''The 37th Mandala'' is a 1996

horror Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction **Psychological horror, a subgenre of horror fiction **Christmas horror, a subgenre of horror fiction **Analog horror, a subgenre of horror fiction * ...

novel by American writer

Marc Laidlaw Marc Laidlaw is an American writer. He is a former lead writer for the video game company Valve, where he worked on the ''Half-Life'' series before his departure in 2016. Before joining Valve, Laidlaw was a novelist working in the fantasy and ...

. The story centres on cynical

New Age New Age is a range of Spirituality, spiritual or Religion, religious practices and beliefs that rapidly grew in Western world, Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclecticism, eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise d ...

writer Derek Crowe, who uses an ancient mystical text containing a series of

Mandalas A mandala (, ) is a geometric configuration of symbols. In various spiritual traditions, mandalas may be employed for focusing attention of practitioners and adepts, as a spiritual guidance tool, for establishing a sacred space and as an aid ...

as the basis for his latest work, ''The Mandala Rites.'' Crowe privately believes that the subjects he writes about are superstitious nonsense but soon realises his new book will unleash a lurking interdimensional horror endangering both his witless fans and the world.

Reception

Horror writer

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...

described the book as "genuinely creepy", while

Ramsey Campbell Ramsey Campbell (born 4 January 1946) is an English horror fiction writer, editor and critic who has been writing for well over fifty years. He is the author of over 30 novels and hundreds of short stories, many of them winners of literary awa ...

praised it as "a masterpiece of the kind of visionary horror we've hardly seen since

Lovecraft Howard Phillips Lovecraft (, ; August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American writer of weird, science, fantasy, and horror fiction. He is best known for his creation of the Cthulhu Mythos. Born in Providence, Rhode Island, Lovecraft ...

died."

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...

gave an extremely positive review, stating that the work was "far more fine-grained than Heinlein's (''

The Puppet Masters ''The Puppet Masters'' is a 1951 science fiction novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein, in which American secret agents battle parasitic invaders from outer space. It was originally serialized in ''Galaxy Science Fiction'' (September, Oct ...

'') and nearly as compelling as Lovecraft's". On the other hand, ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' was more mixed in its appraisal, describing it as "a superior tale of human beings in thrall to occult forces, but one whose reach exceeds its grasp." ''The 37th Mandala'' earned Laidlaw the 1996

International Horror Guild Award The International Horror Guild Award (also known as the IHG Award) was an accolade recognizing excellence in the field of horror/dark fantasy, presented by the International Horror Guild (IHG) from 1995 to 2008. The IHG Awards were determined by ...

for "Best Novel". It was also nominated for

World Fantasy Award for Best Novel The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique, while others talk of a "plu ...

in 1997.

In popular culture

In the

Valve A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or Slurry, slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically Pip ...

computer game ''

Half-Life Half-life is a mathematical and scientific description of exponential or gradual decay. Half-life, half life or halflife may also refer to: Film * Half-Life (film), ''Half-Life'' (film), a 2008 independent film by Jennifer Phang * ''Half Life: ...

'', on which Laidlaw served as lead writer, this book is one of two seen on a shelf in the personal locker of the game's protagonist

Gordon Freeman Gordon Freeman is the silent protagonist of the ''Half-Life'' video game series, created by Gabe Newell and designed by Marc Laidlaw of Valve. His first appearance is in ''Half-Life'' (1998). Gordon is depicted as a bespectacled white man f ...

, with the other being Laidlaw's 1994 novel ''The Orchid Eater''. Another locker in the room is also marked with the name "Laidlaw". Harry S. Robins, known for voicing Dr Kleiner in the Half-Life series, worked with Laidlaw on the illustrations within the book.

References

1996 American novels American horror novels 1990s horror novels Novels about writers {{1990s-horror-novel-stub