THE WHISTLING by Rebecca Netley (Michael Joseph £14.99)
THE WHISTLING
by Rebecca Netley (Michael Joseph £14.99)
This Victorian ghost story is filled with sea mist and is confidently spooky.
Elspeth, who was recently appointed as a governess of the small Scottish island Skelthsea is still grieving the loss her family. Mary, her mute, is also grieving the death of her twin brother.
But personal loss does not fully explain the pall of fear and mystery that pervades Elspeth’s mouldering new home.
On the one hand, there’s the last governess’s sudden disappearance, the lies Mary’s aunt spins about the house, a terrifying housemaid and the horrid little effigies that keep cropping up.
Then there’s the mysterious bone whistle, hints of sacrifice, second sight and witchery . . . Gripping, chilling, and very, very satisfying.
BLACKED TEETH: NOTHING BUT THE BEST by Cassandra Khaw (Titan Books £9.99)
NOTHING BUT BLACKENED TEETH
by Cassandra Khaw (Titan Books £9.99)
Beware of making friends with the uber-rich. They might just offer to fly you to an historic, haunted, Japanese mansion to attend your best frenemy’s mock wedding — and you might accept.
All five characters in this beautifully crafted ghost story feel bang up to date as they negotiate the minefield of past relationships — offended and offensive by turn. The story is cleverly kept liminal about sexuality, race and friendships.
But what are these clever kids thinking when they start telling spooky tales?
Is the story of the jilted bride’s hungry ghost really true? You betcha!
Beautifully crafted and beautifully orchestrated, the plot feels like a slow toxic drip. The comeuppances are well earned.
THE HIDING PLACE Amanda Mason (Zaffre £14.99)
THE HIDING PLACE
by Amanda Mason (Zaffre £14.99)
Whitby’s Dracula connections make it a beacon for Goths.
Amanda Mason created a new mythic gothic story with a backstory steeped with local history and a plot that is teeming over with everyday anxieties.
Home for a family party, Nell decides it’s time for a proper holiday with new hubby and step-daughter Maude.
The house they rent is unwelcoming. There are marks on the beams, ghostly footsteps and drifting smells.
As poison from the past seeps into the fractures within Nell’s new family, personal histories and past horrors entwine to trap the reader in a claustrophobic, terrifying embrace.
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