The novella's 1960s analogue setting is an excellent backdrop to what promises to be a chilling and creepy tale from the Hammer stable (expectation = intelligent horror with film noir nuance).
The drama begins with the Crale family, with their five children, relocating to the village of Crowsely Beck from London. A displaced family in a new and isolated countryside community, very promising. What ghastly secrets could possibly lay beyond the village green in this quintessential English setting?
A few chapters in the biggest scare is how difficult this story is to get in to. Characters are flimsy and under-developed and the story goes nowhere despite having all the ingredients of a good old fashioned haunted house page turner.
The star of the show is the cottage itself; the stench of cat urine, the curious damp stains on the wallpaper, the aroma of an old lady's perfume and the brick wall that just won't budge during the renovation work.
Although there are hints of suspense, the ethereal daughter Evangeline in Victorian dress who disappears for days on end with her imaginary co-conspirator Freddie, the story struggles to come together and realise the tension and fear that a real ghost story needs to deliver. If you're looking for chills and scare from this Hammer release you'll be sorely disappointed.
Much has been written recently about the back breaking weight of some of the novels on the market (have editors lost the ability to cull??) so the chance to pick up a slender novella like this is a luxury.
Read this book during an extra long lie in on a Sunday morning but don't be surprised if its just not Hammer enough for you - you will undoubtedly miss the spine chilling moments you expected.
Read, in part, at Foodhall in The Barbican
Discovered on Net Galley (Thank you!)
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