October Book Review: The Woman in Black: A Ghost Story
Quick Facts:
Title: The Woman in Black: A Ghost Story
Author: Susan Hill
Genre: Fiction/Horror/Paranormal
Age Group: Adult
Length: 138 pages
From the back of the book: What real reader does not yearn, somewhere in the recesses of his or her heart, for a really literate, first-class thriller: one that chills the body with foreboding of dark deeds to come, but warms the soul with perceptions and language at once astute and vivid? In other words, a ghost story by Jane Austen.
Austen we cannot, alas, give you, but Susan Hill's remarkable Woman In Black comes as close as the late twentieth century is likely to provide. Set on the obligatory English moor, on an isolated causeway, the story's hero is Arthur Kipps, an up-and-coming young solicitor who has come north to attend the funeral and settle the estate of Mrs. Alice Drablow of Eel Marsh House. The routine formalities he anticipates give way to a tumble of events and secrets more sinister and terrifying than any nightmare: the rocking chair in the nursery of the deserted Eel Marsh House, the eerie sound of pony and trap, a child's scream in the fog, and, most dreadfully, and for Kipps most tragically, the woman in black.
The Woman In Black is both a brilliant exercise in atmosphere and controlled horror and a delicious spine-tingler-proof positive that that neglected genre, the ghost story, isn't dead after all.
After being completely disappointed in Susan Hill's The Small Hand, I was turned on to The Woman in Black by several reviews of similarly disappointed readers. Being a ghost story, I felt it perfect for this month's book review. What's better in October than a good old-fashioned ghost story? How about one that ends up giving you nightmares? Yes, I totally did. Awesome.
The Woman in Black is not your gore and blood horror story--no--it's a slow creeping in your subconscious, just by the corner of your eye, noises in the night ghost story. There's nothing excessively in your face about the paranormal aspects of this book, nothing so hokey, it's all from a distance or just far enough to be heard but not always seen. The ghost is more subdued and calculating--and in my opinion, more scary for it.
Susan Hill has a way with setting a perfect atmosphere that is spooky yet never cheesy. Its realism, the fact that it could be any rural town, innocently so, and the isolation of Eel Marsh House and the weather surrounding it creates a setting that is already unnerving without the paranormal aspect. If readers appreciate anything from this story, they will appreciate the skill Hill uses to place us on that moor, or in that house surrounded by mist, cold, and body-less screams.
Most refreshing for me to read was the main character's determination. It wasn't a determination that blinded him--he wasn't denying what was happening around him, he was seeing and believing, recognizing it for what it was--but he rationalized that, having not been hurt thus far, he would finish his work believing that the ghost would not harm him. He saw it as a mental and emotional battle to wage, rather than one where he felt in physical danger. Tuck your head in, get the job done, and get the hell out. I was so glad he wasn't a superstitious nut-job who turned heel once he experienced something paranormal. Sadly for him, his efforts aren't properly warned against until its far too late.
The Woman in Black was an enjoyable book to read at night (as ghost stories SHOULD be read!) and I would have enjoyed to read it closer to Halloween, but hindsight, etc! I would recommend this book to anyone, and more-so now considering this book is being made into a movie starring Daniel Radcliffe and set for release into theaters sometime in 2012. If you can appreciate this brand of horror and the superb atmosphere, then I urge you to pick up The Woman in Black before Halloween passes us by!
Title: The Woman in Black: A Ghost Story
Author: Susan Hill
Genre: Fiction/Horror/Paranormal
Age Group: Adult
Length: 138 pages
From the back of the book: What real reader does not yearn, somewhere in the recesses of his or her heart, for a really literate, first-class thriller: one that chills the body with foreboding of dark deeds to come, but warms the soul with perceptions and language at once astute and vivid? In other words, a ghost story by Jane Austen.
Austen we cannot, alas, give you, but Susan Hill's remarkable Woman In Black comes as close as the late twentieth century is likely to provide. Set on the obligatory English moor, on an isolated causeway, the story's hero is Arthur Kipps, an up-and-coming young solicitor who has come north to attend the funeral and settle the estate of Mrs. Alice Drablow of Eel Marsh House. The routine formalities he anticipates give way to a tumble of events and secrets more sinister and terrifying than any nightmare: the rocking chair in the nursery of the deserted Eel Marsh House, the eerie sound of pony and trap, a child's scream in the fog, and, most dreadfully, and for Kipps most tragically, the woman in black.
The Woman In Black is both a brilliant exercise in atmosphere and controlled horror and a delicious spine-tingler-proof positive that that neglected genre, the ghost story, isn't dead after all.
After being completely disappointed in Susan Hill's The Small Hand, I was turned on to The Woman in Black by several reviews of similarly disappointed readers. Being a ghost story, I felt it perfect for this month's book review. What's better in October than a good old-fashioned ghost story? How about one that ends up giving you nightmares? Yes, I totally did. Awesome.
The Woman in Black is not your gore and blood horror story--no--it's a slow creeping in your subconscious, just by the corner of your eye, noises in the night ghost story. There's nothing excessively in your face about the paranormal aspects of this book, nothing so hokey, it's all from a distance or just far enough to be heard but not always seen. The ghost is more subdued and calculating--and in my opinion, more scary for it.
Susan Hill has a way with setting a perfect atmosphere that is spooky yet never cheesy. Its realism, the fact that it could be any rural town, innocently so, and the isolation of Eel Marsh House and the weather surrounding it creates a setting that is already unnerving without the paranormal aspect. If readers appreciate anything from this story, they will appreciate the skill Hill uses to place us on that moor, or in that house surrounded by mist, cold, and body-less screams.
Most refreshing for me to read was the main character's determination. It wasn't a determination that blinded him--he wasn't denying what was happening around him, he was seeing and believing, recognizing it for what it was--but he rationalized that, having not been hurt thus far, he would finish his work believing that the ghost would not harm him. He saw it as a mental and emotional battle to wage, rather than one where he felt in physical danger. Tuck your head in, get the job done, and get the hell out. I was so glad he wasn't a superstitious nut-job who turned heel once he experienced something paranormal. Sadly for him, his efforts aren't properly warned against until its far too late.
The Woman in Black was an enjoyable book to read at night (as ghost stories SHOULD be read!) and I would have enjoyed to read it closer to Halloween, but hindsight, etc! I would recommend this book to anyone, and more-so now considering this book is being made into a movie starring Daniel Radcliffe and set for release into theaters sometime in 2012. If you can appreciate this brand of horror and the superb atmosphere, then I urge you to pick up The Woman in Black before Halloween passes us by!