Like Psycho, pop culture has absorbed the premise of The Omen.
Filmed in 1976, it's the story of a couple who discover their young son is the risen Anti-Christ. Starring Gregory Peck and Lee Remick, it was one of the highest-grossing films of the year and spawned numerous sequels. Veteran composer Jerry Goldsmith won his only Oscar for the soundtrack. I'm not interested in novelizations of films based on the screenplay by, but this original novel was written by the screenwriter David Seltzer, and released just before the film, so perhaps can stand on its own.
Jeremy Thorn is the economic advisor to the President, and his wife struggles with being a politician's wife. Devastated after another child is stillborn, a Catholic priest suggests an orphan born at the same time as his child could be secretly substituted. What Jeremy does not know is a coven of Devil worshippers within the Catholic Church have killed their true son and given him the spawn of a jackal, carefully concealing the 666 birthmark under his hair. Residing in a large English estate, Damien grows up with a mysteriously devoted governess who coaches his movements and teaches him in the forest at night - she is also a nun of the secret order. By the time he is four, various people begin to die in strange accidents, he has a fit when near a church, and even tries to kill his mother. When Thorn is contacted by an investigating photo journalist and an ex-coven member who has revealed the truth (Satan now moving their names to the top of the list), Thorn and the journalist fly off to Jerusalem where an old exorcist tells him how to stop the nightmare.
This was an interesting read, lacking thrills but thick on plot. I found a lot more religious text and subplot than I expected, lots of research into the book of Revelations, and Biblical quotes about the coming apocalypse. There are some original ideas such as Thorn navigating an ancient cave far underground in Israel to find the fabled exorcist, but it wasn't a captivating read. Knowing the basic plot made the scenes play out towards the finale, so it was lacking in scares for me.
*Spoiler* I am going to tell you the ending now - Damien kills everyone and continues on. Nowadays, it might seem like an designed for spin-offs, but not knowing there would be more books or films at the time it's a great ending. Evil wins. It's always refreshing when the hero doesn't win.
I never saw the film, but one difference from the movie is the Irish nanny Mrs. Blaylock, who is described as mountainously fat, while in the film she is slender, and in the 2006 sequel is played by waif-life Mia Farrow.
1976 / Paperback / 266 pages
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