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The Viy by Nikolai Gogol
My rating: 5 of 5 stars As soon as he found himself alone, he began to feel in the grip of his fears. He again saw the dark pictures of the saints in their gilt frames, and the black coffin, which stood menacing and silent in the middle of the church. - Nikolai Gogol "The Viy" is a short horror story which possesses a singularly rare quality to stay in the reader's mind forevermore. This is the first story that I have read by Nikolai Gogol, but it will most certainly not be my last. The story recounts the brief adventure of three travellers, all university students that wander from one town to the next in the blaring heat of the summer's sun in search of food and lodging. When they encounter a small town in the dead of night, the three university students part their separate ways and accept their lodging by a strange old lady that allows them to spend the night at her house. Thomas, the main character, is forcibly separated from his friends Khalava (the theologian) and Tiberius Gorobetz (the philosopher), and is taken into a corner of a barn where he is expected to sleep with the animals. Exhausted by his tireless wandering throughout the day, he is nearly asleep when he is startled by the presence of the same old lady. Her appearance is very much the same, but there is something distrusting about her eyes and the way them gleam at him under the faint reflection of the moonlight. Immediately he distrusts her presence, but it is too late- he has fallen into the hands of a witch and not even Thomas can stop the fateful ties that has strung their two souls together. Will Thomas ever be able to break the unholy bond between them? For even in death the witch haunts him still! And can Thomas' desperate prayers of exorcism stop her scheming spells, or is the witch's powers to great for even Thomas to break free from them? View all my reviews
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The Call of Cthulhu by H.P. Lovecraft
My rating: 3 of 5 stars Those Old Ones were gone now, inside the earth and under the sea; but their dead bodies had told their secrets in dreams to the first men, who formed a cult which had never died. - H.P. Lovecraft This is the second book I have read that has been penned by Lovecraft. "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" blew my imagination away, but the "The Call of Cthulhu" felt more like a short prequel to a thrilling adventure that awaits Lovecraft fans. The story's narrator, Francis Wayland Thurston, begins the story by recollecting the belongings and highly detailed notes of his great Uncle Professor Angell. His investigation bears a strange resemblance to the curious antiquarian, Charles Dexter Ward, and similarly both characters unearth findings from their ancestors to uncover dark secrets that go beyond the realm of time and matter itself. The secret is so horrifying, it convinces Francis that has does not have much longer to live. The discovery should have never been found, nor discovered by any sane living mortal on earth, and so the reader is warned of a dark, powerful force that threatens our humanity itself. The opening paragraph is tantalizing brilliant! It is no wonder so many readers have included it in the opening of their book reviews. There is nothing like an ill foreboding, a chilling presage of the things to come... "The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far." View all my reviews
Uncle Silas by J. Sheridan Le Fanu
My rating: 5 of 5 stars "Perhaps other souls than humans are sometimes born into this world, and clothed in human flesh." - J. Sheridan Le Fanu What a hypnotic book?! Such a page turner! The entire novel gave me countless nights of horror and suspense. The story begins with an odd personality, Mr. Ruthyn of Knowl, and his young daughter and heiress, Maud. They live a secluded life in the countryside, shut up from all society. This form of life makes Maud ignorant of the world, especially the true evils that lurk outside of it. A change in her father's personality puts her into a state of alarm, for he is capricious and reticent; he speaks of going on a long journey and the fear of abandoning his young daughter. Quite suddenly, he passes away, leaving poor Maud alone in the world and compelled to fulfill her father's dying wish that she should go and live with her Uncle Silas. For Maud, her Uncle has always been draped in a wave of mystery and scandal. She half-hardheartedly sets out for Betram-Haugh, the Ruthyrn's ancestral home, but the evil foreboding of the land and its owner is enough to bring the heiress into a paroxysm of hysterics and sheer terror. From the very first page, I knew that I would enjoy this read. The author's words flow effortlessly and he has a certain knack of bringing in subtle references to classical pieces of Gothic literature into his story. The main character Maud has a wild imagination, and the author most certainly took advantage of that fact. There were times when I began to question her own sanity, but in my heart I know there was something deeply sinister about Uncle Silas. All of the main characters were explicitly written, so believable I almost believe that I could encounter them on the street. The roguish governess, Madame de la Rougierre, is without a doubt a memorable character, almost larger than life as she torments poor Maud with her cynicism and cruelty. I half believed she was a witch, especially by the author's vivid description of her "great long nose and hallow low cheeks of hers." For me, she was almost as villainous as Uncle Silas, but of course, no one can be more manipulatively or cunning as Silas. Half way through the novel, I considered this plot to be the means of a brilliant play. I was quite satisfied when I searched up the book to see that it was once made into a movie in the mid-twentieth century. It is unlikely that I shall watch the film, but it does instill my belief that the larger than life characters are meant for the big screen. I highly enjoyed the novel from beginning to end. The final plot-twist took me by surprise- I never expected such crafty wickedness even from Silas. I highly recommend this book if you enjoy a bit of darkness in a novel with a steady level of suspense, horror and a puzzling mystery. "Uncle Silas" is hand's down a five star read! View all my reviews
The Ghost of Emily Grey by Renee Ross
My rating: 5 of 5 stars Spellbinding! A truly exquisite piece of Gothic literature. Renee Ross has done it again! From the very first page, the author draws you into the eerie settings of a large Gothic castle and a tortured soul that is about to plummet to her death. "The Ghost of Emily Grey" is full of mystery after mystery. Just when the reader thinks they have discovered the truth, they are thrown off the trail and have to start all over again. It felt like I was on the tip of my toes the whole time, for the suspense was like a lightening bolt - clear and piercing until dark shadows came around to hide the truth from the reader once more. The entire experience was absolutely memorizing! After the tragic death of Emily Gray, the second part of the story is set in the year of 1964; a young seventeen year old girl named Claire is anxious to leave the Sisterhood chapel and work under the supervision of Doctor Kensington's. She is hired as a nanny, and is expected to take care of a two month old baby due to the mother's inability to watch over of him. From the start, Claire is bewildered, almost awe-struck by the gigantic mansion that she is forced to call her home. There is a dark foreboding about the place, an eerie feeling that makes her uncomfortable especially when she learns of the gruesome suicide of Emily Grey. Fearful that the house is haunted and that the ghost of Emily is blood-thirsty and wants to take poor baby Daniel as her own, it is up to Claire to find out the truth and save the family before it is too late. If you think you know how this story is going to end, you are wrong. There are so many twists and turns, it is makes you realize how much of a brilliant writer Renee Ross truly is. I highly recommend this book to anyone that is a fan of "The Turn of the Screw" or any other famous pieces of Gothic literature with a hint of the macabre and murder. I look forward to reading more of the author's works in the near future. Congratulations again, for another stunning piece of Gothic literature! View all my reviews |
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