Kolchak: The Night Stalker Casebook [Paperback]

When Kolchak: The Nightstalker premiered in 1974, I was firmly convinced it was the greatest show ever. Unfortunately not enough people thought the same way I did and the show lasted a single season...just 20 episodes in all. Despite that, the show has continued to have a strong cult following and re-runs were still turning up on the Sci-Fi channel just a couple of years ago. ABC even did a remake, which failed miserably. While the remake had the same character names, the show had no character, at least none of the character that the original did. Carl Kolchak, reporter for the Independent News Service, each week encountered the strange and horrific: werewolves, vampires, swamp creatures, Native American spirits, mummies, etc...Each week Kolchak would find a way to destroy the creature and each week no one would believe him.

While the remake failed to capture the spirit of the original show, Moonstone Books has been doing a marvelous job keeping Kolchak alive through a series of graphic novels and prose books. The latest is Kolchak: The Nightstalker Casebook, featuring 17 original stories by Tom DeFalco, P.N. Elrod, Elizabeth Massie, Joe Gentile, Mike Baron, Christopher Golden, John Ostrander, and James Reasoner, to name just a few. What is immediately obvious is that these writers were all fans of the show and understand the Kolchak character very well. Kolchak was an average guy. Unlike most central characters of TV shows, Kolchak was older, middle-aged in fact. Not especially handsome, nor athletic, and not particularly brave. His courage grew out of his need to always be able to get the story.

One unique characteristic of the TV show was that Kolchak (played remarkably by the late Darren McGavin) often voiced over certain scenes in the show in a first person perspective, usually a scene where a pretty girl was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Many of the stories in this book, and frankly my favorite ones, are told in first person point of view and it made me feel like I was sitting around my parent's living room on a Friday night watching the show again. They've not only captured Kolchak's character but also that of his irascible editor Tony Vincenzo, and fellow INS reporter the squeamish Ron Updyke.

While the TV show was set in Chicago, the stories in this book are set in California as Kolchak and Vincenzo have moved on to the Hollywood Dispatch. Allowing the writers some poetic license, they acknowledge the Chicago period yet these stories are set firmly in the present with mention of modern day technology such as computers and cell phones. Kolchak will encounter the spirit of a bloodthirsty Aztec priestess, a lake-dwelling creature, an inhuman grave robber, a ghostly diner, spectral pirates, and other denizens of the night.

One of the most poignant tales, Alternate Endings by John Ostrander, finds Kolchak back in Chicago and visiting the boarded up local tavern he frequented with an old flame named Cassie who was murdered by a serial killer. Walking through the door of the long closed bar, Kolchak is transported back in time with a chance to save his one time love from her terrible fate.

The series may have ended over thirty years ago but Kolchak lives on thanks to Moonstone books.

REVIEWED BY TIM JANSON

First off, my compliments to Moonstone Publishing. The list of authors for this second collection of Kolchak: The Night Stalker tales are some of the best in the science fiction, horror, fantasy and detective genres. Here are a few of my favorites.

The Introduction - Mark Dawidziak struck every single chord about why so many of us find Carl Kolchak such a compelling character. The excerpts from an earlier interview of his with Darren McGavin show why the actor is just as compelling. I'm not sure how selections to the Smithsonian are made, but if there is any "justice" to it, Carl Kolchak's straw hat will someday be there with Archie Bunker's chair and Fonzie's leather jacket.

Power Hungry - PN Elrod really enjoyed writing this and putting Carl though his paces. You can just tell. Her description of the monster made me think of the Matheson Script Book (from the original TV movies). I'd love to see Philipa again someday, although not without a grounding cable and a backup generator.

Stealing Fire - Kolchak and Dracula or Sherlock Holmes? All good, maybe even obvious team-ups. An adventure with Prometheus though? Rachel Caine is a genius. I think I was actually rooting for `Dean' to give up for a moment there, she wrote him with that much empathy.

The Day of Her Return - This one was my favorite! Tom DeFalco pretty much turned in a lost script from The Night Stalker TV Show. I could easily picture Darren McGavin racing down aisle five with a gallon jug of salt and an Aztec Priestess on his tail.

Digger - Whistling `...like it was his own personal theme song.' Nice touch right off the bat! When I was a kid watching Night Stalker in the 70s; that tune nearly creeped me out as much as the show itself. The frustration Carl felt with the authorities in every episode really came through here in every conversation with Capt. McClusky. Excellent work by Misters Golden and Hautala.

Blues, Sex and Bad Hot Mojo - Kolchak and the Blues make for a good combination. I definitely got a Memphis feel while reading it. Getting to know Nancy Havers was fun and I laughed out loud at the explanation for having to dress for running and throwing the quick right. Gary Phillip's introduction of the Blues singer Bailwire is a welcome addition to Carl's world and he should definitely make a return visit.

AND - I love a good werewolf story; so I was disappointed to see our furry antagonist disappear so quickly, although using a silver-plated dessert tray is genius! It turned out though that Dave Ulanski had something much stranger in store for us. A hulking monster that kills on the off-beat. This has got to be the strangest killer I think Carl has ever faced, sort of. Thanks Dave!

Pirate's Blood - A beautiful wench, a 200 year-old curse and a shanghaied Carl. Pierce Askegren laid out a nice tale for us and I thought it was rather smart to have Carl try to explain away how he got so brave all of a sudden. I have to wonder if he (Carl) believes that if he ever does accept his role in all of this madness, he will just simply be consumed by it; giving up that last, thin tie to even the hope of a normal life someday.

Call Me Sam - Carl and the ghost of Dashiell Hammett. I thought at first this was going to be a story about Bogie and then the author just ups the smooth quotient and makes the story twice as cool. The Night Stalker has pretty much been his own genre, but Mr. Randisi wrote a really nice noir tale here for Carl. I suggest sitting down to this story with a single malt whiskey, neat.

Cancellation - If any man (other than Jeff Rice) should be able to poke fun at Carl or the Night Stalker mythology and get away it, that guy is Mark Dawidziak. There were a few good shots at the X-Files of course and any appearance by Professor Kirsten Helms is always welcome. As with many episodes and comic books, defeating the monster comes down to Carl's chutzpah, not his martial skills. Comparing Falmont to Skorzeny and Malcolm (from the original TV movies) was a nice touch.

I'll finish up this review very simply. Buy this book, you won't be disappointed!

A wonderful collection of new adventures for our beloved Night Stalker, Carl Kolchak. Spooky, unnerving, supernatural, fun, funny, and thought-provoking, these tales stay true to the quirky character we came to love on television in the 1970's. Includes two gorgeous interior illos by Cortney Skinner for the Chris Golden/Rick Hautala and the Pierce Askegren stories. Absolutely worth the cover price.

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