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Nyctophobia
An original thriller from bestselling author Christopher Fowler that reinvents the haunted house story.
There are two things you need to know about haunted houses. One, there's never been an actual authenticated haunted house. Two, it's not the house that's haunted, but the person.
Callie is a young architectural student who marries Mateo, a wine importer, and moves to a grand old house in Southern Spain. Hyperion House is flooded with light, it also has a mute gardener, a sinister housekeeper and a sealed, dark servants' quarters that nobody has the keys for. And although initially happy, and taking care of Mateo's daughter, Callie can't help being drawn to the dark empty rooms at the back of the house, and becomes convinced that someone is living in there.
Uncovering the house's history, she discovers the shocking truth. As Callie's fear of the darkness returns, she comes to understand the true nature of evil.
There are two things you need to know about haunted houses. One, there's never been an actual authenticated haunted house. Two, it's not the house that's haunted, but the person.
Callie is a young architectural student who marries Mateo, a wine importer, and moves to a grand old house in Southern Spain. Hyperion House is flooded with light, it also has a mute gardener, a sinister housekeeper and a sealed, dark servants' quarters that nobody has the keys for. And although initially happy, and taking care of Mateo's daughter, Callie can't help being drawn to the dark empty rooms at the back of the house, and becomes convinced that someone is living in there.
Uncovering the house's history, she discovers the shocking truth. As Callie's fear of the darkness returns, she comes to understand the true nature of evil.
312 pages, Paperback
First published October 7, 2014
75 people are currently reading
3991 people want to read
About the author
Christopher Fowler
264 books1,283 followersLibrarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
Christopher Fowler was an English writer known for his Bryant & May mystery series, featuring two Golden Age-style detectives navigating modern London. Over his career, he authored fifty novels and short story collections, along with screenplays, video games, graphic novels, and audio plays. His psychological thriller Little Boy Found was published under the pseudonym L.K. Fox.
Fowler's accolades include multiple British Fantasy Awards, the Last Laugh Award, the CWA Dagger in the Library, and the inaugural Green Carnation Award. He was inducted into the Detection Club in 2021. Beyond crime fiction, his works ranged from horror (Hell Train, Nyctophobia) to memoir (Paperboy, Film Freak). His column Invisible Ink explored forgotten authors, later compiled into The Book of Forgotten Authors.
Fowler lived between London and Barcelona with his husband, Peter Chapman.
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
Christopher Fowler was an English writer known for his Bryant & May mystery series, featuring two Golden Age-style detectives navigating modern London. Over his career, he authored fifty novels and short story collections, along with screenplays, video games, graphic novels, and audio plays. His psychological thriller Little Boy Found was published under the pseudonym L.K. Fox.
Fowler's accolades include multiple British Fantasy Awards, the Last Laugh Award, the CWA Dagger in the Library, and the inaugural Green Carnation Award. He was inducted into the Detection Club in 2021. Beyond crime fiction, his works ranged from horror (Hell Train, Nyctophobia) to memoir (Paperboy, Film Freak). His column Invisible Ink explored forgotten authors, later compiled into The Book of Forgotten Authors.
Fowler lived between London and Barcelona with his husband, Peter Chapman.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 213 reviews
June 24, 2019
4 stars for an ingenious premise and 4 stars for an ingenious haunted house. Or perhaps that should be "haunted" house? Wait, no spoilers mark, shhh. I can't really say much about the premise because that premise is the entire twist of the novel and it only becomes clear in the last few chapters. But it is fully supported by all that preceded it. Just such a clever take on horror and reader expectations by the author. You know something is good when you read multiple reviews where people talk about how they are not sure they understand, they don't like ambiguity, they may have to reread to really get it, etc. Fowler doesn't spoon feed his ideas to the reader, they have to work to understand.
I can talk about the house itself though, it's the main selling point of this book. The mansion that is this book's reason for being is flooded with sunlight. Sunlight, sunlight everywhere - and no shadows allowed! And when the sun goes down, the lights must go on. No darkness allowed! The centrality of light made this horror novel feel very different. And then there is the back of the mansion, dark and dusty, to which the doors are locked, where leeches thrive in the bathroom, where no natural light is admitted, and which is furnished and decorated as a shabby, threadworn twin to the rest of the opulent house. Very spooky and a lot of fun.
Overall the writing is fine. Fowler has a clear but unremarkable style.
Unfortunately, 2 stars for the flaws that riddled this book. An unappealing heroine with a somewhat unconvincing background and a cartoonish gargoyle for a mother. An insipid new husband and his even more insipid child. Why exactly did this too-good-to-be-true guy fall in love with our drippy heroine? Love often doesn't make sense and that is certainly borne out by this very unconvincing couple. And a key supporting character that is suddenly shown to have some very convenient powers. Characterization in general was just so problematic and/or uninteresting. Worst of all, the phobia itself is completely unnecessary. A person doesn't have to have nyctophobia to be afraid of exploring dark and dusty rooms where no light is admitted and that have leeches and possibly ghosts.
Still, I will make some lemonade, split the difference, and give Nyctophobia 3 stars. The premise/twist and the crazy house are well worth the price of admission.
I can talk about the house itself though, it's the main selling point of this book. The mansion that is this book's reason for being is flooded with sunlight. Sunlight, sunlight everywhere - and no shadows allowed! And when the sun goes down, the lights must go on. No darkness allowed! The centrality of light made this horror novel feel very different. And then there is the back of the mansion, dark and dusty, to which the doors are locked, where leeches thrive in the bathroom, where no natural light is admitted, and which is furnished and decorated as a shabby, threadworn twin to the rest of the opulent house. Very spooky and a lot of fun.
Overall the writing is fine. Fowler has a clear but unremarkable style.
Unfortunately, 2 stars for the flaws that riddled this book. An unappealing heroine with a somewhat unconvincing background and a cartoonish gargoyle for a mother. An insipid new husband and his even more insipid child. Why exactly did this too-good-to-be-true guy fall in love with our drippy heroine? Love often doesn't make sense and that is certainly borne out by this very unconvincing couple. And a key supporting character that is suddenly shown to have some very convenient powers. Characterization in general was just so problematic and/or uninteresting. Worst of all, the phobia itself is completely unnecessary. A person doesn't have to have nyctophobia to be afraid of exploring dark and dusty rooms where no light is admitted and that have leeches and possibly ghosts.
Still, I will make some lemonade, split the difference, and give Nyctophobia 3 stars. The premise/twist and the crazy house are well worth the price of admission.
December 2, 2023
I am in the process of sharing some of my favourite books I read years back. This is one of them…
This book was really quite incredible, the way the tension and creepiness factor slowly oozes through the words as you read on had me hook, line and sinker. Don't make the mistake of thinking because the first 20% is slow to boil that it's not a great book. There is so much stuff to come. Hold on to your hat, turn off the light, and whatever you do, don't look too closely in the corner.
Newly-married architect Callie and her wealthy husband Mateo move to Hyperion House, a grand old home in southern Spain. It’s an eccentric place built in front of a cliff: serene and beautiful, but eerily symmetrical, and cunningly styled so that half the house is flooded with light, and half – locked up and neglected – is shrouded in darkness. Unemployed and feeling isolated in a foreign country, Callie determines to research the history of the curious building.
The house. The house. The house. Oh my goodness, THIS house will get to you dear reader as it did to me. Who thought that a building could send shivers up your spine and give you goosebumps? This house does though, and does that very, very well.
Callie as a teenager was diagnosed with Nyctophobia, a fear of the dark. So when she decides to open the locked and barred doors to the locked up part of their new home she has no idea what she is walking into, or if indeed her fear of the dark will stop her from learning what is behind the doors.
This part of the house is in TOTAL darkness, every window boarded up, a start comparison to the rest of the house which is designed to have constant light both day and night. Why would a whole section of house be locked up and left to ruin in thick darkness?
The villagers, Spanish Catholics believe the house is cursed, it has a history going back hundreds of years. Callie is an Architect and is studying the house, learning it's history, trying to fathom out why it's built in the location it is with the aspects that is has. It's not just for fun. She really is going to wish she had not bought the house in the first place.
This book slowly creeps up on you, little bits of creepy tension and scenes are dropped in to give you an appetite for more scare factor. It's not long coming, the whole second half of the book had me riveted with heart rate up and all senses on full alert!
The reveals! Oh the reveals...absolutely creep-fastic brilliant, a ghost story like no other. Callie soon meets the darkness behind the locked doors whether she likes it or not. And in doing so, she as awakened those that should be left alone.
With scenes to baffle you until the ending where it all makes sense, but read the ending SLOWLY dear reader, to absorb the final outcome, you won't see it coming in a million trillion years, it's very cleverly written with not so much shock factor but a stunned horror, open mouthed, gaping stunned horror.
Say a prayer before bedtime if you are reading this book.
Callie and her husband are opposites, and Mateo (who is Spanish, she is English) is not convinced by what Callie is telling him about the house. When his daughter, Callie's stepdaughter comes to live at the house and is being home tutored, things, happenings, and weird changes in the house really start to ramp up a notch.
There is a stern, secretive housekeeper that came with the house, a housekeeper that states she "takes care of the house, not the people in it" - that should of been a sign, take note Maxine! Added to the house is an old gardener, suffering arthritis, not too easy on the nose, who is mute and unable to speak, just wait until you hear why. What do they know? Why won't they share with Callie? She's on her own in uncovering the secrets of this unusual house that has consumed her.
An atmospheric and chilling book that you need to just embrace and take your time reading, it's written really well, giving you snippets of information on the way to the big reveal at the end.
I have to say again, the ending is stunning, shocking, disturbing.
I really liked this book, nothing like ghostly happenings to put a smile on my face (in their house, not mine) and I loved the way the book drip feeds you the creep factor until you see clearly exactly what it's really all about. This is not a horror story, there is no gore-fest here, just supernatural truths.
Superstition, curses, history, revenge, death, murder, sacrifice, danger, despair..it's all here for you dear reader. Are you afraid of the dark like Callie? Best not to look in the shadows then, seriously, just don't.
4.5 stars from me. Highly recommended to those that love a ghost story especially with things you don't see coming.
I am now also, petrified of hornets.
I received a copy of this book thanks to the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, many thanks.
Thanks so much for reading my review! If you’d like to connect you can follow me or please send me a friend request. 🐱I love to read other reviews and talk about books we are reading.
If you are an Author and you’d like me to consider reading and reviewing your book please just message me.
You can also find me on
Twitter @bookishcats
(I follow back) and on Amazon U.K. where I am a Top 500 Reviewer as Booklover Catlady.
This book was really quite incredible, the way the tension and creepiness factor slowly oozes through the words as you read on had me hook, line and sinker. Don't make the mistake of thinking because the first 20% is slow to boil that it's not a great book. There is so much stuff to come. Hold on to your hat, turn off the light, and whatever you do, don't look too closely in the corner.
Newly-married architect Callie and her wealthy husband Mateo move to Hyperion House, a grand old home in southern Spain. It’s an eccentric place built in front of a cliff: serene and beautiful, but eerily symmetrical, and cunningly styled so that half the house is flooded with light, and half – locked up and neglected – is shrouded in darkness. Unemployed and feeling isolated in a foreign country, Callie determines to research the history of the curious building.
The house. The house. The house. Oh my goodness, THIS house will get to you dear reader as it did to me. Who thought that a building could send shivers up your spine and give you goosebumps? This house does though, and does that very, very well.
Callie as a teenager was diagnosed with Nyctophobia, a fear of the dark. So when she decides to open the locked and barred doors to the locked up part of their new home she has no idea what she is walking into, or if indeed her fear of the dark will stop her from learning what is behind the doors.
This part of the house is in TOTAL darkness, every window boarded up, a start comparison to the rest of the house which is designed to have constant light both day and night. Why would a whole section of house be locked up and left to ruin in thick darkness?
The villagers, Spanish Catholics believe the house is cursed, it has a history going back hundreds of years. Callie is an Architect and is studying the house, learning it's history, trying to fathom out why it's built in the location it is with the aspects that is has. It's not just for fun. She really is going to wish she had not bought the house in the first place.
This book slowly creeps up on you, little bits of creepy tension and scenes are dropped in to give you an appetite for more scare factor. It's not long coming, the whole second half of the book had me riveted with heart rate up and all senses on full alert!
The reveals! Oh the reveals...absolutely creep-fastic brilliant, a ghost story like no other. Callie soon meets the darkness behind the locked doors whether she likes it or not. And in doing so, she as awakened those that should be left alone.
With scenes to baffle you until the ending where it all makes sense, but read the ending SLOWLY dear reader, to absorb the final outcome, you won't see it coming in a million trillion years, it's very cleverly written with not so much shock factor but a stunned horror, open mouthed, gaping stunned horror.
Say a prayer before bedtime if you are reading this book.
Callie and her husband are opposites, and Mateo (who is Spanish, she is English) is not convinced by what Callie is telling him about the house. When his daughter, Callie's stepdaughter comes to live at the house and is being home tutored, things, happenings, and weird changes in the house really start to ramp up a notch.
There is a stern, secretive housekeeper that came with the house, a housekeeper that states she "takes care of the house, not the people in it" - that should of been a sign, take note Maxine! Added to the house is an old gardener, suffering arthritis, not too easy on the nose, who is mute and unable to speak, just wait until you hear why. What do they know? Why won't they share with Callie? She's on her own in uncovering the secrets of this unusual house that has consumed her.
An atmospheric and chilling book that you need to just embrace and take your time reading, it's written really well, giving you snippets of information on the way to the big reveal at the end.
I have to say again, the ending is stunning, shocking, disturbing.
I really liked this book, nothing like ghostly happenings to put a smile on my face (in their house, not mine) and I loved the way the book drip feeds you the creep factor until you see clearly exactly what it's really all about. This is not a horror story, there is no gore-fest here, just supernatural truths.
Superstition, curses, history, revenge, death, murder, sacrifice, danger, despair..it's all here for you dear reader. Are you afraid of the dark like Callie? Best not to look in the shadows then, seriously, just don't.
4.5 stars from me. Highly recommended to those that love a ghost story especially with things you don't see coming.
I am now also, petrified of hornets.
I received a copy of this book thanks to the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, many thanks.
Thanks so much for reading my review! If you’d like to connect you can follow me or please send me a friend request. 🐱I love to read other reviews and talk about books we are reading.
If you are an Author and you’d like me to consider reading and reviewing your book please just message me.
You can also find me on
Twitter @bookishcats
(I follow back) and on Amazon U.K. where I am a Top 500 Reviewer as Booklover Catlady.
January 14, 2015
I'm painfully on the fence on this book, I really can't decide whether I loved it or hated it. Actually hate is probably too strong a word, but I am conflicted about the ending of the story.
The troubled Callie marries a much older Spanish man and moves with him to a house in his homeland which is drenched in sunlight but which hides a dark secret. Gradually she uncovers those secrets, possibly as the the cost of her sanity...
The tension builds slowly in this story (perhaps a little too slowly for my liking) but gradually throughout as Callie's insecurities and fear of the dark (the nyctophobia of the title) make her start to see things that she isn't sure are really there. As is said in the book, it's not houses that are haunted but people, and Callie is certainly haunted by her past.
I wasn't 100% convinced by the author's female voice, as it's a difficult thing for a male author to get right, but I've certainly read a lot worse. As the story is written in the first person, it is sometimes difficult to work out what exactly is going on as Callie is most definitely an unreliable narrator. The author also makes good use of the Spanish setting and the ex-pat community, something he has first hand experience of.
But, back to that ending. Is everything that Callie experiences
In the end the ambiguity of the ending dragged the story down for me, which is why I couldn't give it more than 3 stars. I like a story to be firmly in one camp or the other, and this ending disturbed me by not being clear. I suppose that was the authors intention, and certainly a lot of people have praised this book, I just didn't get as much out of it as I would have liked.
The troubled Callie marries a much older Spanish man and moves with him to a house in his homeland which is drenched in sunlight but which hides a dark secret. Gradually she uncovers those secrets, possibly as the the cost of her sanity...
The tension builds slowly in this story (perhaps a little too slowly for my liking) but gradually throughout as Callie's insecurities and fear of the dark (the nyctophobia of the title) make her start to see things that she isn't sure are really there. As is said in the book, it's not houses that are haunted but people, and Callie is certainly haunted by her past.
I wasn't 100% convinced by the author's female voice, as it's a difficult thing for a male author to get right, but I've certainly read a lot worse. As the story is written in the first person, it is sometimes difficult to work out what exactly is going on as Callie is most definitely an unreliable narrator. The author also makes good use of the Spanish setting and the ex-pat community, something he has first hand experience of.
But, back to that ending. Is everything that Callie experiences
In the end the ambiguity of the ending dragged the story down for me, which is why I couldn't give it more than 3 stars. I like a story to be firmly in one camp or the other, and this ending disturbed me by not being clear. I suppose that was the authors intention, and certainly a lot of people have praised this book, I just didn't get as much out of it as I would have liked.
September 5, 2014
This is the creepiest book I've read in a long, long time: Callie, a young architect with a so far troubled life, moves into a huge lonely house in the Spanish countryside with her husband Mateo and her stepdaughter Bonnie. The house is built so that the front lie always in the light and the back rooms, which are locked, lie always in the dark. With the family are living a housekeeper and a mute gardener. Mateo has to do a lot of travelling and thus Callie is often left alone with the other three. Callie is suffering from nyctophobia, fear of the dark, and is scared of the dark part of the house. When trying to find out about this dark side she meets many obstacles and is drawn ever deeper into the houses' dark secrets.
I like good creepy ghost stories which cause the horrors by ones deepiest fears and not so much by slaughtering others. Nyctophobia is a very scary book which makes you fear the dark and makes you question what's really behind those shadows. If you're fans of the more subtle horror this book might be just the thing for you.
(I received a free digital copy via Netgalley. Thanks for the opportunity!)
I like good creepy ghost stories which cause the horrors by ones deepiest fears and not so much by slaughtering others. Nyctophobia is a very scary book which makes you fear the dark and makes you question what's really behind those shadows. If you're fans of the more subtle horror this book might be just the thing for you.
(I received a free digital copy via Netgalley. Thanks for the opportunity!)
July 20, 2015
The brightest light casts the darkest shadows.....
Fowler spins the haunted house tale into something unexpected....a fresh take on a classic archetype, balancing modern style with pitch perfect "old school" pacing that raises the creep factor exponentially.
Highly recommended!
Fowler spins the haunted house tale into something unexpected....a fresh take on a classic archetype, balancing modern style with pitch perfect "old school" pacing that raises the creep factor exponentially.
Highly recommended!
June 27, 2015
Nyctophobia is an almost perfect exemplar of mediocrity. It's definitely not bad -- the plotting is decent; the writing is clear -- but it is not good either. More or less a haunted house novel, Nyctophobia starts out strong, at least by the standards of the haunted house horror sub-genre, by putting our haunted house in Spain and making it a modern dwelling full of light. If ever there seemed to be a less haunted house in terms of architectural design, I don't know what it is. We even get an English ex-pat as our main character which is cute given how the English flock to Spain for the Majorican bacchanalia tourist traps and for inexpensive retirement homes. This is definitely intentional on Fowler's part and I appreciate the joke. But then everything goes the way of an average book: our main character has some interesting flaws -- childhood nyctophobia (fear of the dark) as one -- but how this really affected her, beyond making her sleep with a nightlight, is never fully flushed out. Similarly, our heroine has a checkered past that is alluded to, and apparently is super important to why she reacts as she does to her husband, step-daughter, new house, and Spain in general, yet is presented in no more than a paragraph (excluding redundancy) and tritely at that. We get no real sense of whatever her name was (my failure of memory here is in itself is telling) as a real person who has been hurt by her childhood and suffered real consequences of questionable behavior in her young adulthood. What we get is a cardboard cut-out. Of the motivations of Nyctophobia's other characters, we get no sense of this at all. However, this doesn't mean that this makes the novel bad per se, just unremarkable.
We can give Fowler some credit in that he at least tries to shake-up the haunted house sub-genre with a non-standard haunting and a mystery, but when the big reveal happens, it isn't shocking or particularly interesting -- no The Others or The Sixth Sense surprise here -- and after having our character run around testing out 20 different scenarios to figure out what was going on, the actual explanation, while very cool in theory, is sort of blah. It doesn't help that it is a theory which was never really considered by our heroine, so the twist seems a bit cheap.
As my final criticism, which I suppose regards what I believe Fowler was trying to do in order to elevate his story into literary horror or just not descend into The Amityville Horror , is that the ending is just perplexing. I can't go into details here lest I ruin it for everyone, but the actions of our narrator are just weird. Of course, we never did get a real sense of her motivations, so maybe the ending makes perfect sense in Fowler's mind, but not to this this reader.
My overall recommendation to possible readers out there is that if you get this book for free, and have some time on your hands, it is probably worth a read. However, under all other circumstances, go spend your hard-earned money and hard-won time on something else: The Elementals , The Haunting of Hill House or The Shining , to name but three entries into this sub-genre, immediately come to mind. Of course, if you are like me, you already read all those -- and hundreds of others besides -- so despite any review, you aren't going to pass up any story that involves a haunting/haunted house. In which case Nyctophobia won't frustrate you, but you probably won't be singing its praises from the rooftops either.
We can give Fowler some credit in that he at least tries to shake-up the haunted house sub-genre with a non-standard haunting and a mystery, but when the big reveal happens, it isn't shocking or particularly interesting -- no The Others or The Sixth Sense surprise here -- and after having our character run around testing out 20 different scenarios to figure out what was going on, the actual explanation, while very cool in theory, is sort of blah. It doesn't help that it is a theory which was never really considered by our heroine, so the twist seems a bit cheap.
As my final criticism, which I suppose regards what I believe Fowler was trying to do in order to elevate his story into literary horror or just not descend into The Amityville Horror , is that the ending is just perplexing. I can't go into details here lest I ruin it for everyone, but the actions of our narrator are just weird. Of course, we never did get a real sense of her motivations, so maybe the ending makes perfect sense in Fowler's mind, but not to this this reader.
My overall recommendation to possible readers out there is that if you get this book for free, and have some time on your hands, it is probably worth a read. However, under all other circumstances, go spend your hard-earned money and hard-won time on something else: The Elementals , The Haunting of Hill House or The Shining , to name but three entries into this sub-genre, immediately come to mind. Of course, if you are like me, you already read all those -- and hundreds of others besides -- so despite any review, you aren't going to pass up any story that involves a haunting/haunted house. In which case Nyctophobia won't frustrate you, but you probably won't be singing its praises from the rooftops either.
November 26, 2018
This book was slow, but entertaining. Confusing, but engaging. If I had to put this book in the same category of another book, I'd say this is sort of like "I'm thinking of Ending Things". It's got the same kind of vibe. A slow story that starts to reveal itself piece by piece. The ending may be predictable to some, (broken record...story of my life), but I didn't seem to see what was going to happen until it did and was left feeling sort of empty. The ending is ambiguous. I don't know how I feel about those kinds of endings. Am I happy that I get to create my own ending? Not sure. Overall it was good. 3.5 stars!
Nyctophobia- is a severe fear of the dark. I didn't know that was a real phobia. I thought of course kids can be afraid of the dark, but so can adults. The real phobia is debilitating.
Callie has a pretty terrible past. She has tried to move on as an adult, but it's slow going. Her mother hasn't helped much in that department. Continuing to belittle her and say her past was an exaggeration, never quite believing her daughters hardships. Anne, Callie's mother is only interested in keeping Callie quiet and hidden so not to embarrass her. One night at one of Anne's get together's with friends (Callie doesn't want to be there), Callie meets Mateo. Mateo is a Spanish business man who works in wine. They get to talking and the rest is history.
After Callie and Mateo marry they move to Gaucia a small town near Marbella, Spain. They are house hunting. Callie comes across the Hyperion House and falls in love with its mystery and light. Callie is into architecture and knows how strange this house is. She is able to convince her new husband that this is a house she must have. What Callie didn't expect is all the house had to offer. Good or bad. Callie's old phobia starts to come back and she slowly starts to crack.
Following Callie's journey in researching the old residents of the house and the family that built the house was engaging. At times I felt the story did drag a bit and it seemed Callie was weak willed. As the owner of the house she should be able to make decisions without her husband, but this is a different country and traditionally the men are in charge. Callie has a hard time excepting that coming from the U.K.
I felt that we could have had more connection with Mateo. We hardly got to read about him, he's always away on business. He does explain to Callie that it will happen and he hopes he can arrange for my time closer to home in good time. This will give Callie a chance to get to know her step-daughter Bobbie a bit better. Who marries and leaves their children to a new adult like that? It seemed so rushed. I know these things happen in life and I just don't have that experience so it wasn't a deal breaker.
The reason for the 3.5 star rating is the pacing was a bit slow. Mateo wasn't a full fledged character. The lies drove me crazy. I think that could have been done a little differently. Tell some, but not all.
If you like slow burning mysteries with a twist I'd pick this one up. Christopher Fowler has a nice collection of books he's written and I am excited to pick up more.
Nyctophobia- is a severe fear of the dark. I didn't know that was a real phobia. I thought of course kids can be afraid of the dark, but so can adults. The real phobia is debilitating.
Callie has a pretty terrible past. She has tried to move on as an adult, but it's slow going. Her mother hasn't helped much in that department. Continuing to belittle her and say her past was an exaggeration, never quite believing her daughters hardships. Anne, Callie's mother is only interested in keeping Callie quiet and hidden so not to embarrass her. One night at one of Anne's get together's with friends (Callie doesn't want to be there), Callie meets Mateo. Mateo is a Spanish business man who works in wine. They get to talking and the rest is history.
After Callie and Mateo marry they move to Gaucia a small town near Marbella, Spain. They are house hunting. Callie comes across the Hyperion House and falls in love with its mystery and light. Callie is into architecture and knows how strange this house is. She is able to convince her new husband that this is a house she must have. What Callie didn't expect is all the house had to offer. Good or bad. Callie's old phobia starts to come back and she slowly starts to crack.
Following Callie's journey in researching the old residents of the house and the family that built the house was engaging. At times I felt the story did drag a bit and it seemed Callie was weak willed. As the owner of the house she should be able to make decisions without her husband, but this is a different country and traditionally the men are in charge. Callie has a hard time excepting that coming from the U.K.
I felt that we could have had more connection with Mateo. We hardly got to read about him, he's always away on business. He does explain to Callie that it will happen and he hopes he can arrange for my time closer to home in good time. This will give Callie a chance to get to know her step-daughter Bobbie a bit better. Who marries and leaves their children to a new adult like that? It seemed so rushed. I know these things happen in life and I just don't have that experience so it wasn't a deal breaker.
The reason for the 3.5 star rating is the pacing was a bit slow. Mateo wasn't a full fledged character. The lies drove me crazy. I think that could have been done a little differently. Tell some, but not all.
If you like slow burning mysteries with a twist I'd pick this one up. Christopher Fowler has a nice collection of books he's written and I am excited to pick up more.
October 7, 2014
I am really torn in two with this read! In fact I first drafted a review a day after I read it, but now, several days later, the final thing that had been bugging me about it suddenly clarified itself in a “lightbulb moment”.
There are parts that I really loved but others just left me rather confused at first. Callie and husband Mateo have bought their dream home in Spain and are moving in and life should be perfect, with the two of them still in their honeymoon period. Callie even gets on well with her 9 year old stepdaughter Bobbie, but pretty soon strange things start to happen in the house. Part of the house is locked off and keys are rare on the ground but Callie becomes convinced that someone is in that hidden other part of the house.
I loved the characters in the book, even their very pink estate agent and her rude “you might want to get rid of all this rubbish …” comments. Their housekeeper Rosita is very creepy, almost a Mrs Danvers in a mantilla and lurking in the background is Jarardo, a very strange and mute gardener. They, like their families before for them, have worked at the house all their lives. Rosita makes it clear in the book that she is the Housekeeper, who looks after the house, and the house looks after its own. A point well worth remembering later on in the book.
I didn’t quite get what attracted Callie and Mateo to each other – they seemed total opposites with nothing in common – certainly not an obvious coupling. Whilst I could understand Callie wanting security and a nice life – what was the attraction of Callie for Mateo?
The story builds very slowly, and at times you could be forgiven for forgetting the genre of book you are reading and maybe I would have liked the spookiness to start a little earlier than it did. When it does start though, things soon get very creepy indeed in a very understated way. Nothing in your face, just quiet “scared of the dark” bumping in the night terror.
However, I did wonder a few times about some of the actions Callie takes, the decisions she makes and her reactions to things. They didn’t seem normal but almost certainly down to the seductiveness of the house.
It did get very spooky indeed right up until the big reveal which was a bit, well, weird and I couldn’t quite grasp some parts of it without re-reading the last couple of chapters until I “got it” and then had that “lightbulb moment” that I already mentioned.
Having said that, it is not a bad read at all, chilling and one which leaves you wanting to go back over the book to get everything straight in your mind.
Thanks to the publisher for the review copy.
There are parts that I really loved but others just left me rather confused at first. Callie and husband Mateo have bought their dream home in Spain and are moving in and life should be perfect, with the two of them still in their honeymoon period. Callie even gets on well with her 9 year old stepdaughter Bobbie, but pretty soon strange things start to happen in the house. Part of the house is locked off and keys are rare on the ground but Callie becomes convinced that someone is in that hidden other part of the house.
I loved the characters in the book, even their very pink estate agent and her rude “you might want to get rid of all this rubbish …” comments. Their housekeeper Rosita is very creepy, almost a Mrs Danvers in a mantilla and lurking in the background is Jarardo, a very strange and mute gardener. They, like their families before for them, have worked at the house all their lives. Rosita makes it clear in the book that she is the Housekeeper, who looks after the house, and the house looks after its own. A point well worth remembering later on in the book.
I didn’t quite get what attracted Callie and Mateo to each other – they seemed total opposites with nothing in common – certainly not an obvious coupling. Whilst I could understand Callie wanting security and a nice life – what was the attraction of Callie for Mateo?
The story builds very slowly, and at times you could be forgiven for forgetting the genre of book you are reading and maybe I would have liked the spookiness to start a little earlier than it did. When it does start though, things soon get very creepy indeed in a very understated way. Nothing in your face, just quiet “scared of the dark” bumping in the night terror.
However, I did wonder a few times about some of the actions Callie takes, the decisions she makes and her reactions to things. They didn’t seem normal but almost certainly down to the seductiveness of the house.
It did get very spooky indeed right up until the big reveal which was a bit, well, weird and I couldn’t quite grasp some parts of it without re-reading the last couple of chapters until I “got it” and then had that “lightbulb moment” that I already mentioned.
Having said that, it is not a bad read at all, chilling and one which leaves you wanting to go back over the book to get everything straight in your mind.
Thanks to the publisher for the review copy.
April 16, 2015
I can't decide if I want to give this two or three stars, but I am giving it two because I genuinely disliked almost every character presented to me. Callie is the most clueless and naive excuse for a protagonist I have ever met. She seems to make decisions based on absolutely nothing, with no regard for the consequences. She seems to know nothing about the man she married, and throws herself into whatever whim next crosses her mind. Her character read like a teenage girl. Which, is not necessarily a bad thing at all, she just read like she lacked the brain development to make solid, adult choices.
Other than that, the plot was good and the premise was very creepy until it turned into an overwrought mess towards the end. Way too much going on. BAH. I am disappointed in this.
Other than that, the plot was good and the premise was very creepy until it turned into an overwrought mess towards the end. Way too much going on. BAH. I am disappointed in this.
February 21, 2016
3.5 stars. I liked this book but there were some things mentioned I would have liked to known more about.
September 24, 2021
The premise was an interesting and creepy tweak of the classic haunted house story. A beautiful house in Spain, built to allow every last ray of glorious sunshine... into half the house. The other half, nestled under a cliff, remains in constant darkness. Servants quarters, according to the realtor. Locked. Better not to open that side...
I began to worry about this book early on. The main character, Callie, is at a party with her mother and mother's friends who are all shown to be shallow, vacuous sorts. And what's worse, they're old! yuck! (It always raises a red flag when an author feels the need to introduce a female character by showing that she’s not like those other females. You know the ones I mean.) This does threaten to become a bit of a theme; she refers to her husbands ex wife as crazy and he agrees but a few pages later it's explained that they broke up fairly amicably because they both wanted to live in different countries?
And then the first time she meets her husband . What the...did I miss something? I honestly don't understand what just happened. What even was that exchange?
Anyway, I decided to assume for the time being that any weirdness so far was intentional; the author was feeding us information about the characters personalities, or setting Callie up as an unreliable narrator, or perhaps making things intentionally "off" in small ways in order to build a sense of unease.
I decided to place my trust in the author and keep going and I did enjoy the middle of the book. The narration is good and it does draw you into the story, though the clunky dialog pushes you out in several places. But then you see the "twist" coming a mile away and from then on the story becomes tedious. Callie vacillates endlessly on if the ghosts are victims who should be helped or evil spirits who are to be avoided. She researches the history of the house, trying to pin down which long dead person performed which unholy rituals for what evil purpose a hundred years ago. Who cares? Honestly? It has no bearing on what's going on in the story and the more dates and details attached to the house's past, the less mysterious and interesting it becomes.
Then the end is just riddled with things that don't make sense at all. Things that might have been attempts to add more twists but which directly contradicted something that happened earlier, killing any remaining faith in this author.
I began to worry about this book early on. The main character, Callie, is at a party with her mother and mother's friends who are all shown to be shallow, vacuous sorts. And what's worse, they're old! yuck! (It always raises a red flag when an author feels the need to introduce a female character by showing that she’s not like those other females. You know the ones I mean.) This does threaten to become a bit of a theme; she refers to her husbands ex wife as crazy and he agrees but a few pages later it's explained that they broke up fairly amicably because they both wanted to live in different countries?
And then the first time she meets her husband . What the...did I miss something? I honestly don't understand what just happened. What even was that exchange?
Anyway, I decided to assume for the time being that any weirdness so far was intentional; the author was feeding us information about the characters personalities, or setting Callie up as an unreliable narrator, or perhaps making things intentionally "off" in small ways in order to build a sense of unease.
I decided to place my trust in the author and keep going and I did enjoy the middle of the book. The narration is good and it does draw you into the story, though the clunky dialog pushes you out in several places. But then you see the "twist" coming a mile away and from then on the story becomes tedious. Callie vacillates endlessly on if the ghosts are victims who should be helped or evil spirits who are to be avoided. She researches the history of the house, trying to pin down which long dead person performed which unholy rituals for what evil purpose a hundred years ago. Who cares? Honestly? It has no bearing on what's going on in the story and the more dates and details attached to the house's past, the less mysterious and interesting it becomes.
Then the end is just riddled with things that don't make sense at all. Things that might have been attempts to add more twists but which directly contradicted something that happened earlier, killing any remaining faith in this author.
June 25, 2019
I wasn't sure if this would get a four star, or a three star, or perhaps a 3.5..... but then the last page left me with a completely baffling, open, ambiguous ending - which I personally loathe. If I take the time to read a book, spell out the ending, don't leave me always wondering. I hate those sorts of endings. I like twists, I like intelligent endings, I like psychological endings, but I despise open-ended finales that don't wrap up what I need to know and leave me on unstable footing.
That said, what a whopper of a story. Slower paced Gothic oozing atmosphere left and right. A small, Spanish town with quirky townsfolk, close-lipped servants, suspicious shadows, legends and lore, history in a unique house. To say it's simply a haunted house tale does not end up being true or serving the story justice. If only I could figure out what the story actually IS, then I'd be a happier camper.
With the explanation given before Callie freaks out a chapter or so before the last page, that doesn't fully make sense either. It is not historical times where children cannot fend for themselves or seek their own help, after all, and the house was not completely uninhabited. On the other hand, this ties up a disappearance or two. To make things worse, was what she wanted there in the end or not?? Knowing happiness makes all the difference in every world, reader's fantasy or non.
This book plays with your mind. Callie is reasonable as a main character and not unlikable, but the servants make me want to drop-kick them out of the house some of the time. Mateo had faults, but I really dug the man. My heart felt sorrow at times. The weighed down sadness with favorite characters accompanied by the heavy direction of the story created a disheartening tale.
Fowler writes well and I look forward to reading more of his work, yet I close this one up with a mixed, bittersweet impression.
If you like ghost tales, gothic vibes, you may want to try it on for size - but be warned that the longer the navigation the trickier the labyrinth grows.
That said, what a whopper of a story. Slower paced Gothic oozing atmosphere left and right. A small, Spanish town with quirky townsfolk, close-lipped servants, suspicious shadows, legends and lore, history in a unique house. To say it's simply a haunted house tale does not end up being true or serving the story justice. If only I could figure out what the story actually IS, then I'd be a happier camper.
With the explanation given before Callie freaks out a chapter or so before the last page, that doesn't fully make sense either. It is not historical times where children cannot fend for themselves or seek their own help, after all, and the house was not completely uninhabited. On the other hand, this ties up a disappearance or two. To make things worse, was what she wanted there in the end or not?? Knowing happiness makes all the difference in every world, reader's fantasy or non.
This book plays with your mind. Callie is reasonable as a main character and not unlikable, but the servants make me want to drop-kick them out of the house some of the time. Mateo had faults, but I really dug the man. My heart felt sorrow at times. The weighed down sadness with favorite characters accompanied by the heavy direction of the story created a disheartening tale.
Fowler writes well and I look forward to reading more of his work, yet I close this one up with a mixed, bittersweet impression.
If you like ghost tales, gothic vibes, you may want to try it on for size - but be warned that the longer the navigation the trickier the labyrinth grows.
October 18, 2017
This story is partly about things done to escape a phobia of darkness and something, a house built for a beloved to protect her from that fear. Callie and her husband but this beautiful home that is both stunningly filled with light and, at the back, dark. It functions like a camera obscura, but Callie can't help but meddle with the dark miniature rooms and defy the housekeeper who came with the house. She chases things in the dark. But what is there? What is real? The ending is very puzzling and like another reader said.... take it slow. I'm still kind of puzzling over different options.
The first twenty percent is build up, but just keep going. The house described is amazing and weird. So is Callie's past. Judge for yourself if Callie did the right thing or if she simply lost her mind.
The first twenty percent is build up, but just keep going. The house described is amazing and weird. So is Callie's past. Judge for yourself if Callie did the right thing or if she simply lost her mind.
February 12, 2016
Are you Afraid of the Dark??... 3.5 stars
Nyctophobia - defined as the "extreme or irrational fear of the night or of darkness"
Nyctophobia is a haunted house/ghost story. It's about a newly married family that moves into Hyperion House, a new house they just bought in Southern Spain.
"There are two things you need to know about haunted houses. One, there's never been an actual authenticated haunted house. Two, it's not the house that's haunted, but the person."
The first three quarters of this book was fantastic! Fowler really nails the creepy, gothic atmosphere, the secluded old house on a cliff and the quirky and sinister characters.
Then we get to the end...It was not only pretty hooky but it was also left open for the readers to figure out. Since I absolutely despise open, ambiguous endings, that just kind of ruined the story for me. Tsk tsk tsk Authors, I really don't want to try to figure out for the next three weeks what happened and I don't want to make up my own ending. I look at it like, that's your job. I just want to read it! I do realize some people like open endings so I think we need like a caution sticker on the front of books! Buyer Beware: If you are prone to increased blood pressure and violent tendencies caused by open endings then do not read this book! Yes I think that is definitely what I need. : )
Now if you are the type that doesn't mind an ambiguous ending, then I would definitely recommend this book for you because other then that, it really was a fantastic haunted house story.
Nyctophobia - defined as the "extreme or irrational fear of the night or of darkness"
Nyctophobia is a haunted house/ghost story. It's about a newly married family that moves into Hyperion House, a new house they just bought in Southern Spain.
"There are two things you need to know about haunted houses. One, there's never been an actual authenticated haunted house. Two, it's not the house that's haunted, but the person."
The first three quarters of this book was fantastic! Fowler really nails the creepy, gothic atmosphere, the secluded old house on a cliff and the quirky and sinister characters.
Then we get to the end...It was not only pretty hooky but it was also left open for the readers to figure out. Since I absolutely despise open, ambiguous endings, that just kind of ruined the story for me. Tsk tsk tsk Authors, I really don't want to try to figure out for the next three weeks what happened and I don't want to make up my own ending. I look at it like, that's your job. I just want to read it! I do realize some people like open endings so I think we need like a caution sticker on the front of books! Buyer Beware: If you are prone to increased blood pressure and violent tendencies caused by open endings then do not read this book! Yes I think that is definitely what I need. : )
Now if you are the type that doesn't mind an ambiguous ending, then I would definitely recommend this book for you because other then that, it really was a fantastic haunted house story.
August 15, 2014
Review: NYCTOPHOBIA by Christopher Fowler
I chose to review this as an ARC because I am such an admirer of Christopher Fowler (so far, specifically ROOFWORLD and RUNE), but at first (perhaps because the core of the story occurs in Spain), I didn't cotton to it as I'd expected. I thought I was reading a cross of Daphne du Maurier with Sarah Rayne. As I persevered, the tale grew on me. Eventually I realized that I held a story truly terrifying (I expect it will come alive in my dreams). If you're expecting splash and Gore, dripping walls, and rattling chains, keep moving. But if you appreciate the literary tradition that flowered in du Maurier and Rayne, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman: well, here's a house I'd like you to visit--Hyperion House in Spain, the "House of Light" where sunlight graces every single room from sunrise to.sunset....excepting only that set of always darkened, unwindowed rooms built into the mountain which the house abuts.
I reviewed an ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley for the sole purpose of my fair and honest review. No fees were exchanged.
I chose to review this as an ARC because I am such an admirer of Christopher Fowler (so far, specifically ROOFWORLD and RUNE), but at first (perhaps because the core of the story occurs in Spain), I didn't cotton to it as I'd expected. I thought I was reading a cross of Daphne du Maurier with Sarah Rayne. As I persevered, the tale grew on me. Eventually I realized that I held a story truly terrifying (I expect it will come alive in my dreams). If you're expecting splash and Gore, dripping walls, and rattling chains, keep moving. But if you appreciate the literary tradition that flowered in du Maurier and Rayne, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman: well, here's a house I'd like you to visit--Hyperion House in Spain, the "House of Light" where sunlight graces every single room from sunrise to.sunset....excepting only that set of always darkened, unwindowed rooms built into the mountain which the house abuts.
I reviewed an ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley for the sole purpose of my fair and honest review. No fees were exchanged.
September 3, 2014
ARC for review.
I was so excited about the first half of this book, a delightfully spooky story about a house haunted by....sunlight? It was both creepy and interesting, but the cracks started to show about halfway through as the strain of creating a believable relationship from an unlikely pairing (although I want a Mateo for myself!) and some of the stupid acts of the heroine diminished its effectiveness a bit. The end redeemed the book a bit (no spoilers here) and overall it was a page turner for me and I enjoyed it....also some good lines, including, "'I just came to use the library,' I said. ''It's in a bit of a sad state.' 'It's dreadful, isn't it? How can you have a Spanish library without Cervantes? Just old issues of Hello! and some dog-eared Harry Potters, nothing for a grown-up to read. We had hundreds of copies of that Fifty Shades of Grey thing. We burned them at the spring feria.. Ha. - I'll be looking for more from Fowler.
I was so excited about the first half of this book, a delightfully spooky story about a house haunted by....sunlight? It was both creepy and interesting, but the cracks started to show about halfway through as the strain of creating a believable relationship from an unlikely pairing (although I want a Mateo for myself!) and some of the stupid acts of the heroine diminished its effectiveness a bit. The end redeemed the book a bit (no spoilers here) and overall it was a page turner for me and I enjoyed it....also some good lines, including, "'I just came to use the library,' I said. ''It's in a bit of a sad state.' 'It's dreadful, isn't it? How can you have a Spanish library without Cervantes? Just old issues of Hello! and some dog-eared Harry Potters, nothing for a grown-up to read. We had hundreds of copies of that Fifty Shades of Grey thing. We burned them at the spring feria.. Ha. - I'll be looking for more from Fowler.
August 19, 2016
Clever, very clever this little story will keep you thinking the whole time. You may work it out at the end or it will take a few hours and WHAM! Now the plot cannot be discussed as a wrong word could spoil a third of the book.
The ending is superb with a good chance that you dear reader, like me, could add the paragraph at rhe end that does not need to be written to understand.
A five star thumbs up for this.
Oh best 10 page opening sequence ever before the book starts. Love the flickering light bulb effect... excellent piece of gothic.
The ending is superb with a good chance that you dear reader, like me, could add the paragraph at rhe end that does not need to be written to understand.
A five star thumbs up for this.
Oh best 10 page opening sequence ever before the book starts. Love the flickering light bulb effect... excellent piece of gothic.
January 29, 2019
250318: set in spain. so it reminds me of recent spanish horror films (the orphanage, the others, pan's labyrinth...), the kind i like- there is something just wrong, subtle but absolute, buried history, inescapable, progressively absorbing central protagonist. slowly. i enjoyed this far too much, read it in one sitting. the final 'reveal' haunts the reader as much as protagonist...
May 28, 2015
Nyctophobia is slow to start but, it builds to a much faster pace. There are some genuine scares in here and the ending is good and creepy. Not what I expected and that was a good thing.
July 6, 2022
3.5 stars--I really liked it, but am knocking half a star off because of some perplexing plot points!
I really enjoyed the first 75% or so of this book. It's a haunted house story, but not a typical one--the "ghosts" are awesome (and scary) and the backstory (and layout) of the house is original. I love stories of hauntings, and I devoured this. The quick marriage, the aloof housekeeper, the possibly unstable narrator--these are tropes of the genre, of course, but ones I enjoy. It sort of fizzled out at the end, though.
I really enjoyed the first 75% or so of this book. It's a haunted house story, but not a typical one--the "ghosts" are awesome (and scary) and the backstory (and layout) of the house is original. I love stories of hauntings, and I devoured this. The quick marriage, the aloof housekeeper, the possibly unstable narrator--these are tropes of the genre, of course, but ones I enjoy. It sort of fizzled out at the end, though.
June 24, 2019
not sure where the glowing reviews come from, as i found this book to be rather terrible... the idea was great, not unique by any stretch, but still workable... however it was so poorly rendered it was unbearable... the lead character was unlikeable at best, and a dull, boring stereotype at worst... the writing was stilted and not all that descriptive... the horror-ish elements were hardly touched, but would have made a much more intriguing story... the 'haunted house' gambit was lost on me... the 'hysterical woman' bit is tired and sexist... as is the suicidal/anorexic/bulimic/had-an-abortion female (hey, any more problems to tack on to this character, Mr. Fowler??? maniacal serial murderess? opioid addiction?)... few, if any, authors can do the ghost story well, attempting to wrap that idea around fear of the dark is a bridge too far for this author... disappointing...
June 26, 2016
This book has a number of things that I enjoy, mainly an unreliable narrator and an ambiguous ending. I like psychological stories that make you question if all of the events of the novel actually happened, or if they are just the imaginings of a deranged mind. "Nyctophobia" leaves the reader with a lot of questions and no clear answers, so if you are put off by that type of story this one is probably not for you.
I enjoyed this novel, but there really isn't anything new here in regards to haunted house stories. There are a few unexpected twists, but some of the bigger ones I saw coming from practically the beginning. The book has a nice atmosphere, though, and there are some good creepy moments. Overall, this is a fun, quick read for a rainy day.
I enjoyed this novel, but there really isn't anything new here in regards to haunted house stories. There are a few unexpected twists, but some of the bigger ones I saw coming from practically the beginning. The book has a nice atmosphere, though, and there are some good creepy moments. Overall, this is a fun, quick read for a rainy day.
December 8, 2014
Equivalent to a throwaway summer time horror movie. The house that everything takes place in is an interesting setting but amounts to nothing more then there being something spooky on the other side of the door for 250 out of 300 pages. Then when the last fifty pages come around and all the promises are "delivered" on, the revelations are glossed over and make less then complete sense. Couple all that with the incredibly frustrating, in the traditional bad horror movie fashion of doing nothing to help themselves, characters that inhabit the house and you've got a horror story that is as easy to read as it is to forget.
July 27, 2015
2 Star Rating ★★
This ended up being quite a difficult read for me as I found it very slow paced, there was so much build up to pretty much nothing in my opinion.
I found each character quite annoying and fairly dim to be honest as who really buys a property without seeing half of it? Not a lot of the storyline made a lot of sense and there were quite a few errors in the writing which was pretty distracting.
It wasn't all bad as there were a couple of chilling scenes but unfortunately they were very short lived, I wanted more scenes like that.
The idea for the story is indeed very original but in my opinion isn't very well executed.
Nevermind...
This ended up being quite a difficult read for me as I found it very slow paced, there was so much build up to pretty much nothing in my opinion.
I found each character quite annoying and fairly dim to be honest as who really buys a property without seeing half of it? Not a lot of the storyline made a lot of sense and there were quite a few errors in the writing which was pretty distracting.
It wasn't all bad as there were a couple of chilling scenes but unfortunately they were very short lived, I wanted more scenes like that.
The idea for the story is indeed very original but in my opinion isn't very well executed.
Nevermind...
October 29, 2014
I am not sure I read the same book other's have who gave this a pretty good rating. Nyctophobia was filled with contrived coincidences and improbable plot twists. I had no feelings at all for any of the characters in this book. This book is not scary or even suspenseful in that old fashioned Gothic way. So many plot errors. Nothing is explained, it just "is". Lazy writing for sure There was no care taken here by the author to create a book that makes sense. This is a really bad one and I don't recommend it to anyone.
October 31, 2015
A gradually unfurling psychological thriller
This was my first experience with Christopher Fowler and it will certainly not be the last. Nyctophobia was a highly enjoyable read that turned out to be a page-turner till the very end. The plot devices might be a little clichéd but Fowler manages to keep you guessing as the storyline slowly plays out. This is one of those books where new pieces of the overall puzzle will emerge on each subsequent read...
This was my first experience with Christopher Fowler and it will certainly not be the last. Nyctophobia was a highly enjoyable read that turned out to be a page-turner till the very end. The plot devices might be a little clichéd but Fowler manages to keep you guessing as the storyline slowly plays out. This is one of those books where new pieces of the overall puzzle will emerge on each subsequent read...
July 21, 2017
This book was the worst kind of disappointment for me. The story was very cool and held so much promise but the author seems utterly unable to deliver that promise. The book reads completely unedited. Typos and grammar mistakes abound and so many words used completely inappropriately I lost count. The dialogue was abysmal. I physically cringed. I very nearly did not finish and upon finishing I immediately regretted wasting my time. Such a disappointment.
September 16, 2022
A more than fair read from an excellent writer.
Mr. Fowler's Bryant and May series is one of my all-time, tied with one-other-writer's series favorites. I love those books and am reading them slowly, so as to make them last. (Then I might start all over again.) At any rate, when I heard he had written a haunted house novel? Set in Spain? About a huge mansion set against a cliff, in which one side is lit by the sun in practically every room, nook, cranny and corner? (And the other side in total darkness?) And with a heroine with a horrid back story, who marries a wealthy businessman? And then she moves into this house with all sorts of creepiness? And occasionally 'ventures' onto the dark side, and has dozens of questions about the house's past and who lived in it and so on and so on...
Yeah, I had to read it, and sorry for the paragraph-full-of question marks. It's the only way to convey my excitement at learning this book existed - and then reading it!
Atmospheric, cringe-worthy, intriguing as it was, why one star off? Because the ending did not seem to fit what I'd been reading. A story which seemed set in reality, suddenly jumps off the cliff. And yes, I know, how does one finish a story about a haunted house? How does one cycle around and 'explain all' or at least, leave the reader with a sense of 'it's done!' Not an easy thing to do and though I didn't like the ending...
The ride through the book was worth it.
Four stars.
Mr. Fowler's Bryant and May series is one of my all-time, tied with one-other-writer's series favorites. I love those books and am reading them slowly, so as to make them last. (Then I might start all over again.) At any rate, when I heard he had written a haunted house novel? Set in Spain? About a huge mansion set against a cliff, in which one side is lit by the sun in practically every room, nook, cranny and corner? (And the other side in total darkness?) And with a heroine with a horrid back story, who marries a wealthy businessman? And then she moves into this house with all sorts of creepiness? And occasionally 'ventures' onto the dark side, and has dozens of questions about the house's past and who lived in it and so on and so on...
Yeah, I had to read it, and sorry for the paragraph-full-of question marks. It's the only way to convey my excitement at learning this book existed - and then reading it!
Atmospheric, cringe-worthy, intriguing as it was, why one star off? Because the ending did not seem to fit what I'd been reading. A story which seemed set in reality, suddenly jumps off the cliff. And yes, I know, how does one finish a story about a haunted house? How does one cycle around and 'explain all' or at least, leave the reader with a sense of 'it's done!' Not an easy thing to do and though I didn't like the ending...
The ride through the book was worth it.
Four stars.
October 2, 2017
Honestly I want to say 2.5 - 3.5 stars.
I saw another reviewer state they had a love/hate thing going with this book. Same for me. I was so drawn in at first. Loved the whole feel of the book. It kept me wanting more. But then maybe half way thru, I just started to not care at all & almost decided to ditch the book altogether. But, since I already was somewhat committed (barely but just enough), i decided to see where it went. For me, not far. Didn't really get the ending but then again, not sure if I really cared... That's about all I got ...
I did enjoy the writing so may try another book by the author down the line. We'll see...
I saw another reviewer state they had a love/hate thing going with this book. Same for me. I was so drawn in at first. Loved the whole feel of the book. It kept me wanting more. But then maybe half way thru, I just started to not care at all & almost decided to ditch the book altogether. But, since I already was somewhat committed (barely but just enough), i decided to see where it went. For me, not far. Didn't really get the ending but then again, not sure if I really cared... That's about all I got ...
I did enjoy the writing so may try another book by the author down the line. We'll see...
October 18, 2014
Depending on your point of view, I suppose I am either the perfect or the worst ever candidate to read this book. Ever since I can remember I’ve always had “issues” with the dark. To give you some context, I have been known to walk/talk and, on one memorable occasion, scream while asleep. I also regularly wake in the pitch black utterly convinced that there is some else in the room. Sometimes these night terrors are so vivid I am unable to even open my eyes, I am literally paralysed by fear. The one thing that also stays with me after these events is that sense of complete and utter powerlessness. Fowler’s latest is scattered with so many moments that recapture that feeling it makes me shiver just thinking about it now.
When we first meet the novel’s main protagonist, Callie Shaw, she has just taken a huge leap of faith. She has given up her old life, thrown caution to the wind, and started a brand new chapter. Moving to a new country should be the happy ending that she had always dreamed of. She has managed to escaped the rat race of London, found the love of her life and left the traumatic events of her past far behind. Everything for Callie should be perfect, so why can she not shake the feeling that something is terribly wrong.
Nyctophobia is described in the dictionary as being an extreme or irrational fear of the night or of darkness. Callie has lived with the condition for years and it is always seems to be present. That primal fear of the unknown, of what lies within the inky blackness. is ready to chip away at her self-confidence at a moment’s notice.
There is a deliciously sinister undercurrent that permeates every chapter. Initially Hyperion House appears to be quite the rural idyll, but the longer Callie and her new family stay there, the more unsettling things become. As Callie begins to uncover the history of the structure, and the families that have lived there before, she starts to realise that everything is far from normal. Fowler excels when it comes to setting the scene, even the smallest of details are important. The relationships between Callie, Mateo and his daughter Bobbie, the eerie stillness of the remote locale, the pervasive heat of the Spanish summer, even the unique architecture of the building, all help to play tricks on Callie’s already fragile mind. It’s a masterclass in horror watching her descend into madness. Callie has to dig deep in order to try and overcome her fears. She has to motivate herself to act, to take charge of her own life. The terrors in Nyctophobia are as much internal as external.
I’m not normally a fan of a slower paced narrative, but this is the exception to the rule. This novel relies on that slower build up to crank the tension to fever pitch, while also managing to lull the reader into a false sense of security. Just at that point when you think you can’t take any more, when you’re sure you’ve got things figured out, that’s when Fowler really starts messing with your head. I love horror like this, it’s that slow twist of the knife, that sense that something horrific is happening just outside your field of vision, the feeling of impending doom. Each new sentence, paragraph and page are used to establish an every growing sense of dread.
I’ve been a fan of Christopher Fowler’s writing for years, and he never fails to disappoint. Nyctophobia is another fine example of his work. This is a creepy, atmospheric tale that blends the psychological and the supernatural effortlessly. If you’re in the mood for a ghost story that is going to make the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end, then look no further.
When we first meet the novel’s main protagonist, Callie Shaw, she has just taken a huge leap of faith. She has given up her old life, thrown caution to the wind, and started a brand new chapter. Moving to a new country should be the happy ending that she had always dreamed of. She has managed to escaped the rat race of London, found the love of her life and left the traumatic events of her past far behind. Everything for Callie should be perfect, so why can she not shake the feeling that something is terribly wrong.
Nyctophobia is described in the dictionary as being an extreme or irrational fear of the night or of darkness. Callie has lived with the condition for years and it is always seems to be present. That primal fear of the unknown, of what lies within the inky blackness. is ready to chip away at her self-confidence at a moment’s notice.
There is a deliciously sinister undercurrent that permeates every chapter. Initially Hyperion House appears to be quite the rural idyll, but the longer Callie and her new family stay there, the more unsettling things become. As Callie begins to uncover the history of the structure, and the families that have lived there before, she starts to realise that everything is far from normal. Fowler excels when it comes to setting the scene, even the smallest of details are important. The relationships between Callie, Mateo and his daughter Bobbie, the eerie stillness of the remote locale, the pervasive heat of the Spanish summer, even the unique architecture of the building, all help to play tricks on Callie’s already fragile mind. It’s a masterclass in horror watching her descend into madness. Callie has to dig deep in order to try and overcome her fears. She has to motivate herself to act, to take charge of her own life. The terrors in Nyctophobia are as much internal as external.
I’m not normally a fan of a slower paced narrative, but this is the exception to the rule. This novel relies on that slower build up to crank the tension to fever pitch, while also managing to lull the reader into a false sense of security. Just at that point when you think you can’t take any more, when you’re sure you’ve got things figured out, that’s when Fowler really starts messing with your head. I love horror like this, it’s that slow twist of the knife, that sense that something horrific is happening just outside your field of vision, the feeling of impending doom. Each new sentence, paragraph and page are used to establish an every growing sense of dread.
I’ve been a fan of Christopher Fowler’s writing for years, and he never fails to disappoint. Nyctophobia is another fine example of his work. This is a creepy, atmospheric tale that blends the psychological and the supernatural effortlessly. If you’re in the mood for a ghost story that is going to make the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end, then look no further.
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