Song of Kali
Song of Kali is a horror novel published in 1985 by Dan Simmons. It was the winner of the 1986 World Fantasy Award. The story deals with an American intellectual who travels to Calcutta, where he becomes embroiled in mysterious and horrific events at the centre of which lies a cult that worships Kali.
Plot Summary
Robert Luzcak is sent by the magazine he works for to Calcutta to locate recently written poetry alleged to have been written by a poet (M. Das) who has been thought dead for the last eight years. He travels there with his Indian wife and their infant child.
On arriving, he is met by Sanjay, a local intellectual who claims to have been asked to assist them by a mutual friend. The next day he meets with the local writers guild who were the source of the few bits of poetry that made their way to America. When he asks to meet Das, he is told that it is out of the question.
Robert considers leaving Calcutta at this point, his duty done, but feels that something is missing and that he doesn't have enough material for an interesting article at this point. The night before he and his family are to leave, Sanjay returns and takes Robert to a man who can provide him with information relevant to his story.
The man tells how he and a friend had tried to join a religious secret society dedicated to Kali, a Hindu goddess associated with death and destruction. One of the prerequisites was for each initiate to bring a corpse to a secret temple, there to be laid at the feet of a statue of Kali. This man's corpse, bloated and decayed after being dredged from the river is chosen by Kali and vivified by her, becoming animated. The corpse is that of the poet, Das.
Armed with this tale, Robert again insists on the writers guild allowing him to see Das. This time they agree. He is brought to the poet, who seems to be in the advanced stages of leprosy. Das seems to corroborate the story of his return from death, but Robert again refuses to believe it. Robert is given an extensive collection of Das's poetry, which is very different from his earlier work, describing dark, mystical, grotesque, and apocalyptic happenings. He is asked by Das to bring him books of poetry.
Becoming concerned at the eerie, and sometimes frightening, events that he has experienced, Robert sends his wife and child home, and, concealing a gun (given to him previously by Sanjay) in one of the books he has bought for Das, he returns to the poet. He leaves the books and goes, but, as he exits the house, hears two gunshots. Das is dead. Robert is captured by guards and knocked unconscious. He awakens in pitch black, but, using a limited supply of matches, he is able to determine that he must be in the temple of Kali described to him earlier. After a terrifying manifestation of Kali, Robert manages to escape. He returns home to find that his wife has returned and their child has been kidnapped.
After a couple of days of dead-end leads, a couple is caught trying to smuggle jewels hidden within the child, who has just died from the trauma, out of the country. With their child dead Robert and his wife return to America.
Robert decides to destroy the poetry, and, gradually, their relationship returns to normal.
Whispers can still be heard, though, of the Song of Kali, the condition of humanity dominated by hatred and violence, perfectly embodied by the squalor and chaos of Calcutta.