The Haunting of Hill House, book review. (Shirley Jackson)

Another reread and another 'Glad I did' moment when I finished.
On first acquaintance I felt this book rather lacklustre - I cut my teeth on James Herbert and progressed to Susan Hill remember - but something niggled.

I saw reviews on Goodreads championing the book, Bookstagramers on Instagram rating it highly and then, a Netflix series, which got me thinking: what had I missed?
So, as 2021 is the year of the reread, I added it to my list.
The story begins with a Dr Montague having written to numerous individuals across the country who either think they have, or have actually witnessed 'something special', for assistance in an experiment he wishes to conduct, and so he invites them to Hill House, which he has agreed to lease for the summer in order to gain as much evidence as he can that paranormal activity exists - Hill House is widely regarded as one of the most haunted houses ever.

One of the terms of said lease is that Luke Sanderson, the heir to the house, is present, so when Eleanor (who has recently lost the mother she cared for, for most of her life) and Theodora (who is rather bohemian), arrive, being the only two who responded to the doctor, most of the cast is assembled.
The story builds slowly but not too slowly, introducing the characters gradually - and they're all different enough to have a depth and personality of their own and develop little by little throughout the narrative, revealing, right up to the very last pages their strengths and weaknesses. Later, Dr Montague's rather overpowering wife and her side kick, Arthur Parker arrive at the house and add an element of flair to proceedings. Add to that, Mrs Dudley - who doesn't stay at Hill House after dark and sets breakfast at 9, lunch at 1 and dinner at 6, but flitters almost ghostlike in and out of rooms, the house and the narrative, and an element of intrigue is created and one can't help but speculate as to what is real and what is not.

Much of the tension in the book is implied and, rightly or wrongly, I decided that the rattling of doors and thumping of walls was all in Eleanor's head, or she somehow manifested them, as others only seemed to witness it when they were with her, which got me thinking: maybe she was the conduit for the spirits, the reason there was something to witness at all, and had she not been there, whether the others would have spent a rather serene but (from a paranormal activity perspective), rather disappointing summer in an old remote house?

With the book ending the way it did (no spoilers as usual), with Eleanor being ostracised, forced to leave, separated from the others and Hill House - or was she? - I felt I might have got to the crux of this novel, but of course, many of you may disagree or, like me when I first read it, not have analysed it so deeply.

All the same, three and a half stars for this slightly creepy haunted house novel and a better experience than my first read.

Enjoy, and happy Hallowe'en.

Don't forget to search my blog for your favourite authors and books and if I haven't read them, message me with your recommendations.

Susan Hill. (Author focus).

Something new for the blog today: a focus on one of my favourite authors, Susan Hill.

It was after reading, Air & Angels and it subsequently becoming my book of the year 2017, (blog post 01/01/18), that I started thinking about what else this author had written; what other books in her extensive back catalogue I had read, and so, I thought maybe I'd start a new series of posts that focus on the author, not just individual books.

Since the delicate and poetic prose of, Air & Angels, I have read the very atmospheric, The Mist in the Mirror, which makes the hairs on your neck tingle and sends shivers down your spine, (even on a warm autumnal afternoon), and I've just finished, I'm the King of the Castle, a tale of childhood drama, set in the quiet gentile English countryside, where still, the author is able to get your heart racing with just a walk in the woods!

I'm the King of the Castle, did feel a bit dated, it was written in 1970 after all, whereas, Strange Meeting, which is set in France during WWI, gives a poignant reminder to the physical and mental suffering of soldiers at the time, and should be added to anyone's, TBR (to be read) list.

One of Susan Hill's boldest ventures was to write the follow up to one of literature's most famous books, Rebecca, with the sequel, Mrs de Winter, which is also rather good, but without doubt, her most famous book is the amazingly brilliant, Woman in Black, and if I had to recommend just one of the few books of hers that I have read, it would be this one.

Written in the early 80's, that's 1980's by the way, The Woman in Black, is a spooky, creepy, violent, scary, Gothic ghost story of epic proportions, which is not to say it is long, for it is not, but it is a book that stays with you, and since I first read it (thank brother) many years ago, I can't help but see its influence in almost every other ghost story I read.

Set in Victorian England, in a weather drenched Eel Marsh house, you feel the draft through the sashes, the creak of the house as it settles of an eve, and the cold finger of death reaching from the pages when she appears.

Just writing this makes me want to freak myself out again and reread it; brrrrrrh!

So, to conclude, buy a Susan Hill book, the Woman in Black if you like a good scare, but if not, Air & Angels for its poetic prose, Strange Meeting for its thought provoking subject, The Mist in the Mirror, if you like a chiller, but with so many others yet to read, I'm sure that whatever Susan Hill book you choose, you’ll go back for more.

Enjoy.

Heart-Shaped Box, book review. (Joe Hill)

It's been a while since I read a true horror book, and now I've gone and read two in quick succession.

If the word horror scares you, or you've never read the genre before, don't worry, because unlike the bloodbaths of old, the slasher books of the 70's and 80's, (which made this author's father rather famous), the horror books of today are more subtle; this book being a good case in point.

Set in the US of A, we have an ageing rock star, Judas Coyne, (stage name), his Gothic girlfriend, Georgia, a ghost, and the sister of Coyne's dead girlfriend, who's out for revenge.

Coyne, is not only a rock star, but a collector, a collector of the strange, the weird, the eclectic, so when a ghost is offered for sale on an auction website, he just has to purchase it. When an old suit arrives a few days later, and Jude sees the ghost that he purchased, casually sitting in a chair in his hallway, things begin to fall apart.

You'd think the fact that the ghost was real would be enough, but when the ghost speaks to him, tries to control him, Coyne starts to investigate, and soon finds out that the man in life, was his dead girlfriend's step-father, and then, the journey really begins.

Coyne and Georgia hit the road. They're going in search of the dead girlfriend's sister, (the woman who sold him the ghost), and there's Ouija boards, guns, cars crashes, cut-throat razors, dogs, the constant presence of the spectre and more, and it's all rather good.

There are parts of this book that are genuinely spooky, it has a creepiness that I felt wasn't overdone, and a ghost that felt genuinely scary. There's the mad, full on, all guns blazing, inter-spliced with the cold, dead of night, hairs-on-the-back-of-your-head spooky, and it all balances out rather nicely.

What I didn't like was the fact that all the female characters seemed to have been molested as children, and that Coyne's ex-wife hadn't dispose of his illegal video when she'd found it - and when I say illegal, I mean chuck you in gaol and throw away the key illegal, which surely any rational person would have done.

So, taking all of the above into consideration, Heart-Shaped Box has its ups and its downs but gets a solid three stars; which isn't bad for a debut novel.

The Winter Ghosts by Kate Mosse. A fantastic, moody and thoroughly entertaining read.

Labyrinth.

Worldwide best seller, the first of the trilogy that takes the reader from the twelfth century right through to the modern day, a TV mini-series and a tough act to follow, right? 

Well don't worry, because Kate Mosse has written another blinder. 

Set in the same southern French region as Labyrinth (I was lucky enough to holiday in Perpignan for a couple of years recently) The Winter Ghosts, charts the journey of a lost-sole as he meanders through life, looking for closure on his brother’s death in the Great War. 

Ten years have passed since he heard the news that his brother was gone and all is not well. We get flashbacks of our main character's mental state over those intervening years, and the book draws on the atmosphere of that sorrow and regret, expertly. I would read this book in my car at lunchtime, or in bed at night and feel the cold fear emanating from the pages, excellent work from Mosse. 

I won't put any spoilers in as I want to encourage you all to read this most excellent book and it's only short, so it won't take you long, but so worth it. 

I have Kate Mosse's Sepulchre and Citadel to dive into now, so I'll do just that and report back in due course with the results.

Inspiration for the day goes to all those who still fight for the freedom of speech and the freedom of religion. (If you know or read Kate Mosse's work then you will know the connection, if you don't then grab one of her books and read, read, read. You won't be disappointed.)