ONCE IN A WOOD WITH A BUNCH OF FAERIES (Once - James Herbert)

Member Name: marandina

Product:	Once - James Herbert
Date:	17/10/04 (449 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Well written, Well paced

Disadvantages: You might not take it seriously

"Once…upon…a…death.." is a unique way to open a story but then James Herbert has a penchant for uniqueness that keeps him at the top of the British horror writing totem pole. This was the only remaining book of his that I hadn’t read, what with this particular author dominating his genre since the early 1970’s.

Thom Kindred is a 27-year-old male who has just had a stroke. A self-made man with his own furniture-making business, he is severely affected and travels back to Castle Bracken in Shropshire to recuperate. The stroke had caused him to crash his car although a mysterious golden light had fleetingly appeared in his eye line just as the crash occurred. This becomes significant later in the plot.

Castle Bracken is an ancestral home set deep in the countryside. Replete with sprawling grounds, an austere owner and a faithful but scary man servant, Castle Bracken is the archetypal English stately home that looks more at home in a ghost story. Thom is allowed the use of Little Bracken – a twee cottage that backs onto beautiful yet ominous woodlands.

During his convalescence, Thom is reacquainted with his boyhood friend – Hugo Bleeth – son of Russell Bleeth, the owner of the residence and all the accompanying lands. Thom's relationship with Hugo is that of boyhood friend and Russell Bleeth as generous benefactor during a difficult upbringing due to the death of his mother and previous disappearance of his unknown father.

The story really gets going with the introduction of Nell Quick, the alluring, yet dangerous, housekeeper who pops in on Thom to check his progress. Thom finds himself attracted and yet repelled by her presence suggesting an alternative agenda hidden amongst the flirtatious chat that soon follows their meeting.

One fine day, Thom decides to take a stroll in the woods. It’s not long before he encounters curious bright lights that hover a bit like dragonflies although with “…tiny, almost pellucid wings”. On going deeper into the woods he discovers a beautiful, sylph-like girl, masturbating in a small clearing. Thom finds that he simply has to watch although the subsequent assault by a variety of strange creatures as he runs away after being discovered makes him wonder whether it was a good idea after all.

Having returned to the cottage, Thom soon finds himself asleep, exhausted from the events in the woods. However, the sexual dream he has soon turns into a nightmare as he finds an ugly creature called a Succubus trying to steal his semen via oral sex (the woman writhing with him in his dream turns out to be the creature in reality). Fortunately, Thom is aided by a small, wee man called Rigwit who is a kind of elf-cum-pixie who helps our hero get rid of the nasty creature. Thom is left to reflect on how a seemingly normal existence has spiralled into a world of fantasy straight out of a Victorian picture book.

By now you may get an idea where this plot is going. The threads may make you wonder what Nell Quick’s agenda is; what will be the impact of Russell Bleeth’s death and who and what are all of these sprite like faery creatures?

Once is an interesting departure for Herbert into a land of faeries and elves. You could be forgiven for thinking that the great British doyen of Horror Land had been reading Tolkien or maybe JM Barrie, such is the sprinkling of macabre pixie dust that comes with this particular territory. I suspect that Conan Doyle would have been an influence during the writing of this story too. OK, this book does work. The reason it works is because of Herbert's natural ability to build a story and gauge the pace so that it quickens as you press on through the chapters. For me, this kept the pages turning even though it isn't one of his stronger books.

Probably the book’s greatest strength is the author’s immaculate pen pictures of his main characters. Thom Kindred is the kind of under-played hero that we would all like to be (although the carpenter parallels with Jesus towards the end are plain barmy) whilst Nell and Hugo are pantomime villains with enough shaded grey to make the reader uncertain as to whether dislike them or pity them for their relative inadequacies. I particularly liked the Nell Quick character as her foibles as an attractive kind of metaphorical historical figure with a basket of oranges fit for a king contrasted with her darker Wiccan motives that provide the catalyst for the story. Typically descriptive, Herbert describes Nell Quick “…Long black hair fell in wild tangles to her shoulders and her eyes, set wide above her wide cheekbones, matched its darkness. Hollowed cheeks led to a firm but gently pointed jaw and her nose, while still feminine, was strong, the nostrils flared slightly.” It’s the power to paint a picture in the readers mind that enables the author to move his characters around and create a 3-D image that’s as powerful as anything on screen.

As always, Herbert’s almost rhythmic style is easy to read. Chapters are short and punchy with his tried and tested cliff-hanger finish to each one designed to keep the reader interested. On this occasion, the magnitude of the cliff-hangers is less than usual although this didn’t diminish the way the story accelerates as it goes along.

On the debit side, the plot is well worn. A mesh of duplicitous villains, intercepted wills and evil witches has been done before and probably better than this. Just to compound the potential flaws in this effort, there are several lengthy passages that centre on sexual encounters including one lesbian exchange that lasts for several pages. Nothing wrong with that, per se, although some will baulk at such graphic depiction whilst the ensuing violence following one exchange is cringe inducing even for Herbert. Moreover, the amount of sexual content overall is far more than I’ve been used to in any of Herbert’s previous books. To be fair, it’s hardly gratuitous and reasonably well described for a writer not renowned for erotic content.

Herbert does manage a big finish as you would expect although there isn’t really a significant twist as such. The threads are brought together neatly with some crossing over of sub-plots which explain more about Thom’s parents and his true relationship with those established family members at Castle Bracken.

I did wonder whether I would enjoy this one. Having read the first few chapters, the notion of faeries and elves seemed lame but James Herbert’s overriding ability to weave a tale and his flowing style recovered things enough to present an enjoyable read. This won’t be for everyone especially with so much sexual content but it’s unusual enough to warrant a few hours of most people’s time and, of course, it completes my set.

Thanks for reading

Marandina

Notes: 470pp ISBN 0-330/37613-6

Book originally retailed at £6.99, published by Pan Books. I should imagine you can pick up a copy for next to nothing via Amazon or even try your library for a copy.

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