I’m aware that my description here doesn’t sound scary at all, but imagine how creepy that event could be in a well made horror film. That was until I read about the protagonist of Sweetheart, Sweetheart sitting alone in a haunted house and suddenly hearing laughter. I didn’t think that books could have the same effect. Books generally rely on atmosphere for their scares while movies can terrify their audiences with a well timed noise. I remember a few months ago, I was thinking about the limitations of different forms of media. I think this might be my favourite book by Taylor. Valancourt Books – 2015 (First published 1977) If anyone else has read The Godsend and has thoughts on whether or not something spooky was going on, I’d love to hear from you. At one point the narrator seems to be on the verge of performing at act that no sane person could ever perform. Also, the story is narrated by one of the characters living through these awful events, so it’s very likely that his trauma would be influencing his account. The plot events seem far too weird and severe to be coincidental, but there’s never any explanation offered. Is the narrator insane, or is there something genuinely supernatural going on? This is a trickier one to decide than most though. Without ruining the plot, I can say that this is one of those books where the reader is left uncertain about what’s really happening with the events of the story.

You’ll realise this as you’re reading it too, but the writing is so smooth that you’ll stick around for the descent. I don’t want to say much more about the plot because once the story gets going, there’s only one possible outcome. It’s bleak and upsetting.Ī couple end up with a baby they weren’t planning for and very bad things start happening. This one wasn’t quite as nasty as The Voice of the Clown, but it was just as humourless. I read The Voice of the Clown and Childgrave earlier this year, and after reading The Godsend, I’m ready to avoid this kind of book for a while. I’m fine reading about torture and gore and all that stuff, but I find it very difficult to read about children suffering. This is one of those creepy kids books that were so popular 40 years ago. The Godsend is a well written book, and I had no desire to put it down once I started it, but I’m not sure that I can say I enjoyed it. Here’s one on Bernard Taylor’s early books: I’ve done a few author overview posts recently.

The Reaping by Bernard Taylor