The Kolchak Papers

One of the most significant vampire stories in the history of the genre was never published. At least it wasn't until after it was also filmed for television and then released in conjunction with that production. Of course, I mean The Kolchak Papers by Jeff Rice, a novel better known as The Night Stalker. The Night Stalker shook up the horror fan universe when it hit the small screen bringing with it big thrills and one of the most memorable vampire hunters of all time. Van Helsing had nothing Carl Kolchak, a throwback relentless reporter who sought the truth even more doggedly than the story, though he'd likely deny that himself. 

In the era of Watergate and the Vietnam War when trust in the power structures ws at all epic low, an indefatigable enemy of deceit and cant was a welcome white knight, even if he did wear a low-rent seersucker suit and a bedraggled straw hat. What Kolchak represented in Rice's novel and in the TV show as well was a call for truth and accountability on the part of those who purported to lead us. The bogus concerns over public panic merely a dodge to help powerful men keep powerful positions seemed the essence of what foul leadership had become in America in the 70's. (Sadly it's only gotten worse I have to say.) 

The vampire in the story is an enemy to be confronted, but only on the terms it demanded, by confronting the truth that the world was deeper and darker than popular myths espoused. Carl Kolchak was also a man who sought his own success, but he was not one who cared so little for his fellow man that he'd get that success regardless. Kolchak at once an everyman, relatable, but then also a hero who is courageous even when he's scared spitless. He's what we want to be, but all too often aren't. 

This story set in the riotous world of vintage Las Vegas slams the dark gothic myths of yore right up against the neon lights of today. It says that monsters are not safely tucked away in Grimm's fairy tales and horror novels, but right out among us. We are not safe, and we must first recognize that fact before we can become even a jot safer. And it's up to us to do it. I really enjoy this book, which offers a somewhat more contrite and complicated Kolchak than Darren McGavin delightfully treated us to.

Also included in the Moonstone edition of The Kolchak Papers is the novelization of The Night Strangler. Ironically Richard Matheson adapted The Night Stalker from Rice's novel and then it was left for Rice to turn Matheson's script for the sequel into novel form. Aside from a more elaborate romance the Kolchak sequel adheres very closely to the television movie.  

But some Jeff Rice might have stolen his story for The Night Stalker. More on that tomorrow. 

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