Lee Allen's Blog - Posts Tagged "occult"

To the Devil a Daughter (Molly Fountain, #1) by Dennis Wheatley

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


A gripping occult thriller from the master of the black magic thriller.

Despite writing over sixty novels, many of them bestsellers, Dennis Wheatley is perhaps best known for his black magic novels, of which he wrote eleven (as well as a non-fiction book on the Occult). Perhaps the most famous of these was his first novel on the subject, 'The Devil Rides Out', a classic of the genre. Both 'The Devil Rides Out' and 'To the Devil a Daughter' were made into movies by Hammer Studios, the latter only loosely based on Wheatley's novel.

The novel begins in the South of France, where we meet Molly Fountain, a thriller writer awaiting a visit from her son. She becomes intrigued by the mysterious behaviour of her new neighbour, a young woman who spends her days staring out to sea, apparently doing nothing. Upon seeing her returning home in the middle of the night, Molly soon decides to introduce herself to the young woman, who introduces herself as Christina.

Christina soon breaks down and tells Molly the disturbing story of how her father has hidden her at the villa under an assumed name, seemingly to keep her safe from enemies she didn't know she had. Determined to help, Molly tells her son John the story on his arrival and they both endeavour to keep her safe. But they encounter many strange occurrences - as night falls, Christina's behaviour radically changes, leading Molly to draw the conclusion she is possessed by a demonic force.

Enlisting the help of Molly's old secret service colleague and friend Colonel Verney, John and Molly become Christina's protectors, coming up against a villainous Marquis and his son the Count leading a gang of criminals determined to kidnap Christina and smuggle her back to the UK; and the nefarious Canon Copely-Syle, Christina's godfather and, it is revealed, a Satanist with a diabolical scheme that will conclude on the evening of Christina's twenty-first birthday.

The action takes place between France and the UK as the group battle with criminals and Satanic forces to keep Christina safe until the danger has passed. With insights into the rituals and schemes of the Occult, Wheatley crafts a tale of diabolical tension that is both a gripping thriller and disturbing horror story. The final scenes in the Canon's crypt and the Cave of Bats are superbly realised, evoking strong images of the dark forces and those that dabble in them.

'To the Devil a Daughter' is a classic and a masterpiece of the horror and thriller genres and, particularly when you consider how shocking its subject matter and imagery would have been at the time of publication, proves why Wheatley's occult works have become the most famous of his legacy.



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The Forbidden by F.R. Tallis

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


An engrossing tale of psychological horror and demonic possession by Frank Tallis, writing as F.R. Tallis.

‘The Forbidden’ begins as Dr Paul Clement travels to Saint-Sebastien, an island in the French Antilles, with dreams of making advances in medicine that will help a great number of people. There he witnesses a ritual that will change the course of his life and he is cursed that, if ever he is to speak of it, he will go to Hell. He returns to Paris, taking up a position at the Salpetriere, where he becomes fascinated by the accounts of patients’ near-death experiences.

As he is drawn to undertake his own experiments, Clement chooses to make the journey himself – a terrifying experience during which he travels beneath the earth and witnesses some of the torturous horrors of Hell. But is his encounter with demons a fulfilment of the curse or simply the conjurings of his dying brain?

Abandoning his experiments, Clement attempts to return to normality, going about his work and embarking on an affair with a colleague’s wife. But he begins to notice that some things have changed. He fears madness, but is soon confronted with a greater fear – that when he returned from Hell, something monstrous and powerful returned to the world and his body with him.

Reminiscent of 19th century Gothic horror masterpieces - like Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’ - and the occult works of Dennis Wheatley, ‘The Forbidden’ is enthrallingly told. Even in his most flawed moments, Clement is an endearing character. With him, we dream of the great future before him, experience the terror of the unknown and his harrowing near-death experience, his struggles as he befalls the evil entity and succumbs to desire and temptation, and finally the battles to save his soul and the souls of others.

From his background as a clinical psychologist, Tallis threads authentic psychological detail throughout his fiction, making for a fascinating character-driven novel; also drawing on historical fact to create a vivid sense of France in the 1870s and 80s.

This was the first of Tallis’ horror novels, followed by ‘The Sleep Room’, ‘The Voices’ and his most recent, ‘The Passenger’, while he has also written a series of crime novels set at the turn of the 20th century featuring psychoanalyst Dr Max Liebermann, which have been adapted for television and will broadcast soon on BBC2 in the UK under the title ‘Vienna Blood’.

With psychological depth and supernatural mystery, ‘The Forbidden’ is a suspenseful study of the diabolical and the resilience of the human spirit.



The Sleep Room by F.R. Tallis

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A nightmarish psychological horror that clutches hold of you and doesn’t let go until the final page.



The Voices by F.R. Tallis

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


A beautifully chilling ghost story that I couldn't wait to get back to reading every time I was forced to put it down.



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Troubled Blood by Robert Galbraith

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Strike and Robin take on an investigation into a cold case – the 1974 disappearance of a doctor, believed to be the victim of a serial killer.

While visiting his dying aunt in Cornwall, Strike is approached by Anna, who asks him to consider investigating the disappearance of her mother, Margot Bamborough, four decades before. Strike knows the possibility of success is unlikely to impossible after such a length of time and without the resources available to the police, who were themselves unable to solve the crime. Nevertheless, his interest is piqued. Robin, now Strike’s partner in the detective agency and currently navigating her divorce, travels to Falmouth to meet with Anna and her wife, Kim, alongside Strike. They agree to work on the case for twelve months.

There were several lines of inquiry followed by police during their investigation into Margot’s disappearance, chief among them and the widely regarded opinion that she fell victim to serial killer the Essex Butcher – but there was not sufficient evidence to charge Dennis Creed, now incarcerated in Broadmoor, with Margot’s murder. Already juggling multiple cases, the agency begins its own investigation, reviewing the shaky police investigation, which had been led by two detectives before it went cold. The first detective, Talbot, had been suffering a breakdown, becoming ever more obsessed with tracking down the Essex Butcher and believing he could solve Margot’s disappearance by occult means.

Across the next year, Strike and Robin track down the original witnesses, chase down old leads and uncover new revelations, whilst juggling the agency’s caseload and their personal challenges, not least of all the complications of their own relationship. The spectre of the Occult is never far behind them in this labyrinthine mystery of long shadows, buried lies and twisted secrets.

‘Troubled Blood’, the fifth novel in the series, is instantly engrossing, the narrative propelled by the entwining plots and sub-plots. Keeping a story so tautly plotted throughout over nine-hundred pages is a feat in itself, each scene and character described in exquisite detail, the images and the emotions expertly conjured. Galbraith’s ‘Strike’ series is pitched perfectly between classic and modern, of such high quality that the result reads like a cocktail of the masters of the genre – a blend of Agatha Christie and Lynda La Plante, with a dash of Stephen King, while the voice of the storyteller is always, unmistakably, J.K. Rowling.

I loved the previous four books in the series and this is my favourite so far. Strike and Robin are such endearing characters – both full of compassion and moral integrity, striving to uncover the truth through skilled investigation and enquiring intellect – in some ways so similar and in others vastly different. These two characters and their relationship are the driving force behind the series as much as the individual investigations within each novel. We may have all experienced a relationship like theirs at some point in our lives; so enriching, yet so complicated.

The solution to the mystery is sublime, the twist hidden in plain sight and so brilliantly orchestrated; a deeply satisfying conclusion to an epic novel packed with suspense, investigative research, multiple cases, emotion and heartbreak, laughter, and the lingering shadows of evil.

‘Troubled Blood’ is a thrilling and absorbing mystery from the pen of a master storyteller. I very much hope we get to see this one adapted for TV like the previous four, and cannot wait to devour book six – this is crime fiction at its absolute finest.



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The Meadows by London Clarke

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A gothic supernatural chiller to haunt your waking moments.

Scarlett DeHaven plans to start life afresh, focusing on her songwriting and new business venture, leaving her history of addiction behind. Moving to a remote town, she purchases a property with plans to open a bed and breakfast. But Asphodel House has a disturbing history, one that haunts it from every nook and cranny.

The strange atmosphere of the house rapidly unsettles Scarlett and she begins to feel, hear and see anomalies she fears may not be real, while the prospect of them being real is more terrifying still. With its history of brutal murders, reports of paranormal activity, and its use by a cult purporting to be vampires, in the present day the Meadows poses a threat to Scarlett’s sanity.

As she descends back into addiction she hoped to escape, Scarlett desperately searches for answers, finding help from demonologist Hunter Massabrook, who has his own history with the house. But as forces of darkness coagulate around Asphodel House, it becomes clear that whatever malign scheme has played out within its walls has not yet come to its conclusion and no one who has been touched by its shadow is safe.

London Clarke’s first volume of the ‘Legacy of Darkness’ is a gripping, thrilling delight for fans of gothic horror – with its setting of a lonely, secluded property haunted by malign entities that may be demonic or spirits of the dead; the mysterious cult, calling themselves the Colony, which may or may not exist, while its members may or may not be vampires; a group of outsiders, aliens in this secluded spot, meeting an array of locals, some portraying their fair share of eccentricities.

Creative, troubled and aspiring for a new start, Scarlett is a splendid central character – at times endearing and at others difficult to relate to, perfectly capturing the jarring nature of a relationship with an addict, as both an observer and from Scarlett’s own perspective. Her mistrust of her own recollections and emotions heightens the mystery and suspense that envelope every twist and turn of the plot, as it propels towards its conclusion and the secrets of the Meadows are finally unveiled.

With its host of well-drawn characters, gothic imagery and lightning-paced plotting, the novel takes inspiration from the classics to conjure a contemporary tale of unease. By the time I closed the book on the final page, I was already very excited to delve into ‘Whickering Place’, London Clarke's second volume in the ‘Legacy of Darkness’ trilogy.

Gothic and atmospheric, ‘The Meadows’ is a well-crafted and thrilling paranormal horror novel, demonstrating the allure of the supernatural remains as resolutely unshakeable as the walls of Asphodel House itself.



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"I veered between a desperate longing to taste every inch of you and a creeping, cold fear as I saw your eyes glow out of the darkness."

This month's spotlight is on short story "Prisoner", an erotic occult prison thriller.

Behind the Story

Under the working title 'Ménage à Trois', 'Prisoner' was the second of three short stories I originally planned for 'Whispers from the Dead of Night' and the fourth of the seven that I wrote.

Exploring psychological elements alongside supernatural themes, it follows a prison officer who performs a ritual to summon a succubus, subsequently developing an obsessive desire for the new prison governor.

Much like when writing 'Bitten', I was inspired by erotic thrillers while working on this story. It was also important to include a strong female character in a position of power. Despite her being the 'object' of desire, her position served the dual purpose of, firstly, not following cliches of how victims may be portrayed, and, secondly, not demonstrating the manipulators and aggressors as always being powerful men.
With demonic influence lurking in the background, throughout remains the constant question as to which of them is truly the victim in this game of power and seduction.
Including scenes of stalking and explicit sex and violence, this is one of the most graphic stories in the collection. Beneath the surface bubbles the mystery at its heart, culminating in a brutal burst of violence at the point of revelation.

As I often try to do with my stories, there are elements of danger presented by both human and otherworldly agents, with psychological undercurrents that leave you to question what is real and what may be imagined, and what may truly be lurking out there in the dark.

Ensure all your windows and doors are locked, shut out the darkness of the night, and dive into this tale of a sexual obsession, spiralling out of control...
___

A mysterious book holds the key to a world of unexplored pleasure at the hands of a goddess of the night.

From the moment I saw you, I could not get you out of my head. I must experience you, all of you. Yet you terrify me.

I know you will pursue me until the end. Unless I am able to destroy you first.

"There were no questions in your deep blue eyes, in the shadows that played over your face. You knew why I had come."

*Note to Readers: Includes descriptions of an explicit and potentially triggering nature*

Opening Scene

Monday

The book quivered in my hands, light glistening off the snake-skin cover. I stroked the lining, down the spine and around the tight binding. The black page edges were smooth as silk. I splayed my fingers over the skin, pulling open the hardcover, parting the delicate pages, which came apart with a gentle elastic pop where adhesive held them together. I pulled back the first page. There she was, nude, kneeling, legs parted, black pubic hair glistening, alluring. Hands rested on muscular thighs, shoulders back, the curve of her back meeting the bulge of her buttocks. Her breasts were heavy between her upper arms, dark nipples erect. Dark hair flowed down her back, two horns protruding from the top of her head and curling around her skull. Her eyes glowed as red as her mouth; lips parted in knowing seduction. She looked at me, captivating me with that look, with her body.

My fingers traced her face, her breasts, her thighs. I was tense, my breathing shallow. She could hurt me, damage me, but I didn’t care. I lifted the book to my face and breathed in the scent. The adhesive was intoxicating. There was another scent beneath it. Carnal. Woman.

Eagerly, I flicked through the pages, my tired eyes battling with this hunger. The small, neat print floated across my vision, my fingers caressing the hardcover edges, enjoying the friction. I could fight desire no longer, knowing the wait was almost over. I turned back to the front page, tracing the edges and curves of her body with my forefinger.

I tucked the book away in the bottom drawer of the cabinet, turning the key and then pocketing it. I crept into the bedroom, undressing and preparing for bed in the en-suite. Kayleigh was still sleeping when I crawled into bed. She woke when I entered her, letting the tension of the day flow from me.

I dreamt of her that night, a bounty of flesh, dark hair, gleaming eyes. I was the serpent and I fed on her, sweet as fruit.
___

Available as part of the original "Whispers from the Dead of Night" short story collection in ebook and paperback and the deluxe collection in ebook, paperback and hardcover.

Order "Whispers from the Dead of Night"
Order "Whispers from the Dead of Night - The Deluxe Collection"

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Whickering Place by London Clarke

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


A traumatised young woman becomes an unwitting legatee of darkness in this gripping paranormal thriller.

Whickering Place presents a new chapter in Avery's life, following unexpectedly inheriting the estate. Having suffered with agoraphobia for years following an attack that killed her boyfriend, Avery struggles to adapt to her new environment.

As she learns more about her deceased father and his home, she begins to experience strange and unsettling incidents, which may be preternatural in origin.

As the darkness surrounding Whickering Place intensifies, Avery discovers its secrets, some of which may prove impossible to escape.

'Whickering Place' is the second volume in London Clarke's 'Legacy of Darkness' trilogy, following 'The Meadows'. Both a standalone supernatural horror thriller following Avery's experiences after inheriting the eponymous property and another chapter in the history of The Colony, the vampire cult with links to murder and corruption, it immediately immerses you in its atmosphere of classic gothic horror through a modern lens, a well-crafted chiller that will keep you hooked late into the night.

Avery is a brilliant gothic heroine - vulnerable, traumatised, struggling with her mental health - her own demons and past experiences haunting her, making for a perfect storm with the supernatural activity in the house she inherits from her father. Gothic and horror fiction surrounding hauntings is at its best when it crosses into psychological horror territory and no one can quite trust what they are experiencing to be true or if their own senses are betraying them.

Along with the house, Avery inherits two tenants, brothers, both of whom she finds herself attracted to - one kind and dependable, the other mysterious and hiding dark secrets. Having been a recluse for so many years, they are the first people with whom she develops emotional connections in a long time, through which she finds herself facing her past and battling her mental health issues, now with more to lose than ever before.

We also delve deeper into the history and practices of vampire cult The Colony, their rituals of murder and sacrifice and the evil at its core, as they gather around Whickering Place and wish to claim it for their own. With flourishes of romance, a creeping, haunting atmosphere, entwined with glimpses of an investigation into a series of brutal murders, London Clarke has combined multiple elements to create an absorbing supernatural thriller, dripping in suspense.

The novel concludes with a tantalising glimpse of how the story will continue, leaving us in anticipation of 'Nocturne House', which concludes the trilogy.



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"She would always remember the first night he visited, on a cold and treacherous Christmas Eve so many years before."

With winter stealthily taking hold and the festive season on the horizon, this month's spotlight is on short story "'Twas the Night Before Christmas", a twisted gothic tale of Yuletide horror.

Behind the Story

There's just something about horror, crime and mystery at Christmas, that juxtaposition against the joy and colour of festivities, whilst set in the heart of winter in the traditional Northern Hemisphere imagery of the season. Ultimately, it's perhaps the most perfect time for a classic good vs. evil story.

For some time, I'd had a lingering idea about a Christmas story inspired by a folkloric combination of Krampus and Rumplestiltskin. When it came to plotting the short story for the collection, I knew I wanted to fully submerge into gothic atmosphere and to go back in time to the Victorian and Edwardian era.

Also taking inspiration from work of Agatha Christie, Charles Dickens and Dennis Wheatley, "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" was the second story I wrote for "Whispers from the Dead of Night". Ellie is perhaps one of my favourite characters across the collection, while the story still retains a sprinkling of the magic of its fairytale inspiration amongst its dark shadows.

Snow is falling and dusk closes in. Lock out the storm and light your flames against the darkness, and prepare for a visitation on Christmas Eve with diabolical intentions...

"Satan’s power seemed particularly potent at that moment, with a man led astray somewhere out there in the wilderness."

A visitation on Christmas Eve with diabolical intentions…

Ellie and her family are preparing for their annual festivities, while the weather begins to deteriorate and threatens to cut them off from the outside world.

A man arrives out of the snowstorm, stranded and in need of their help, so they invite him to join them for the evening.

But as the snow continues to fall, Ellie discovers that behind a façade of innocence may hide the face of evil.

"You presume the benevolence and forgiveness of your God to not be equalled by the malevolence and vengefulness of mine?"

Read the opening scene.

"'Twas the Night Before Christmas" is available as a standalone ebook or as part of the original "Whispers from the Dead of Night" short story collection in ebook and paperback and the deluxe collection in ebook, paperback and hardcover.

Order "'Twas the Night Before Christmas"
Order "Whispers from the Dead of Night"
Order "Whispers from the Dead of Night - The Deluxe Collection"

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Blood on Satan's Claw: or, The Devil's Skin by Robert Wynne-Simmons

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A bewitching folktale of terror.

The discovery of a skull buried in a field begins the horror that befalls the rural community of Chapel Folding.

The children begin to act strangely, their childish games and squabbles developing a more sinister nature, a cult forming around the girl who holds a vicious claw.

Now a disease is spreading throughout the village, visible by the fur growing on the skin. Evil, malignant and contagious, has taken root, the idyllic countryside blighted and cursed in a war for the soul.

'Blood on Satan's Claw; or, The Devil's Skin' is the novelisation of the 1971 film 'The Blood on Satan's Claw', a story of supernatural horror, devil worship, demonic possession and religious mania, and one of the forebears of the folk horror sub-genre. Written by Robert Wynne-Simmons, who wrote the original screenplay and co-wrote the reworked version alongside director Piers Haggard, the novel combines a vivid depiction of its rural setting and its inhabitants with slow-burning, ominous plotting to produce a vision of nightmarish, vintage horror.

Set in the early 18th century, this is a time when the beliefs and customs of folklore and old Paganism still held firm and Christian fears of witchcraft and Satanism were at the height of hysteria, beliefs combining and conflicting, with the English Civil War and England's witch trials still in living memory. Exploring the epidemic qualities of terror and hysteria, which we've witnessed so often throughout history and continue to this day, Wynne-Simmons crafts an atmospheric narrative of compelling and creeping dread.

Following a dizzying amount of characters, with the switch between narratives sometimes feeling a little disjointed, it has the feel of a story once told orally, transcribed on to the page from a tale around the campfire. At its centre is teenager Angel, who, under the influence of the devil, becomes sorceress and seductress, a pawn in his plan to return to the realm of flesh and bone. Meanwhile, surrounding the cult building around her are those who hope to combat the evil, yet many may fall before it is thwarted, as the superstition and horror mounts to a final crusading attempt to prevent Satan setting foot upon the earth.

A folk horror classic, 'Blood on Satan's Claw' creeps beneath the skin to explore the influence of superstition and the supernatural on the human mind.



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