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The Evil That Waited
There she was...
It was a huge painting, a portrait of a woman standing full-length against a background of misty trees and shadowed gardens. Her white dress was cut low, and swirled in soft folds around her feet. Her arms held roses; two of them had fallen, making soft splashes of color half buried in that whiteness. Her face was oval, her hair red-gold, and I knew without looking that her eyes were amber. For, when I wore white, my eyes were amber, and looking at this woman was like looking into a mirror at myself. It was a woman of a hundred years ago. My great-grandmother. As I turned, a chilling touch brushed by my cheek. An odor of mildew and old fabrics invaded the air. The ran down the stairs in terror, falling, falling...
It was a huge painting, a portrait of a woman standing full-length against a background of misty trees and shadowed gardens. Her white dress was cut low, and swirled in soft folds around her feet. Her arms held roses; two of them had fallen, making soft splashes of color half buried in that whiteness. Her face was oval, her hair red-gold, and I knew without looking that her eyes were amber. For, when I wore white, my eyes were amber, and looking at this woman was like looking into a mirror at myself. It was a woman of a hundred years ago. My great-grandmother. As I turned, a chilling touch brushed by my cheek. An odor of mildew and old fabrics invaded the air. The ran down the stairs in terror, falling, falling...
- GenresGothic
250 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1973
46 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 3, 2021
3.5 stars
The Evil That Waited is a supernatural gothic with a touch of sci-fi. Yes you heard me, science fiction. In this book you will find a supernatural entity from outer space, reincarnation, possession, murder, prophetic dreams and the mention of aliens. The resolution to this gothic is laughable. Apparently the power of prayer is enough to stop Evil. Who knew? Overall, this is a completely bonkers book and while the ending is underwhelming, it is at least an entertaining and unique read. I plan to check out Farnsworth’s other gothics to see if they are just as crazy as this one.
The Evil That Waited is a supernatural gothic with a touch of sci-fi. Yes you heard me, science fiction. In this book you will find a supernatural entity from outer space, reincarnation, possession, murder, prophetic dreams and the mention of aliens. The resolution to this gothic is laughable. Apparently the power of prayer is enough to stop Evil. Who knew? Overall, this is a completely bonkers book and while the ending is underwhelming, it is at least an entertaining and unique read. I plan to check out Farnsworth’s other gothics to see if they are just as crazy as this one.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 1, 2022
A young woman named Daphne is invited to a remote sinister mansion by distant relatives and cousins, and once there she encounters mysterious events, possible romance and murder!
The author builds a really creepy atmosphere as Daphne encounters more than just strange behaviour from her relatives. Unexplainable black shadows appear in the house and at a disused swimming pool. These black patches in the corners of rooms sounded terrifying and I looked forward eagerly to an explanation for it all, in fact my interest in the story grew as I read on, because this was something different from the standard gaslighting and fighting over an inheritance that these books usually work with.
However, to my enormous disappointment, the author fails to deliver a climax that explains it. In the space of one single page, the menace is abruptly over. I read that page three times to find an explanation of why all the evil relatives, the secrets of the past and the evil black fog, all just...give up, and finally had to realise that the book used the worst possible "deus ex machina" to save everybody. A real let down and an insult to anybody who invested time in the preceding 244 pages.
The author builds a really creepy atmosphere as Daphne encounters more than just strange behaviour from her relatives. Unexplainable black shadows appear in the house and at a disused swimming pool. These black patches in the corners of rooms sounded terrifying and I looked forward eagerly to an explanation for it all, in fact my interest in the story grew as I read on, because this was something different from the standard gaslighting and fighting over an inheritance that these books usually work with.
However, to my enormous disappointment, the author fails to deliver a climax that explains it. In the space of one single page, the menace is abruptly over. I read that page three times to find an explanation of why all the evil relatives, the secrets of the past and the evil black fog, all just...give up, and finally had to realise that the book used the worst possible "deus ex machina" to save everybody. A real let down and an insult to anybody who invested time in the preceding 244 pages.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews