Book info

• Title The Secret of Crickley Hall
• Author James Herbert
• Year 2006
• Genre Horror

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. Perhaps here 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. It's perfect for them, if 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...

Thoughts

I’ve tried to read this a couple of times, and I remember watching the TV show and liking that so thinking the book should capture me as well. For whatever reason it didn’t grab me before but I wasn’t ready to let it go… and I guess that’s worked out, as I got through the whole thing this time, hooray! It’s a good ghost story, well reasoned with only hints of the supernatural. The underlying story is horrifying, obviously, and very disquieting, but overall a good tense read.

Rating: 3 / 5