The Haunted by Bentley Little

Julian and Claire Perry, along with their two children, James and Megan move to a bigger house in their City’s historical district. It should be a good change, a fresh start, a chance for Claire to set up her own law firm, and for their son to get away from the rough neighbourhood. But what should be a new chapter in this family’s life slowly turns into a horrific nightmare with an evil that slowly rises from their basement and consumes their whole world.

The ‘haunted house’ idea has been a tried and tested one in a lot of horror fiction, so I was interested in what Little would bring. The horror begins early on, the family quickly realises that something isn’t quite right in their new home, Little slowly drip feeds us rather than hitting us with it straight away which I found kept me enthralled. We get a different viewpoint from each member of the family, each of them experiencing their own personal torment. The often sexual nature of this evil sometimes makes uncomfortable reading, but then, perhaps that’s what horror fiction should do and emphasises the influence this evil has on anyone who enters the house.

Julian is the hero of the piece, at first denying the evidence he is faced with and then demonstrating every father’s need to protect his family. There is a helpful bit of back story – tied into a case that lawyer Claire is working on and is a clever way of explaining why this house is cursed.

There is a satisfactory conclusion to the novel, and as always, a sacrifice must be made. I definitely will be reading some more of Little; I wonder what other horrors he has in store for me?