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review 2017-09-26 19:16
THE OMEN Review
The Omen - David Seltzer

The movie adaptation of this short novel is synonymous with classic horror (and, somehow, I’ve yet to see it); the novel itself is worth a look, too. A quick and breezy ride into the occult and the destruction of a wealthy, famous family, there is a reason this story has been well-regarded for four decades and counting.

 

This is ‘70s Horror through and through. Expect not any major gore or jump scares. This narrative gnaws at the reader’s mind and begs the question: “What would YOU do if you suspected your son was the anti-Christ?” There are a few strange occurrences and a couple minor gross-out moments, but on the whole this story plays in a minor key. I could have done with a bit more character development, but what is here is fine. I found myself getting a little bored at times, but on the whole I would consider this a successful horror novel. Now to see the movie.

 

Read for ‘Chilling Children’ in Halloween Bingo.

 

 

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review 2017-03-08 03:40
The Omen - David Seltzer

A boy Born of a Jackel?...   I get that! But how does Satan impregnate it? How did they get his sperm? Did he rise up and say hi, I'm Lucifer, son of lies, I'm here to do some sick stuff and make a son?

 

I honestly thought this when reading the book!? I know I'm strange but in the book it has no explanation at all to how they got the devil's Sperm to make Damian, they just said he was born of a jackel?

 

Apart from that I loved this classic horror book, The idea of the Antichrist being born made for a very chilling and spooky tale.

 

David seltzer does an amazing written work on this. The story grips you and sucks you in and I have to say is, I didn't put the book down. The plot involving the thorn's as well as the other character's is, fascinating although a bit Spooky and gruesome. I'm so glad I actually brought the whole collection as I could easily read them all.

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review 2016-11-30 00:00
The Omen
The Omen - David Seltzer I read this for November's Horror Aficionados read.

Please note that I gave this book 3.5 stars and rounded it up to 4 stars on Goodreads.

This was a good horror book, but my mind tended to wander the entire story-line. I think the problem is that the writing style was just okay, and a few times there would be a sentence or two that just read wrong in my head and I would get distracted.

This book is kind of a weird thing in itself. This was released two weeks prior to the movie being released. There were some minor changes between the book/movie, but ultimately this whole book read like a very jazzed up screenplay. I don't want to make comparisons between Dan Brown or David Seltzer, but a few times I would read something and could see the scene in my head from the movie. So Seltzer definitely wins when it comes to tying the book/movie together.

The Omen follows Robert Thorn and his wife Katherine after the birth of their son. Readers are quickly hip to the fact that Katherine and Robert's child is murdered by mysterious persons and is switched with another baby. Robert is led to believe that his baby was stillborn and is talked into switching out his baby with another baby whose mother died. The set-up to why Robert would do such a thing is that the book goes more into Katherine's mental state prior to this birth and how fragile she was due to the miscarriages she had prior to giving birth.

So this whole book is really just Katherine and Robert realizing that their son Damien does not seem to be like other boys and Robert realizing that something dark seems to be stalking his family.

The writing as I said was good but certain parts were a bit much here and there. This book included pictures from the 2006 film staring Julia Stiles and Liev Schrieber. It was actually odd that the book threw some photos in there randomly in the book. It broke up the flow of my reading. I wish that they had inserted the pictures at the end of the book, or if you are going to insert the pictures in the book, insert them in where the picture references what is going on in the story at that time. Since the book itself that I have is pretty old looking, it was weird to see the glossy colored pictures as well.

There are other books in this series, but I am going to pass on them. All in all some of the imagery in the book was gruesome here and there so that's fair warning to those out there looking for something like this to read.
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review 2015-01-24 14:04
The Omen (1976) by David Seltzer
The Omen - David Seltzer

Novelization of the film, also written by Seltzer. On  its own, a semi-decent horror thriller about an American ambassador in London unwittingly raising the Anti-Christ, a young boy named Damien. Might have been better if written by a novelist, who could have given the dialogue more punch, the action scenes less of a cinematic flavor, and more depth to its religious themes. The popcorn version of Rosemary's Baby and The Exorcist.

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review 2013-10-28 19:55
THE OMEN BY DAVID SELTZER
The Omen - David Seltzer

”...And then shall arise a contemptible one whom royal majesty has not been given. He shall come by counterfeit means and obtain the Kingdom of flatteries. Armies shall be swept away before him and broken...and he shall act deceitfully and he shall become strong with a small people. Without warning he shall come into the richest parts; and he shall do what neither his fathers nor his fathers’ fathers have done, scattering among the people plunder, spoils, and goods. He shall devise plans against strongholds, he shall exalt himself and magnify himself above every God, and shall speak astonishing things against the God of Gods. He shall prosper until the indignation is accomplished, for what is determined shall be done.”

photo TheOmen_zps44e278bd.jpg
The movie poster for the 1976 version starring Gregory Peck and Lee Remick.

Jeremy Thorn and his wife Katherine have been struggling to conceive. Katherine teeters on the edge of the precipice of insanity. They believe that if only they could have a child it would give Katherine something more to focus on than her own unhappiness. They have miscarried a couple of times and now finally a pregnancy is coming to term. Katherine is hospitalized in the 8th month and the fears of losing yet another child are gnawing at their already shattered nerves.

She loses the child…but wait.

Father Spilletto pulls Jeremy Thorn aside and said “do I have a deal for you” (and the devil deals the cards). A child is presented to Thorn. A cherub, healthy, and the wife doesn’t ever have to know. Thorn overwhelmed with emotions and realizing what losing another child will do to his wife...accepts. I could almost hear the whisk whisk of the priest rubbing his hands together with satisfaction over another bargain made. 

The child is in place. His name is Damien.

Haven’t we all at times wondering if our child was the spawn of satan? Those moments when their head starts spinning around on their shoulders and for a moment I am amused and even enthralled... well until the fish start falling from the sky and a cloud of locust descends. Grilled grasshopper as a side dish to fried fish is fine for a while, and better yet if the damn wine hasn’t been turned into blood, but it doesn’t take long for me to want them to officially declare themselves Demon or just an annoying little twerp. If they are a DEMON I can turn them over to a priest or make a call to Sam and Dean Winchester, but if they are just an annoying little twerp?

*Sigh*...then I have to keep trying to find ways to communicate and coexist with this entity.

photo SamandDeanWinchester_zps3fb2f1d1.jpg
Sam and Dean are on my speed dial.

Damien is an odd little fellow. 

”He’s like a little man from Mars,” Horton once remarked to his wife. “Like he was sent here to study the human race.”

His first nanny hangs herself as an act of devotion to Damien. A Mrs. Blaylock appears and declares herself the new nanny. Jeremy and Katherine are suspicious, but not suspicious enough. Damien seems to like her and her devotion to his welfare is without question, but when she starts to push Katherine aside the Thorns find themselves locked in a battle with the “hired help” for time with their son. 

A priest named Tassone arrives at Thorn’s office spouting gibberish and really he is too desperate for the salvation of his own soul to appear as anything other than a lunatic. He was for lack of a better term “the cleaner” for Spilletto. He has much to atone for. He has very little time to convince Thorn that his son is not what he seems or actually that he is exactly what he seems. The forces around Damien are starting to circle Tassone. 

Jeremy soon finds himself on his way to Rome hoping for answers to explain what and who Damien is. What bargain did he really make with Father Spilletto? Who are those people in the grave North of Rome protected by dogs that could have stepped out of the script of a Resident Evil movie? 

”The bushes began to rustle and another dog’s head appeared; this one gray, its muzzle disfigured and dripping. Then another appeared, and another, the cemetery coming alive with motion as the darkened figures emerged from everywhere, a pack of at least ten, insane and ravenous, their mouths dripping in a continual drool.”

A Devil Child’s best friends. 

The dying words of a priest send Thorn to Jerusalem to track down a man named Bugenhagen, the last of a long line of exorcists. He is living underground at the heart of the beginning of Christianity in the City of Jezreel, town of Meggido. It is the only place where he is safe. He explains to Thorn what he must do. 

photo TheOmen2006_zps471f6d07.jpg
The 2006 remake of The Omen stars the lovely Julia Stiles, Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick and Liev Schrieber

This book launched a franchise of books and movies. Even though I had a good idea of the plot it didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the book. I will certainly be on the look out for signs of the Diabolical Trinity. ”The Devil, The Anti-Christ, and The False Prophet. If your children or your grandchildren are born with a full head of hair find a reason to shave their head and look for a trinity of numbers that will send a shiver down to your toes...666. I hope you don’t find them. This is another entry in my 1970s nostalgic horror tour. 

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