Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7135 in Books
• Published on: 2007-05-04
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

Synopsis
Three nights of terror at the house called Edbrook - three nights in which David Ash, there to investigate a haunting, will be victim of horrifying and maleficent games. These are the three nights in which he will face the blood-chilling enigma of his own past - the three nights before Edbrook's dreadful secret will be revealed...And the true nightmare will begin! Remember with fear. "Disturbing atmosphere and constant unpleasant shocks." - "Daily Mail".

Customer Reviews

Ploddy Plotting
Until now I had not read James Herbert before. Its unlikely that I will read him again. The characters are unconvincing and the style slow and uninteresting. As to the plot I lost the thread due to lack of interest.

Am I missing something..?
I do not quite understand how this book has been getting such good reviews!? I have enjoyed Herbert's writing in the past but this effort is sub-par at best. There was little empathy with the main character, or the seemingly 'after-thought' secondary characters.

The plot was transparent and the twists were so obvious you would have had a harder time working out the killer from an episode of Columbo! There were only two moments in the book that I actually felt any of the author's previous chilling storytelling abilities; the book does not live up to the title.

A HIGHLY ATMOSPHERIC GHOST STORY...
This is a spooky, well-written haunted house novel, a gothic ghost story that is a wonderfully atmospheric. The author is Britain's premier writer of horror stories. Having read many of his other books and been thoroughly satisfied, this one is no exception. Those with an interest in haunted house stories will find this one most entertaining and enjoyable.

David Ash, a man with a skeleton in his closet, is a professional investigator of psychic phenomena with a penchant for debunking so-called supernatural occurrences. After receiving an intriguing and pleading letter from a Mrs. Webb about ghostly apparitions at Edbrook, the rural manor home in which she resides, David goes to Edbrook, only to be met by the Mariell clan, consisting of Christina, and her brothers, Robert and Simon. It turns out that Mrs. Webb, in addition to being their aunt, is also their old nanny, whom they all still call Nanny Tess. She is clearly terrified of something that is going on in at Edbrook, and the Mariells all seem to be humoring her.

The Mariell siblings, at first, appear to be somewhat eccentric, but later seem to be more than just a little twisted, as it soon becomes apparent that all is not right in that household. There definitely are things that go bump in the night, and the ghostly apparition of a young girl seems to glide about the house and grounds. Moreover, Nanny Tess always appears to be in a state of acute, though restrained, terror.

As a romance heats up between David and Christina, however, David appears to turn a blind eye to what is going on in the household. Too late, he realizes the nature of the evil within this isolated, rural manor house. In the end, it takes the force of something beyond the grave to save him from an almost unimaginable horror.

Those who enjoy this book will also enjoy the wonderful film of the same name adapted from this book. It is an excellent adaptation with a stellar cast. It stars Aidan Quin as David Ash, Kate Beckinsale as Christina Mariell, Anthony Andrews as Robert Mariell, Alex Lowe as Simon Mariell, and Ann Massey as Nanny Tess. This wonderful haunted house story transitions beautifully to film. It is as spooky as the book.