his editor, the inimitable Tony Vincenzo. A young woman, walking home from her job in the casino, is found dead, and drained of blood. This unusual detail in the autopsy sparks Kolchak’s imagination, he has contacts in the medical and police departments who supply him with things that do not usually make the newspapers.

When a second, then a third girl is found dead, and a local hospital robbed of its blood bank supplies, all the police, and Kolchak have to go on is that this is a preternaturally tall man, very pale, dressed all in black, with the worst case of halitosis ever.

So, not much to go on.

Kolchak’s girlfriend is a worker in the casinos and apart from being worried about her, he is also concerned that the bureaucratic process is being favoured over the rights of the public to know that there is, quite possibly, a psychopath on the loose who believes they are a vampire.

And that is without trying to get Tony to print his stories using the ‘v’ word, on the front page.

Torn between his journalistic instincts, his need to be truthful and his own ambition, Kolchak researches what would make a man think he is a vampire. And here, you get a whistle stop tour on the history of vampires, including those decidedly human monsters ,who believed that blood would keep them young.

His face off with the powers that be ends up with a deal made with the devil, just what is Kolchak prepared to do to get his stories recognised as prize winning journalism?

Following the events of The Night Stalker, Kolchak is on the move, once again, and finds himself in the city of Seattle, where he throws himself once more, on the mercies of Tony Vincenzo,(who thought he had gotten away from Karl) and sets himself up as a roving reporter.

Covering the local crime section, he finds a creeping sense of deja vu, as he looks into the deaths of young women, with their necks snapped like firewood, and tiny amounts of blood missing from the back of their heads.

The only forensic evidence to be taken from the bodies, is fragments of decomposing flesh from their necks.

Using his prior knowledge of there being more things in heaven and earth than can be imagined, he reconnects with some familiar faces, and maybe, just maybe, falls in love…

So, what did I love about these novels? The reader, Johnny Heller, inhabits the role as if it were made for him. He captures perfectly the way that Kolchak has this staccato delivery of his stream of consciousness tapes , that record the happenings in Vegas and Seattle. The 1970’s settings feel both retro and also strangely familiar, the quest for the truth versus promoting a particular agenda has never been more relevant. In the era of fake news, there is a distinct lack of journalistic integrity and a need for truth which is often left unfulfilled, even by once great institutions as the BBC. Everyone has an angle. The fact that Kolchak will go to any lengths to print what he has seen , is so commendable, and at the same time , you can see why he never gets the recognition he deserves.

If he writes as he narrates into his tape recorder, he would have been unstoppable. Unbullyable, unmovable and implacable in the face of

There are some aspects of 70’s life which does stand out as dated in this age, and yet, there are still such similarities. The focus on money and station over truth is universal and timeless, the fact that the women are seen as casualties of a high risk lifestyle, rather than someone’s daughter, mother, child, is a constant theme.

The terror engendered by these tales of monsters who walk among us, are interspersed with interjections from Jeff Rice, where he has annotated longer pages, or provided context, which adds to the impression that this is ‘found footage’ , as well as the cinema verite style of narration ‘as it happens’ which puts you in the passenger seat of Kolchak’s car.

The female characters are easily Kolchak’s equals, his constant sparring with boss Tony, his inside knowledge gleaned by years of grooming those who fly under the gaze of those too busy looking for the next sucker, all of this creates such an intense and relatable atmosphere. The bright lights and reputation of Vegas call out to those who want to experience the excesses of life, whatever money can afford. But behind those bright lights are dark shadows, and there lurks evil. He gives a name to the victims, a background and a dignity in death which feels like something which should have been given in life. He appreciates those seen as lower on the ladder-the cleaners, the casino workers, belly dancers and doormen-because they see, they observe what lies beneath the glitter, and , in the case of Seattle, what actually lies under the city.

Reading about a city which has a whole city under the foundations was absolutely fascinating, and I enjoyed the brief sojourn out of the glare of street lights, it was so well described I felt I could see every detail, every cobweb, could hear the drip of water on stone. In Vegas it was the alleys and back yards of the rich and famous that played host to evil, in Seattle it was under the ground-in both locations, you felt that there were two worlds, one of those with, and one of those without. And the ones preyed on were also prey to those who have it all, things social standing, capital, and the right lifestyles. But what they did not have, was integrity and this is what keeps you listening, and wanting to know what happens after the end of these novels. They, alas, make up the original and only tales of Kolchak written by their creator, Jeff Rice.

Subsequent to the tv series and movies (all available on Youtube) the adventures of Carl continue in the form of graphic novels, short story collections and novels. Why is he still remembered so fondly and held in such regard? Maybe it’s because we believe him, and we keep following his trails in the hope that someone in a position of power might, just might, one day give him his dues.

Jeffrey Grant Rice was born in Providence, Rhode Island, USA in 1944. He spent his early childhood in Beverly Hills. He has been a Las Vegas resident since 1955.

Jeff Rice is best known as the author of The Kolchak Papers, a novel he finished on October 31, 1970. Rice’s novel was still unpublished when it was optioned for television and adapted for a TV audience as The Night Stalker. It subsequently had a brief print run when the Kolchak: The Night Stalker TV series grew in popularity. In 2007 Moonstone Books released a new edition which also includes the sequel, The Night Strangler.