First published back in November of 2022, Welsh author David Owain Hughes’ novel ‘The Rack & Cue’ offered up a thick slab of grisly horror and over-the-top violence.
DLS Synopsis:
The rain was coming down hard across the landscape of South Wales. Rigs and his co-trucker partner, Iain, were on their way back from Newcastle when they hit a wall of unmoving traffic. Trying to avoid the worst of the congestion, they turned off the motorway, opting instead for a back route through the winding country lanes. Which is when the pair came across a dilapidated old pub, set off the main roads and in the middle of nowhere. Outside the rundown building a fading signed declared it to be ‘The Rack & Cue’.
Close by, Mandy and Grace are backpacking along the Welsh backroads, gradually making their way to Cardiff. When the heavens open, the pair decide to seek shelter in the nearest available building. Which is when they spot ‘The Rack & Cue’, standing alone along the bleak country road in what could only be described as the back of beyond.
Meanwhile, Diesel and his biker crew of are beginning to feel the strain after riding all day without so much as a break. Despite being tired and craving a rest, the Boas are not a group you’d want to be around. The biker gang are one of the fifteen most notorious outlaw crews in the UK. A band of dangerous and unpredictable thugs who’ll take whatever they wanted without a second’s thought.
Although, the bikers had recently caught the attention of the police. Three officers were stealthily following the gang’s movements. Tracking their every move. Danny, Clive and Bobby remained hidden away in their van as the bikers pull up at The Rack & Cue, quickly making their way inside, out of the torrential rain.
Each one of those who step through the pub’s doors are greeted with a welcoming smile from Porky, the pub’s landlord. The rotund man instantly makes each of his visitors feel at ease. With some of Wales’s finest ales and ciders on tap, and homemade pies pulled fresh out of the oven, despite its worn-out look, ‘The Rack & Cue’ seems to have it all.
And if the hospitality isn’t enough to keep the punters in, then Porky’s announcement of a pool tournament with a two-thousand-pound cash prize should certainly do it. Although it feels a tad strange that a pub located in the armpit of nowhere would hold a pool tournament with such a big prize.
Nevertheless, each one who walks through the doors of ‘The Rack & Cue’ on that wet and stormy day, signs up for the contest. Once the tournament gets underway, the front doors are barred, the windows locked and slatted, and the curtains drawn.
This is no casual pool tournament. As one-by-one the players are knocked out of the contest, they’re told to leave the room, down a dark and creepy corridor, away from those remaining in the game.
However, there’s something far more sinister at play in ‘The Rack & Cue’. Porky might appear to be a generous and welcoming landlord, but he and his family have other plans for all those who walk through the pub doors.
Before the day is out, the grubby floors of The Rack & Cue will be awash with the blood of many…
Goddamn is this a fun one. Honestly the above synopsis doesn’t do justice to the amount of over-the-top horror lunacy that’s in this novel. In some ways the story holds similarities to Richard Laymon’s highly revered ‘Beast House’ series. There’s a similar theme, vibe, and setting to the colourful pulpy horror. Honestly, Hughes’ ultra-violent story is a fucking blast from start to finish!
As you’ve probably guessed from the above synopsis, the novel pulls upon a large cast of characters. Of course, they all converge on The Rack & Cue, where they all sign up for the infamous pool tournament. Alongside them you also have Porky’s fucked-up family consisting of a huge Amazonian-esque woman named ‘Baby’ who’s clad in black leather and wearing a gimp mask. This colossal, big-breasted woman lurks away in the shadowy corridors of the huge old pub, usually with a machete in hand. Then you have Doc, who dresses up like a surgeon, only this lunatic is more at home taking bodies apart than he is stitching them back up. Finally, to have the huge beastly fucker that’s hiding out in the darkened rooms upstairs.
The characters are everything that makes this novel the absolute wild and unpredictable ride that it is. Every one of these characters is colourful and exaggerated, to add as much lunacy to the mix as possible. Furthermore, our eclectic mix of contestants comprise mostly of hot-headed and broad-shouldered big bastards. Throw them into a high-stakes pool contest and quelle surprise, it’s not long before fists are flying.
But the uber violence and Laymon-esque horror doesn’t stop there. That’s just ‘Part One’ of the book! Part Two is almost a whole other story in itself. This second section sees the arrival of the legendary Boa gang member – Venom – along with his lover and soul companion, Toni. The pair are being hunted by a gang of mercenaries-for-hire, comprising of a team of highly trained killers made up of mostly dishonourably discharged ex-military types.
They of course all converge on The Rack & Cue, where we’re given even more scenes of explosive violence and mind-boggling mayhem, as well as the unveiling of a ghoulish and wonderfully elaborate backstory.
I kid you not, Hughes has absolutely crammed everything but the kitchen sink into this novel. However, it works so damn well. There’s no let up from this insanity, no unnecessary padding, and no hanging around before the next victim is selected and cut down in a bout of gore-soaked fury.
Even the rounds of pool which we’re exposed to during the tournament are high-adrenaline and full of hot-tempered clashes. On top of all that, as we’ve come to expect from our Dave, there’s also a healthy sprinkling of grubby, dirty, sleaze thrown into the mix. Nothing compared with the ‘Wind Up Toy’ series, but enough to have you smirking like a loon on more than a few occasions.
All in all this is one wild and highly entertaining roller-coaster of a ride, with a dingy Welsh pub as the setting for this fucked up ultra-violent showdown of maniacal horror madness.
The novel runs for a total of 266 pages.
© DLS Reviews
