1986: Song Of Kali

Robert is a writer who is finally given his first big break. He must go to Calcutta and bring back the latest poem by the famous M.Das. Except this poet is supposed to have died several years earlier. Robert takes his wife and baby on his assignment to obtain the manuscript and perhaps shed some light on the mystery of how a supposed dead writer is still writing. It is intended to be a short trip but problems occur, and the horrors of Calcutta eventually overwhelm Bobby and his family.Why it's on the listDisturbing would be the most appropriate way to describe this book. Simmons manages to throw you into a world that you know is going mess with your head. He shows remarkable control throughout, carefully keeping the suspense high, the shocks strategically placed, the detail convincing and the Luczak family likable and well-drawn. The Song of Kali does not just scare; it does so much more - it actually repulses. Not with the writing or the violence, but rather through a sinister and repugnant atmosphere. Simmon's version of Calcutta is so unquestionably sinister, so hopeless, that you'll find yourself in wholehearted agreement with his theory that Calcutta should be exterminated, that it is too wicked a place to be left standing unharmed.Read if you likeDark Fantasy, Horror