Thursday, April 7, 2016

Ghostly Suspense...

When his mother dies, young Michael Vyner does not want to go live at Hawton Mere with Sir Stephen Clarendon or his sister, Charlotte. But Sir Stephen is now his legal guardian, and Michael has nowhere else to go. But Michael soon finds out that Hawton Mere is not exactly a warm and welcoming home.
"As soon as I walked through the door I sensed it:  a strange energy that filled the air and shone like a black light from every shadow. There was a whispering that rose and fell in volume--though I felt it rather than heard it. All my senses told me there was danger--deadly danger--and yet I saw nothing untoward, save for a grim and unwelcoming hallway."
The servants at Hawton Mere are kind, but Sir Stephen is ill and possibly mad, and while Charlotte tries to be friendly, it's clear to Michael that she is uncomfortable around children. And then strange things start to happen. Michael hears banging in an empty hall, sees a reflection of something moving in an old mirror when nothing is there, and glimpses a ghostly figure with a sad, pale face in the snowy courtyard below his bedroom window.
"What kind of place was this where the dead roamed among the living?"

The Dead of Winter by Chris Priestly is the kind of ghost story I like best: quiet, haunting, and suspenseful. I guessed part of the mystery surrounding Sir Stephen, but not all of it. And Priestly is a good writer. His young narrator, Michael, is engaging and likeable. And the ending didn't disappoint like ghost stories sometimes do. I ended up really liking this book.

Happy Reading!

18 comments:

  1. oh, no! Another one for the (endless) list!

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  2. This does sound good, Lark! I like these types of ghost stories best too. I will definitely have to look for this one.

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    1. This is one of the better ghost stories that I've read lately. I hope you get a chance to read it. :)

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  3. A story with good suspense is, in my mind, much scarier than one with blood and gore etc. This sounds like a good one!

    Kind regards,

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    1. I agree with you about suspense being scarier than just blood and gore. And if you like ghost stories, this is a good one.

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  4. I've read some of Chris Priestly's books but not this one. It sounds great, so I'll definitely be looking out for a copy.

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    1. I'd like to read some of his other books; he's a good writer. I hope you find a copy of this one. :)

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  5. You are braver than me! I would be sleeping with the lights on for a week if I read this one. :)

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    1. Ha. I like a little scary in my books. Not TOO much, but a little. And this book was suspenseful and scary, but not nightmare-inducingly so. :)

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  6. Sounds good! Onto the wishlist it goes!

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    1. The ever-growing wishlist! :) I've got one of those, too.

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  7. You're totally right. Most ghost stories, be it movie or book, have horribly disappointing endings. The fact that this one doesn't is a huge draw. Now I'm intrigued.

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    1. It was definitely a nice surprise. I don't know why so many other ghostly reads can't get it right. :)

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  8. Holy crap Lark! I want to read it just because of the cover! And it is suspenful! Good find ;)

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  9. Isn't the cover great? It's one of the reasons I checked it out. And it's ghostly suspense at its best. :)

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  10. Adding this one to my list of books to be on the lookout for. I like a good ghost story, and this looks like something I'd really enjoy.

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