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The Tangled Leaves of Anniseed

The Tangled Leaves of Anniseed

Tag Archives: Supernatural

Fellside by M.R. Carey

31 Wednesday Aug 2016

Posted by Anniseed in Book Review

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Ghosts, Horror, Prisons, Psychological Thriller, Supernatural

I’ve been waiting forever for this to come out in paperback and I devoured it in two evenings! A shame that it was over so soon, but wow, what an experience.

Carey’s word-of-mouth bestseller, The Girl With All The Gifts, is about to released as a film (please read the book first!) and definitely has ranked him as one of my favourite, must-read authors in the horror genre. Fellside initially feels so different to The Girl, but the same strengths are there – vivid, corporeal characters who you really care for, a strong plot that won’t let you go, and a perceptive, subtle subversion of the genre. Fellside

Jess Moulson is a nice person with a bad, bad habit. It leaves her amnesiac, with half her face burnt off, and one of Britain’s most notorious female criminals, sentenced to Fellside, a grim women’s prison in Yorkshire. Devastated by what she’s done, she goes on hunger strike, wanting to end it all – but the ghost of a young boy won’t let her die. He needs her to find out the truth about his death- which means delving into the minds of her fellow inmates. Cue surreal sequences in the other world, which could be dreams, the afterlife, insanity, or even hell. But unknown to Jess, the staff and inmates of Fellside have their own vested interests in whether she lives or dies, and she’s caught in a violent web of corruption and manipulation; trapped between two worlds, Jess must fight for survival in both.

Like Miss Justineau in The Girl, Jess is a very sympathetic character, and her journey really hooked me in to the narrative. The thing about Jess is that she just wants to keep her head down, not to get involved; but both before and during her incarceration, she is no bystander. The conflict between selfishness and doing the right thing is very finely observed and this is the recognisable flaw that makes her such an empathic and real character. Carey’s are all strong female characters (the cast in Fellside is largely female!) and a delight to meet, even those who are truly evil like Harriet Grace, the lifer who controls Goodall block and directs the violence. And the male characters are similarly believable – like the Sergeant in The Girl, whose story evolves from villain to hero, deliciously vile prison officer Devlin (the Devil) and poor lost Dr Salazar (Sally) have their own tragic and poignant trajectories which grip you. tgwatg

The supernatural elements in some ways form the subplot of Fellside, and can almost be a matter of interpretation; is the other place to be taken at face value, or is this the effect of drug addiction, or mass delusion? The psychology of incarceration is at the forefront, and this is where it differs from The Girl With All The Gifts, which is very firmly in established horror territory; Fellside is much more internal, a state of mind.

I loved it – compelling drama, characters that punch their way off the page, a touch of genuine spookiness and twists and turns that will floor you as effectively as Big Carol herself.

Rating: ****

Orbit Books, 2016, ISBN 9780356503608

The Girl With All The Gifts – Official Trailer

The Stopped Heart by Julie Myerson

19 Sunday Jun 2016

Posted by Anniseed in Book Review, Uncategorized

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Ghosts, Horror, Psychological Thriller, Supernatural, Thriller

This is a novel I’d been eagerly anticipating reading and it didn’t disappoint! In fact, I would say that this is Myerson’s best novel so far. It’s a harrowing, but beautifully told, tale of loss, grief and evil.

Mary and her husband Graham buy an old farmhouse in rural Suffolk – it’s a new start, an attempt to save their marriage, after the tragic deaths of their daughters. But making space in their lives for new friends is not easy – even when they are so easy-going and understanding as Eddie and Deborah. And for Mary, there’s a strange undercurrent in their new home, an awareness of something other. Could it be a ghost?

A hundred years ago, the farmhouse was home to Eliza and her large family. One night, during a terrible storm, a stranger arrives seeking help and the family take him in. It’s not long before James has his feet well under the table and his relationship with teenage Eliza evolves into something sinister. Just who is he really, and what does he want?

Sometimes in novels that are split between two different times or narrators, you end up favoring one over the other. But not so in this case – the two stories are woven together so assuredly they are like the two sides of the heart in question, and that it will be stopped is painfully evident as the narrative progresses. What Myerson does is surprise you – this is not just a story about evil acts and the grief they beget, but also about the hope that comes in the wake of the storm. She tells you that it is possible to heal, and that healing might come about in a totally unexpected way. The story is harrowing; she does not flinch from tackling very painful and disturbing subjects, but her prose is so beautiful, so insightful, she carries you along the darkest path always with a glimmer of light.

StoppedHeart

This  is a stunning read. My Mum has just returned my copy and said she couldn’t put it down; we had both been affected by the same particular moments in the narrative, and the story will stay with us both for a very long time.

Jonathan Cape, 2016, ISBN 9780224102490

Rating: *****

Demon Road by Derek Landy

14 Saturday Nov 2015

Posted by Anniseed in Young Adult Fiction Review

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Demons, Horror, Humour, Supernatural

I’ve missed the phenomenon that is Skulduggery Pleasant, so this was a good opportunity to try a Landy novel. This new series is definitely aimed at an older audience, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Amber is a teen with a bad relationship with her parents. She works part-time at a diner, but one night on her way home she is attacked by two men. Yet she not only fights them off – she does them serious damage. Confused, she heads home where her parents reveal to her the shocking truth – she’s a demon, like them. And what’s worse, in order for them to consolidate their powers, they are going to kill her and eat her.

So Amber does the only thing she can – she goes on the run and does a deal with the devil.demonroad

Accompanied on the Demon Road by enigmatic Milo, driver of a charger with a mind of its own, and by Glen, a garrulous Irish boy who is marked for death, fulfilling her side of the bargain is not going to be easy. Tracking serial killers and monsters across America, the trio encounter some truly scary and gory situations – the doll’s house with its miniaturised dead bodies, the tree witches and their zest for human skin… Deliciously gruesome and very, very violent. And always the threat of her parents right behind her, and the Devil calling in his debt.

This is a relentless road trip novel, packed with dark humour and copious amounts of viscera. It’s pacy and full of action, and very, very readable. I loved Glen’s character and was intrigued by Milo’s dark past, and Amber was an engaging heroine, trying to hold onto her humanity while her demon side lusts for blood. Great fun, and I shall definitely be reading others in the series!

Harper Collins Children’s Books, 2015, ISBN 978-0008140816

The Merrily Watkins series by Phil Rickman and Midwinter of the Spirit on TV – a personal reaction

11 Sunday Oct 2015

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Abuse, Crime, Merrily Watkins, Paranormal, Psychological Thriller, Supernatural, Thriller, TV

***Warning: contains spoilers***

I make no bones about it, but I have an obsession. Since accidentally discovering the latest title in this series – The Magus of Hay – I went back to the beginning  (The Wine of Angels) and worked my way through all twelve books. Then I did it again. And again. And I’m not the only one – Phil’s Facebook group currently has 1814 members and we’re all equally enthralled by the ongoing story of single mother, vicar and exorcist Merrily Watkins. They’re supernatural crime dramas – an unusual mix of two genres which somehow mesh perfectly in Phil’s prose, in a world so carefully crafted it’s like a second home.

Set in the borderlands of Herefordshire and Wales, Merrily struggles to balance her duties to her parish, her ambivalent interest in the world of the paranormal, and her relationship with her pagan teenage daughter Jane, all the while walking the tightrope of political machinations in both the Diocese and the media. As a woman in a man’s world, and doing a job many see as frivolous, she tries to retain her integrity as well as develop her spirituality. Called in on occasion to help the police with their more unusual cases, her life is anything but ordinary. She’s utterly believable as a character, and makes the whole concept of an exorcist work for even the most sceptical of readers.

Surrounding her are a large cast who are all drawn with such deftness and vitality that you feel like you really know them. Feisty Jane, Merrily’s daughter and environmental activist, is definitely my alter ego! Lol Robinson, Merrily’s cautious lover, is a man locked in his own tormented past, and his efforts to move beyond this are moving indeed. Huw Owen, her exorcist mentor, is wonderfully irascible and ambivalent. Frannie Bliss is the tame, slightly maverick copper whose blood is 95% caffeine (I confess to being slightly in love with Frannie), and Annie Howe is his ambitious and hard-nosed boss, the antithesis of Merrily’s emotional centre. And Gomer Parry , the wild and wily old Welshman and proprietor of a plant hire company, is a brilliant creation – saving the day on his digger on more than one occasion! Everybody needs a Gomer in their life. When he confronted a killer in Lamp of the Wicked, I nearly had a panic attack.

The plots are labyrinthine with endless depths, which is why you can read them over and over again and find new strands that you didn’t see before. They deal with the depths of human nature in all its perversity, and the thread running through all of them is how belief affects human behaviour. Rickman portrays Christianity and Paganism with a real understanding, showing how belief can be both a strength and a weakness, a temptation to evil and a call to compassion. They are anything but sensationalist, treating religion with respect but at the same time exposing the hypocrisy and corruption that can lurk in the heart of any institution or individual.

Phil Rickman’s stories are intelligent and thought-provoking, as well as gripping, shocking and downright addictive. Both the sense of place and character in this series are so strong, it’s not surprising that his fans are so obsessive. He’s a fantastic writer and this series is exceptional – he’s made the cross-genre of supernatural crime entirely his own, and done it with both seriousness and style.

So – to the adaptation of the second novel in the series, Midwinter of the Spirit, which has just finished on ITV. Did it work? I agree with Phil here – a resounding yes.Midwinter

By its very nature a TV adaptation does adapt – and by that read change – a novel. It becomes the interpretation of a story by a new writer, in this case Stephen Volk. It’s never going to by a scene by scene, line by line, literal transcription of a novel into a visual form. What a good adaptation does, is take the essence of a story, re-work it into a new structure that fits a different, episodic, format, and hopefully give it a new life that can be enjoyed by those who both have read the book, and those who haven’t. There are constraints – of timing, budget – and these will affect how large the cast of characters can be, and which elements of the story are left out or reduced. It becomes a distinct piece of creation in its own right – a scion, related but independent. And in my opinion, Stephen Volk did a fantastic job, moulding Rickman’s original material into a gripping drama that captured the spirit of the novel whilst adding intriguing new layers.

David Threlfall as Huw Owen: he simply nailed it – took the character and embodied him fully. In the early scenes he was quite ambiguous – is he on Merrily’s side or not? And this reflects the novel, where the reader isn’t sure who is Merrily’s true ally, Huw or the Bishop.

Anna Maxwell Martin as Merrily was brilliant. She came across as nice but with an edge – she fights back, not in fact the “poodle” that others may think her to be. Her distress as the story unfolds is mesmerising – in the fight scene with Jane in episode two, when she falls to the floor moaning in distress, I felt it. Really felt it. A TV programme can’t get inside the heads of the characters in the same way as a novel, but the whole relationship with her daughter, Merrily’s whole back story, was communicated by the intensity of Anna’s performance.

Lol was re-imagined as a social worker, which makes perfect sense – in the book Lol trained in psychotherapy after his own experiences of the psychiatric system, and in Midwinter is looking after the disturbed Katherine Moon at the request of his psychiatrist, Dick Lyden. Making him a social worker meant that this complicated plot line could be simplified, and allowed Lol to be positioned both as someone who cares and tries to help but also has a legitimate role in the action. Random musician, to a new audience, just wouldn’t work in this regard. Lol is the character that I’ve struggled most to visualise in the novels, but Ben Bailey Smith captured his gentleness, his slight awkwardness, and his determination to do the right thing perfectly (and I think I’m just a little bit in love).

Nicholas Pinnock’s performance as Bishop Mick Hunter was intriguing. Knowing how the story pans out, I was disturbed to find myself really liking him in episode one. And the kiss in episode two…. now that made my skin crawl. But it could so easily be the start of a forbidden romance, and Merrily’s reaction – emotionless, numb – was spot on. Is it abusive, or not? Is she attracted to him? So wonderfully ambiguous. And in the finale, as Mick shows his true self, Pinnock was stunning. I don’t think I dared take a breath at all during that scene on the roof….

Cutting out the Katherine Moon / Dinedor Hill storyline allowed Volk to add an interesting touch of his own. Rowenna becomes the daughter of Denzil Joy, abused by the satanic group (there was no child abuse in the novel) and returning to Herefordshire to bear witness to her father’s death. The family dynamic is disturbed indeed, and contrasts with the dynamic of the Watkins’ family. Denzil and Sean are both dead, and both daughters grieve, while both mothers try to protect their daughters. Rowenna’s “grooming” of Jane becomes even more insidious in this scenario – persuading Jane to reject her mother as she has done, but ultimately preparing to kill Jane as a sacrifice to her father (therefore killing the last bit of innocence and love in herself). Psychologically, it’s fascinating. Merrily’s confrontation with Rowenna, preaching love and ultimately comforting her, worked really well for me in this reimagining of Rowenna’s character. Merrily is the mother Rowenna longs for, hates Jane for having and so tries to destroy their relationship (evil is that simple, so everyday); and Merrily’s compassion is real, showing how love is a more powerful force. It says everything about Merrily that she hugs Rowenna at the end. Leila Mimmack (Rowenna) is definitely an actress to keep an eye on – she had just the right amount of fragility.

Siobhan Finneran as Angela Purefoy is great, oozing malevolence through her glamour. You just know she’s up to no good even though she’s so plausible – of course Jane is taken in by her. As the “other mother” she is both nurturing, alluring and deceitful; a contrast to the mothering expressed by Merrily, who is human in her mistakes. Sally Messham as Jane, a character in the novels that I really identify with, was spot on. Her portrayal of teenage rebellion was utterly believable. As Volk foregrounds the mother-daughter relationship, the multiplicity of these relationships, what makes and what breaks them, is what drives the story onwards. It is the mother that is important here – not the father, not Merrily’s God.

The supernatural elements of Rickman’s books are always quite ambiguous – is it really happening, or is it in the characters’ heads? I think this ambiguity translated well to the screen on the whole. The scritch-scratch scene was genuinely disturbing – I actually flinched, and gripped the arm of my chair. Yet as in the book, it’s such a small movement, so unremarkable by itself. That’s very effective horror – something small but with such impact. Is it a psychic attack, or is Merrily imagining the whole thing? Denzil Joy only ever appears to Merrily, and only when she’s praying; however Episode 2’s cliffhanger (perfect at ensuring the audience will be tuning in the following week) is the only time it hits a slightly off note for me, as the point-of-view feels more that of the audience, rather than Merrily. And it isn’t picked up at the start of Episode 3, which I felt may disappoint some viewers.

So is it clichéd view of good versus evil, of Christianity versus Satanism? There isn’t time in the TV series to provide a nuanced view of different belief systems. But it never infers that paganism equates to Satanism – the bad guys are what they are. In the novel Jane’s quest for an alternative spirituality leads her to the Pod – a vague grouping of women who practice alternative spiritual practices, which is how she meets Angela, although Angela is not a member of the group as such. The novel never really explores paganism – that comes in the first novel, Wine of Angels, through the character of Lucy Devenish, and the third novel, A Crown of Lights, with the characters of Betty and Robin Thorogood, whom Merrily comes to defend and befriend. So for me it’s a non-issue; people will assume what they assume.

My only other comments are that I would have loved more scenes with Annie Howe and Frannie Bliss (Kate Dickie and Simon Trinder) as they are such crucial characters in the series, and more exploration of how and why Bishop Mick became one of the bad guys. I felt perhaps that the casual viewer might have been a little confused by the last episode, as so much happened. But Stephen Volk did a fantastic job of creating a spooky, thought-provoking drama and the cast were all superb. It’s not easy adapting a novel of such complexity into two and half hours of TV, and he really captured the spirit of Rickman’s world. Well done to everyone involved.

The DVD of Midwinter is out on 2nd November. Phil Rickman’s new novel, Friends of the Dusk, is published on 3rd December, and he promises some fallout from the events in Midwinter of the Spirit. My phone will be off the hook for that week.

Call Gomer Parry Plant Hire. I’m moving to the Borders as fast as I can!

Doctor Sleep by Stephen King

27 Tuesday May 2014

Posted by Anniseed in Book Review

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Horror, Supernatural, Vampires

This one’s had some hype (and a very dull promo poster guest starring at railway stations – ever wonder what happened to Danny from The Shining? – If you haven’t read it, the answer’s probably no.) So I approached it with a little bit of trepidation, The Shining not being my favourite King novel, although I liked Danny as a character. King, in my view, often includes one element too many, which dilutes the scariness, and The Shining was a classic example of this –  a man turns violent on his own family, which is terrifying enough, and you don’t really need weird creatures formed from topiary added to the mix. But the fact I did like Danny drew me in to this sequel.

We catch up with this special little boy when he’s a grown man, and letting himself down badly, following in his father’s footsteps of alcohol addiction. One night he reaches the bottom of the bottle and decides he has to change. As a child he was saved by Dick Hallorann, who became his mentor throughout adolescence, and he determines to follow in Dick’s worthier footsteps when he starts receiving psychic messages from a young girl called Abra Stone, who shares Dan’s gift of the shining. But Abra is more powerful than Dan ever was, and she’s witnessed the torture and murder of a young boy (also with the gift) by a group of sinister people called the True Knot. Now they’re out to get her, and she needs Dan’s help. Big time.

The True Knot are an interesting bunch of villains, masquerading as middle aged, polyester-clad RV-types (that’s caravanners, for us Brits!), and Rose the Hat is a disturbing nemesis for Dan and Abra. Their mythology is an interesting twist on vampirism and I would have liked more exploration of their history. Their connection with the Overlook Hotel is good in terms of continuity, and a return to this infamous battleground is welcome. But the ending is a little unsatisfying for me – I felt the True Knot were built up and up only to be knocked down a little too easily.

Dan’s transformation from prescient little boy to irresponsible alcoholic and then to saviour of the day was well-realised and believable, with twinges of real poignancy (especially in his relationship with Billy, who echoed the kindly and wise Dick). I think the real low point of his life for me was him not knowing that Dick had passed way, which felt like a betrayal; and the revelation of the truth behind Abra’s “theory of relativity” felt a little too convenient. But again I was engaged by his character and wanted to know how his story would pan out. Abra, as the other central character, was equally as complex – revelling too much in victory, hinting that she would eventually face her own inner darkness, as Dan had done.

It’s not without flaws, but overall Doctor Sleep is an enjoyable read, well-paced with a strong sense of tension. I don’t think it will replicate the phenomenal success of The Shining, but it’s a sound supernatural tale, and stands separate enough from its predecessor to find new readers on its own merit. Rating: ***

Hodder, 2014, ISBN 9781444761184

The Merrily Watkins series by Phil Rickman

09 Sunday Feb 2014

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Christianity, Crime, Detectives, Murder, Paganism, Religion, Supernatural, Thriller

 

 

 

The last two weeks I’ve made no secret of the fact that I have an unhealthy new obsession. I’ve told everyone that will listen the intricate ins and outs of this series of crime novels and have completely neglected doing any housework at all, gripped by the convoluted plots and bizarre characters created by this man. In short, I’m doing the fan thing.

I posted earlier on the blog about The Magus of Hay and how much I enjoyed it. So I kept my promise and read more in the series, and it’s become an addiction. It’s a most unlikely premise – on the Welsh border near Hereford, single mum and parish priest Merrily Watkins reluctantly takes on the role of Deliverance minister (or exorcist) and finds herself embroiled in the machinations of the local community, both spiritually and criminally. So far she’s encountered a sexually predatory Bishop, a solicitor who won’t let his dead wife go, a group of SAS-wannabes who may have commited murder… Not to mention a varied assortment of witches and Druids who challenge her belief system, and supernatural entities that are giving her serious grief…. So gritty crime meets religion head on, and somehow it works. Brilliantly.

I totally believe in Merrily as a character, and in her circle of friends. Her daughter Jane, who’s a pagan, is feisty and fun to read about – I was gripping the arm of my chair in The Secrets of Pain as she walked into horrendous danger. Lol, Merrily’s would-be boyfriend, is likeable and I really wish they’d sort it out and get together. The relationship between the two detectives Frannie Bliss and Annie Howe adds a whole new level of tension. And is Deliverance instructor Huw friend or foe? He’s not at all ambiguous…

But I love, love, love Gomer Parry. This down-to-earth, practical grandfather-figure who stands for no nonsense and saves the day in his JCB. Frequently. Awesome isn’t the word!

It’s kind of like a grittier Midsomer Murders on speed. There’s so much going on, and I can never predict what’s going to happen next or how it will end. I’m reading them slightly out of sequence, but I can’t get enough. Rickman touches on many themes, creating a complex world which takes social and religious issues and puts them under an intense microscope. His sense of place is brilliant, both in his descriptions and in his characterisation, revealing a real tension between town and country, local or incomer. I particularly like how the religious aspect is handled. You can take the supernatural elements as real or as just part of the characters’ interpretations of events; the dying Denzil Joy may be just a nasty man who leaves unpleasant memories behind, or a sexually deviant ghost, but either way his malignant presence is horrible and unsettling. The scene in the hospital (scritch scratch) will haunt me for a long time. And both sides of the religious debate, Christian and Pagan, are shown as good and evil in equal measure. The stresses of being a female minister in a traditionally man’s world are not glossed over either.

In short, Rickman’s damn good.

There’s a website at www.philrickman.co.uk that gives you the lowdown on the real life inspiration for the series (both people and places). And a mention that the Merrily Watkins series has been optioned by ITV Drama…. Fingers crossed!

Now for the next one…

Midwinter of the Spirit, Corvus, ISBN 978-0857890108

A Crown of Lights, Corvus, ISBN 978-0857890115

The Secrets of Pain, Corvus, ISBN 978-1848872752

The Company of Ghosts by Berlie Doherty

28 Tuesday Jan 2014

Posted by Anniseed in Young Adult Fiction Review

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Families, Ghosts, Hauntings, Paranormal, Supernatural, Young Adult Fiction

You can’t go wrong with Berlie Doherty. She’s a highly accomplished author for Young Adults and never wastes a single word. The Company of Ghosts is no exception.

Ellie’s running away from home, and receives a lucky break when she’s invited to stay on a remote Scottish island. Chance to clear her head and get some space. But then circumstances play a cruel trick and Ellie is left on the island – alone. Only perhaps not quite alone as she thinks… Who is the mysterious woman in the lighthouse, and will anyone help Ellie get home?

This is an atmospheric ghost story with a compelling and well-visualised setting. Ellie is a sympathetic character, and the resolution to her family troubles is ably handled. It’s a gentle ghost story but one that effectively lingers in the memory, and thoroughly enjoyable.

Andersen Press, 2013, ISBN 9781849397292

Ghost Stories for Christmas

23 Monday Dec 2013

Posted by Anniseed in DVD Review

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DVD, Ghosts, Horror, Supernatural

Here’s a treat – a boxset of chilling tales, perfect for dark and stormy nights….

I’m cheekily regarding this as research for the ghost story I’m currently attempting to write, rather than an indulgent curl up on the sofa with a glass of wine luxury… But it has been both a delight and a lesson in how to terrify, so both will do. This is the 6-disc set of the classic tales which were a bit of a Christmas tradition, and as Mark Gatiss is resurrecting that tradition on Christmas Day this year with an adaptation of The Tractate Middoth, I’m doubly thrilled.

This collection contains both the 1969 and 2010 versions of Whistle and I’ll Come To You, one of the most unsettling of M. R. James’s supernatural tales. This is a study in the uncanny, and the sense of isolation and unease that permeates this simple story is unparalleled. Both Michael Hordern and John Hurt in the role of the haunted man give magnificently understated performances and this is rightly a classic. There are five further tales from M.R. James adapted in the 1970s – The Stalls of Barchester, A Warning to the Curious, Lost Hearts, The Treasure of Abbot Thomas and The Ash Tree. My favourite is Lost Hearts, a vampiric tale which is properly disturbing, although the baby-faced spiders from The Ash Tree give it a run for its money. There’s also an adaption of Dickens’s The Signalman, which is far more of a conventional tale but the figure haunting poor Denholm Elliott is very, very creepy.

Two more 1970s stories, Stigma and The Ice House, have modern settings so strike a different note. Stigma is possibly the story that has stayed with me the most – a family are moving some standing stones in order to create a new garden, but the wife suddenly starts bleeding with no apparent wound. This was a wonderfully atmospheric and dark story, all the more so for being in the light of normal modern-day life. The slightly ambiguous ending with the daughter freaked me out! The Ice House is the weirdest tale in the collection; an intriguing story, but the dialogue and delivery was very stylised, which struck a wrong note with me – I’m undecided about this one.

The stories of M.R. James were resurrected in 2005 and 2006 with A View from a Hill and Number 13 respectively. The former is a brilliant idea and the ending is chilling; Number 13 is a traditional tale but very effective.

If you like ghost stories, this is a must-have collection. There are also lots of extras to enjoy with Christopher Lee and Robert Powell re-telling the tales. Now if only I could write like M.R. James….

 

House of Small Shadows by Adam Nevill

12 Thursday Dec 2013

Posted by Anniseed in Book Review

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Dolls, Horror, Paranormal, Supernatural

Two things that completely freak me out – dolls and taxidermy! Yuk! And this book has both, in abundance!

I saw a review of this in the Metro and so decided to give it a try – I hadn’t heard of Adam Nevill before, and comparisons to Stephen King of course got my attention. And I was really pleased that I enjoyed this story so much; I read it in one sitting, staying up till way past my bedtime!

The story follows Catherine, an antiques expert who has mysteriously disgraced herself and been forced to flee the limelight, and has found a mediocre post working for a small town valuer. The opportunity to redeem herself comes when an eccentric old lady, Edith Mason, hires the firm to value her uncle’s collection of taxidermy. M.H. Mason was a legend in his field, and the collection is priceless – not only that, it’s been hidden away for decades. The catch is that Catherine, who is in a highly fragile mental state following a relationship breakdown, will have to live at the Red House, Edith’s home, in order to value and catalogue the collection. And the Red House is too close to the area where she grew up – a childhood she doesn’t want to think about, scarred as it is by the mysterious disappearance of her best friend Alice when they were young. The Red House is dark, claustrophobic, and full of nightmarish tableaux of war in animal form; Edith is clearly unhinged; and there are strange noises at night, like children playing…. This is not a recipe for sanity. As Catherine delves deeper into the truth behind the collection, her past returns to haunt her, and her grip on reality starts to slide…

This is really compelling read which creates a very claustrophobic, creepy world. The reasons why Catherine doesn’t simply pack her bags and leave – as I was screaming at her to do – are worked out logically and as events flow through to their conclusion, the result is a startling and satisfying finale. Catherine is a believable heroine and the horror is contained as psychological right until the end, when the true nature of the evil that stalks the Red House is revealed with shocking brutality. I felt that this was a very original and powerful horror story with many memorable moments. I’ll definitely be seeking out more by Adam Nevill, and I think he’s one to watch. ****

Pan, 2013, ISBN 9780330544245

Let The Old Dreams Die by John Ajvide Lindqvist

09 Monday Dec 2013

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Horror, Monsters, Short stories, Supernatural, Vampires, Zombies

As the nights close in, I’m inevitably drawn to the darker side of nature again…

Let the Old Dreams Die is a collection of short stories by the author of Let the Right One In, and here Lindqvist shows himself to be master of the form. From trolls to vampires, he weaves terrifying tales of horror. The title story picks up the pieces from his celebrated vampire novel, and The Final Processing follows the events after his unusual zombie novel Handling the Undead; both of which are very satisfying if you’re a fan of his books, but they stand alone perfectly well. But he also explores new territory – in Border, a customs officer stops a mysterious traveller only to discover that she herself is not quite human. Village on the Hill includes some startling imagery which will make you nervous of tower blocks and toilets, and the secret of defying death extracts a terrible price in Eternal / Love. But my favourite is the short Paper Walls, which captures perfectly the imagination and terror of childhood.

Lindqvist is definitely my favourite horror writer; his prose is beautiful, which makes the gruesomeness of his tales more shocking, but never gratuitous. He has the ability to make his worlds absolutely real, so the most bizarre events feel plausible, and even his most depraved characters inspire sympathy in the reader. His is real literary horror, and the comparisons with Stephen King which litter covers and reviews don’t do him justice – he’s a far more skillful writer, and there is a sense of something much deeper in his characters and worlds. Thoughtful, intelligent horror indeed, and thoroughly recommended. *****

Quercus, 2013, ISBN 9780857385512

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