Ghosts Of Sleath - Hardcover

Herbert,James

3.9

4,563 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0002242869 ISBN 13: 9780002242868

Publisher: Harper Collins, 1994

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Investigating a series of strange and ghostly occurrences in the otherwise peaceful town of Sleath, psychic detective David Ash is forced to confront the demons of his own past, which threaten to drive him to the brink of insanity. By the author of The Magic Cottage.

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Review:

Veteran horror writer James Herbert brings back the protagonist of Haunted to investigate psychic disturbances in a picturesque village in the Lake District of England. It's an interesting mishmash of a novel--not entirely successful, but enjoyable all the same. Herbert's penchant for gorgeously visceral carnage unfortunately clashes with his equally skilled ability to create a subtle mood of supernatural terror. And he throws way too many ingredients into the stew: family secrets, rape, infanticide, necrophilia, the "Black Arts," a moldering mansion, a sinister yellow fog, drowning children, poltergeist pranks, a haunted painting, a tormented vicar, a neglectful doctor, even an evil knight. Yet, as Necrofile: The Review of Horror Fiction reports, "None of these flaws are fatal. These days, making a classic ghost story work at all--let alone on the scale of The Ghosts of Sleath--requires a daunting level of craft, control, and consistency.... Many of the novel's supernatural elements ... evoke the requisite chills."

About the Author:

James Herbert is one of the most influential and widely imitated authors of our time. His previous novels are `The Rats', `The Fog', `The Survivor', `Fluke', `The Spear', `Lair', `The Dark', `The Jonah', `Shrine', `Moon', `Domain', `The Magic Cottage', `Sepulchre', `Haunted', `Creed', `Portent' and `The Ghosts of Sleath'.

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