I love nothing more than a good scare, but usually in the form of a gory slasher film/tense supernatural thriller at the cinema. When it comes to scary books I'm a relative novice, though there have been one or two that have stuck in my mind as pretty chilling reads - The Turn of the Screw and Frankenstein in particular I remember being freaked out by!
Anyway, on the high recommendation of a friend, tonight I bought this spine-tingling yarn from the constantly efficient and reliable Amazon:
The Woman in Black is seemingly a popular choice on the curriculum at GCSE and Standard Grade level, but I'd never even heard of it before. Turns out it's now being made into a film with Daniel Radcliffe of Harry Potter (and Dazed) fame.
Not convinced by the creepy cover? Here's a little extract:
"In the greyness of the fading light, it had the sheen and pallor not of flesh so much as of bone itself. Earlier, when I had looked at her, although admittedly it had been scarcely more than a swift glance each time, I had not noticed any particular expression on her ravaged face, but then I had, after all, been entirely taken with the look of extreme illness. Now, however, as I stared at her, stared until my eyes ached in the sockets, stared in surprise and bewilderment at her presence, now I saw that her face did wear an expression. It was one of what I can only describe - and the words seem hopelessly inadequate to express what I saw - as a desperate, yearning malevolence; it was as though she were searching for something she wanted, needed - must have, more than life itself, and which had been taken from her. And, towards whoever had taken it she directed the purest evil and hatred and loathing, with all the force that was available to her."
EEEEK! I'm excited already. I'll be getting the gas fire on and snuggling up with my cat to read this one. Anyone read it before? Thoughts?
1 comment:
nice post. interesting reading. cannot beat a bit of seasonal reading! get the cosey blanket at the ready! xx
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