A Tiny Bit Disturbing! (The Secret of Crickley Hall - James Herbert)

Member Name: katygriff

Product:	The Secret of Crickley Hall - James Herbert
Date:	08/11/06 (175 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great Read.

Disadvantages: None.

I am a huge fan of James Herbert and have read every single one of his books. He is the greatest horror writer in my opinion and there is only one of his books which I don’t like. When I heard he was bringing out a new book and that it was going to be a good old fashioned haunted house story, to say I was excited would be an understatement. I bought it the day it came out and then I had actually read it within a week which considering it was a huge, thick hardback I did pretty well. I thought the book was excellent and one of his best and this is why.

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What is the Book About?

The Caleigh family have suffered a terrible tragedy and they have come down to Devon to rent Crickley Hall for a while so that they can forget about what has happened and enjoy life a little. When they arrive at Crickley Hall it is a big imposing house and on first impressions everybody hates it. Their dog Chester immediately cowers and does not want to enter the house and when he does he cannot stop shaking and crying.

As the days pass they start to notice strange things happening which forces the wife Eve to begin to believe the house is haunted. Her husband Gabe on the other hand tries to come up with reasonable explanations for everything but soon even he finds trouble. So what are the strange loud noises coming from the upstairs cupboard, where are the puddles that loiter in the hall come from and why is the cellar door always unlocked in the morning although Gabe has locked it at night?

What follows is some surprising revelations and experiences as the Caleigh family begin to realise what the secret of Crickley Hall is.


Verdict on the Story:

This story is excellent and like all of Herbert’s books he manages to grip the reader from the start and then keep their full attention until the very end and giving us surprises all along the way. The thing with this story is that it is a very classic haunted house idea which is why I think non-horror novel fans may still enjoy this one. The way the story plays out is very classic and it has a very different feel to his other novels, kind of more mature and more toned down with regards to the horror.

The actual story concept is fantastic and after reading the novel I think what he did with it was a great idea. He adds his own twists and turns all of the time and you are continually guessing what will happen. The horror aspect is always there in the novel but it is not as bad as some of his previous works but don’t get me wrong this book is still quite scary and some of the things that happen are not very nice at all. All in all though it is a great story which will keep you entertained and if you are already a Herbert fan then this is classic Herbert story so you should love it.

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Characters:

Gabe Caleigh – An American who has lived in England with his wife Eve and their two children for a number of years. After the family tragedy it is Gabe’s idea to move the family somewhere new and non-familiar so they can get over what has been a tough time for them all. He is a sceptic so will not believe Crickley Hall to be haunted but he is a 100% family man.

Eve Caleigh – Eve is the one suffering most in the aftermath of eth family tragedy and she doesn’t necessarily think it is a good idea to go to Crickley Hall. She hates the house from the start and believes it is haunted almost immediately.

Loren and Cally – These are Gabe and Eve’s daughters. The younger Cally loves Bart Simpson and is oblivious to many things that are going on at Crickley hall. Loren is more switched on though and becomes interested in the secret but with going to a new school to worry about she puts it to the back of her mind.

Cribben – The supposed bad guy in the whole story who lived in Crickley Hall back in 1963 when a flood wiped out all evidence of what was going on there and why Cribben was seen as dangerous.


Verdict on the Characters:

I think the characters are fantastic and Herbert lets you know within the book all you need to know about their personalities, their lives and their characteristics. He seriously leaves nothing unturned so you can really feel what they are feeling and understand what they are doing. Eve I think is a very complex character but you do tend to sympathise with her while you are reading.

The two young girls are expertly written and everything they do you can imagine them doing at that age. The only small complaint I have is that the character of Gabe was not exceptional to read. He seems to have wanted to put a lot in there to prove he is American but I found some things that were written were a bit clichéd and not needed which in ways got me not to like the Gabe parts of the book.

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Things to Know:

Number Of Pages – 600
Price – £8.99 from Amazon
Author – James Herbert
Publisher – Macmillan

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Verdict:

What I loved about this book was that Herbert seems to have had it all planned out perfectly giving you exactly the right information you need to know about the characters and the story. He also is a master of letting just enough information through about what is going on to keep you interested but also to make sure you can keep guessing. He is a fantastic story teller and you will see that this book is a long one but it goes by very quickly and I thought most of it was needed.

One of the best things I find out about Herbert’s novels is that when you have finished you will keep thinking about the story and what you have just read. These thoughts stay with me for a good long while as the stories and characters are always that strong you feel really involved with the book.

His descriptions are great in this novel and I sat there when I first bought it and thought that is one huge book and I bet it is filled with such useful junk that you don’t even have to read to get the story. What I did find though was that I read every single word and every word was needed to build up the tension and atmosphere of the story which was superb. I really found myself getting into the book and at times could not stop reading even when I should have. This is the charm of Herbert though.

In conclusion I am going to give this novel a massive five out of five because I loved it so much and although it was one of his longer novels it actually felt quite short and because it is a little bit less gory and disgusting as some of the others and it is a very classic idea for a story I found it so easy and enjoyable to read. I would recommend this to all James Herbert fans and to those wanting to read a decent horror novel which is fun and full of surprises.

Thanks for reading.

xxx

Summary: Great Classic Haunted House Story.