TOUCHED
By Joanna Briscoe. Hammer. 244pp. $27.99
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Joanna Briscoe's Touched is the latest in Hammer’s successful horror novella series. In the hot summer of 1963, Douglas and Rowena Crale and their five children move from London to an idyllic English village. Knocking together two cottages means moving out Douglas’s mother, but the cottages doesn't seem to want to be renovated. Walls are difficult to knock down and others ooze strange smells. The Crale children begin to act mysteriously, one taking to wearing her departed grandmother's clothes, and then two daughters disappear. Rowena’s life becomes a virtual waking nightmare. Briscoe mixes, to great effect, the traditional claustrophobic ghost story with contemporary fears of child abuse.
THE THREE
By Sarah Lotz. Hodder. 472pp. $29.99.
The plotline of The Three by South African novelist Sarah Lotz has sadly become even more horrific after the two Malaysian airline disasters. On Thursday, January 12, 2012, four jets mysteriously crash around the world. The only survivors are four children, one of whom dies shortly afterwards, but not before recording a cryptic message, “oh Lordy there's so many ... They're coming for me now. We're all going soon.” Religious fundamentalists predict an impending apocalypse, while others see alien intervention. The story is followed via the pages of a subsequent book, Black Thursday, From Crash to Conspiracy. Lotz expertly mixes The Three’s diverse characters and plot threads into a haunting narrative.
A BRIEF GUIDE TO STEPHEN KING
By Paul Simpson. Robinson. 290pp. $14.99.
A Brief Guide to Stephen King is indeed that in a pocket size paperback. Nonetheless, Simpson provides a useful guide, in 19 chapters, to Stephen King’s writing and his life, from his troubled childhood to his current success. King said in 2013: “I don't care what you call me as long as the cheques don't bounce and the family gets fed.” It's been a long time since King's early poverty was relieved by the success of his first published book Carrie, whose fortieth anniversary is in 2014. Libraries, and those who want a well priced primer about King and his work, will find Simpson's book well serves that purpose.
