Like many others, I had been looking forward to Scarred for Life: Volume Three. The first two Scarred for Life books (I reviewed both books previously) were real treats, digging deeply into the dark, often dystopian, world of 1970s and 1980s pop culture.

So, did volume three live up to my expectations? Absolutely, indeed I’d say it exceeded my expectations.

As with the first two books, Scarred for Life: Volume Three is a mighty tome, with over 700 pages and the book’s scope is enormous, encompassing novels, films, comics, games, music, television and much more. In fact, there’s so much packed into this book, it’s almost impossible to give a summary that gives its breadth and scale any justice!

Some of the many highlights include a fine section on horror novels from the 1980s, taking us through the paperback gore of writers such as Guy N Smith and Shaun Hutson, through to Stephen King and Clive Barker.

The section on comics – split into British and American publications – is exhaustive, and I particularly enjoyed the 2000ad chapters and the article on Charley’s War, my favourite comic story of my youth.

As a child in the 80s, I was fascinated by the paranormal, whether UFOs, ghosts or cryptids, and Scarred for Life: Volume Three excels in describing that decade’s obsession with all things paranormal. I loved the chapters on Arthur C Clarke’s Mysterious World and Arthur C Clarke’s World of Strange Powers – series I remember fondly!
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One of Volume Three’s biggest treats is the ‘book within a book’ focused on Cold War pop culture during the 1980s. From Z For Zachariah to Protect and Survive, When the Wind Blows to Judge Dredd: The Apocalypse War, the impact of nuclear anxiety on our culture is brought to vivid life. I was particularly engrossed by the extended chapters on the terrifying Threads, arguably the apogee of nuclear war films, and treated in the book as the masterpiece it undoubtedly is.

Scarred for Life: Volume Three understandably goes to dark places, but it is always witty, well-informed and deeply researched, and is often laugh-out loud funny. The level of detail and the passion of the authors shine through each chapter.

I can’t recommend Scarred for Life: Volume Three highly enough; as with volumes one and two, it provides hours and hours of absorbing reading. The three volumes of Scarred for Life form, in my opinion, a significant publishing and writing achievement, a passion project that has deservedly reached a wide and enthusiastic readership.

As well as live shows, the Scarred for Life books have also spawned an excellent podcast, with guests such as Danny Robins, Joe Cornish, Alice Lowe and Michael Sheen – episodes are now released weekly, and it’s an entertaining and fascinating listen.

It is also worth following the Scarred for Life account on X - as well as some great posts, there are regular and generous discounts on all their books. So if you can, order all three books and prepare to plunge into a world of 1970s and 1980s nightmares…

Scarred for Life (Volume one)
Scarred for Life (Volume two)
Scarred for Life (Volume three)

​The Stand has long been on my ‘to read’ list and I am glad to have finally read this epic thriller from Stephen King.

The early stages of the novel are post-apocalyptic, as a manmade flu-like virus is accidently released from a top-secret US military laboratory, causing a catastrophic pandemic. Despite frantic, belated efforts by the government and the army to contain the outbreak, including brutal enforcement of martial law, 99% of humans die from the virus, and King vividly portrays the terror and despair as civilisation rapidly collapses – one scene that will stay with me is Larry Underwood’s nightmarish journey through the Lincoln Tunnel, a moment of visceral horror and tension.

As the traumatised, often grief-stricken survivors try to regroup and make sense of their disintegrating world, The Stand moves towards more of a dark fantasy, and the shattered remnants of the United States gradually becomes the setting for an epic struggle between good and evil, and fear and paranoia become as deadly foes as the virus itself. For the survivors begin having strange dreams: either of a kindly, aged prophetess, Mother Abigail or of the ‘dark man’, Randall Flagg.
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Mother Abigail leads her followers to Boulder, Colorado, where they start to rebuild a society, facing challenges such as restoring the power, providing medical care (I felt sorry for Dick Ellis, the overworked veterinarian who is initially the only ‘doctor’ in the community) and shaping an effective government. Meanwhile, the demonic Randall Flagg beckons followers to his growing empire formed around Las Vegas, including murderer Lloyd Henreid (who Flagg rescues from prison and cannibalism…) and the pyromaniac Trashcan Man. And the stage is set for a struggle between the two communities, and the future of humanity…

The Stand is a powerful, frequently disturbing novel, but at its core it is driven by insightful human details, which gives the book real emotional impact. One character I found especially interesting was Harold Lauder – he had been a social outcast at school and retains an obsessive love for Frannie Goldsmith, with whom he travelled to Boulder. (Minor spoiler alert) Despite becoming a valued and respected member of the community, Lauder cannot let go of the difficulties and rejections of his past, internal wounds that begin to lead him down a dark path. Harold Lauder is a complex character and is written with such skill by King, we can see how Lauder is twisted by a sense of betrayal, placing vengeance for past humiliations above embracing a new life for himself.
 
I also enjoyed the scene (again, minor spoiler alert) when Glen Bateman, a retired professor of sociology comes face-to-face with the demonic Randall Flagg – this moment is a powerful demonstration of how brittle authoritarian power can be when faced with mockery.

Reading The Stand requires a significant time commitment from the reader, but in my experience, it was absolutely worth the effort. It is a gripping novel of huge power, encompassing fantasy, adventure, horror and much more, and from the first page you’re safely in the hands of a master storyteller. It is a long novel (and I read the extended / revised version) but for me the story never dragged and the scope of the novel justified the page-count. There is always a large number of characters in play, but the majority are so richly developed they are memorable as well as being key to propelling forward the plot.

I have read (embarrassingly) little of Stephen King’s work before tackling The Stand, but I am definitely hooked now! I have just started reading The Dark Tower and look forward to losing myself in another epic dark fantasy…