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Cold Whisper
Tully. He made Sarah's every wish come true. He appeared to her eyes alone and spoke so that only she could hear. Sometimes Sarah wondered if it was all her imagination. But the things that Tully made happen were all too real. And, as Sarah grew up, they were all too horrible.
Now Sarah, a college freshman in Maine, lives in terror. She mustn't think bad thoughts. She mustn't give in to the lure of Tully's powers. She mustn't ever, ever get angry. For what Tully doesn't understand is that some wishes aren't meant to be granted.
Now Sarah, a college freshman in Maine, lives in terror. She mustn't think bad thoughts. She mustn't give in to the lure of Tully's powers. She mustn't ever, ever get angry. For what Tully doesn't understand is that some wishes aren't meant to be granted.
446 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1991
3 people are currently reading
199 people want to read
About the author
Rick Hautala
137 books125 followersAKA A.J. Matthews
Rick Hautala has more than thirty published books to his credit, including the million copy, international best-seller Nightstone, as well as Twilight Time, Little Brothers, Cold Whisper, Impulse, and The Wildman. He has also published four novels—The White Room, Looking Glass, Unbroken, and Follow—using the pseudonym A. J. Matthews. His more than sixty published short stories have appeared in national and international anthologies and magazines. His short story collection Bedbugs was selected as one of the best horror books of the year in 2003.
A novella titled Reunion was published by PS Publications in December, 2009; and Occasional Demons, a short story collection, is due in 2010 from CD Publications. He wrote the screenplays for several short films, including the multiple award-winning The Ugly Film, based on the short story by Ed Gorman, as well as Peekers, based on a short story by Kealan Patrick Burke, and Dead @ 17, based on the graphic novel by Josh Howard.
A graduate of the University of Maine in Orono with a Master of Art in English Literature (Renaissance and Medieval Literature), Hautala lives in southern Maine with author Holly Newstein. His three sons have all grown up and (mostly) moved out of the house. He served terms as Vice President and Trustee for the Horror Writers Association.
Sadly, Rick died on March 21, 2013.
Rick Hautala has more than thirty published books to his credit, including the million copy, international best-seller Nightstone, as well as Twilight Time, Little Brothers, Cold Whisper, Impulse, and The Wildman. He has also published four novels—The White Room, Looking Glass, Unbroken, and Follow—using the pseudonym A. J. Matthews. His more than sixty published short stories have appeared in national and international anthologies and magazines. His short story collection Bedbugs was selected as one of the best horror books of the year in 2003.
A novella titled Reunion was published by PS Publications in December, 2009; and Occasional Demons, a short story collection, is due in 2010 from CD Publications. He wrote the screenplays for several short films, including the multiple award-winning The Ugly Film, based on the short story by Ed Gorman, as well as Peekers, based on a short story by Kealan Patrick Burke, and Dead @ 17, based on the graphic novel by Josh Howard.
A graduate of the University of Maine in Orono with a Master of Art in English Literature (Renaissance and Medieval Literature), Hautala lives in southern Maine with author Holly Newstein. His three sons have all grown up and (mostly) moved out of the house. He served terms as Vice President and Trustee for the Horror Writers Association.
Sadly, Rick died on March 21, 2013.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
June 29, 2015
This book had great tension throughout. Every time I put it down, I kept wondering what would happen next. There wasn't any slow moments. It kept escalating and upping the ante for poor Sarah. She goes through a lot. There is murder, rape, stalking, kidnapping and even a weird supernatural "thing" called Tully. My only problem with the book is that there wasn't a complete explanation for Tully, just a little Finnish folklore that I wish the author would have fleshed out a bit more. Other than that, this leaves me yearning for another Hautala book of which I have plenty to choose from:)
October 17, 2020
Published in 1991 by Zebra (with an absolutely cool cover!), Hautala gives us a taut thriller with supernatural elements that I guess make it a horror novel as well. Our lead, Sarah, starts off as a teenager visiting her father and his new wife. Her mom picks her up (after a fight with her old hubby) and on the way home tragedy strikes. When Sarah's mom pulls over so Sarah and get out to pee, another car pulls up behind her, and the man that emerges is not friendly, as he rapes and kills her on the spot. Sarah, seeing this, lets out a scream and runs deeper into the woods, only to be pursued by the man. Sarah somehow manages to elude the rapist/killer, but never got a look at the man; she eventually moves in with her dad and his new wife.
Alongside the action sequences, we are introduced to 'Tully', something of a pixie in Finnish mythology. Tully has been around Sarah's family for years, as her dottering grandma states. Sarah first called on him as a child when her parents were getting divorced and has become something like an imaginary friend, but a little more than that. When Sarah gets angry, Tully can take action. The first time it was after her cat scratched her-- she hated him for that and wished him dead! Low and behold, the next day the cat was dead. Later on, when she grew annoyed at her little brother's non-stop crying, he also died (crib death officially). Sarah fears Tully, but it seems she cannot get away from him. When her stepmom angers her, she is next! Sarah goes off to college, but the man who raped/killed her mom knows who she is, and is obsessed with tracking her down and kidnapping her and worse...
This is a taut thriller, with the deranged rapist/killer hunting Sarah; without 'Tully', it would be a good read (although more than a tad bit cliche), but Tully adds enough extra to make it something novel. What exactly is Tully? Is he some kind of protector for Sarah, or an evil agent that carries out her foulest wishes? As a reader, he comes off as something of a puzzle to be sure. This is one of Hautala's better novels and kept me rapt all the way through. While I was not impressed with the ending, getting there was lots of fun. 3.5 stars rounding up.
Alongside the action sequences, we are introduced to 'Tully', something of a pixie in Finnish mythology. Tully has been around Sarah's family for years, as her dottering grandma states. Sarah first called on him as a child when her parents were getting divorced and has become something like an imaginary friend, but a little more than that. When Sarah gets angry, Tully can take action. The first time it was after her cat scratched her-- she hated him for that and wished him dead! Low and behold, the next day the cat was dead. Later on, when she grew annoyed at her little brother's non-stop crying, he also died (crib death officially). Sarah fears Tully, but it seems she cannot get away from him. When her stepmom angers her, she is next! Sarah goes off to college, but the man who raped/killed her mom knows who she is, and is obsessed with tracking her down and kidnapping her and worse...
This is a taut thriller, with the deranged rapist/killer hunting Sarah; without 'Tully', it would be a good read (although more than a tad bit cliche), but Tully adds enough extra to make it something novel. What exactly is Tully? Is he some kind of protector for Sarah, or an evil agent that carries out her foulest wishes? As a reader, he comes off as something of a puzzle to be sure. This is one of Hautala's better novels and kept me rapt all the way through. While I was not impressed with the ending, getting there was lots of fun. 3.5 stars rounding up.
March 3, 2020
Every time I read a Rick Hautala book I am reminded why I got into reading, especially why I got into and still am obsessed with reading horror novels. Rick always had that special something that just clicked with me. I've already gone into detail on how much Moonbog influenced my reading choices and sent me on a journey. So it's really strange I haven't completed reading his cannon of work.
That being said I started reading Cold Whisper and I fell back into my Hautalian (sp?) world that I remember loving so much. Rick's crafted a horrifying tale with some supernatural elements that just work. I could not put this book down. Now that is not to say it's not without it's faults. It's not a 5 star read, but it's awfully close. The supernatural horror element is just there in the story but it's not the driving element. The horror comes from an evil man's obsession with the main character who escaped him before and how the main character deals with her emotions and feelings having escaped a horrific crime which took the life of a loved one.
Needless to say I devoured this book. I love the way Rick writes. I simply couldn't put it down and am eager to start another journey into his dark world. He truly remains one of my favorite and in my opinion on of the most underappreciated horror authors. I miss him.
That being said I started reading Cold Whisper and I fell back into my Hautalian (sp?) world that I remember loving so much. Rick's crafted a horrifying tale with some supernatural elements that just work. I could not put this book down. Now that is not to say it's not without it's faults. It's not a 5 star read, but it's awfully close. The supernatural horror element is just there in the story but it's not the driving element. The horror comes from an evil man's obsession with the main character who escaped him before and how the main character deals with her emotions and feelings having escaped a horrific crime which took the life of a loved one.
Needless to say I devoured this book. I love the way Rick writes. I simply couldn't put it down and am eager to start another journey into his dark world. He truly remains one of my favorite and in my opinion on of the most underappreciated horror authors. I miss him.
March 26, 2021
Skip It! Yes......no words can tell you how stupid this book was!
This book starts out with a great idea of an 8 year old little girl with an imaginery friend that can grant her wishes....one of which is to make her 2 year old little brother to die!
Then when she is 16 her and her mother are coming home in the car, and they are along the side of the road, because Sarah has to pee, so she ventures into the woods....well as she is there, she witnesses her mother being VIOLENTLY raped and murdered by a crazed man who pulls over thinking her mother needs car help. This book then takes a turn into a stupid and wanna be 'Kidnapping and torment' thriller! Yes.....this was so dumb. Skip It! The cover was the best thing about this book....
2 DEAD ghosts is what I give this......
This book starts out with a great idea of an 8 year old little girl with an imaginery friend that can grant her wishes....one of which is to make her 2 year old little brother to die!
Then when she is 16 her and her mother are coming home in the car, and they are along the side of the road, because Sarah has to pee, so she ventures into the woods....well as she is there, she witnesses her mother being VIOLENTLY raped and murdered by a crazed man who pulls over thinking her mother needs car help. This book then takes a turn into a stupid and wanna be 'Kidnapping and torment' thriller! Yes.....this was so dumb. Skip It! The cover was the best thing about this book....
2 DEAD ghosts is what I give this......
December 26, 2022
Sarah is a teenager with a guardian angel, a personal ghost whose modus operandi is to kill anyone who displeases Sarah. Having accidentally gotten her cat and her little brother killed this way, Sarah is understandably beginning to feel some remorse. Then her mother gets brutally raped and killed by a stranger, which Sarah witnesses from a distance. In this situation the ghost, Tully, proves mostly useless, although he does later dispatch her new (pregnant) stepmother, establishing that he only attacks those who are easy prey.
The mechanisms behind this old world ghost are decidedly murky. Apparently he can only go after people Sarah knows, although that doesn’t stop him from killing the rapist’s later accomplice in an unrelated crime. Sarah’s ancient grandmother fills in some of the blanks, supplying Finnish words such as “haamu” and “tonttu”, meaning a ghost and a pixie, to describe the capricious Tully. Meanwhile, Alan the mother-rapist is looking for the now university freshman Sarah, having become obsessed with getting the daughter as well. Halfway through the novel, just after Sarah has conveniently managed to banish Tully for good, Alan abducts and rapes her and then rapes her some more.
It’s a tale of two halves here, with the beginning concentrating on Sarah’s struggle with figuring out Tully and trying not to kill anyone accidentally. The second half is all about the abduction, with Sarah’s new boyfriend Michael and a boozed-up former cop Elliot trying to locate her with the help of Tully’s slightly cryptic tips. It all starts to feel a bit Dean Koontz with Alan the psychopathic mother-daughter-rapist slash occasional killer, while Tully the main attraction is relegated to a supernatural GPS navigator.
haamu-rick-hautala
Finnish edition with cover art by Jukka Murtosaari
The setting is Maine, from the woods to the university, and I’m sure Hautala is at his most familiar element here. However, most of Hautala’s characters sound implausible, with lines that make one cringe. Many of the characters are very highly strung, emotionally explosive, with dialogue often taking sudden turns that have no relation to human behaviour in the real world. Sarah as the angsty teenager is one of the few to actually benefit from Hautala’s edgy lines, but from others it sounds as if they have some unresolved psychological issues. Hautala also seems to revert to type with Elliot the former cop, somehow thinking an alcohol addiction might make him seem more real. But it doesn’t really fit the character.
Cold Whisper is a mediocre novel. Somewhere inside it is a neat idea, about a guardian spirit gone berserk, but Hautala doesn’t quite manage to pull it together. The Finnish elements don’t really add anything of any substance to the mix, which is unfortunate, since boosting them might’ve elevated some of the novel above the generic. As it stands, it all feels slightly disposable. The holographic cover, however, is spot-on after some of Zebra’s earlier attempts.
Read all my reviews at mikareadshorrorfiction.wordpress.com
The mechanisms behind this old world ghost are decidedly murky. Apparently he can only go after people Sarah knows, although that doesn’t stop him from killing the rapist’s later accomplice in an unrelated crime. Sarah’s ancient grandmother fills in some of the blanks, supplying Finnish words such as “haamu” and “tonttu”, meaning a ghost and a pixie, to describe the capricious Tully. Meanwhile, Alan the mother-rapist is looking for the now university freshman Sarah, having become obsessed with getting the daughter as well. Halfway through the novel, just after Sarah has conveniently managed to banish Tully for good, Alan abducts and rapes her and then rapes her some more.
It’s a tale of two halves here, with the beginning concentrating on Sarah’s struggle with figuring out Tully and trying not to kill anyone accidentally. The second half is all about the abduction, with Sarah’s new boyfriend Michael and a boozed-up former cop Elliot trying to locate her with the help of Tully’s slightly cryptic tips. It all starts to feel a bit Dean Koontz with Alan the psychopathic mother-daughter-rapist slash occasional killer, while Tully the main attraction is relegated to a supernatural GPS navigator.
haamu-rick-hautala
Finnish edition with cover art by Jukka Murtosaari
The setting is Maine, from the woods to the university, and I’m sure Hautala is at his most familiar element here. However, most of Hautala’s characters sound implausible, with lines that make one cringe. Many of the characters are very highly strung, emotionally explosive, with dialogue often taking sudden turns that have no relation to human behaviour in the real world. Sarah as the angsty teenager is one of the few to actually benefit from Hautala’s edgy lines, but from others it sounds as if they have some unresolved psychological issues. Hautala also seems to revert to type with Elliot the former cop, somehow thinking an alcohol addiction might make him seem more real. But it doesn’t really fit the character.
Cold Whisper is a mediocre novel. Somewhere inside it is a neat idea, about a guardian spirit gone berserk, but Hautala doesn’t quite manage to pull it together. The Finnish elements don’t really add anything of any substance to the mix, which is unfortunate, since boosting them might’ve elevated some of the novel above the generic. As it stands, it all feels slightly disposable. The holographic cover, however, is spot-on after some of Zebra’s earlier attempts.
Read all my reviews at mikareadshorrorfiction.wordpress.com
September 14, 2023
Hack Horror by Hautala
The first omen is the stinger on the front proudly displaying that this story is set in Maine to ride the coattails of that other famous horror writer. Spoiler: The setting offers nothing to the story.
In fact, the only redeeming quality of this one is the rest of the shimmering holographic cover that is so nostalgically evocative of a time when we actually tried to get people excited about reading and when *actual* artists made engaging covers and (for better or worse) took artistic liberties. In this case, the sneering demonic entity reflected as a foil of the protagonist on the cover is nowhere close to the description in the book (and it is described OFTEN).
Repetition isn't the most prominent issue with the book, but it is the most noticeable because the entire (overly long) novel is just treading circles. Character senses a presences behind them. Presence is described for the thousandth time using the same limited adjectives (pale, thin), character shivers and moves on. You will be reading chapter after chapter of this filler.
The core plot trudges along so slowly and repetitively that you get the impression Hautala never had any imagination for the entity (a thin, pale boy with thin, pale eyes behind a thin, pale smile) which is why halfway through he backseats the supernatural plot in favor of a CAPE FEAR goes to college narrative but lacking any restraint or taste.
Hautala *almost* comes close to presenting a horrifying tale of the female experience wherein teen Sarah lives in permanent fear of every single man around her lusting for her and half of them assaulting her. When she is suffering, the men are useless and fight among themselves. There could have been poignant commentary here but it becomes very obvious that it is not coming from a place of empathy. Every male character lusts after teen Sarah and half of them are presented as heroes at the end. Every female character is written as a shrewish airhead or a placeholder for brutalization. The entire last third of the book is a harrowing leg to suffer through as the men go exercise those same repetitious cycles of sensing a presence while the main character is repeatedly r*ped over and over. It's gratuitous and a sickly grind to read through to the point that it feels the author was acting out their own fetish with no real interest in presenting compelling supernatural horror. I took ten seconds to glance at another Hautala book and the preview showcased yet another r*pe plot which speaks volumes to me.
It may be a horror taboo to speak ill of the dead but in this case I can safely say that Hautala's "gift" for horror leaves less the sensation of a cold whisper and more that of a wet fart.
The first omen is the stinger on the front proudly displaying that this story is set in Maine to ride the coattails of that other famous horror writer. Spoiler: The setting offers nothing to the story.
In fact, the only redeeming quality of this one is the rest of the shimmering holographic cover that is so nostalgically evocative of a time when we actually tried to get people excited about reading and when *actual* artists made engaging covers and (for better or worse) took artistic liberties. In this case, the sneering demonic entity reflected as a foil of the protagonist on the cover is nowhere close to the description in the book (and it is described OFTEN).
Repetition isn't the most prominent issue with the book, but it is the most noticeable because the entire (overly long) novel is just treading circles. Character senses a presences behind them. Presence is described for the thousandth time using the same limited adjectives (pale, thin), character shivers and moves on. You will be reading chapter after chapter of this filler.
The core plot trudges along so slowly and repetitively that you get the impression Hautala never had any imagination for the entity (a thin, pale boy with thin, pale eyes behind a thin, pale smile) which is why halfway through he backseats the supernatural plot in favor of a CAPE FEAR goes to college narrative but lacking any restraint or taste.
Hautala *almost* comes close to presenting a horrifying tale of the female experience wherein teen Sarah lives in permanent fear of every single man around her lusting for her and half of them assaulting her. When she is suffering, the men are useless and fight among themselves. There could have been poignant commentary here but it becomes very obvious that it is not coming from a place of empathy. Every male character lusts after teen Sarah and half of them are presented as heroes at the end. Every female character is written as a shrewish airhead or a placeholder for brutalization. The entire last third of the book is a harrowing leg to suffer through as the men go exercise those same repetitious cycles of sensing a presence while the main character is repeatedly r*ped over and over. It's gratuitous and a sickly grind to read through to the point that it feels the author was acting out their own fetish with no real interest in presenting compelling supernatural horror. I took ten seconds to glance at another Hautala book and the preview showcased yet another r*pe plot which speaks volumes to me.
It may be a horror taboo to speak ill of the dead but in this case I can safely say that Hautala's "gift" for horror leaves less the sensation of a cold whisper and more that of a wet fart.
January 22, 2024
Hautala writes the most unlikable characters I've ever comes across. Even his heroine is a whiny, self-centered, endlessly soliloquizing twit. And that's not to mention the sub-par rapist we're forced to spend at least have the 450 pages with. Believe, I WANT to like these books. But this is a definite hate-read.
The set-up is an imaginary friend who kills at a whim. Yet mid-book he switches to a helpless and friendly spirit figure. What the hell? A mess...a head-shaking mess.
The set-up is an imaginary friend who kills at a whim. Yet mid-book he switches to a helpless and friendly spirit figure. What the hell? A mess...a head-shaking mess.
November 9, 2022
starts as a supremely interesting story of a supernatural imaginary friend with a taste for blood, but then the final third takes a hard turn into a abducted woman thriller, which isn’t my style at all. You’ve got tell kike two very different types of horror stories to like this one all the way through.
April 7, 2020
Dull, overlong Monkey's Paw story forced in 450 pages by an unneeded kidnapping plot that essentially becomes the main plot. Skip it.
July 8, 2024
I absolutely loved this story, it kept me on the edge and had original ideas and original scares. I can't wait to read more of Rick Hautala.
September 10, 2024
A good horror story with a decent plot and characters. 3 to 3.5 stars. What lets it down is its publisher. My Kindle edition (Macabre Ink/Crossroad Press, 2014) was riddled with typos; oftentimes there were multiple instances per page and many were simply ridiculous: close spelled as dose and question marks in place of exclamation points, for example. Get your act together, Crossroad Press!
September 7, 2016
2016 Popsugar Reading Challenge: A Book You haven't read since high school
This book was a crazy hot mess. I actually started reading this book in high school, but I couldn't finish it before it had to be returned to the library. I still, technically haven't read it since high school...
Hautala does a masterful job of making his MC, Sarah, as flat and boring as possible. I think she laughs twice in the whole book, and only once was truly genuine. The supernatural element of the story is confusing and silly and really only serves as a deus ex machina.
The male characters all seem to be facets of the writer, himself. There is little to this book past gratuitous victim porn. The rape of Sarah feels forced. I don't feel much for the characters. The villain is cartoonish and ridiculous. So much could have been improved just by making the villain a little less cliche and a little more sympathetic, or at least realistic.
The ghost aspect of the novel was totally a bait and switch. He was supposedly her friend, but then only killed those she loved. Not only that, but he is made worthless halfway through, and it just becomes a kidnapping "thriller." Lame.
This book was a crazy hot mess. I actually started reading this book in high school, but I couldn't finish it before it had to be returned to the library. I still, technically haven't read it since high school...
Hautala does a masterful job of making his MC, Sarah, as flat and boring as possible. I think she laughs twice in the whole book, and only once was truly genuine. The supernatural element of the story is confusing and silly and really only serves as a deus ex machina.
The male characters all seem to be facets of the writer, himself. There is little to this book past gratuitous victim porn. The rape of Sarah feels forced. I don't feel much for the characters. The villain is cartoonish and ridiculous. So much could have been improved just by making the villain a little less cliche and a little more sympathetic, or at least realistic.
The ghost aspect of the novel was totally a bait and switch. He was supposedly her friend, but then only killed those she loved. Not only that, but he is made worthless halfway through, and it just becomes a kidnapping "thriller." Lame.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 12, 2015
I can really see getting into Hautala's work. I've read Night Stone quite a while ago, and I remember really liking it, one of my favorite horror novels, and I also really like Cold Whisper. He puts together a good psychological suspense into a memorable dramatic story. If it's anything that's off a bit is the cover of the book, it's misleading.
July 19, 2015
Overly long. Would have benefited being 100 pages shorter. A solid supernatural suspense story with strong characters and a real sense of peril.
July 27, 2016
2.5 stars
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews