A Scent of New-Mown Hay
In 1958, the young John Blackburn published this, his first novel, clearly influenced by the Quatermass television serials and movies. Actually, to say that A Scent of New-Mown Hay is influenced by Quatermass is like saying that the Brink’s-Mat gang were influenced by gold. With Hammer being behind Quatermass’ theatrical outings it’s perhaps no surprise that they turned their attention to Blackburn’s novel when they began to seek ideas for more science-fiction based horrors in the late ‘60s.
Valancourt Books have begun to reissue Blackburn’s novels including this and fellow Hammer-optioned Bury Him Darkly, so I decided to give them a look.
A strange disease breaks out in the Soviet Union causing women, and only women, to transform into hideous fungoid monsters. The Soviets, realising that a full, wind-blown outbreak of the deadly spores would threaten the whole of humanity, seek British help. British General Kirk calls on biologist Dr. Walter Hearn and his protégé Tony Heath to seek a solution to the crisis. Heath asks his university colleague Professor Roberts to cover his duties in his absence. Roberts lives with his “idiot” adult “daughter” in a strange-smelling house in a part of town from which women have been disappearing. (Hmm … I wonder if that detail will become significant at all?) Heath’s wife, Marcia, recalls that, in the aftermath of WWII, a facility had been discovered in which mad young scientist Rosa Steinberg had been working on a biological superweapon. Steinberg has never been found. Kirk, Hearn and Heath review the files on the facility where Steinberg had worked … gosh, it turns out that one of the people who, in 1945, wrote the report on the camp was Captain (now Professor) Roberts. Heath and Marcia are sent to interview Roberts to see if they can get more details from him than are in the report. Kirk realises that tracking down Steinberg is the only way to avert the end of humanity. When a woman in England contracts the disease, Heath works to keep her in isolation, noting that she brings with her a scent like that of new-mown hay. Marcia decides to go back alone to Professor Roberts’ house to seek clarification of a part of his story. And blow me down if Roberts’ “daughter” doesn’t turn out to have been Steinberg after all! Who could ever have predicted that twist, apart from everyone, instantly? Separately, Heath and Kirk both put two-and-two together about Steinberg … somehow? Steinberg captures Heath and, helpfully, tells him where the figures are kept that describe the “counter radiations” (?) that would allow a cure to be created, while also filling us in on story points with a whole bunch of exposition. This includes her revelation of how she contemptuously used Roberts which, of course, he overhears. He tries to stop her but she shoots him dead. As Heath grapples with Steinberg a last-stage mutant escapes and kills her. Just as the monster is about to kill Heath and Marcia, Kirk and his men arrive and blow it to bits.
Fair play to Blackburn, he was in his early 20s when he wrote this novel and it was a big seller on both sides of the Atlantic. Having said that, it’s bloody awful! Structurally, it’s a mess. We get told right with no build-up that the situation is apocalyptic then we settle to down to three or four people trying to avert the end of the world. The synopsis above gives you some idea of how the plot is dependent almost entirely on lazy and obvious coincidences. There’s also an awful lot of telling-not-showing so there’s nothing much exciting or interesting going on. After the opening monster attack on some shipwrecked sailors (which, again, we’re not shown, only told that the men have dies) all we get of the fungoid mutants are one brief encounter with a dead one, a partially-infected woman about three-quarters of the way through the novel and a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it appearance of the final mutation in the second-last chapter. Clichés and stereotypes abound (there are many, many tripe shops in the north-east town where the bulk of the action takes place) and, at one point, a character actually uses the phrase “It’s a fair cop.”
I don’t envy the task of anyone trying to make a compelling screenplay out of this mess but someone obviously tried to. I haven’t read the results but I can’t mourn that we never got to see the results on screen.
Kieran Foster’s thesis Unseen Horrors: The Unmade Films of Hammer lists a synopsis and illustrated treatment as having been received by Hammer on 23 September 1969. A full screenplay followed (author not listed). Circumstantial evidence points towards someone at Hammer having been impressed with Maurice Travers’ 6-part adaptation of the novel that went out on BBC Radio Two in May 1969. According to Chris Fellner’s The Encyclopedia of Hammer Films, Michael Carreras cancelled the project in 1972 after taking over from Sir James. Probably for the best.
Tom Chantrell’s wild poster art, depicting a chained, naked woman transforming into a fungoid monster suggests a more exciting viewing experience than the book itself delivers and can be seen at this link:
Oooh, I forgot to mention A Scent of Newly Mown Hay was done by the BBC as a radio drama.
https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/a173f8485fdd4ee2895afa1ee1d2bcb2
Two other fungus based works to mention The Boats of the Glen Carrig by William Hope Hodgson and The Fungus by Harry Adam Knight, the latter, also recently reissued by Valancourt gets an amusing cover quote by Brian Aldiss, something along the lines of 'I loved it...it will grow on you'..
I've bought a few of the John Blackburn re-issues, but I've only read one and two-thirds!
I heard about him though the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, and then I watched the film Nothing But the Night (which A Vault of Horror by Keith Topping wrongly attributes to being based on the Blackburn novel Children of the Night, but what can you expect from a book that mixes up photos caption of Pamela Franklin, with Gayle Hunnicutt which he misspells Hunnicut,). I thought Nothing But the Night was quite good until the ending which needed a bit more of an explanation of what had been going on.
Anyway on to my point. I read Blue Octavo (1967) and I though it was a excellent novel and the strength of that, I did what I don't normally do and ordered six or seven of his other novels. I am currently two-thirds through the 116 page long The Face of the Lion (1976) and I'm finding it hard going. I'm finding it a chore to read. The back cover gave too much away, and I was waiting for a long time for the narrative to catch up.
Why was Blue Octavo better? I ask myself. Well, first of all it has a whodunnit at the centre of the plot that pulls you through it and and secondly it has the character of J. Moldon Mott.
I really like the character of J. Moldon Mott. Who I would describe as an over the top narcissistic adventurer. He thinks he's the best thing since sliced bread - and he will blatantly tell people so. It was a joy to read a scene with him in it, to see how he will put his foot in it. He clearly is a competent adventurer, but his narcissism is hilarious flaw, it's a pity we haven't seen him portrayed on the screen, imagine a tense plot and this bloke who sounds like an absolute tool turn up!
Mott is one of Blackburn's reoccurring characters, some of which Mal already mentioned above. We have 'eminet bacteriologist Sir Marcus Levin (who has a Russian wife) we have General Charles Kirk (whom I have yet to encounter). I find Sir Levin a real bore, as in the book I'm reading he is too far removed from the action.
Two of his earlier books he re-wrote late in his life, possibly because he;
1). wanted to earn money quickly
2). the rights of the originals were tied up
3). They hadn't been republished and their was little hope they would be
4). A mixture of several of these reasons .
Blue Octavo he re-wrote as A Book of the Dead and his The Bad Penny is also a re-write, although I'm not sure of which book the plot is originally from.
I wondering what book of Blackburn's to read afterwards, possibly either Children of the Night (1966) or A Beastly Business (1982) as the back covers both mention J. Moldon Mott. And The Cyclops Goblet (1977) and Bury Him Darkly also sound good from the back cover, they sound like gripping horror books.
After contemplating the possibilities suggested by the excellent poster (and why is that not avaialbe to buy one-sheet size?), like you, I found the book a huge, clumsy disappointment.
Then again, there's something in the observation that great books often make for average movies, while lousy books can be great films.
I'd have liked to see another fungus people movie. Big fan of Matango and Hodgson's 'A Voice In The NIght'.