David Morrell

The Totem is a horror novel by David Morrell, first published in 1979. It was Morrell's fifth published book, preceded by three novels and one work of non-fiction. It was the author's first foray into horror, a genre that he would not revisit until Creepers in 2005.

Since 1889, mysterious lights have appeared outside Rostov, a remote Texas town. Ranchers believed them to be the campfires of rustlers, but campfires don’t rise and fall, merge, and change colors. In World War I, the locals believed that the lights came from German forces massing on the Mexican border. In the Second …