Crickley Hall

[fliplip]

Hi

I'm almost finished - got about 40 pages to go and I'm hooked - I cant believe I've been waiting 4 years for the next JH book - anyhoo - it's here now and I'm sucked in...

I must admit that it took me about 3 days after buying it to actually start reading it - why ? well , I read the first few pages and realised that it was about small children - being a mum of 2 kids under ten I was reluctant to read further.. I did and was pleased that it didnt dwell too much on the loss of Cam as that was distressing enough - I would say though that the vivid description of how the children died was too much - I read that particular chapter last night and had to keep skipping parts - I had already gathered that he had murdered them, but really didnt need the image placed in my head of how he did it..

Anyway, Loren's in the basement being pulled out of the well by Gabe - Eve is bleeding and Cally has finally woken up and is safely ? with her mum - BUT there's gonna be a flood - I can just tell !!!

[Wishbone]

I have felt for a long time now that JH is losing the plot as far as horror is concerned. If I want to read ghost stories i will read Peter Staub. Get back to the blood and guts James it suits you better. I know that this is a bit shallow but there is no scare factor in his books anymore.

[betapeta]

i have to disagree with you there. james has often written stories which dont involve blood and guts...haunted didnt, fluke or ghosts of sleath and these books are brilliant. yes he is good at guts and gore but he is also good at ghosts....in fact he is brilliant at writing paranormal stuff and david ash is one of my fav characters! and im not ashamed to admit that after reading his new book it gave me the willies a few times!!! i dont think that he is limited to only being able to write about guts and gore.....i think he is able to write ghost stories very well too..... he is better than the likes of stephan king....supposed masters in horror writing.....my a**e lol

[jennyb]

Good plot, great characters,some real scares...but overlong!

[Hel66]

Not a house I'll be looking for inthe Hoseasons brochure

The title suggested a sinister old house with a ghostly secret and the story doesn't disappoint.
At 600 pages it's well worth it's money and Herbert builds up the tension nicely so that I had to read nearly all the last three hundred pages in one sitting!

For fans of James Herbert's earlier books, this isn't in the same gory style...however I like both styles, and it shows the authors talent to be able to write a thrilling book that doesn't have to rely on the gory side of horror to be thrilling.

I liked the characters (although I did find the husband, Gabe, a bit two dimensional) and some of the 'haunting' descriptions certainly had an effect on my vivid imagination.