Haunted (David Ash)

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On the flip side, it was fun revisiting this novel even if I no longer think it's the greatest haunted house story ever told. He relentlessly draws the reader through the story's ultimate revelation - one that will stay to chill the mind long after the book has been laid aside.

The above quote could well serve as an epigraph for this novel; for the author has very clearly set up a conflict here between two opposite views of the world. In 1928 England, English professor David Ash has spent most of his life working in the field of parapsychology to disprove the existence of ghosts. As he fought to free his arm of syrupy fronds he saw, sinking towards him through those eddying clouds, a silhouette, a shape whose arms were outstretched, as if crucified, whose flimsy robe billowed and swayed with the currents, whose black hair spread outwards in Gorgonian tresses. This book was so much better than an average haunted house fare, it was dark, well written, atmospheric and really kept the reader guessing as to what was going on.He’s learned a hard lesson to respect that seeing is believing and just because things can’t be easily explained doesn’t mean they don’t exist. However I couldn't help but wonder if it weren't for Steven Pacey Narrating would I'd be enjoying this story? Not only do these give us some extra backstory and character information but they also serve as self-contained short horror stories that both give the reader a much-needed “break” from the slow-building suspense, whilst also subtly adding to it at the same time by appearing during dramatic moments that make the reader eager to get back to the main plot to see what happens next. Add one over-enthusiastic GCSE English student to a generous helping of equally over-enthusiastic grammar teacher and arrive at a grade 2 result. I really enjoyed this story, which was easy to read and had just the right balance of horror, mystery and intrigue.

The Wolseley’s bodywork and wheels appeared to be in immaculate condition and its engine was running smoothly with only a mild escape of exhaust fumes from the rear.But, although I remembered some fragments of the ending and the fact that it was very different to the other James Herbert novels I’d read, I couldn’t remember a huge amount about it. Its two heads weaved to and fro and a stickiness drooled from its mouth as it remembered the taste of human flesh . I am really looking forward to the rest of the series because David Ash had some insane character growth and I can’t wait to read what he does next. Those books were best sellers because many readers (including me) were too horrified to put them down.

There he meets the Mariell family - two brothers, Robert and Simon, their younger sister, Christina, and their aunt, Nanny Tess. While listening, I thought two things, it must have been written in the 70's and that it was written for a movie.

Our complacency is shaken; we thought the universe was a tidy, locked room, but there seems to be a scratching outside the door. As a professor at Oxford, he receives a series of urgent entreaties from a Miss Webb, who claims she is being tormented by ghosts, to come and help her. Back when I initially read Haunted (which was probably in the 90s), for some reason I thought it was one of the best haunted house stories I'd ever read; now rereading it, I think that it had its moments, it was fun, but in the end, it's really only the ending that saved this story from being just another ho-hum haunted house story.

It's also set in the late 1980s (when it was first published), so the reader has to make certain concessions for that too. The film did not stick particularly firmly to the course of Herbert's original tale, but is nevertheless a reasonably enjoyable film. These are the questions that confront investigator David Ash in James Herbert's The Ghosts of Sleath, when Ash is sent to the picturesque village of Sleath in the Chiltern Hills to look into mysterious reports of mass hauntings. Dal passato oscuro e misterioso, David, si trova ora a risolvere situazioni che alla maggior parte della gente farebbe rizzare i capelli. At its heart, it is a novel about people who are haunted by traumatic memories and feelings of guilt.It was a model he hadn’t seen in many a year, and only then in magazine features on popular old cars.