Not been on here for a long while - got some catching up to do...!
Not been on here for a long while - got some catching up to do...!
Member since:01.09.2004
Reviews:201
Members who trust:52
James Herbert is Britain's best-selling horror author, with 21 fiction novels behind him and a plethora of non-fiction works published as well. The trouble, however, is that of late his pieces of fiction, for me, have fallen short of the mark.
Recent novels delved deep into sexuality, fantasy and faeries and differed wildly from his mainstream novels. At least one piece of recent fiction seemed to be an excuse to write a soft-porn novel, masquerading as a fairy tale. And before you think of me as a prude, far-be-it for me to belittle the adult nature of people's fantasies; it's just that when I pick up a James Herbert novel I want intrigue and shock and gore and not some pixies going at it like hammer and chisel.
So when 'The Secret of Crickley Hall' came out I was tempted to avoid it, worried that it might be more of the same, but after reading the inside flap (pun not intended) several times and on hearing some good reviews from other readers, I decided to take the plunge and pick up a copy.
I have to say I wasn't disappointed. This is almost a return to the old James Herbert, with the cover darkly intriguing, the text a brash mix of gold and silver, and the book itself
is a weighty tome of some six hundred pages.
The book follows the story of the Caleigh family when they move from their London home to a remote country house in an attempt to forget about the atrocious year they have just endured and to rebuild their relationship as a family. Crickley Hall is the chosen abode, a rather stark and foreboding looking place set in North Devon, and in case you hadn't figured out that this was going to be a chiller novel of some description, Herbert has made sure that Crickley Hall - nice by name, nasty by nature - is set in a typical horror genre location: Devil's Cleave is a deep gorge just outside Hollow Bay.
The story revolves around the family but focuses specifically on Eve Caleigh and her twelve-year-old daughter, Loren. Gabe, Eve's husband, and their youngest daughter Cally, are equally as involved in the tale but it is Eve's depression and Loren's prepubescent aura that liven up the darkness of the yarn.
The Caleighs are a depressed family, still getting over the loss of their son/brother, Cam, who was kidnapped just a year earlier, his body never found, the youngster never returned. Eve blames herself as she had fallen asleep for the briefest of moments while letting Cam play in a park, only to wake seconds later to find him gone.
It is this anguish and blame combined with Loren's hormonal body that waken the spirits within the house, for Crickley Hall has a dark past of its own. During the Second World War it was the home to eleven orphans who had been evacuated from London in to the care of Augustus Cribben and his sister, Magda. This couple, devoutly religious and strict disciplinarians, along with a teacher they employ and all eleven children, are apparently killed in the great flood of 1943, but all is not as it seems.
Herbert strings together a terrific ghost story that reveals there was more to the deaths of the orphans than a simple flood. As the book works its way through the terrible events of the previous year for the Caleigh family, they are awoken nightly by strange noises, the appearance of weird puddles even when it hasn't been raining, and unusual apparitions that appear to float their way through the house. As the spirit powers grow, thanks to the energy provided by Loren as she sleeps, the ethereal activities move from simple images and sounds to physical attacks on the house's occupants and their belongings, and the story segues neatly from the tale of the Caleigh family to the woeful tale of the dead orphans and their guardians.
To be fair, James Herbert hasn't come up with anything new in 'The Secret of Crickley Hall'. As 'Cell', released earlier in 2006, was little more than a revisit and modernisation of 'The Stand' for Stephen King, this novel is nothing more than the same for Herbert taking a fresh look at earlier novels such as 'The Magic Cottage', 'Haunted', 'Creed' and 'The Ghosts of Sleath'.
Despite this, the book is gripping, easy to read and an excellent page-turner. The tension builds steadily throughout as Gabe and Eve try to rebuild their relationship, the former desperately trying to stave off his frustrations with his wife not being prepared to move on, while their young children try to make friends in a new environment. The characters interweave themselves with the ghosts of Crickley Hall and, as the novel reaches a literally thunderous climax, Herbert does try to bring in a twist, although it falls a little weak as an addition to the book.
Surprisingly, there's absolutely no mention of sex within this book at all, which is extremely unusual in general for Herbert, though I did keep expecting it on the very next page. Perhaps, in hindsight, I'm a little disappointed - I thought that the ghost of Augustus Cribben might at least have *tried* to have his wicked way with Eve Caleigh!
It's a refreshing return to the norm for Herbert, as 'Cell' was for King, and if you're a fan of the horror genre, ghost stories or James Herbert himself, then I highly recommend this book. But if you're expecting Pixie Porn then I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed.
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"Once" was a bit much, wasn't it? I'm waiting for this in paperback, but I shall definitely give it a go after that. VB's right about "Coldheart Canyon" as well - I read that and "Once" at roughly the same time and it was awful!
NewYork2006 28.01.2007 17:24
Another great review. I bought this for a friend and I'm waiting for her to hurry up and finish it so I can read it!x
Vodkaboy 08.01.2007 18:28
Sounds good - and glad to hear Herbert is returning to his former form. I found most of his recent books a bit dull. Though for boring porn nothing beats Clive Barker's Coldheart Canyon, ghost porn at its very worst and most tedious! Cheers, VB
Jan 7th, 2007
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