When I first began reading "Squawk at the Moon", I thought I was going to hate it. I know, hate is a very strong word, but the opening scene in which character Shane McTavish is driving some sort of Kitt-esque car and growling at the navigation equipment, I immediately smelled science fiction in the air. Si-fi, even well written forms of it, is my least favorite genre, so I was disappointed. I also caught wind of the Scottish McTavish's disposition--he was unlikeable from the first line of his dialogue.
Suddenly, 12 lines down, we meet Mihaela Svagalli, a crazy Romanian "Chicken Lady" who views her beloved chickens as children and not mere farm animals. When McTavish viciously and unapologetically murders Chicken Lady's hens, including her adored Honey, with his "KITT", the woman goes berserk and curses McTavish with "Gallus Gallus Lycanthropus"...perhaps you have an idea of where this is going.
Although I thought the story was going to continue along the horror path from that point, it turned back to sci-fi with a group of StarTrek inspired characters commanding a spaceship. This, however, ended up being all right, after all, as Graeme Reynolds did a very good job blending campy sci-fi with horror.
As the reader rides along on the group's mission, they find themselves encountering a fierce beast indeed--the dreaded werechicken, a malicious and malevolent creature that makes your average werewolf seem like a teacup poodle. The vicious attacks give the readers a fulfilling diet of blood and guts, and there is a bit of suspense as the crew go on the hunt of the monster roaming their spaceship. And, surprise, surprise, Shane McTavish, who has been cursed by the weird Chicken Loving Lady and begun clucking while on board, is missing. Hmm...I wonder where--or what--he is!
Perhaps so the reader "gets it", the writer includes a Romanian crew member by the name of Dimitri Kosovan, who explains that werechickens are well known in his homeland, creatures who arise when "henbane" is in full bloom. According to the crew member, Hollywood changed the concept of the werechickens to werewolves for scare factor. In my estimation, this explanation was a bit unnecessary; the story is full of werechickens...I don't care WHY...it just IS. And I think it's a lot more creative and interesting than your basic night howler.
By the end of the story, my hate vanished, replaced by genuine like. I thought "Squawk at the Moon" was unique and interesting. Graeme Reynolds writes fairly well, which was a plus, as I would have hated for a poor writer to mangle such an interesting concept with substandard writing skills.
I found the ending suitable to the tale, one expected of any "goodbad" B flick.
Wicked Truths Regarding "Squawk at the Moon":
1. Shane McTavish is obviously of Scottish descent--his last name and red hair makes the fact well known. I'm not a fan of writers who overuse dialect in their character's conversations. Graeme Reynolds peppered McTavish's speech with such ("ya", "ye", "dinna", "tae", "oot")...a little of that goes a long way. I was grateful that McTavish didn't have a lot of dialogue.
2. A touch of camp is plenty. Graeme Reynolds' use of phrases such as "mother clucker", "Cocka doodle doo, mother cluckers", explaining that a werechicken is female due to her "chicken breasts" and racking a male werechicken in the "chicken nuggets" was somewhat amusing at first, but grew a bit tiresome.
OVERALL RATING:
4 out of 5 Flying Monkeys
If you would like to learn more about the writer of "Squawk at the Moon", you can visit him on the web at http://www.graemereynolds.com/
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