"The story has a nightmarish excitement and maintains a brilliant pace . . . the best of its kind this season." - Detroit News "[S]pine-chilling . . . a far-reaching plot linking the horror camps of the Nazis, the frozen wastes of Russia and the work of British Secret Intelligence. . . . [T]his is 'must' reading for horror fans." - Calgary Herald "I began to read: and then read and read and read." - John Creasey, Books of the Month "Good, insomniac science-fiction." - Listener With a plot featuring Cold War ...
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"The story has a nightmarish excitement and maintains a brilliant pace . . . the best of its kind this season." - Detroit News "[S]pine-chilling . . . a far-reaching plot linking the horror camps of the Nazis, the frozen wastes of Russia and the work of British Secret Intelligence. . . . [T]his is 'must' reading for horror fans." - Calgary Herald "I began to read: and then read and read and read." - John Creasey, Books of the Month "Good, insomniac science-fiction." - Listener With a plot featuring Cold War intrigue, Nazi mad scientists, and a pandemic that threatens to destroy humanity by mutating people into fungoid monsters, it is not hard to see why A Scent of New-Mown Hay (1958) became a bestseller on both sides of the Atlantic and an instant science-fiction classic. After a British ship's crew and a remote Russian village are wiped out in mysterious and horrible fashion, General Charles Kirk of British Foreign Intelligence sets out to investigate. As the plague spreads to England, Kirk's frantic search leads him from the desolate tundra of Russia to the ruins of a Nazi camp, the site of unthinkable wartime atrocities. But who is responsible? Is it a Soviet experiment gone horribly wrong, the work of a depraved madman, or something else entirely? And can it be stopped? In this, his first and still best-known novel, the prolific John Blackburn (1923-1993) introduced the formula he was to employ so successfully in his career, seamlessly blending mystery, horror, and science fiction to create a thrilling bestseller that readers found impossible to put down. This edition, the first in more than thirty years, includes a new introduction by Prof. Darren Harris-Fain and a reproduction of the scarce original jacket art by Peter Curl.
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Add this copy of A Scent of New-Mown Hay to cart. $28.12, new condition, Sold by Ingram Customer Returns Center rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from NV, USA, published 2013 by Valancourt Books.
Add this copy of A Scent of New-Mown Hay to cart. $26.11, new condition, Sold by GreatBookPrices rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Columbia, MD, UNITED STATES, published 2013 by Valancourt Books.
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Add this copy of Scent of New-Mown Hay to cart. $27.27, new condition, Sold by TextbookRush rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Grandview Hts, OH, UNITED STATES, published 2013 by Valancourt Books.
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Add this copy of A Scent of New-Mown Hay to cart. $43.63, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2024 by Valancourt Books.
Add this copy of A Scent of New-Mown Hay to cart. $73.95, new condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2024 by Valancourt Books.
I discovered this on a reading list in Rue Morgue Magazine and their description was intriguing. Spores that turn human beings into mushroom-like fungoid mutations. As a fan of cosmic horror and weird tales, this had the potential to be a dark & apocalyptic story. And there are a few moments of great dark atmosphere, with an outstanding early segment of nautical desolation reminiscent of William Hope Hodgson..
Unfortunately, though, by and large the writing veers into cliches, coincidences, stereotypical & dated villains, (without giving anything away, Nazi Germany comes into play) and over-explanation. The resolution is too neat & tidy in light of what was at stake.
Ultimately, while it has a few moments hinting at apocalyptic grandeur, it's more of a typical "scientists & govt race the clock" sci-fi crowd-pleaser than a rich timeless work of atmospheric dread.
(I should note I'm coming from the angle of a weird fiction fan, and this book may rank higher amongst fans of Cold War-era genre fiction. It's also worth noting that, to my knowledge, this is one of the first stories where the Soviet Union joins forces with America; Nation-foes must work together to fight a greater evil.)
