The Howling III: Echoes
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| Author | Gary Brandner |
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| Language | English |
| Series | The Howling |
| Subject | Werewolves |
| Genre | Horror novel |
| Publisher | Hamlyn |
Publication date | 1985 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 254 |
| ISBN | 0-09-940730-2 |
| OCLC | 59057562 |
| Preceded by | The Howling II |
The Howling III: Echoes is a 1985 horror novel by the American author Gary Brandner. It is the third and final book in his Howling series of novels. Like its predecessor, Return Of The Howling, the book has not been adapted for the screen and bears virtually no similarity to the Howling III film or any of the other films in The Howling series. Minor elements of the novel (such as werewolves being used in carnival freak shows) were used in the film The Howling VI: The Freaks, though this idea was actually first seen in the 1975 British horror film Legend of the Werewolf.
Plot
A year after the Californian mountain village of Drago was destroyed by fire, sinister murders begin to occur in the neighboring town of Pinyon. A teenage boy named Malcolm is found living in the woods, and is one of the survivors of the Drago fire. Also surviving the fire is Derak, the former leader of the Drago community and a werewolf, responsible for the recent deaths. Derak wants to bring Malcolm back to his people, the other survivors of Drago, so that he can learn about his true heritage; Malcolm is also a werewolf.
Malcolm is hospitalized and placed under the care of resident psychiatric specialist Dr Holly Lang, who becomes Malcolm's friend. However, an ambitious and unscrupulous doctor, Wayne Pastory, abducts Malcolm so that he can experiment on him and learn more about werewolves. At a secret clinic, Malcolm is tortured as Pastory conducts cruel experiments on him, but as he is so young, Malcolm is only partially able to transform into a werewolf. Holly discovers the whereabouts of the clinic and tries to rescue Malcolm but she is attacked by Pastory's henchman. Just as he is about to rape her, Derak - in werewolf form - bursts in and kills the henchman. Malcolm is freed by Holly, who is subsequently rescued herself by the Pinyon sheriff, Gavin Ramsay. However, Malcolm runs away before they (or Derak) can take him back to Pinyon.
Over the course of the next year, Malcolm lives as a drifter, wandering throughout California. He eventually meets a man named Bateman Styles who works for a traveling carnival. Seeing that Malcolm has certain abilities (he continues to partially transform into a werewolf), Styles offers him a job working in the carnival freak show as "Grolo - The Animal Boy". Malcolm, without money or a place to live, accepts and the show becomes a minor success. However, publicity leads to Malcolm's picture being published in the press, which is seen by Holly and she travels to see him. She offers Malcolm the choice of returning to Pinyon with her, which Malcolm accepts. However, the publicity has also attracted the attention of Dr Wayne Pastory, who has been dismissed from the Pinyon Hospital over his dubious activities, but is still keen to resume his experiments. He travels to the carnival and tries to make a deal with Styles, who refuses. Pastory tries to strangle Styles, who then has a heart attack and dies. Malcolm, who is hiding nearby, transforms partially into a werewolf and kills Pastory. However, he is surprised to find that Derak has also tracked him down and still wants him to join their people. In order to persuade him, Derak has kidnapped Holly. This prompts Sheriff Ramsay from Pinyon to travel to the carnival to find her. He learns from a female Drago survivor named Lupe that Derak is holding Holly hostage in the mountains until Malcolm joins them. Ramsay makes Lupe take him to where they are hiding, though she begins to transform into a werewolf on the way and Ramsay shoots her with a silver bullet.
In the mountain lair, Malcolm arrives and fights with Derak (who reveals himself to be Malcolm's father) for Holly. The two change into werewolves, but end up killing each other just as Ramsay arrives and rescues Holly, while the other members of Derak's group from Drago head off into the forest (now without their leader).
Discontinuities from the previous novels
Although written by the same author, The Howling III retroactively alters the times and events established in the first two books in favor of a new continuity and features entirely new characters. The characters from the first two books are not even mentioned.
- At the end of the original 1977 novel, the village of Drago is burned down after one of the book's characters throws a lit torch at a group of werewolves and it accidentally ignites the surrounding woodland, sweeping through the area and destroying the town. In The Howling III novel, the fire is started deliberately by the people from the neighbouring village of Pinyon who want to rid the area of werewolves. They lock some of the residents of Drago in a barn and purposely set fire to it, burning the town along with it.
- The first two books are set in the mid-late 1970s (which is the time they were written and published), as specified by cultural information given (such as the television shows on at the time). The Howling III is clearly set in the mid 1980s, which contradicts the previously established time when Drago was burned down and now moves the event to the 1980s.
- The werewolves in the first two novels were described as completely wolf-like, but the werewolves featured in The Howling III are more anthropomorphic (like the werewolves from the 1981 film). They can walk on their hind legs and are over seven feet tall.
- The werewolves from the first two novels were only able to change at night time after the sun had gone down (both the first and second novels specifically mention this), whereas the werewolves in The Howling III can change at will at any time of the day.
