Suffer the Children

by David Bishop

Review by James R.Cain

'Suffer the Children' is a Nightmare on Elm Street novel, penned by David Bishop, author of the Black Flame Dredd titles 'Bad Moon Rising', and 'Kingdom of the blind'.  His previous novels include three other Dredd novels from Virgin books.

"Suffer the Children" follows the tale of six teenagers who skip school to partake in sleep tests testing an anti-insomnia medication.  The youths find themselves in the dream realm of Freddy Kreuger, the long-dead child murderer who continues his gruesome craft from beyond the grave, slaying victims in their dreams.  The teenagers are not to be simple victims however, as Freddy "blesses" each of them with a unique psychic power in a bid to extend the reach of his terror and find him more victims.

I felt Bishop did a great job of capturing the feel of the Elm Street genre, and Krueger is as terrible in this book as he is on film.  It took me a little while to get into the characters though as the novel is full-on Freddy right from the start.  With the focus of the narrative being on Freddy like it is, it took me longer to get a firm grasp of the characters and for Bishop to gain my sympathy.  This was by no means arduous reading however, and I felt Bishop did a fine job of writing a solid story that will come up to the expectations of the Elm Street fans.  This is a good horror book.  

Publisher: Black Flame

ISBN: 1-84416-172-2 - Paperback (404 pages)