Grimm Memorials

by R. Patrick Gates

Book Overview

Steve and Diane Nailer move their family from Boston to the quiet town of Norwood. There, for more than 50 years, Eleanor Grimm has been bewitching the parents of Northwood and spiriting away the souls of their children. Now she sets her sights on the Nailer's children. Original.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0451401999
• ISBN13: 9780451401991
• Release Date: June 1990
• Publisher: Onyx Books
• Length: 367 Pages
• Weight: 0.44 lbs.

Customer Reviews

An Original Work Of Genius

I was leary to read this book based on the synopsis, fearing that it might be a cheesy, childish attempt to lump together fairy tales in a modern setting. In truth, this book is a wicked work of art that would make the Brothers Grimm shivver with fear. Early on in this novel, it becomes apparent that Gates took painstaking care to create a novel that operates on many levels. He crafts in Elenore Grimm a villian who is rumored to be a descendant of the Grimm brothers from whom the story takes it's name. As such, she's always been gifted with the storytelling creativity that her ancestors were known for. A former crematoritum operator who seeks eternal life through the dark arts, Elenore possesses a paranormal abilty referred to as "The Machine", which she uses to read the minds of others, toying with their perceptions and bending their wills to do her bidding. The hallucinations of the victims take the form of viciously distorted fairy tales. Consider yourself warned. This is not a novel for the squeamish or faint of heart. This is extreme horror at it's most intense. The pages are splattered full of canibalism, torture, and darker things than most minds could imagine. At the same time, Gates has created a world full of characters who you will feel as if you know, which makes their demise all the more frightening. Amusingly, each chapter of this book begins with a quote from a fairy tale, which manages to sum up that chapter's contents in some way, shape or form - an effort that must have taken much of the writers time, but adds an excellent touch. This novel may have elements that are familiar to fans of Stephen King, but will definitely appeal to afficcionados of more extreme writers such as Edward Lee or Jack Ketchum. My guarantee is that once you finish this novel, you'll want to start immediately on the sequel, Grimm Reapings, and will then begin to beg for the rumored third book.

Riveting and Intense!!

It's funny how this book got in my hands, and it was totally by accident. I have recently renewed my library card, after not using it for years and browsing with my friend, while she found this book. One look at the cover and I knew I had to read it, luckily she had other things and she didn't think she could tackle too many books at one time and I got it. I have never heard of Gates before but after reading this book I'm a fan for life. This must be one of the scariest horror/fairytale books I have ever read. It was gruesome and fast paced and I totally adored Jackie, the little boy who was the wisest, most creative and likable character I have encountered in a book, and mind you he was 6 years old. The book is about a family who moves to Northwood, away from the concrete jungle of Boston and settles in a new home surrounded by charming woods and spooky Victorian mansions. Heavily pregnant Diane, Steve, Jackie and Jennifer Nailer are a tightly knit family. However when they move they cross paths with one of the most evil to the core characters book world has ever invented; Eleanor. She is the witch character that was so real, I started getting nightmares and was worried that she's getting to real in my subconscious mind and it made the book so much scarier. She kidnaps kids from all over and has to perform a sacrifice ritual of black magic, which was totally terrifying to read. She possesses a give called The Machine that enchants the town's people, including Jackie and Jennifer's parent's to the point where she gets them in her claws for satanic ritual that would made her immortal according to the Necromonicon she had. There were moments when I was reading this book that my heart was squeezing hard because it was so intense. I highly enjoyed reading this and I read it in a matter of days only because mundane things such as going to works were getting in the way. All I wanted to do was read the book, I guess it enchanted me just like the with enchanted the kids in the story. Highly recommended for all horror and sci fi fiction!

Grimm Memorials

R. Patrick Gates was my writing teacher not so very long ago. And I think this book is no doubt about it, his best. Ive read all but one of his books, and this is the positive outlier in his collection. Yes, I agree that the book has lots of sex, some not neccesary, but HOPEFULLY YOU are capable like MOST PEOPLE to put it to the side and really read the book. This book definately was well thought out and very creative. The character are very unique in my opinion especially Eleanor. Steve and Diane Nailer are trying to get away from it all by moving into a new house in Northwood with their family of three, consisting of two kids with a third on the way. At the last moment they discover trouble lurking in the towns old mortuary which settles on the path of a trail that makes its way through the woods leading into the Nailers new back yard. Trouble keeps coming and fear builds up, but they cant stop it, for they cant control anything including themselves.

A lost classic

It was purely by coincidence that I discovered R. Patrick Gates and managed to get my hands on this classic of horror. I was at a dusty old used bookstore searching for out of print Edward Lee books. Not surprisingly I didn't have any luck but the store owner suggested that if I liked Lee, I ought to try ought Gates. I read the back cover and was impressed, it seemed like an ideal read for the halloween season. I'm really glad Gates was brought to my attention because Grimm Memorials ended up being the most successfully horrifying novel I have ever read. Ever.The story centers around Steve Nailer, his pregnant wife Diane and their two kids Jackie and Jennifer. When Steve is offered a teaching job in the small, ideallic New England town of Northwood, he jumps at the opportunity, and the Nailers soon move into a nice cozy little house on the edge of the woods. One afternoon while the kids are exploring the woods behind their house and going maybe a little bit farther than they should, they discover an old, seemingly abandoned funeral home with a sign at the front that reads: "Grimm Memorials." Little do they know that a witch lives there. An old witch named Eleanor who is seeking eternal life. For her to gain immortal life she must perform a sacrifice on the night of Samhain that involves the sacrifice of thirteen young boys and one pregnant mother. Only a few days are left untill the night of Samhain and Eleanour will stop at nothing to get the little boys that she needs.Grimm Memorials really turned out to be the perfect halloween season read. It takes place duing the same season, has scenes involving lost children in the woods, a gothic New England setting and a witch who has to be one of the most evil characters ever created in horror fiction. She shows absolutely no remorse for the atrocities she commits on the children. The gore scenes in this novel are beyond belief. Like an Edward Lee or Charlie Jacob novel, I found the gore to be so mind-shattering that I was re-reading sentences twice just to make sure I was not hallucinating and had really read what I thought I'd read. There are some scenes that are simply too outrageous and must be read to be believed. One scene involves a middle-aged man in a bar who sees a gorgeous 20-something blond beauty. Soon after, he is having sex with her right on top of a table. What he doesn't know is that the woman he's having sex with is really the witch Eleanour who put a spell on him. To outsiders in the bar (like the 3 college jocks at a nearby table) they are watching a guy giving it to a 90-year old woman. This scene plays out over several pages and simply must be read to be believed. I have tried to find out more about Gates but there's next to nothing about him on the internet. He wrote a handful of novels in the early to mid 90's but has seemingly dissapeared since then. All of his novels are sadly out of print but if you can find Grimm Memorials in a used bookstore like I did

The best horror book EVER - hands down!

I read this book several years ago and my friends agree with me. It's simply the best horror book ever written. It conjures up scenes and characters so vividly that you'd swear you were watching a movie instead of reading a book! I hope if it's ever made into a movie that it's not ruined - they usually are. The only other book I've read by him was "Fear," which I remember being not too thrilled with. I do have his other books in my line-up and intend to read the rest. If "Grimm Memorials" is still out of print you owe it to yourself to get a copy now!