The Devil's Brood Mass Market Paperback – June 1, 2000

The title hearkens to the unused working title of the Universal film House Of Frankenstein. It is a delightful monster mash with some unexpected additions to the usual cast members. I will give nothing away here. But any fan of the movies will be right at home with this story. Do not let the poor cover art put you off. This one is worth the price and the time.

I'll grant David Jacobs one thing (or even two) -- Jeff Rovin's fine "Return of the Wolf Man" was definitely a hard act to follow, and Jacobs does toss in some allusions to other Universal Horror (even Boris Karloff's mad character from "The Black Cat" appears). But all in all, this was a muddled book, trying a little too hard to bring in the Bride of Frankenstein and other "second stringers" in the Universal mythos. Some of the reasons the Universal horror series ran out of steam in the 1940s are evident here -- last minute appearances by the Frankenstein Monster (just for the sake of showing him) and back stories that underemphasize the monsters. Jeff Rovin is definitely missed. Too bad, but I'll give Jacobs credit for trying. Hopefully, the next volume (if we get that far)will change the course for a series that looks headed into oblivion.

After reading Jeff Rovin's excellent "Return of the Wolfman" I had high hopes for this sequel but, alas, Mr. Rovin didn't write this one, and it shows.Jacobs takes Rovin's carefully thought out resurrection of our beloved monsters and shoehorns it into a so-so zombie/horror tale of his own making. And while Mr. Rovin gave us explanations for the return of the monsters, theres no reason given here for the return of Dracula's daughter. Jacobs keeps getting the Wolf Man's fate all wrong (he died in Rovin's book, but first Jacobs says hes alive, then says he was killed by a silver bullet, which was NOT his fate in the earlier novel)Steer clear of this one Very disappointing

Jeff Rovin's RETURN OF THE WOLFMAN was unputdownable fun. Sadly this pulpy sequel from David Jacobs is not. First bad sign: I was unable to prevent myself from skimming over numbers of pages at no loss to the two storylines (barely connected, by the way, and unfinished in this volume to boot). The main test of this type of licensed fiction is whether you can believe the characters from the other medium are here, living this adventure. I could not see Bela Lugosi, John Carradine or even Lon Chaney Jr in the corny, supercharged, mass-murdering Dracula depicted here; and Mr Jacobs' method of reviving the Count reaches ludicrous new heights of incredibility even for this genre, temporarily turning the Count into a cross between Mothra and the Blob. To be fair, Universal itself had given up contriving methods of resurrection (original or otherwise) by the time it reached the last episodes in the film series, so marks to Mr Jacobs for the attempt. The human characters that dominate most of the book are an uninvolving bunch, while the Frankenstein monster is dead most of the time, but then that, too, is faithful to Universal's monster rallies. Problems also arise when the author apparently tries to emulate Rovin's in-jokes. A character played by actor Warner Oland in WEREWOLF OF LONDON is described from a photograph as looking "like a Swede masquerading as an Asian". Oland, a Charlie Chan of the movies, was exactly that, but in story context why would a portly, middle-aged man in a photograph particularly resemble a Swede? What exactly does a `Swede' look like? Oland was hardly a Nordic blonde. It's a minor gripe in itself, but as the book never endears itself, I had no inclination to overlook it; it was just annoying. The cover art is crude and stars what appears to be the Mummy. He's not here, and neither is the Gill-Man, just for the record.

Yes, there are inconsistencies-as there were in the movies, and in "Return of the Wolfman"-but overall this is a decent book. Dracula's character is a little unbelievable, but I'm telling you, the scenes just before and during the ressurection of the Frankenstein Monster are fantastic, fairly original, and gruesome.Wow-very well done. I've never heard of Jacobs before, but based on this, he has an unusual style, sometimes making the story unique, at other times making it hard to tell which character spoke that last line. Definitely recommended, if you like the Universal monsters.

This book was awful. Out of the 300+ pages it caontained about 50 were of interest. Even though the author tried to include some 2nd tier characters like the Werewolf of London, the Bride of Frankenstein, Dr. Praetorius, Dracula's Daughter, and assorted zombies to make it more interesting, he utterly failed in making the story interesting. The only reason I read it, by skimming through the boring parts (which was most of it), was so in the off chance this book does not kill the new series, I will know what is going on in the next book (hopefully written by someone else). The entire zombie, gangster, black magic subplot was feeble and did nothing to enhance the book whatsoever. The brief appearances by Dracula, the Frankenstein monster, and the Wolfman could not make it enjoyable. I have never heard of the author, but with lines like "Gold is heavy." It makes me wonder if the author is better off changing professions. If anyone from the publishers or Universal is reading this, please don't give up on this series, just make sure the forthcoming authors have more talent. I eagerly await the third installment, it can't get any worse.

This book is a sequel to "Return of the wolfman" by Jeff Rovin but you don't need to read it as most of the events are both re-capped and contradicted. However I would recommend doing so as "Return of the wolfman" is an excellent book and far superior to this.My main criticism of this book is that it is basically a lengthy prelude to its sequel "The Devil's night". So if you decide to purchase this book I would recommend also purchasing the sequel if you want to get the whole story. The entire book just introduces us to the characters, locations and resurrects the monsters. Which is why it is so difficult to give a basic plot summary. It is basically just a collection of sub plots.Dracula has turned into a flesh eating jelly in order to resurrect himself. A group of witches seek to resurrect the Frankenstein monster. Dracula's daughter and her evil cult seek to resurrect the bride of Frankenstein. And thegrandson of the werewolf of London succumbs to the family curse.Despite featuring the universal studios monsters this book fails to capture the atmosphere or style of those films. Which is something its predecessor did remarkably well. It is more like a gory horror story featuring the classic universal studios monsters. Its not the worst book I've read its just that it is unremarkable and ensures that you have to buy the sequel in order to get the whole story.