The Dark - James Herbert > Reviews (4)

This is another classic from Herbert, its similar in some ways to The Fog, i.e, the majority of people go mad with only a few people not succumbing who are left to save the world from evil.

The story, as always, sees a main male character by the name of Chris Bishop who is a cynical ghost hunter (much in the mode of David Ash of the Haunted/Ghosts of Sleath) sent to investigate the strange goings on in a quiet suburban house.

As usual with Herbert there is plenty of suspense thrown in with lots of twists and turns to the plot. There are several excellent scenes which really grip you and have you frantically turning the pages over to get to the next line, the one I really enjoyed was the football crowd chapter. Having experienced first hand being part of such crowds (albeit with not so violent results) at football grounds I could really associate with the atmosphere that Herbert captures so authentically. In fact I enjoyed that bit so much I actually went back and read the whole chapter again.

Anyway, the story progresses with further mayhem being caused by some mysterious force that seems to lurk in the dark and turns ordinary people into homicidal maniacs who murder and rape for no apparent reason, they usually then end up ending their own lives in some horrific way.

In a strange way you can almost sense that Herbert enjoyed writing this book as it seems to flow from page to page and you get the impression that he really threw himself into it. I know it kept me in its grasp from start to finish …… a finish incidentally which has a totally unexpected twist but which I am not even going to give you a clue about because it will spoil it.

In summary another excellent offering that you will not be able to put down and which you will end up reading over and over again.