Product Description

A cottage was found in the heart of the forest. It was charming maybe, a little run-down, but so peaceful - a magical haven for creativity and love. But the cottage had an alternative side - the bad magic. What happened there was horrendous beyond belief.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #237928 in Books
• Published on: 1999-04-23
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 394 pages

Customer Reviews

Captivating, enchanting, magical, and thought provoking.
Being a 16 year old who doesn't want to spend all of her time either surfing the net or complaing I took my Dads advice and picked up a book! The first one coming to hand, in the genre I wanted being "The Magic Cottage" by James Herbert. Never have I been so addicted to a book in my life, apart from Thomas The Tank, but that hardly broadens your vocabulary! I picked the book up, and didn't put it down until I'd finisehed, which is no exageration, instead of completing a number of important essays for my college courses I found myself captivated by mere words. The images were so vivid I'd created in my mind of that little cottage, I could see, hear, smell and touch the place, they say a pictures worth a thousand words, but the words are worth a thousand pictures in James Herberts case, he is a genious! The words take you there, you are the characters, you empethize for dear little Bumbo, and I saw myself as Midge, if any of his books are half as good as this then I think I will be spending a few nights in detention to catch up with course work I will have pushed aside to make time for my imagination to create pictures to the words that Mr Herbert has produced. This book is so much better than any film, because we all can create our own images, and not have one that the producer has chosen! All thats left to say is read it, read it and see the creativity of one man, and let your mind illustrate the words.

SUPERB! What more needs to be said?
This was one of the most surprisingly rivetting books I had read for a while. Being a King fan, I found it difficult to cross over and shied away from Herbert (much to my loss I now find). The story would appear to start off very "twee" with the perfect cottage in the perfect setting and the friendliest wildlife you'll ever meet. But it goes on to draw you in with a dark cult insinuating itself between a couple and the more sceptical guy slowly coming to accept the inexplicable, and his fight to win back the happiness they found when they first arrived. I couldn't put the book down and went on to devour the rest of Herbert's work in a matter of weeks. Whilst it doesn't have the usual offering of blood and gore, I found this an excellent way to cross over authors. Well worth the time to read!

GHOSTIES...BEASTIES...AND THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT..
An attractive young couple is looking for an attractive little house. An attractive little house is looking for the perfect couple. When Midge and Mike find Gramarye, a darling, quaint little cottage in the English countryside, it is as if a spell had been cast upon them. They purchase this little cottage in the middle of nowhere, after a rather unusual negotiation.

Warm and cozy, with an inviting air, Granmarye is everything of which they ever dreamed, and they thrive in its salubrious atmosphere. The days never seemed brighter, nor the nights more romantic. The local flower and fauna around the cottage seem to blossom right before their very eyes. The small animals in the woods seem especially friendly, as do its birds, and they all seem to want to pay a call at the cottage. It is as if the house had a positive psychic energy of its own. It is as if it were a fairytale come true.

Midge and Mike discover that Granmarye's former owner, an elderly woman, had a reputation as a healer. They also discover that a local cult lives not far from them and that its members are reviled by the nearby townspeople. They meet a few of these so called cult members, and they do seem a tad peculiar. They also appear to be quite nervous when visiting Midge and Mike. The cult's leader, however, seems to want to visit very badly. Midge does not mind, but Mike has certain reservations, as there is something about that cult that just does not sit right with him.

Slowly, a shift in the atmosphere in the cottage takes place. As the tension in the book increases, strange and creepy things begin to occur in the cottage. A change in its psychic energy is beginning to take place, replete with a mysterious figure in the woods. Slowly but surely, Midge's and Mike's paradise on earth starts to become a living hell. Spooky, mysterious, and, alternately, charming and chilling, this is one of author's best books.