The Estate of Edward Moorehouse gets a review?
This is a thoroughly modern story with Facebook ™ and SIM cards, but ancient evil has adapted to the new technology.
The full review of Respectable Horror, by SKJAM, is here:- http://www.skjam.com/2017/10/29/book-review-respectable-horror/
Hiya Ian! Here’s my tuppence on The Estate Of Edward Moorehouse.
My first thoughts were that there is a certain cachet in being the opening story in a collection – they never put a clunker in the opening slot, it’s always one they think is a strong taster, in the same way that a comedian always starts his set with his second best joke, saving the best one till the closer. So well done there.
*** Below There Be Spoilers !!! ***
I thoroughly enjoyed your story, and I’m sure you’ll get comparisons with MR James, and deservedly so : I also thought there was some HH Munro in there, the inevitability of WW Jacobs’ Monkey’s Paw, and I also saw some Ramsey Campbell in there – the way you mention something crucial in passing (the book might have been worth something had I not burned it) so you go “hang on! What was that again?” and you skip back a bit and rediscover it. I hasten to add that your style isn’t derivative of these authors, it’s like spotting tricks and riffs in a great guitarist’s solo and appreciating how formative influences are subtly blended in with a satisfying performance.
I also thought your scenic descriptions were completely sumptuous throughout – your descriptions of wildlife and vegetation, and of the countryside in which they featured, were especially evocative ; I constantly found myself with the deepest immersion in the scenes you described, and this was the icing on an already tasty cake for me.
I liked the parallels with what I know of your life – it has to be the first ghost story featuring a memory card! – and although I had worked out who the red-headed journalist had to be, I thought the inexorable path of the protagonist to the beach was natural and unforced and it just got creepier and creepier. I felt for you a bit with the ‘sex’ scenes which a modern audience will insist upon being included – did I sense a whiff of embarrassment, or was that the scholarly, puritanical characterisation of the protagonist? :o)
All in all, a fine story, sir. Good job. I don’t think catching a plane is going to let him off lightly, however : if she and the children can find him through his laptop, the minute he checks his Twitter feed in Caracas and she’ll track him down through his phone’s IP. :o)
Cheers –
Malcy