Each of these twelve intertwined stories set in New England and eastern Canada across three centuries has a companion story that contains a revelation about its counterpart. Many are set in bad weather; all focus on interpersonal relationships and emotions, and build tension and expectation. Sometimes the outcome is predictable; in others, a different direction or unexplained outcome ensues. One of the pleasures of the collection is recognising a person or artefact that has appeared elsewhere. This is an impressive first collection, full of the randomness of life: chance events, failures, disappointments and missed opportunities, conveying a distinct sense of time and place and leaving a lasting impression.
Now a major movie starring Paul Mescal and Josh O'Connor
'Triumphant' The Times
'Stellar' Daily Mail
'Exceptionally accomplished' The Scotsman
'Sublime' Observer
'Exquisite' Sunday Post
In twelve luminous stories set across three centuries, The History of Sound examines the unexpected ways the past returns to us and how love and loss are entwined and transformed over generations. In Ben Shattuck's ingenious collection, each story has a companion story, which contains a revelation about the previous, paired story. Mysteries and murders are revealed, history is refracted, and deep emotional connections are woven through characters and families.
A prime example of Weird Fiction, where uncanny events occur as if occurring naturally. The main characters are three friends from university and a nameless narrator, who are subjected to strange experiences but do not necessarily question them. They live in substandard accommodation, just above the poverty line. The weather is constantly poor. To endure the monotony of their aimless lives, Pam and Lucas debate an imagined history of Europe, allegedly documented by the fictitious Michel Ashman, who travels through pre-war Europe searching for a lost kingdom, which acts as a bridge to the Pleroma, a spiritual realm representing the fullness of God's creation. We meet Yaxley at Pam and Lucas’s wedding. Yaxley is a comical rogue who organises a ritual intended to connect with the Pleroma, which will affect the characters for the rest of their lives. Although not explicitly described, elements of the ritual hint at black magic and illegal activity. Pam is tormented by nebulous ghost-like creatures outside her window. The reader is unsure whether they exist or are a result of hallucinations brought on by her illness. The tone is downbeat until the final fifteen pages, when, during a snowstorm, flakes turn to roses and a green goddess appears. The narrator attempts to rationalise these events in a short epilogue. I was struck by the fluency and originality of the writing, which reminded me of the films of David Lynch.
John M. Harrison delivers an extraordinary, genre-bending novel that weaves together mythology, sexuality, and the troubled past and present of Eastern Europe. It begins on a hot May night, when three Cambridge students carry out a ritualistic act that changes their lives. Years later, none of the participants can remember what exactly transpired; but their clouded memories can't rid them of an overwhelming sense of dread. Pam Stuyvesant is an epileptic haunted by strange sensual visions. Her husband Lucas believes that a dwarfish creature is stalking him. Self-styled Sorcerer Yaxley becomes obsessed with a terrifyingly transcendent reality. The seemingly least…
Thirteen stories set in and around a remote village on the Lancashire/Yorkshire border. Each describes an episode in the community’s history, progressing chronologically from ancient times to 2041. The tales are mostly dark, with hints of the unexplained or supernatural. A childless couple is given the opportunity to ‘grow’ a strange child from a greenhouse plant. A visitor to a psychiatric care home falls foul of an implied instruction not to eat the fruit they help to harvest from the orchard. An auctioneer sent to value paintings at a country house unearths a terrifying secret. The excitement of a villager who urges the population to witness a celestial event, which, when it arrives, reveals an unexpected surprise. Although set in a small geographical area, the collection describes universal problems, from deceit to greed to climate change. The author excels at making the extraordinary appear normal.
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'Barrowbeck casts a real spell - or is it a curse?' Mail on Sunday
'Thrilling, unsettling, ominous . . . like a knock at the door on a dark evening' Irish Times
'Impeccable and beautifully drawn . . . Hurley has been rightly lauded in British folk-horror circles' Big Issue
For centuries, the inhabitants of Barrowbeck, a remote valley on the Yorkshire-Lancashire border, have lived uneasily with forces beyond their reckoning. They raise their families, work the land, and do their best to welcome those who come seeking respite.…
In 1662, a man is wrongly executed for signing the death warrant of Charles I. While awaiting execution, he asks to speak with a priest, to whom he declares a curse on the village that betrayed him. The priest responds with a counter-curse, leaving just one option to nullify it.Centuries later, Faith and James move to the country to start a new life and a family. They learn that their village lives under the curse uttered by the hanged man. Could their arrival be connected?Faith and James fear that their choice of a new home is no coincidence. Unexplained events hint at threats or warnings to leave, including the slaughter of their hens, an attic break-in and other menacing incidents. They become convinced the village continues to live under the curse despite denials from their new friends.Who can they trust, and who are potential enemies?
