Product Description

The Caleighs have had a terrible year... They need time and space, while they await the news they dread. Gabe has brought his wife, Eve, and daughters, Loren and Cally, down to Devon, to the peaceful seaside village of Hollow Bay. He can work and Eve and the kids can have some peace and quiet and perhaps they can try, as a family, to come to terms with what’s happened to them...

Crickley Hall is an unusually large house on the outskirts of the village at the bottom of Devil's Cleave, a massive tree-lined gorge - the stuff of local legend. A river flows past the front garden. It's perfect for them... if it a bit gloomy. And Chester, their dog, seems really spooked at being away from home. And old houses do make sounds. And it's constantly cold. And even though they shut the cellar door every night, it’s always open again in morning…

The Secret of Crickley Hall is James Herbert’s finest novel to date. It explores the darker, more obtuse territories of evil and the supernatural. With brooding menace and rising tension, he masterfully and relentlessly draws the reader through to the ultimate revelation – one that will stay to chill the mind long after the book has been laid aside.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #84606 in Books
• Published on: 2006-10-06
• Released on: 2006-10-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 600 pages

Guardian
'this is a powerfully disturbing read...Two pages in, the reader
is hooked, and Herbert has done his job'

The Glasgow Evening Times
'Herbert's well-honed skill with horror writing rears its head
when he throws his characters into confrontations with the ghostly
residents'

From the Publisher
The Secret of Crickley Hall is James Herbert’s finest novel to date. It explores the darker, more obtuse territories of evil and the supernatural. With brooding menace and rising tension, he masterfully and relentlessly draws the reader through to the ultimate revelation – one that will stay to chill the mind long after the book has been laid aside.

Customer Reviews

OK, but far from his best
It's only because James Herbert is such a competent writer that he has been able to make this weary plot readable. The main question is, why pick this plot in the first place? He's an imaginative guy. "The Secret Of Crickley Hall" crumbles beside some of his other gems like "The Magic Cottage"; its characters come across as lame (particularly the father)despite their backgrounds, as they plod through a story that should be scarier, but for some reason, isn't.

The story follows the Caleigh family as they take up residence in a spooky old manor house in Devonshire which was a former home for orphan evacuees during World War II. As the family meet the locals and tell them where they are living, there are a lot of changes-of-subject and umms-and-ahhs and muttering. It isn't long before there are strange noises and bangs and tappings and all the usual haunted-house phenomena.

Frustratingly, every few pages it seems that one of the main characters thinks; "it's a bit creepy in here, maybe we should move out". Despite the hauntings becoming increasingly agressive and terrifying until even the family dog does a runner, the Dumb Family Caleigh still persist in saying things like "hmmm ... there's something not quite right here". I only wish I had their staying power.

One of Secret Of Crickley Hall's problems is its length; the story is probably drawn out longer than it needs to be. By the time I reached the end it felt as if the family had been there for months, and I got confused when characters mentioned "last night" when they were speaking of an incident that happened 300 pages ago.

There are of course a number of redeeming qualities - Herbert is after all a top notch writer, and he can conjure up images and tell a story well, even if the tightness or inginuity of plot isn't there on this occasion. The story of the evacuated orphans is a cruel and interesting one, and it does build up nicely throughout as more information about them is revealed. Despite being long-dead, their characterisation is more readily imagined than that of the Caleigh family themselves, who are a bit of a nondescript bunch really.

All in all a pretty run-of-the-mill horror, with a few interesting hooks only just making it sufficiently different from another "Amityville" or "Poltergeist" type affair.

Herbert back to form
At last Herbert is back at doing what he does best - a horror story. Nobody True and to a degree Once... didn't really hit the spot, for me, but The Secret of Crickley Hall is a marvel and really shows why James Herbert is such a respected writer. There are ghosts in Crickley Hall, there are personal - real life - horrors for the family who move into the hall too.
This is James Herbert's longest and most complete work and as the story slowly unfolds to the reader, the depth and intricate emotions of the characters really come to life in a way no other Herbert novel has ever done before.
When the secrets of Crickley Hall are finally explained there is a further chill to set the imagination rocking and that is typical of Herbert's very best fiction. My only criticism however: there should be a chapter before 6: Chester, to give more suspense to the disappearance of one of the characters; but that is only a small niggle in a very entertaining and totally gripping novel. Vintage Herbert, and that is something I haven't been able to say for some time.

Sometimes only an old fashion ghost story will do!!
This is my first James Herbert book, and I am far from disappointed, this had me hooked from the start, I found myself looking forward to the evenings to read it, if it really is not his best, I cannot wait to read more. The characters are relatable, the timing perfect, it may be simple, but most works of genius are. Another talented author, a true gem of a book, perfect for a chilling winter night.