What do you think?
Rate this book
The Devil's Hoof - A Gothic Tale
This novel draws on the real-life history of the Hell Fire Club, an infamous gentleman's club of the eighteenth century, located in the Dublin mountains.
In the bleak winter of 1741, in the isolated village of Glenboyne, a series of horrific murders occur in the Dublin mountains. Daniel Pearsons, an English official, is dispatched from Dublin Castle to investigate the crimes, and finds a community in the grip of terror, and unwilling to talk. What should he make of the rumours of a demonic creature sworn by the locals to be seen and heard at the scene of each killing? And why do bonfires light up the midnight sky at the summit of the mountaintop? But the truth is darker than he could have imagined.
In the bleak winter of 1741, in the isolated village of Glenboyne, a series of horrific murders occur in the Dublin mountains. Daniel Pearsons, an English official, is dispatched from Dublin Castle to investigate the crimes, and finds a community in the grip of terror, and unwilling to talk. What should he make of the rumours of a demonic creature sworn by the locals to be seen and heard at the scene of each killing? And why do bonfires light up the midnight sky at the summit of the mountaintop? But the truth is darker than he could have imagined.
241 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2017
1 person is currently reading
45 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 18, 2022
So we need to talk about The Devil's Hoof...
I'd like to preface this by saying that I picked up The Devil's Hoof from Books on the Green in Sandymount, Dublin. It is a lovely bookstore. This book was in Irish interests, where I was looking for a copy of The Curious History of Irish Dogs to gift a friend. Since buying it, I have seen it marketed in bookshops all over Dublin. Outside of Ireland, I am sure the book is accessible through many different means.
On to the physicality of the book. The cover is a fairly typical one for the genre, but the old illustration of the Hellfire Club gives it more gravity than it may have had otherwise. It is fairly sturdy although the back few pages definitely had a crease in them when I got there. The text is set up in a curious way, with a full space between paragraphs rather than just a clear new paragraph. I did not enjoy this at first but got used to it as I read on. It does mean that the pages have slightly more blank space than usual.
This book has great bones. It is so important to start here because so many books like it fail to build good bones for itself. In this case, the bones are the Hellfire Club, the occupying British government in Dublin, the complex relationships between an occupied Irish people and a British authority figure, the Wicklow Mountains, and the religious infused folklore of the era. Those bones gave Jonathan Barry a great jumping off point. For people who are unfamiliar with these topics, the book is straight forward enough that one could enjoy it without having to do any background work. That said, knowing those moving pieces definitely made certain aspects of the story easier to interpret.
The plot itself is a fairly straight forward mystery with horror undertones. There is something in the woods picking off young women-but what? And why? Does it have anything to do with the wolves howling around the village? Or anything to do with the large bonfires appearing on the hills around it?
When it comes to any horror novel, assessing the level of gore matters for a lot of people. The gruesome details in The Devil's Hoof are fairly tame but it is far from too clean, it feels appropriate for anyone 16 and onwards in that regard. Sensitive stomachs need not be afraid. The plot also has a few clues and red herrings left for the reader (I could have savored a few more, but that is just me).
From the first chapter, Barry strikes tones of Susan Hill's The Woman in Black, a splash of Joan Aiken in the building of townsfolk and social atmosphere, and a hint of Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow (1999) for atmosphere. These mostly carry through the text in a pleasant and balanced way without disrupting Barry's own voice.
The book is pleasant to read and is straight forward. There are a few odd moments, such as a child being called an "infant" and a "toddler" in the same passage. That could have been solved by throwing Barry's Thesaurus out of the window and settling on something more concrete. These little things added up to be a minor annoyance throughout the book.
I would be remiss not to discuss the role of gender and sexuality in the piece. Despite most of the victims being women, actual female characters are sparse. There is the teenaged beauty, Cathy, who is the virtuous daughter of a barkeep. There is Tilly, a little girl with a loving mother who appears to highlight the goodness of Cathy. And then there is the seemingly unnamed wife of the local doctor, stuck in an abusive relationship but who desperately wants to be a good host to our narrator. Although they never meet, she only yells from another room. Over all, it isn't great. It only barely passes the Bechdel Test when Cathy comes to comfort Tilly after an accident.
There is also the shadow of sexuality over the book. This comes, partially, from the Hellfire Club itself, being a living legend for all occult lovers the world over. Historically relevant, and well researched, it is the club that carries the majority of the sexual weight of the book without lifting a finger.
Megan Fox called Machine Gun Kelly "weed." History calls the Hellfire Club "sex".
Ultimately the conclusion of the novel is rich and connects the proper threads. Barry does a wonderful job, especially for a debut novelist, in making sure the loose strings are all taken care of. I did, however, silently hope that there would be an alternate ending going in a totally different direction just to show the versatility of the subject matter. When it comes to the Hellfire Club nobody can ever be too sure... But I digress.
So who is The Devil's Hoof for? It is for anyone who enjoys mystery, horror, and historical fiction. It is for people who don't mind if the vast majority of characters are men. It is for readers who don't mind the use of too many synonyms that occasionally contradict the original meaning. It is also a book for anyone who needs a quick and interesting gothic read. It is decidedly satisfying and worth the time spent on it. Admittedly, it took me dramatically longer than it should have, but that is because of travel and a summer capstone. Had I not been distracted, I would have finished this in a long weekend. It is that compelling.
Give the book a go. I assure you, you can find a copy anywhere in Dublin. After all, read local and then hike local and then haunt local.
I'd like to preface this by saying that I picked up The Devil's Hoof from Books on the Green in Sandymount, Dublin. It is a lovely bookstore. This book was in Irish interests, where I was looking for a copy of The Curious History of Irish Dogs to gift a friend. Since buying it, I have seen it marketed in bookshops all over Dublin. Outside of Ireland, I am sure the book is accessible through many different means.
On to the physicality of the book. The cover is a fairly typical one for the genre, but the old illustration of the Hellfire Club gives it more gravity than it may have had otherwise. It is fairly sturdy although the back few pages definitely had a crease in them when I got there. The text is set up in a curious way, with a full space between paragraphs rather than just a clear new paragraph. I did not enjoy this at first but got used to it as I read on. It does mean that the pages have slightly more blank space than usual.
This book has great bones. It is so important to start here because so many books like it fail to build good bones for itself. In this case, the bones are the Hellfire Club, the occupying British government in Dublin, the complex relationships between an occupied Irish people and a British authority figure, the Wicklow Mountains, and the religious infused folklore of the era. Those bones gave Jonathan Barry a great jumping off point. For people who are unfamiliar with these topics, the book is straight forward enough that one could enjoy it without having to do any background work. That said, knowing those moving pieces definitely made certain aspects of the story easier to interpret.
The plot itself is a fairly straight forward mystery with horror undertones. There is something in the woods picking off young women-but what? And why? Does it have anything to do with the wolves howling around the village? Or anything to do with the large bonfires appearing on the hills around it?
When it comes to any horror novel, assessing the level of gore matters for a lot of people. The gruesome details in The Devil's Hoof are fairly tame but it is far from too clean, it feels appropriate for anyone 16 and onwards in that regard. Sensitive stomachs need not be afraid. The plot also has a few clues and red herrings left for the reader (I could have savored a few more, but that is just me).
From the first chapter, Barry strikes tones of Susan Hill's The Woman in Black, a splash of Joan Aiken in the building of townsfolk and social atmosphere, and a hint of Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow (1999) for atmosphere. These mostly carry through the text in a pleasant and balanced way without disrupting Barry's own voice.
The book is pleasant to read and is straight forward. There are a few odd moments, such as a child being called an "infant" and a "toddler" in the same passage. That could have been solved by throwing Barry's Thesaurus out of the window and settling on something more concrete. These little things added up to be a minor annoyance throughout the book.
I would be remiss not to discuss the role of gender and sexuality in the piece. Despite most of the victims being women, actual female characters are sparse. There is the teenaged beauty, Cathy, who is the virtuous daughter of a barkeep. There is Tilly, a little girl with a loving mother who appears to highlight the goodness of Cathy. And then there is the seemingly unnamed wife of the local doctor, stuck in an abusive relationship but who desperately wants to be a good host to our narrator. Although they never meet, she only yells from another room. Over all, it isn't great. It only barely passes the Bechdel Test when Cathy comes to comfort Tilly after an accident.
There is also the shadow of sexuality over the book. This comes, partially, from the Hellfire Club itself, being a living legend for all occult lovers the world over. Historically relevant, and well researched, it is the club that carries the majority of the sexual weight of the book without lifting a finger.
Megan Fox called Machine Gun Kelly "weed." History calls the Hellfire Club "sex".
Ultimately the conclusion of the novel is rich and connects the proper threads. Barry does a wonderful job, especially for a debut novelist, in making sure the loose strings are all taken care of. I did, however, silently hope that there would be an alternate ending going in a totally different direction just to show the versatility of the subject matter. When it comes to the Hellfire Club nobody can ever be too sure... But I digress.
So who is The Devil's Hoof for? It is for anyone who enjoys mystery, horror, and historical fiction. It is for people who don't mind if the vast majority of characters are men. It is for readers who don't mind the use of too many synonyms that occasionally contradict the original meaning. It is also a book for anyone who needs a quick and interesting gothic read. It is decidedly satisfying and worth the time spent on it. Admittedly, it took me dramatically longer than it should have, but that is because of travel and a summer capstone. Had I not been distracted, I would have finished this in a long weekend. It is that compelling.
Give the book a go. I assure you, you can find a copy anywhere in Dublin. After all, read local and then hike local and then haunt local.
October 1, 2023
Very disappointing. An enthusiastic saleswoman at Hodges Figgis (oldest bookstore in Ireland) recommended this book. The cover art is great.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews