The Happy Man (1985)
Eric C. Higgs
Book Description
Charles Ripley has a good job as an engineer, a pretty wife, and an expensive house in a fashionable San Diego suburb. But it isn't until Ruskin Marsh moves in next door that Ripley realizes how passionless his life really is. Marsh, a connoisseur of the arts, high-powered lawyer, model husband and father, and effortless seducer of women, is so supremely alive that Ripley finds himself irresistibly drawn to him.
But after Marsh's arrival, local girls begin to vanish, marriages end violently, nights are split with endless, desperate screams, and horribly mutilated corpses are found. Soon Ripley becomes caught up in an accelerating maelstrom of sex, drugs, violence, and ghastly, unimaginable rites . . . and begins to see the beauty of life.
From its profoundly unsettling first pages, Eric C. Higgs's The Happy Man (1985) reveals the nightmare underside of the American dream and brilliantly echoes the Gothic horror tradition of Edgar Allan Poe and Roald Dahl. This new edition features an introduction by the author.
Eric C. Higgs
Book Description
Charles Ripley has a good job as an engineer, a pretty wife, and an expensive house in a fashionable San Diego suburb. But it isn't until Ruskin Marsh moves in next door that Ripley realizes how passionless his life really is. Marsh, a connoisseur of the arts, high-powered lawyer, model husband and father, and effortless seducer of women, is so supremely alive that Ripley finds himself irresistibly drawn to him.
But after Marsh's arrival, local girls begin to vanish, marriages end violently, nights are split with endless, desperate screams, and horribly mutilated corpses are found. Soon Ripley becomes caught up in an accelerating maelstrom of sex, drugs, violence, and ghastly, unimaginable rites . . . and begins to see the beauty of life.
From its profoundly unsettling first pages, Eric C. Higgs's The Happy Man (1985) reveals the nightmare underside of the American dream and brilliantly echoes the Gothic horror tradition of Edgar Allan Poe and Roald Dahl. This new edition features an introduction by the author.
REVIEWS
“The Happy Man is an essential '80s horror read: smart, sharp, unforgiving, unlike anything else in the genre.” - Too Much Horror Fiction
“[A] grisly shocker, understated for the most part but carrying the impact of a fist to the stomach . . . a most promising debut.” - San Diego Union
“A thoroughly engrossing Gothic horror story.” - South Bend Tribune
“[A] grisly shocker, understated for the most part but carrying the impact of a fist to the stomach . . . a most promising debut.” - San Diego Union
“A thoroughly engrossing Gothic horror story.” - South Bend Tribune
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BOOK DETAILS
ISBN: 1943910952 ISBN-13: 978-1943910953 $34.99 US, 154 pp. Hardcover Published 2018 BOOK DETAILS ISBN: 1943910944 ISBN-13: 978-1943910946 $16.99 US, 154 pp. Trade paper Published 2018 |
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AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Eric C. Higgs was born in Sarasota, Florida, but raised throughout the United States, Japan and Europe, his father being a career Army officer. Eric’s early education was received in such diverse venues as a small military schoolhouse in Okinawa and a boarding school in Switzerland.
After graduating from the University of Georgia, Eric worked as a general assignment reporter for the Aiken Standard & Review, Aiken, South Carolina, and then enlisted in the Navy. Eric served throughout the Pacific during his active duty Navy days and became qualified as a Surface Warfare Officer and Combatant Craft Officer-in-Charge.
Eric then affiliated with the Naval Reserve, and worked full time in the aerospace industry, first for General Dynamics and then Lockheed. It was during this time that Eric wrote and published PT Commander (Zebra Books), Doppelganger (St. Martin’s Press) and The Happy Man (St. Martin’s Press). Eric is a member of the Writers Guild of America (West).
Eric also realized his long-term goal of launching a full-time freelance writing business, specializing in proposals; business plans; résumés; technical documents; various types of marketing materials; and industrial video scripts.
As a Naval Reservist, Eric served in a variety of positions in the special warfare community, eventually being named as the Reserve Commanding Officer of Special Boat Unit Thirteen. Eric retired from the Reserves with the rank of Commander.
Eric and his wife Elaine recently celebrated their forty-second wedding anniversary. They have three grown children, and reside in Imperial Beach, California, where Eric is, as ever, sublimely happy.
After graduating from the University of Georgia, Eric worked as a general assignment reporter for the Aiken Standard & Review, Aiken, South Carolina, and then enlisted in the Navy. Eric served throughout the Pacific during his active duty Navy days and became qualified as a Surface Warfare Officer and Combatant Craft Officer-in-Charge.
Eric then affiliated with the Naval Reserve, and worked full time in the aerospace industry, first for General Dynamics and then Lockheed. It was during this time that Eric wrote and published PT Commander (Zebra Books), Doppelganger (St. Martin’s Press) and The Happy Man (St. Martin’s Press). Eric is a member of the Writers Guild of America (West).
Eric also realized his long-term goal of launching a full-time freelance writing business, specializing in proposals; business plans; résumés; technical documents; various types of marketing materials; and industrial video scripts.
As a Naval Reservist, Eric served in a variety of positions in the special warfare community, eventually being named as the Reserve Commanding Officer of Special Boat Unit Thirteen. Eric retired from the Reserves with the rank of Commander.
Eric and his wife Elaine recently celebrated their forty-second wedding anniversary. They have three grown children, and reside in Imperial Beach, California, where Eric is, as ever, sublimely happy.