User:Purplebanjos/Draft of The Monstrumologist

The Monstrumologist (2009) is a young adult horror novel by Rick Yancey. It received the 2010 Michael L. Printz Honor Award for excellence in young adult literature.

Plot Summary

Folio one

The Monstrumologist begins when Erasmus Gray pulls his horse and cart up to Dr. Warthrop's house in the middle of the night. He reveals the body of a young woman and an Anthropophagi, "one wrapped around the other in an obscene embrace." The girl has "half her face" missing, and her throat is torn out. Dr. Warthrop dissects both the girl and the monster, and finds an Anthropophagi fetus in the dead girl's womb. Warthrop explains to Will Henry, who is taking notes on the procedure, that Anthropophagi require a host to grow their young in. They poison the baby and continue examining the bodies. Dr. Warthrop theorizes that because Anthropophagi are indigenous to Africa and have never been seen in the Americas before, there could only be one or two more in the area at most. The next night, Warthrop, Gray, and Will Henry go to the cemetery to return the girl's body to her grave.

While Gray and Will Henry re-dig the grave, Warthrop tries to discover how the Anthropophagi accessed her body in the first place. They are all interrupted when Gray's horse is spooked by something in the surrounding woods. Suddenly, an Anthropophagi bursts up from under the dirt in the hole Will Henry and Gray were digging. It seizes Gray by the legs and starts dragging him down. Will Henry grabs Gray's wrists and tries to pull him back, but is not nearly as strong as the monster, and starts being pulled in himself. He tries to release Gray, but Gray hangs on to him and refuses to let go. Dr. Warthrop shoots Gray and pulls Will Henry back, while Gray's body is pulled all the way into the hole.

Warthrop and Will Henry run for their lives as more Anthropophagi "poured out of Eliza's grave, dozens of them, scores, sprinting with arms outstretched and mouths agape, their colorless skin radiant in the starlight, as if every tomb and sepulcher had vomited forth their foul contents." They jump on the back of Gray's horse and ride off, narrowly evading the approaching swarm. Back at Warthrop's house, he and Will Henry begin searching through old newspapers for suspicious deaths over the past thirty years. Warthrop marks possible Anthropophagi attacks on a map, and from it estimates that there are around twenty five or thirty Anthropophagi in the area. The map also shows that the Anthropophagi have been steadily making their way from the coast to New Jerusalem (where Warthrop lives) over the last couple of decades.

Warthrop then composes a letter to John Kearns asking him to come and use his "inestimable services" to help with the infestation, dictating with "a hint of distaste." Then, in some of Warthrop's father's old journals, he finds a reference to a place on Motley Hill, in Dedham, that might be connected to the Anthropophagi's arrival. Will Henry finds a key among the old papers as well, and puts it in his pocket to show to Warthrop later. Will Henry also realizes that he has lost his hat, the last object in his possesion from his home before his parents died. Warthrop and Will Henry leave that night for Dedham, where they find the Motley Hill Sanatorium. Warthrop knocks, and after a long wait, a "withered woman in black" , Mrs. Bratton, answers. At first she refuses to let them in, until Warthrop mentions he's the son of Dr. Alistair Warthrop, at which point Mrs. Bratton slams the door and goes to get Dr. Starr.

Starr lets them in and, after discussing Warthrop's father for a while, reveals that Warthrop's father had a keen interest in one of Starr's patients, Captain Varner. Warthrop asks to see Varner. Starr "cast an eye toward the parlor door" and stalls for several minutes, until finally Warthrop bribes him and Starr calls for Mrs. Bratton to take them to Varner. Bratton leads Warthrop and Will Henry upstairs. As they pass doors, they hear patients crying and calling out, and (in one case) laughing frantically. They're also surrounded by the smell of "unwashed flesh, old urine, and human feces." They go into the last door. Under the window "clustered the bodies of desiccated flies. Above them, a congregation of their extant cousins buzzed about and crawled upon glass. My eyes began to water, for the smell of bleach was overwhelming, and I deduced the reason for delaying the doctor downstairs: Mrs. Bratton had needed time to scour and disinfect before our introduction to Captain Varner."

Varner is lying on a bed under multiple layers of sheets. Warthrop asks Mrs. Bratton to leave, which she initially refuses, claiming it is against the rules. When Warthrop insists, however, she goes back into the hall. Warthrop then tries to get Varner to speak, but without any success at first, as Varner stairs up mindlessly at the ceiling. It's not until the name Warthrop is mentioned that he really responds. Varner tells them that he was hired to sail to Benin (in Africa) about twenty five years previously, to return with a "cargo of particular interest." He was paid a large amount of money to pick up three Anthropophagi, an adult of each gender and a cub, and sail them back to the New World. Varner and his crew were instructed to lock up the Anthropophagi in the bottom of the ship and throw down a cow, goat or chimpanzee to them every couple of weeks. However, the Anthropophagi refused to eat them.

The crew makes a sport of tormenting them, particularly the first mate. Drunk one day, the first mate takes a piece of cow meat and swings down a rope in the top of the Anthropophagi's holding area below deck to give it to them. The female Anthropophagi grabs him and eats him. Captain Varner posts guards to ensure nothing like it happens again, but one day a huge storm hit the ship and the crew can see almost nothing. The Anthropophagi climb through the porthole and up the side of the ship onto the deck, where they proceed to slaughter the crew When only Varner is left, he runs for the lifeboats, stabbing one of the female Anthropophagi's eyes on the way out. When he returns home, he is sent to the sanatorium.

Warthrop pulls back Varner's bedding to reveal that Varner's flesh is being eaten away by maggots, thus the flies. Warthrop diagnoses that whatever infection Varner has has already spread to his bones: Varner will live no more than a day. Warthrop spends the night at Varner's bedside until Varner dies the next morning. It is understood by the reader that his death is the direct result of neglect from Starr and Bratton. He then confronts Mrs. Bratton, informing her that he is going to inform the police that they are mistreating their patients. "She responded stiffly, 'I've no idea what you mean, Dr. Warthrop."

"'Regrettably that very well might be so,' acknowledged the doctor icily. 'And all the more appalling if it is! To view your shameful neglect as altogether fitting and humane is beyond deplorable - it is inhuman. You may inform your master that I am not finished here. I am not finished, but Motley Hill is."

Folio Two

Early the next morning, Constable Morgan knocks on the door asking for Warthrop. He tells Warthrop that something has happened "totally outside the range of my experience." On the carriage ride to the crime scene, Warthrop questions Morgan. Warthrop discovers that "the crime" was reported "shortly after dawn" Only one person survived (Malachi). Morgan explains he called on Warthrop because "no human being is capable of so foul a crime."

They arrive at the town rectory. (224) Five have been found dead; the rector, his wife, and three of their children. Various chunks of them have been torn off, and blood and carnage are everywhere. Warthrop estimates it to be the work of at least eight to ten Anthropophagi. Morgan observes that the odds of these monsters appearing in the town where "the country's - if not the worlds - preeminent expert in these matters resides" by chance are very small.

Warthrop, Morgan and Will Henry go to the sanctuary, where Malachi is waiting. He is visibly disturbed. "His full lips moved soundlessly, as he stared, like some Eastern mystic, at a space beyond our mortal sphere, looking without but seeing within." Malachi does not respond much to anyone except Will Henry, after discovering Will Henry's family is also dead, and that Will Henry ran from the scene. Malachi asks, "Do you think God will forgive us, Will Henry?" Malachi explains what happened before he ran. The Anthorpophagi came through the windows of the house while they slept. One of his sisters came to hide in his room with him. They listened to their families screams and the sounds of the monsters tearing them and the house apart. Malachi breaks open his bedroom window so he and his sister can escape.

The Anthropophagi hear the sound of breaking glass, and his sister faints. Malachi tries to drag his sister through the window, but an Anthropophagi comes in and grabs her. Malachi jumped through the window and rode to Morgan.

Warthrop and Will Henry return home. Morgan arrives shortly. He brings Malachi and his assistant with him. (253) He tells the doctor he has been at the cemetery, and that he found Will Henry's hat. Morgan deduces that Warthrop knew the Anthropophagi were there, which Warthrop confirms. Malachi grabs Morgan's assistant's gun and jumps on top of Warthrop. Malachi blames Warthrop for his family's death. He whispers, "he took everything from me, Will!" Will Henry convinces him to let go of the gun by answering "and you would take everything from me." Warthrop takes Morgan and his assistant to see the Anthropophagi body that Gray brought to him, which is still in his basement. Will Henry takes Malachi to one of the spare bedrooms and puts him to bed, sitting with him for awhile.

Someone starts banging on the front door, and Warthrop calls for Will Henry to answer. Kearns arrives, "looking for the house of a very dear friend of mine." Warthrop comes in, and "froze upon seeing the tall Englishman in the entryway." Kearns, upon seeing Warthrop, says "'My dear Pellinore,' purred Kearns warmly, brushing past me to seize the doctors hand. He pumped it vigorously." Warthrop, however, returns "tightly." (265) The conversation continues in this way, Kearns behaving very warmly, Warthrop just the opposite. Morgan appears, and Kearns introduces himself as Richard Corey. (266) Warthrop, Morgan and Kearns go off while Will Henry and Kearn's driver bring in luggage. When Will Henry returns with tea, the three men are looking at Warthrop's map where he plotted the various Anthropophagi attacks.

Kearns suggests Warthrop's father paid to have the Anthropophagi shipped over, and Warthrop slaps him. As the night goes on, Kearns continues to tease Warthrop about his relationship with his father.

Folio Three

The next day, Warthrop, Kearns, Will Henry, Malachi, Morgan, and six of Morgan's men meet to prepare a trap for the Anthropophagi. Kearns is in a notably good mood. When Morgan asks Warthrop why Kearns is so cheerful at the prospect of slaughtering or possibly being slaughtered, Warthrop explains "it's the joy of a man perfectly suited for his work." Morgan, introducing Kearns to his men, explains that "'Dr. Warthrop has engaged the services of this... person who purports to have experience' - 'extensive experience,' Kearns corrected him - 'at killing these things.'" Kearns directs the men in setting up the 'slaughter ring in the cemetary.' Morgan becomes steadily more and more disgusted with Kearns. When Kearns states that "there is no morality save the morality of the moment," Morgan retorts "I begin to see why you delight in hunting them. You've so much in common."

Once the men have finished setting up the 'slaughter ring,' Kearns pulls out the bait he brought with them: a woman's motionless body, "reposed as a corpse." Morgan protests that using the woman's body is immoral. Kearns justifies that "it's a woman of the streets, Morgan. A common tramp with which the gutters of Baltimore are choked to overflowing." Warthrop, though reluctant, concedes the necessity of bait and points out that "she is past all suffering." As evening comes, everyone gets into position in the trees around the slaughter ring, guns and grenades in hand. Smiling, Kearns comments "the bloody hour has come."

Kearns has the woman's body chained in the middle of the slaughter ring. He goes over to her, bending over her in such a way that no one can see what he's doing. Suddenly she starts kicking and screaming, and the other men realize she is alive. "With a single fluid motion of his arm Kearns reached across the thrashing captive's torso and opened up her abdomen with the razor-sharp blade. The piercing screams of agony that greeted this act of heartless barbarity rent the twilight stillness with all the force of a thunderclap." Kearns runs back into the trees where the rest are waiting. Morgan curses Kearns, but thinks there's no time to help the woman as the Anthropophagi start to come up from underground. Kearns shoot the first one to injure, not to kill, in the hopes that it's suffering will draw out the rest. The woman is still screaming on the ground.

Warthrop runs out to her, ignoring the injured Anthropophagi, carries the woman under the trees and starts binding up her wounds. At the sound of more Anthropophagi quickly approaching, Warthrop returns to the trees to shoot, leaving Will Henry and Malachi to tend to the woman. As the adults in the trees deal with the largest faction of Anthropophagi, a juvenile comes upon Will Henry and Malachi. Malachi shoots it, but not in an area that does lasting damage. Malachi doesn't have time to reload, so he jams the butt of the gun into the Anthropophagi's mouth. Will Henry pulls out Warthrop's revolver, but the Anthropophagi smacks it out of his hand and grabs him. (328) Will Henry pulls out a knife from his belt. He stabs each of the Anthropophagi's eyes, and then its brain, killing it. The battle ends shortly. Warthrop has Morgan's assistant take the wounded woman to a doctor.

Upon examining the Anthropophagi bodies, they cannot find the leader, who they expect to recognize by her missing eye (as she was stabbed by Varner earlier on). Surmising she is still underground with her young, they decide they must go into the Anthropophagi warren and look for her in order to ensure that all of the monsters are killed. Kearns suggests that the "front door" of the Anthropophagi's underground home must be in the Warthrop mausoleum, in keeping with his theory that Warthrop's father had them brought over in the first place.Inside it, Kearns finds a hidden clock, "hands frozen at twelve." Warthrop, finally accepting that Kearn's theory must be true, suggests they try moving the hand to three o'clock because the witching hour was important to his father. They do so, and a hidden door opens.

They find a locked trapdoor. Will Henry remembers the key he found earlier (still in his pocket), and tries it out: The trapdoor opens. They lower themselves into what appears to be the main pit where the Anthropophagi live and eat; the floor is covered in bones. They search the tunnels leading away from it until Kearns and Warthrop discover a small tunnel that only Will Henry can get through. Will Henry crawls through it for a long time until the dirt drops out from under him and he falls into another pit. He finds another juvenile Anthropophagi, sleeping. One of its forearms is missing, and it appears to be in considerable pain. Wanting to put it out of its misery, Will Henry comes up close to it to shoot it. The Anthropophagi suddenly jerks awake and grabs Will Henry. In the struggle, Will Henry's arm is bitten. Will Henry eventually manages to kill it with a large stone found on the ground.

Will Henry wanders around in the tunnels until Kearns finds him. Will Henry explains what happened to him, and Kearns then instructs him to take the 'bandage' (Will's shirt, which he has wrapped around his arm) off of his bite wound, because "we don't want to risk an infection." Kearns then instructs Will Henry to follow the path Kearns has marked, which Kearns says will take Will Henry back to Warthrop. Will Henry follows Kearns instructions. The tunnel Kearns marked is steep, and Will Henry is careful not to slip and go rolling down the tunnel. After a little while, Will Henry thinks he hears something following him. Will Henry continues, until he smells Anthropophagi ahead and stops. Kearns appears behind him and asks him why he stopped; Will Henry explains that this can't be the way back.

"'I had hoped to avoid it,' was his cryptic response. 'The smell of blood should have drawn her out; I'm at a loss, frankly ,why she didn't come... I am so sorry, Mr. Henry, but there really is no choice. It is the morality of the moment.' And with those parting words John Kearns shoved me as hard as he could." Will Henry rolls into a pit with the remaining Anthropophagi. Two juvenile Anthropophagi leap towards him; Will Henry shoots one, and above him, Kearns shoots the second. As a third sails towards Will Henry, Kearns shoots the last monster in the room.

Warthrop comes running over to Will Henry, who explains what Kearns did. When Kearns tries to justify his actions, Warthrop threatens to shoot him. Suddenly, the floor bursts from under them as the leader pushes up and grabs Malachi. Malachi tells Will Henry to grab a grenade from Kearn's bag; Will Henry tosses it at Malachi and the matriarch, and they are both buried in dirt, mud and rock. The matriarch rises out of the dust, leaping towards Will Henry, who knows he only has one shot left in his gun. He aims for her brain and shoots: she dies.

In the final chapter, we learn that Warthrop, Kearns and Will Henry visit Starr afterwords; Kearns kills him, then disappears. Six months later, Warthrop and Will Henry find a newspaper headline: Ripper Strikes Again/Whitechapel Killer Claims Fourth Victim. Finally, Warthrop gives Will Henry a new hat: after holding his old hat in one hand and his new one in the other, Will Henry tosses his old hat in the fire.

Character Descriptions

Main Characters

• Will Henry works as an assistant to Dr. Pellinore Warthrop. Though only twelve, Warthrop readily informs anyone who questions his age that "his services are indispensable to me."

• Dr. Pellinore Warthrop is the monstrumologist, a studier of monstrumology. Though brilliant in his field, "like most geniuses, his brilliance illuminated a very narrow spectrum: the doctor was a terrible cook." He depends on Will Henry to take care of basic chores, as well as to assist in more advanced monstrumology. Largely ignored by his father as a child, he does not communicate well with others.

• Dr. John Kearns hunts down and kills monsters for sport. Though charming and charismatic at first glance, his lack of respect for the value of life and general cynicism make him a very sinister character.

Supporting Characters

• Constable Morgan is the constable of New Jerusalem. Tall and thin, he smokes a pipe, calls on God, and is a man of action.

• Erasmus Gray is the local grave robber, "a gangly, skeletal figure." He is shot early on by Warthrop, but Will Henry reflects on his death frequently.

• Dr. Starr is the director of the Motley Hill Sanatorium. He severely mistreats his patients, saying that "these... Patients, so-called, they are the dregs of society... They are human garbage, discarded by men, toxic to the general populace and to themselves, forgotten, unwanted, cruel, comical mockeries of all things that make us human."

• Mrs. Bratton is Dr. Starr's assistant/housekeeper. She takes care of the patients in the sanatorium and covers up their mistreatment.

• Captain Hezekiah Varner was the captain of the Feronia, hired by Dr. Alistair Warthrop to ship Anthropophagi from Africa to the new world. He is consequently committed to the Motley Hill Sanatorium upon his return.

• James and Mary Henry are the deceased parents of Will Henry. James worked as Warthrop's assistant. "It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say my father worshiped Doctor Warthrop. It would be more than an exaggeration - indeed, it would be an egregious lie - to say my mother had." Both parent died as a direct result of working for Warthrop.

• Dr. Alistair Warthrop is Pellinore Warthrop's father, also deceased. He was completely devoted to his work and largely ignored his son.

• Malachi Stinnet is the teenage son of a reverend. His family is slaughtered in the second Anthropophagi attack.

Anthropophagi

Anthropophagi are a (fictional) species in The Monstrumologist. They are about twice the size of an average human. They have no head , and their mouths(filled with rows of sharp, shark-like teeth) are placed in the middle of their chests. Females have no womb, as that area is taken up by their brain. Their brains, when fully grown, are about the size of an orange, and thus they're about as smart as a human two-year-old.

They have barbed claws about two inches long. Their large Achilles tendon allows them to leap up to fourty feet. Their black eyes, which are lidless, are placed on their shoulders (one on each side). They are very pale, and have no hair. They eat only humans, and hunt in packs.

Reception

Filled with suspense and gore, The Monstrumologist "might just be the best horror novel of the year." "The industrial-era setting is populated with leering, Dickensian characters."

"Plagued with monsters, human and otherwise, (the monstrumologist) spares no grisly detail(s)." Said one critic, "I'll probably have nightmares for a long time over this, with the cold mist of the fog over cobblestone streets and unthinkable things that go bump in the night."

References

Yancey, Rick. The Monstrumologist. Simon & Schuster: New York, 2009. ISBN 9781416984481

Daniel Kraus, "The Monstrumologist" review. Booklist Online, http://www.booklistonline.com/default.aspx?page=show_product&pid=3590673 Date Retrieved: March 30, 2010

Publishers Weekly, "The Monstrumologist" review. Barnes and Noble, http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Monstrumologist/Rick-Yancey/e/9781416984481#TABS Date Retrieved: March 30, 2010

Just Loves Books, "Never thought I'd read this but..." review. Amazon, http://www.amazon.com/Monstrumologist-Rick-Yancey/dp/1416984488/ref=pd_sxp_f_r Published: September 27, 2009 Retrieved: March 30, 2010