Ordinary Horror

Those in search of subtle literary horror need look no farther than this fine debut novel. Frank Delabano is a quiet, elderly man living alone in the great flatness of an aging housing development. His rose garden is out of the ordinary in this most ordinary of places. ""It's the sentimental absorbency of roses that's most valuable to him, in fact--relieves him of any lingering sorrows, draws them off and releases them to the air."" When little piles of dirt erupt in the flower beds, Mr. Delabano suspects gophers and is determined to be rid of them. He mail-orders some ""gopherbane,"" an exotic nonflowering South American plant guaranteed to repel his garden varmints without harming anything else. The plants turn out to have buds that blossom into odd large blue flowers, but they do prevent the pests. Once the plants are part of the garden, however, ever-increasing feelings of disturbance and fear pervade Mr. Delabano's existence. His neighbors, the Getzes, and their troubled little daughter, Janie, become part of the uneasy new atmosphere. As the reader is drawn into its mystifying strangeness, the novel's progress depends on its characters more than plot. One is never quite sure of what to be sure of. Is the mounting sense of fear real or an extension of distorted psychology? Poetic present-tense prose enhances the disconcerting sensation. Audaciously original, emotionally effective, this is a more than ordinary horror novel. (Jan. 29) Forecast: Literary horror can be a difficult sell--many readers of ""literature"" scorn horror, and horror fans are likely to return the favor--but the purchase of serial rights to this novel by Grand Street should help reach the high-lit readership. That the story deals with a malevolent plant may