Reviews

Cold Harbour by Francis Brett Young

octavia_cade's review

3.0

Horror from the 1920s which initially appears to be of the haunted house type, and turns out to be something not quite that. (I hesitate to say what because of spoilers, but suffice to say something dodgy is afoot.) It's not actually that long, less than 300 pages, but it's taken me ages to get through it. And the thing is I've been enjoying it, but every time I pick it up I want to go to sleep. In fairness to Young, I don't think it's him... I just don't have the concentration for reading this week, and this is more of a cerebral horror. Which is to say very little happens - or it least it happens at a remove, because all the action is in the past and this is a group of friends, on holiday, each telling parts of the story to the others in an attempt to figure out what's actually happened. And it's nicely written, if rather patronising in places (product of the times, I suspect) but it's only mildly creepy, and it's hampered by an end that's both abrupt and honestly pretty clumsy.

Interesting more for its place in the history of the genre - I haven't reach much from this period - than it is for itself. I'll keep the old second hand copy I have, though, as I suspect I'll reread it again one day when I've got more brain space for it and am in the mood for some really low key horror.