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Shadows
Enter the domain of chaos, insanity and death... In Oxford and Paris psychic investigators are attempting, to probe forbidden areas of the mind. In New York writer David Wake is studying the methods of miracle healer Jonathon Mathias. Driven by their own desperate motives, these researchers are about to unlock Pandora's Box. To unleash the horrifying forces of destruction hidden deep within us all...
325 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1985
4 people are currently reading
234 people want to read
About the author
Shaun Hutson
113 books534 followersBritish horror novelist, including horror and urban thriller novels.
His novella Slugs was made into a movie, although Hutson didn't like the movie. He also appeared in two horror movies himself.
Hutson is a Liverpool F.C. fan.
His novella Slugs was made into a movie, although Hutson didn't like the movie. He also appeared in two horror movies himself.
Hutson is a Liverpool F.C. fan.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
June 17, 2022
If you are in the mood for a trashy 80s pulp horror novel, filled with sleazy sex and gore, Shadows may fit the bill. The plot was a mess, the ending a giant WTF, but Hutson is an entertaining writer, with lots of references to 80s metal bands that gave me some nostalgia. This revolved around a few psychic investigators in Oxford and Paris looking into the unconscious functioning of the brain via drugs and hypnosis and a 'faith' healer in the USA with a 55 million cult following. Is it possible to have astral projection assume a tangible form? Can scientists and researchers unlock the 'other' side of someone's brain? You will have to read this to find out. 2.5 trashy stars, rounding up for the Y&T and Iron Maiden lyrics.
July 14, 2023
Very nice out of body horror from one of the best. Many, many wonderful set pieces in this. Overflowing with blood and guts. Dash in some graphic sex and "Shadows" is an underrated classic. More to the point, this was as easy a read as I have perused this year.
The study of out of body experiences are going on in Europe, while a miracle healer is causing a stir in the States. Some have ulterior motives to control astral projection. Others just want to help understand. After a movie actress' son is killed in a horrific accident, the main characters hold a seance to contact the boy. Soon after members of the group start to die in frightful ways.
There is so much to say about this book. The set pieces, as I mentioned were ghastly fun. The best would have to be the politician who is cutting a ribbon on a new project in a poor part of town. He throws some slurs to the crowd and then uses the scissors to stab one and then decapitate another.
Then there was the rock star who is upset about his guitarist playing solos, so he stabs him with the mic stand then rams him into the amplifiers to get electrocuted to boot. Bloody good times.
The study of out of body experiences are going on in Europe, while a miracle healer is causing a stir in the States. Some have ulterior motives to control astral projection. Others just want to help understand. After a movie actress' son is killed in a horrific accident, the main characters hold a seance to contact the boy. Soon after members of the group start to die in frightful ways.
There is so much to say about this book. The set pieces, as I mentioned were ghastly fun. The best would have to be the politician who is cutting a ribbon on a new project in a poor part of town. He throws some slurs to the crowd and then uses the scissors to stab one and then decapitate another.
Then there was the rock star who is upset about his guitarist playing solos, so he stabs him with the mic stand then rams him into the amplifiers to get electrocuted to boot. Bloody good times.
March 22, 2025
3.5 stars
July 9, 2015
3.5 stars actually. The book would have deserved a 4 if not for the lame end. Reading the last 25 pages made me feel like reading the previous 300 pages wasn't worth it for that sort of ending - adrenaline and anxiousness washed off before it was supposed to. Still, a great effort by the author. If not, then I wouldn't have read half of the book in one go.
Content warnings for the book- Sexual Harrasment, Incest, Extravagantly vivid murder scenes, Psychopathic rage and aggression. Definitely not a book for faint-hearted. This book tries to explore the tolerance of your soul and maniacal curiosity of your SHADOW - if there is really such a thing. You would like to tear your gaze away from the book but will find yourself unable to do so. Even after reading about murders one after the other, I still wanted to turn a few more pages to discover new ways of describing mania.
There's a chance I will be reading some other of Shaun Hutson's work after this. No matter the brutality and bluntness of his scenes, the disgust keeps the mind of the reader engrossed.
Content warnings for the book- Sexual Harrasment, Incest, Extravagantly vivid murder scenes, Psychopathic rage and aggression. Definitely not a book for faint-hearted. This book tries to explore the tolerance of your soul and maniacal curiosity of your SHADOW - if there is really such a thing. You would like to tear your gaze away from the book but will find yourself unable to do so. Even after reading about murders one after the other, I still wanted to turn a few more pages to discover new ways of describing mania.
There's a chance I will be reading some other of Shaun Hutson's work after this. No matter the brutality and bluntness of his scenes, the disgust keeps the mind of the reader engrossed.
May 7, 2019
Visceral and imaginative Splatterpunk. Overuse of the word "scuttle". Many of the characters performed alot of scuttling, for no real apparent reason.
July 7, 2025
This book was a mind bender, but I found it to be pretty original. The premise is pretty unique with the use of astral projection. There is plenty of blood and guts and countless random character deaths, which is enjoyable. My only complaint is the lack of closure with the healer Matthias‘s character. I felt like a lot more could’ve been done with his character. However, the book kept me intrigued, but it probably could’ve been at least 50 pages shorter. This is my first book by Shaun Hutson, but it definitely won’t be my last.
April 18, 2016
Properly trashy horror.
April 24, 2024
I've been reading a lot of Shaun Hutson novels from various stages of his career recently. From the start, it was obvious that his writing style had been developed very early and didn't change a great deal. Whilst this was a good thing in some ways, as his simple language use and short chapters make his novels very readable, it's not so good in others, in his dreadful and repetitive sex scenes and his habit of filling space with sub-plots which rarely seem attached to the main plot and are discarded without resolution when he is finished with them.
In New York, supposed miracle healer Jonathan Mathias claims to have unlocked the secrets of the astral body and believes it can be separated from the physical body. Meanwhile, psychic investigators in Oxford and Paris are looking to see if they can locate the area of the brain which controls this, one by using drugs and the other by hypnosis. However, it seems that this part of the brain may control our dark sides and separating it may not have unpleasant consequences.
What I was not expecting to find in my trawl through his work was a novel so different from the others in almost every way that it was almost recognisable as a Shaun Hutson novel. "Shadows" is a far more focussed and feels like a much better researched work than his others, meaning it only has a single plot and whilst there are several aspects to it, none of them stray too far away from the main story, as has been his habit in the past and all the strands are clearly linked and come together towards the end instead of falling away.
Alongside this, he has also retained his style of writing in simple language and short chapters, which makes the novel very readable. Despite the subject matter, he doesn't let the novel get bogged down in jargon and whilst there may be concepts unfamiliar to some readers, as they were to me, he uses his characters, especially writer David Blake, as a sounding board to explain things through, which is not only helpful, but unusual for many authors.
There are the odd moments where the novel loses a little bit, as it seems that the base urges of all of us in the shadows of our minds revolve around sex and murder. This does mean that similar things do keep happening and his writing of sex scenes isn't much better when it's non-consensual. As his range of vocabulary is limited for these scenes, so to assist with the pace of the writing, I suspect, it does mean that there is the occasional repetitive moment and some scenes are too similar to others.
Even allowing for Hutson's usual limitations, this is the best novel I've read of his by some margin. It feels that, possibly for the first time, he had a plot idea that was sufficient to fill a novel on its own and has allowed this to speak freely. There is much more focus than he tends to have and he's not had to force sub-plots and scenes in between the main plot to take up space and the novel is much the better for all of this.
In New York, supposed miracle healer Jonathan Mathias claims to have unlocked the secrets of the astral body and believes it can be separated from the physical body. Meanwhile, psychic investigators in Oxford and Paris are looking to see if they can locate the area of the brain which controls this, one by using drugs and the other by hypnosis. However, it seems that this part of the brain may control our dark sides and separating it may not have unpleasant consequences.
What I was not expecting to find in my trawl through his work was a novel so different from the others in almost every way that it was almost recognisable as a Shaun Hutson novel. "Shadows" is a far more focussed and feels like a much better researched work than his others, meaning it only has a single plot and whilst there are several aspects to it, none of them stray too far away from the main story, as has been his habit in the past and all the strands are clearly linked and come together towards the end instead of falling away.
Alongside this, he has also retained his style of writing in simple language and short chapters, which makes the novel very readable. Despite the subject matter, he doesn't let the novel get bogged down in jargon and whilst there may be concepts unfamiliar to some readers, as they were to me, he uses his characters, especially writer David Blake, as a sounding board to explain things through, which is not only helpful, but unusual for many authors.
There are the odd moments where the novel loses a little bit, as it seems that the base urges of all of us in the shadows of our minds revolve around sex and murder. This does mean that similar things do keep happening and his writing of sex scenes isn't much better when it's non-consensual. As his range of vocabulary is limited for these scenes, so to assist with the pace of the writing, I suspect, it does mean that there is the occasional repetitive moment and some scenes are too similar to others.
Even allowing for Hutson's usual limitations, this is the best novel I've read of his by some margin. It feels that, possibly for the first time, he had a plot idea that was sufficient to fill a novel on its own and has allowed this to speak freely. There is much more focus than he tends to have and he's not had to force sub-plots and scenes in between the main plot to take up space and the novel is much the better for all of this.
March 29, 2023
This is one of quite a few hidden gems. I don’t care much for the author’s other novels, but this one is something else. Hutson was a horror writer of some renown, but this novel never gained much attention, for some reason.
Shadows is diabolical and diabolically funny and well written. It’s the best gallows humor I’ve ever read. People on the train looked at me with anxious eyes when I started cackling in earnest.
It’s very original and have an approach to the horror genre I’ve not seen anywhere else. I would say this is Hutson’s best book. He wrote quite a few horror novels. I expected him to come back from the dead at some point and prove everything he wrote about to be true, but he still hasn’t.
The story is about astral projection, including some related themes. It’s very hard to guess what happens next, and those we believe are the villains are shown to be somewhat beneficial, and the other way around. We don’t really know what is truly going on until the last few lines of the book. Remarkable.
Seemingly unrelated events are woven into a cohesive, explosive whole.
Among other things, added to the pervasive horror, this is also an exposure of British society that is quite revealing. The horror and the mundane go hand in hand, blood to blood. The author masterly leaves out crucial information later revealed as a natural part of the story. Yes, the suspense is there all the time, even in the first, fairly quiet part of the book. Then, he takes it a step further. I love such authors. It keeps growing more intense, and the ending is a great payoff, discarding the Hollywood ending like wet dirt on the shoes.
Shadows is diabolical and diabolically funny and well written. It’s the best gallows humor I’ve ever read. People on the train looked at me with anxious eyes when I started cackling in earnest.
It’s very original and have an approach to the horror genre I’ve not seen anywhere else. I would say this is Hutson’s best book. He wrote quite a few horror novels. I expected him to come back from the dead at some point and prove everything he wrote about to be true, but he still hasn’t.
The story is about astral projection, including some related themes. It’s very hard to guess what happens next, and those we believe are the villains are shown to be somewhat beneficial, and the other way around. We don’t really know what is truly going on until the last few lines of the book. Remarkable.
Seemingly unrelated events are woven into a cohesive, explosive whole.
Among other things, added to the pervasive horror, this is also an exposure of British society that is quite revealing. The horror and the mundane go hand in hand, blood to blood. The author masterly leaves out crucial information later revealed as a natural part of the story. Yes, the suspense is there all the time, even in the first, fairly quiet part of the book. Then, he takes it a step further. I love such authors. It keeps growing more intense, and the ending is a great payoff, discarding the Hollywood ending like wet dirt on the shoes.
February 21, 2023
What I think makes Shaun Hutson stand out above other splatterpunk authors like Richard Laymon is that his books are actually well-written. Yes, this one has all of the trademark grue that we've come to expect from the author, with endless set-pieces depicting the most excruciating and violent injuries one can inflict on the human body. At the same time it's got an intriguing plotline about astral projection and psychic abilities, and what I liked here is that it takes a good half of the book to carefully depict those plot threads in the real world before letting rip with an explosive climax. The mystery aspect is also well handled which leads to some great and unexpected twists. Yes, the characters could be better realised, but overall this was a lot better than I was expecting.
April 16, 2025
I give it a 3.5 just for the very ending. This one was a slower burn than the other books I’ve read by Hutson but it still was good and a lot of the imagery harkens back to 80’s horror scenes in film.
The subject matter of Astral Travel was a good plot for a horror novel yet it lacked the atmosphere one would think would be associated with esoteric or paranormal horror. His book Relics had a lot more atmosphere which I immensely liked.
It’s still a good horror story with its scenic moments. I’ll be reading “Spawn” or perhaps “Slugs” next.
The subject matter of Astral Travel was a good plot for a horror novel yet it lacked the atmosphere one would think would be associated with esoteric or paranormal horror. His book Relics had a lot more atmosphere which I immensely liked.
It’s still a good horror story with its scenic moments. I’ll be reading “Spawn” or perhaps “Slugs” next.
March 16, 2023
I first read this as a teenager almost 40 years ago. I decided to reread having no memory of it. I loved it. Some wording and descritions that might date it i thought it was a enjoyable romp and the ending completely took me by surprise.
August 16, 2025
Some people were complaining about the ending. I thought it was good.
I'd compare Hutson books to cheesy 80s horror B-movies which I love. It's got everything you want from a good Hutson. Violence. Sex. A loopy plot. Plot holes. Questionable choices... "Let's split up."
Four and a half stars. Loved it.
I'd compare Hutson books to cheesy 80s horror B-movies which I love. It's got everything you want from a good Hutson. Violence. Sex. A loopy plot. Plot holes. Questionable choices... "Let's split up."
Four and a half stars. Loved it.
October 3, 2020
Fantastic as always from Shaun Hutson and a very solid novel. Full of the usual gore that you have come to love mixed with a very interesting psychic powers and supernatural storyline.
October 14, 2021
2.5 stars. I haven't read any Shaun Hudson for a long time but was disappointed with this. The story seemed discombobulated with the last quarter not really matching the first three quarters.
October 21, 2021
Tasteless, creepy indeed, but tacky.
April 6, 2022
Shaun Hutson's books are typical of the 80% horror genre. Blood, guts and gore and lots of it but also a compelling storyline that has you gripped till the last page.
April 25, 2024
Just the right amount of gore I needed.
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July 26, 2017Yep, I'm at it again. This one fascinated me so much that I just HAD to read it again...fair warning, though....do NOT read this when you scare easily! What, once again, makes this such a frightening story is the fact of POSSIBILITIES....the 'what if'-factor. Isn't it possible that we can achieve astral projection and in that state be something or someone quite different than the person known to all? The 'shadow'-half of us all...the 'evil self'. Jung proposed such a thing...what if he was right after all? Think about it....what if???? (Evil cackle).....sorry, thought the sound effect is just SO appropriate!
April 6, 2013
I read this book over 20 years ago when I was young and into my horror books. Made the mistake of reading it by candlelight and it scared me to the point I've never read a horror book since. So yeah, pretty good as horror books go!
January 5, 2012
Really memorable book. I read this about 23 years ago. Worth a read without doubt.
June 1, 2018
First book I ever read by Shaun, 24 years ago. There is just something about the over the top brutality that got me hooked.
June 24, 2013
Worst Novel Ever ...
February 27, 2015
Extremely violent and gory. A bit over the top at times.
September 5, 2015
One of Hutson's best!
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews