The Hanging Stones (1982) is a wild one, in part because it vibrating on the same frequency as Halloween III, believe it or not, which came out the same year. It’s probably my favorite of the Silver John novels.

So, rich asshole Noel Kottler is building a replica of Stonehenge on Teatray Mountain to serve as a tourist destination for New Age types (Wellman has two head honchos of crackpot mystical organizations on-site to mercilessly mock the entire novel). Kottler is entirely awful, thinks because he has money he can do anything, buy anything and have anyone do his bidding, including John and his wife, Evadare. John immediately loathes him. It is pretty clear the Wellman does too, which makes for some delightfully snide asides.

As if that weren’t enough, the construction project is being carried out on land that is sacred to a local tribe of ectoplasmic werewolves (the don’t change into wolves, they don a wolf-form of ectoplasm summoned by their heightened emotional state, and you can beat it out of them, which is weird but also pretty great) who try to drive John away and eventually kidnap Evadare to leverage his departure (in order to leave the camp unprotected when they eventually attack). Also there is Esdras Hogue, a wandering sorcerer, who does not like the new Stonehenge, nor the werewolves. Also, Wellman’s NYC occult detective Judge Pursuivant, an old man with a magic sword, shows up as well. It all comes down to a big siege by the werewolves versus the unlikely allies at the construction site, who win out because Hogue summons the spirits of the Stone Age builders/protectors of the real Stonehenge to fight on their side. The only person who dies is the millionaire. Boo-hoo.