Product Description

A mysterious depiction of masked revellers at the Venice carnival hangs in the college rooms of OliverÂ’s old professor in Cambridge. On this cold winterÂ’s night, its eerie secret is revealed by the ageing don. The dark art of the Venetian scene, instead of imitating life, has the power to entrap it. To stare into the painting is to play dangerously with the unseen demons it hides, and become the victim of its macabre beautyÂ…

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #37143 in Books
• Published on: 2008-10-09
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 160 pages

Review
"'A tale brimming with excitement, mystery and vitality...The story unfolds at a thriller's pace.' The Times 'Hill is a writer with the courage of her convictions who knows that there are few things more enjoyable than the inexplicable and eerie, conveyed within an accomplished and solidly reassuring framework.' Independent 'Like all the classic ghost stories, Susan Hill's begins in traditional spooky style with the winter wind howling off the fens and bursts of hailstones rattling against the windows...This is a Hill Hallowe'en special. No mistake' Daily Mail"

From the Back Cover
‘Hill craftily builds up a sense of doom and dread’ Val Hennessy, Daily Mail When the former student of an old Cambridge don visits him in his college rooms, the long-held mystery of an ancient Venetian painting is exposed. Sat around the fire, drinking whisky, huddling from the chill of the winter night, the don reveals the picture’s hidden secrets – its malevolent power, inescapable force, and the consequences for those who become entrapped … Susan Hill’s enthralling tale crackles with atmosphere. Icy cold, darkly thrilling and pervaded by a sense of ever-increasing tension, Hill keeps the tale balanced on a knife-edge. A master of the genre, she will have you in her hold until the final page. ‘As a reader you are doomed to be caught up in the nightmare. Because you, too, have looked behind the curtain’ Daily Express.

About the Author
Susan Hill has been a prolific writer since 1963. She was a presenter of BBC Radio 4's Bookshelf. She has won the Somerset Maugham Award (for I'm the King of the Castle); the Whitbread Novel Award and the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize. Her sequel to Rebecca, Mrs de Winter, was a big bestseller and her short story The Woman in Black was adapted to the stage and has been running in the West End for 18 years. She is the author of a highly successful crime series published by Chatto & Windus. Bloomsbury will be publishing her latest children's story in 2008.

Customer Reviews

No Chill - No thrill
I read this after listening to a review on Radio 5. The reviewers indicated the novella was heart-stoppingly chilling and a good old fashioned ghost story. I love a good ghost story; so much more chilling than the gore of today that occupies the horror genre.

The book is well written and would benefit from being read on a misty winter or autumn evening in front of a roaring fire, with the house to yourself, the phone turned off and the gurantee of no disturbances.
I read it in an hour, so it kept my attention, always a good sign.

It loses stars for me as it had zero chill factor; never once did I look over my shoulder; never once has it kept me awake, not once have I thought about the content of the novella since.

It should pull on everyones fears... the eyes in certain pictures that appear to follow you round the room, but it failed for me to connect. I came away from this thinking that Hill could write better, so today I have started reading the Women in Black to see if that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

Worth a read, but really not spine tingling.

I've been more scared getting lost in lakeside
I was very disappointed with this book, it started off really well but just seemed to evaporate into nothing, the story was ok but nothing was really explained and it wasn't scary either! the story wasn't in anyway spine tingling, infact it feel flat on it's face, very disappointing and even more so for the fact that it's a very thin paperback (I read it in a day) and it cost me £6.99 !!! not worth it at all !!!

What an anti climax!
I am a huge Susan Hill fan and this little book started off so well.
A dark wind swept night,the cosy College rooms,a story about a dark ,mysterious painting.
However ,I feel that Hill just ran out of steam ,with no cohesion of plot, characters, and the ending for this supposed ghost story petered out into a total anti climax,sooo disappointing.

Dont waste your money on this slim volume that didnt deliver,get it from your library instead.