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Küçük Gölgeler Evi
Kırmızı ev karanlık, oda kapkaranlık. Tek ışık kaynağı bu parlak cam gözler. Uyuma. Çünkü cam gözler uyumanı bekli̇yor.
Catherine, doldurduğu hayvanlar ve gerçekçi kuklalarıyla ünlü dâhi taksidermist M. H. Mason’ın evine davet edildiğinde bir müzayedeci olarak hayatının fırsatını yakaladığını düşünür. Kırmızı Ev’in içi Mason’ın insan gibi giydirdiği ölü hayvanları ve canlıymış gibi görünen cam gözlü kuklalarıyla doludur. Catherine bu sıra dışı işçilikten etkilendiği kadar ürker de. Burayı ilk ziyaretinden sonra cebinde bulduğu not da en az kuklalar kadar ürkütücüdür: Sakın bir daha geri gelme.
Bunun tuhaf bir şaka olduğunu düşünen Catherine birkaç günlüğüne Kırmızı Ev’e misafir olup tüm eşyaların bir listesini çıkaracaktır. Ancak gün, geceye döndüğünde işler değişir. Sahipleri asla ortaya çıkmayan gölgeler, küçük bedenlere ait olduğu belli olan ayak sesleri, hayal ile gerçekliğin birbirine karıştığı bir karanlık… Sırlarla dolu bu evde Catherine kendi korkunç geçmişiyle de yüzleşmek zorunda kalacaktır, tabii cam gözlerin eşliğinde.
“Küçük, ahşap ayakların sesleri kâbusunuz olacak.”
- SFX
“Hem geçmişte hem de gelecekte kapana kısılıp kalmak… Küçük Gölgeler Evi büyüleyici bir gerilim.”
- The Guardian
“Bundan elli yıl sonra bile gerilim kitabı sevenlerin zevkle okuyacağı özelliklere sahip, hatta bir klasik olma potansiyeli var.”
- Scott Smith
“Adam Nevill bizi bildiğimiz dünyadan alıp korku dünyasına götürüyor, kapıyı da üstümüze kilitliyor. Küçük Gölgeler Evi, her sayfada korkunun sizi daha da esir alacağı karanlık bir roman.”
- Michael Koryta
Catherine, doldurduğu hayvanlar ve gerçekçi kuklalarıyla ünlü dâhi taksidermist M. H. Mason’ın evine davet edildiğinde bir müzayedeci olarak hayatının fırsatını yakaladığını düşünür. Kırmızı Ev’in içi Mason’ın insan gibi giydirdiği ölü hayvanları ve canlıymış gibi görünen cam gözlü kuklalarıyla doludur. Catherine bu sıra dışı işçilikten etkilendiği kadar ürker de. Burayı ilk ziyaretinden sonra cebinde bulduğu not da en az kuklalar kadar ürkütücüdür: Sakın bir daha geri gelme.
Bunun tuhaf bir şaka olduğunu düşünen Catherine birkaç günlüğüne Kırmızı Ev’e misafir olup tüm eşyaların bir listesini çıkaracaktır. Ancak gün, geceye döndüğünde işler değişir. Sahipleri asla ortaya çıkmayan gölgeler, küçük bedenlere ait olduğu belli olan ayak sesleri, hayal ile gerçekliğin birbirine karıştığı bir karanlık… Sırlarla dolu bu evde Catherine kendi korkunç geçmişiyle de yüzleşmek zorunda kalacaktır, tabii cam gözlerin eşliğinde.
“Küçük, ahşap ayakların sesleri kâbusunuz olacak.”
- SFX
“Hem geçmişte hem de gelecekte kapana kısılıp kalmak… Küçük Gölgeler Evi büyüleyici bir gerilim.”
- The Guardian
“Bundan elli yıl sonra bile gerilim kitabı sevenlerin zevkle okuyacağı özelliklere sahip, hatta bir klasik olma potansiyeli var.”
- Scott Smith
“Adam Nevill bizi bildiğimiz dünyadan alıp korku dünyasına götürüyor, kapıyı da üstümüze kilitliyor. Küçük Gölgeler Evi, her sayfada korkunun sizi daha da esir alacağı karanlık bir roman.”
- Michael Koryta
384 pages, Paperback
First published October 10, 2013
201 people are currently reading
8187 people want to read
About the author
Adam L.G. Nevill
76 books5,548 followersADAM L. G. NEVILL was born in Birmingham, England, in 1969 and grew up in England and New Zealand. He is an author of horror fiction. Of his novels, The Ritual, Last Days, No One Gets Out Alive and The Reddening were all winners of The August Derleth Award for Best Horror Novel. He has also published three collections of short stories, with Some Will Not Sleep winning the British Fantasy Award for Best Collection, 2017.
Imaginarium adapted The Ritual and No One Gets Out Alive into feature films and more of his work is currently in development for the screen.
The author lives in Devon, England.
Imaginarium adapted The Ritual and No One Gets Out Alive into feature films and more of his work is currently in development for the screen.
The author lives in Devon, England.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 699 reviews
October 22, 2025
Creepy Book Alert! One of my picks for you as a total winner with Halloween on way.
Wow! Gothic creepiness at its best. This book still has me thinking about it a week after reading it. This is an atmospheric, dark and delectable horror where Nevill lets your imagination fill in blank spaces. The stuff of nightmares.
Don't expect fast paced blood, gore and splatter. That's not what this style of horror delivers. In the subtleties are the darkest of things. A book that astounded me with its ability to yet again put me IN the book, Nevill does that to me everyone. I feel so close. Too close for comfort.
Take one dark, rambling ancient mansion. Toss in some erratic, bizarre, secretive and disturbing residents. Add creepy dolls, toys, scenes and marionettes and them send in a beautiful art valuer, thinking she's simply cataloguing bizarre and rare items left over from the legacy and mind of an artist long dead. What do you get? Terror. The nightmares of childhood reappearing.
Dolls that move? Or did they? Are you going mad in this house? Secrets so diabolical and evil. Then the reveals at the end that blows the whole flipping book apart (and my mind). I re-read reveal scenes, unbelieving, my mind grasping. Holy scary books batman!
This book crept up on me at page one and sunk its dark claws into me refusing to let me go, even now. I want to see this made into a movie so much. I could see a sequel too.
Some descriptive visual scenes made me want to turn my head but morbid fascination had me look on in fear and disgust. Other moments had hairs on my arms standing on end, wanting to yell "it's behind you!" Not a book to rush one single bit. Don't rush it, don't skip a single eerie word.
This book takes taxidermy to a whole new level by the way! Holy stuffed creatures!
I believe you either "get" Adam Nevill's writing and have him on horror genius pedestal or...well you just don't get it. I recommend this book highly and my best advice is to read with no expectations on a dark and stormy night, with candles, a few cats and a glass of port. Perfect!
5 stars from me. I'm officially,in my opinion Adam's number one fan, however if he ever wrote something crap I'd be honest. This is as unlikely as the U.K. having a year with no rain however. I owe that to those who read my reviews. If you don't like extreme gory horror but would like to taste test something - this is perfect!
Thank you Adam for my copy. It proudly sits on its own shelf on my bookcase where I have ALL his books. All review opinions are my own and totally unbiased.
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.
Wow! Gothic creepiness at its best. This book still has me thinking about it a week after reading it. This is an atmospheric, dark and delectable horror where Nevill lets your imagination fill in blank spaces. The stuff of nightmares.
Don't expect fast paced blood, gore and splatter. That's not what this style of horror delivers. In the subtleties are the darkest of things. A book that astounded me with its ability to yet again put me IN the book, Nevill does that to me everyone. I feel so close. Too close for comfort.
Take one dark, rambling ancient mansion. Toss in some erratic, bizarre, secretive and disturbing residents. Add creepy dolls, toys, scenes and marionettes and them send in a beautiful art valuer, thinking she's simply cataloguing bizarre and rare items left over from the legacy and mind of an artist long dead. What do you get? Terror. The nightmares of childhood reappearing.
Dolls that move? Or did they? Are you going mad in this house? Secrets so diabolical and evil. Then the reveals at the end that blows the whole flipping book apart (and my mind). I re-read reveal scenes, unbelieving, my mind grasping. Holy scary books batman!
This book crept up on me at page one and sunk its dark claws into me refusing to let me go, even now. I want to see this made into a movie so much. I could see a sequel too.
Some descriptive visual scenes made me want to turn my head but morbid fascination had me look on in fear and disgust. Other moments had hairs on my arms standing on end, wanting to yell "it's behind you!" Not a book to rush one single bit. Don't rush it, don't skip a single eerie word.
This book takes taxidermy to a whole new level by the way! Holy stuffed creatures!
I believe you either "get" Adam Nevill's writing and have him on horror genius pedestal or...well you just don't get it. I recommend this book highly and my best advice is to read with no expectations on a dark and stormy night, with candles, a few cats and a glass of port. Perfect!
5 stars from me. I'm officially,in my opinion Adam's number one fan, however if he ever wrote something crap I'd be honest. This is as unlikely as the U.K. having a year with no rain however. I owe that to those who read my reviews. If you don't like extreme gory horror but would like to taste test something - this is perfect!
Thank you Adam for my copy. It proudly sits on its own shelf on my bookcase where I have ALL his books. All review opinions are my own and totally unbiased.
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.
May 21, 2018
I'm not sure if my rating will be 2.5 or 3 stars. It was a bit of a hot mess at the end and I'm still trying to grapple with what it all meant. The beginning was promising and I really loved the idea of the plot.
Unfortunately, the book did not deliver for me. I'm also not a fan of weak main characters and Catherine was this in spades!
There were some creepy and unnerving moments in the book that pushed up the rating but it wasn't enough to save the book for me. I really wish Adam Nevill had figured out what he was going for in the end because House of Small Shadows could have been so much more!
Unfortunately, the book did not deliver for me. I'm also not a fan of weak main characters and Catherine was this in spades!
There were some creepy and unnerving moments in the book that pushed up the rating but it wasn't enough to save the book for me. I really wish Adam Nevill had figured out what he was going for in the end because House of Small Shadows could have been so much more!
February 6, 2016
4.5 stars, rounded up!
In House of Small Shadows, Adam Nevill has--what I consider to be--absolutely perfect pacing. The creepiness and "wrongness" confronted by our main character, Catherine, builds up steadily throughout the entire novel. We are not bombarded with too much information at once, just enough to positively leave you salivating for more. A book like this keeps your interest, and makes it near impossible for you to find "the right place" to stop reading for the night. I don't mind saying that I've lost a lot of sleep over this book--and it was well worth it!
Nevill isn't an author to slam you in the face with an obvious outcome. He writes with the intention of making his audience THINK and draw some of the connections on their own before moving on to the next scene of subtle revelations. Don't get me wrong here, when things hit you and you begin to understand the extent of this horrific book, they SLAM into you with the almost physical sense of a punch to the gut!
There wasn't anything that I could really find fault with in this novel, unless you count the sleepless nights. :)
Highly recommended!
In House of Small Shadows, Adam Nevill has--what I consider to be--absolutely perfect pacing. The creepiness and "wrongness" confronted by our main character, Catherine, builds up steadily throughout the entire novel. We are not bombarded with too much information at once, just enough to positively leave you salivating for more. A book like this keeps your interest, and makes it near impossible for you to find "the right place" to stop reading for the night. I don't mind saying that I've lost a lot of sleep over this book--and it was well worth it!
Nevill isn't an author to slam you in the face with an obvious outcome. He writes with the intention of making his audience THINK and draw some of the connections on their own before moving on to the next scene of subtle revelations. Don't get me wrong here, when things hit you and you begin to understand the extent of this horrific book, they SLAM into you with the almost physical sense of a punch to the gut!
There wasn't anything that I could really find fault with in this novel, unless you count the sleepless nights. :)
Highly recommended!
February 9, 2017
Honestly, there are a number of really nice things about this novel, mostly in the descriptions and a few fairly early-on reveals, such as the rotting beehive, that got to me. Other good things were the all out gorefest perfectly reminiscent of all the 80's B-Movie extravaganzas, including all the cheese, all the neatly wrapped-up characters in overblown situations brought together with even more convenient reveals until we get a nice gore-strewn bow made of intestines, or in this case, pre 1950's dresses and glassy eyes.
On the negative side of the review, it's all exactly as I just said. B-Movie extravaganza. And a bad B-Movie, too. It's all too pat and all the emotions I'm supposed to feel are hardly telegraphed to me, they're told to me. I also had a problem with Catherine. All the conceits and the creepy past and her mental problems might be a staple of such horrors, a nice counterpoint to the outside horror she finds herself, but how it was pulled off just didn't seem right to me. I never really connected with her at any point. It was like she was overacting for the screen and I should have been laughing at her performance before she got sucked into the Ghoulies set, but no, there was way too much seriousness and intent to be serious all around me. It was both a downer and it was out of sync.
Maybe others who haven't watched nearly as much truly horrible horror movies as me might get something more out of this novel, or perhaps I'm just being too critical, because I thought the truly bizarre aspects were pretty fun. I just wish I could have fallen into the true *horror* of it, along with Catherine, more.
Who knows, this might actually be a decent extremely low-budget movie... some day.
On the negative side of the review, it's all exactly as I just said. B-Movie extravaganza. And a bad B-Movie, too. It's all too pat and all the emotions I'm supposed to feel are hardly telegraphed to me, they're told to me. I also had a problem with Catherine. All the conceits and the creepy past and her mental problems might be a staple of such horrors, a nice counterpoint to the outside horror she finds herself, but how it was pulled off just didn't seem right to me. I never really connected with her at any point. It was like she was overacting for the screen and I should have been laughing at her performance before she got sucked into the Ghoulies set, but no, there was way too much seriousness and intent to be serious all around me. It was both a downer and it was out of sync.
Maybe others who haven't watched nearly as much truly horrible horror movies as me might get something more out of this novel, or perhaps I'm just being too critical, because I thought the truly bizarre aspects were pretty fun. I just wish I could have fallen into the true *horror* of it, along with Catherine, more.
Who knows, this might actually be a decent extremely low-budget movie... some day.
May 20, 2024
Okay, well, that was some creepy shit... Which is, of course, to say that I loved it.
Seriously, though, if old porcelain dolls, marionettes, and puppets are the stuff of nightmares for you, avoid reading “House of Small Shadows” by Adam Nevill. Or expect a few sleepless nights in which you endure dreams of dozens of little porcelain or cloth hands trying to grab you from the shadows.
It starts off normal enough: Catherine is an appraiser hired by a reclusive old woman that lives in an old mansion (of course) out in the woods. The house is called Red House, and it’s not far from the village that Catherine grew up in, but her hometown holds some horrible and traumatic memories for her. (Of course.)
The house was owned by one M.H. Mason, a well-known taxidermist, whose collection of dolls, marionettes, and dioramas featuring taxidermied animals are potentially worth millions.
Catherine wouldn’t know, however, because the current owner of the house, Edith, and her creepy housemaid, Maude, won’t let her catch but glimpses of the numerous rooms full of said dolls, marionettes, and dioramas.
Catherine’s state of mind, by the way, isn’t great, because she’s getting over a bad break-up and may have done something bad to the “other woman”. It’s not clear. To the reader or to Catherine. Indeed, Catherine’s unreliability as a narrator adds to the spiraling levels of confusion and horror.
And the novel progressively gets weirder. At one point, Catherine watches a long-lost silent movie of a puppet show featuring horrifying marionettes that seem to move about without the benefit of strings and walk about on what appear to be dogs’ legs. There’s a bee-keeper on the property that runs away anytime Catherine tries to approach him. Then there’s the town that seems to be a ghost town, with boarded-up shops and houses that do not appear to have been lived in for decades. Then there’s the history of several puppeteers who were accused of witchcraft by the townspeople, tortured, and murdered in disgusting ways. Then there’s a festival celebrating said puppeteers, and something about a body in a trunk, and something about killing kittens, and---
Okay, that was about the time it kind of lost me.
I think Nevill was going for that, though. Because the reader is never sure what is happening. The reader is never sure if Catherine is simply going crazy or if all the weird stuff going on is supernatural in origin, or if someone is playing a cruel joke on her.
Unless you are a stickler for things like explanations or closure or happy endings or, well, endings at all, Nevill’s creepy non-ending is wonderfully vague and horrifyingly bereft of rationality, i.e. fuckin' nuts, which I loved...
Seriously, though, if old porcelain dolls, marionettes, and puppets are the stuff of nightmares for you, avoid reading “House of Small Shadows” by Adam Nevill. Or expect a few sleepless nights in which you endure dreams of dozens of little porcelain or cloth hands trying to grab you from the shadows.
It starts off normal enough: Catherine is an appraiser hired by a reclusive old woman that lives in an old mansion (of course) out in the woods. The house is called Red House, and it’s not far from the village that Catherine grew up in, but her hometown holds some horrible and traumatic memories for her. (Of course.)
The house was owned by one M.H. Mason, a well-known taxidermist, whose collection of dolls, marionettes, and dioramas featuring taxidermied animals are potentially worth millions.
Catherine wouldn’t know, however, because the current owner of the house, Edith, and her creepy housemaid, Maude, won’t let her catch but glimpses of the numerous rooms full of said dolls, marionettes, and dioramas.
Catherine’s state of mind, by the way, isn’t great, because she’s getting over a bad break-up and may have done something bad to the “other woman”. It’s not clear. To the reader or to Catherine. Indeed, Catherine’s unreliability as a narrator adds to the spiraling levels of confusion and horror.
And the novel progressively gets weirder. At one point, Catherine watches a long-lost silent movie of a puppet show featuring horrifying marionettes that seem to move about without the benefit of strings and walk about on what appear to be dogs’ legs. There’s a bee-keeper on the property that runs away anytime Catherine tries to approach him. Then there’s the town that seems to be a ghost town, with boarded-up shops and houses that do not appear to have been lived in for decades. Then there’s the history of several puppeteers who were accused of witchcraft by the townspeople, tortured, and murdered in disgusting ways. Then there’s a festival celebrating said puppeteers, and something about a body in a trunk, and something about killing kittens, and---
Okay, that was about the time it kind of lost me.
I think Nevill was going for that, though. Because the reader is never sure what is happening. The reader is never sure if Catherine is simply going crazy or if all the weird stuff going on is supernatural in origin, or if someone is playing a cruel joke on her.
Unless you are a stickler for things like explanations or closure or happy endings or, well, endings at all, Nevill’s creepy non-ending is wonderfully vague and horrifyingly bereft of rationality, i.e. fuckin' nuts, which I loved...
March 3, 2015
✪ 1 Star Rating ✪
I absolutely hate not finishing books, I really do, so I persevered with this one right to the end (mostly with the hope that it'll get better) but unfortunately I really didn't enjoy this. Instead of this one, I recommend reading The Ritual as I thought that one was a lot better.
My main reason for giving this one such a low rating was because I didn't understand it at all. None of it made sense! When I first started reading this book I was totally into it, I enjoy reading about freaky ass dolls as they creep me the hell out...I like that. The dolls weren't even the main focus of the story...now that I mention it i'm not even sure what the main focus of the story was. I didn't like any of the characters, the MC was incredibly annoying with her constant 'This happened...but maybe it didn't...but then this definitely happened...oooh maybe it didn't'. Boooooored.
I have a question; 'What the f*ck did happen woman'?
I absolutely hate not finishing books, I really do, so I persevered with this one right to the end (mostly with the hope that it'll get better) but unfortunately I really didn't enjoy this. Instead of this one, I recommend reading The Ritual as I thought that one was a lot better.
My main reason for giving this one such a low rating was because I didn't understand it at all. None of it made sense! When I first started reading this book I was totally into it, I enjoy reading about freaky ass dolls as they creep me the hell out...I like that. The dolls weren't even the main focus of the story...now that I mention it i'm not even sure what the main focus of the story was. I didn't like any of the characters, the MC was incredibly annoying with her constant 'This happened...but maybe it didn't...but then this definitely happened...oooh maybe it didn't'. Boooooored.
I have a question; 'What the f*ck did happen woman'?
August 8, 2015
Utterly, totally bizarre and horrific novel. Ligotti-esque in vibe and feel, there are a handful of images in this book that won't leave me.
November 16, 2013
Deliciously fucked-up.
Not my most eloquent review ever, but I just finished reading, and that's the best I can do.
So there.
Not my most eloquent review ever, but I just finished reading, and that's the best I can do.
So there.
August 29, 2014
I like Adam Neville - a lot - but "House of Small Shadows" was a just a major disappointment all around. I couldn't stand Catherine from the get go: whiny, desperate and not a strong female character. You can also see how everything ends from the first time she walks in Red House. The only interesting thing described in the book is the WW1 dioramas - super weird and slightly disturbing. At least in my head they were. Adam is a master of setting up creepy situations and making you feel like you are wrapped in dread, but House of Small Shadows needs a remodel.
PS - If you are interested in Adam Neville, I suggest starting with The Ritual.
PS - If you are interested in Adam Neville, I suggest starting with The Ritual.
August 31, 2014
Things Adam Nevill Ruined for Me:
Children
The name Leonard
Old houses
The name Edith
Wheelchairs
The name Maude
Things Adam Nevill Made Creepier:
Marionette puppets
Taxidermy
Despite this, and the fact that I read one other book by him, Adam Nevill is rapidly becoming a favorite author of mine. The House of Small Shadows is about a young woman named Catherine. After coming off a violent bullying tactic by a fellow co-worker, she leaves London and works for a smaller valuing firm. She might have hit the jackpot with her latest find: Edith Mason, niece of famous taxidermist M.H. Mason, is allowing Catherine to appraise her uncle's highly valuable collection at the Red House estate.
Catherine is initially excited until she sees firsthand just how demented and macabre Mason's work is and how equally disturbed Edith, and housekeeper Maude, really are. After a bad breakup, Catherine decides to take up Edith's offer on staying at Red House to catalogue to collection. However, that's when things begin to get truly bizarre.
One of the reasons Nevill is becoming a favorite author of mine is because I end up relating to his characters. I did with The Ritual's Luke and did so again with Catherine Howard. I understood that childhood ostracizing and lack of the sense of belonging. The endless loneliness I have felt at some time in my life. Nevill created a sympathetic character in Catherine and I was invested in her fate.
Another reason is that Nevill knows how to write suspenseful horror exquistely well. To the way he describes Mason's "cruelty plays" and Edith's utter delight in telling the story behind them to Catherine's ongoing struggle to keep ahold of her sanity, it was all compelling and intense. He successfully made the Red House into a complex, foreboding, and chilly character.
Also, Nevill knows how to craft endings. That's right, he doesn't just write them but shapes them. The House of Small Shadows is a exciting slow burn but those last 50 pages or so is like a roller coaster free fall. I was freaking out, trying to figure out what was going on. It was elegant chaos. The narrative did break apart but was enhanced by the chaotic activity.
I cannot wait to read more of his books!
Children
The name Leonard
Old houses
The name Edith
Wheelchairs
The name Maude
Things Adam Nevill Made Creepier:
Marionette puppets
Taxidermy
Despite this, and the fact that I read one other book by him, Adam Nevill is rapidly becoming a favorite author of mine. The House of Small Shadows is about a young woman named Catherine. After coming off a violent bullying tactic by a fellow co-worker, she leaves London and works for a smaller valuing firm. She might have hit the jackpot with her latest find: Edith Mason, niece of famous taxidermist M.H. Mason, is allowing Catherine to appraise her uncle's highly valuable collection at the Red House estate.
Catherine is initially excited until she sees firsthand just how demented and macabre Mason's work is and how equally disturbed Edith, and housekeeper Maude, really are. After a bad breakup, Catherine decides to take up Edith's offer on staying at Red House to catalogue to collection. However, that's when things begin to get truly bizarre.
One of the reasons Nevill is becoming a favorite author of mine is because I end up relating to his characters. I did with The Ritual's Luke and did so again with Catherine Howard. I understood that childhood ostracizing and lack of the sense of belonging. The endless loneliness I have felt at some time in my life. Nevill created a sympathetic character in Catherine and I was invested in her fate.
Another reason is that Nevill knows how to write suspenseful horror exquistely well. To the way he describes Mason's "cruelty plays" and Edith's utter delight in telling the story behind them to Catherine's ongoing struggle to keep ahold of her sanity, it was all compelling and intense. He successfully made the Red House into a complex, foreboding, and chilly character.
Also, Nevill knows how to craft endings. That's right, he doesn't just write them but shapes them. The House of Small Shadows is a exciting slow burn but those last 50 pages or so is like a roller coaster free fall. I was freaking out, trying to figure out what was going on. It was elegant chaos. The narrative did break apart but was enhanced by the chaotic activity.
I cannot wait to read more of his books!
October 25, 2016
Review: HOUSE OF SMALL SHADOWS by Adam Nevill
Within the great tradition of British horror is a narrower classification, which when cultivated properly, yields an amazing, abundant, harvest of terror. Of course this particular definition is not confined to the British Isles (I'm thinking of Gord Rollo's "Valley of the Scarecrow," and Thomas Tryon's "Harvest Home" as examples.) But authors native to England, Wales, Cornwall, Scotland, and Ireland excel. I refer to the tradition of "village horror" [ If you find this unfamiliar, watch those classic scary films, "Village of the Damned" and "Children of the Damned." ]
Preferably, settle in with an Adam Nevill novel. This author schooled himself in the classics of the genre, and consequently is in a class all his own. In HOUSE OF SMALL SHADOWS, as in RITUAL and LAST DAYS, Mr. Nevill creates subtlety and horror, insanity and reflections of insanity, and "Village Horror" finely tuned to a maximum level of monstrosity. All our senses and most of our emotions are engaged. Disbelief has been tossed by the wayside, because like poor protagonist Catherine after a lifetime of victimization, we so strongly desire to believe. As the Pied Piper led away the children of Hamlin, so do the various and bizarre characters in this novel lead us away....deep down, we desire to believe.
Within the great tradition of British horror is a narrower classification, which when cultivated properly, yields an amazing, abundant, harvest of terror. Of course this particular definition is not confined to the British Isles (I'm thinking of Gord Rollo's "Valley of the Scarecrow," and Thomas Tryon's "Harvest Home" as examples.) But authors native to England, Wales, Cornwall, Scotland, and Ireland excel. I refer to the tradition of "village horror" [ If you find this unfamiliar, watch those classic scary films, "Village of the Damned" and "Children of the Damned." ]
Preferably, settle in with an Adam Nevill novel. This author schooled himself in the classics of the genre, and consequently is in a class all his own. In HOUSE OF SMALL SHADOWS, as in RITUAL and LAST DAYS, Mr. Nevill creates subtlety and horror, insanity and reflections of insanity, and "Village Horror" finely tuned to a maximum level of monstrosity. All our senses and most of our emotions are engaged. Disbelief has been tossed by the wayside, because like poor protagonist Catherine after a lifetime of victimization, we so strongly desire to believe. As the Pied Piper led away the children of Hamlin, so do the various and bizarre characters in this novel lead us away....deep down, we desire to believe.
June 24, 2016
This was a highly creepy book and I will never look at dolls and puppets quite the same way. I've never found myself prone to nightmares after horror books/movies, but last night, as I was going to sleep, I started thinking of this... and the creepy figure crouched at the foot of Catherine's bed. Needless to say, my eyes popped open and I quickly decided to think about something else :)
There are things that are predictable in this and things that were less so, but overall it was just so incredibly creepy that even the more predictable things didn't bother me.
This is a horror book that is all psychological and no gore. Just the way I like them.
There are things that are predictable in this and things that were less so, but overall it was just so incredibly creepy that even the more predictable things didn't bother me.
This is a horror book that is all psychological and no gore. Just the way I like them.
January 2, 2021
I had high hopes for this book because I’ve heard so many great things about this author and I mean, creepy doll on the cover! But this one just fell WAY flat for me. Things were so confusing at first and I constantly felt my attention waning because I wasn’t really sure what was going on. Some parts were wicked cool and incredibly fascinating but I just didn’t feel invested in the story and that made it a drag to get through because I didn’t particularly care one way or another what happened. The story had a lot of potential and some parts were legitimately creepy but in the end I could have done without reading this one and it wouldn’t have been a great loss.
February 6, 2014
In the end the book wasn’t a hit for me. It started out interesting; I wanted to know the mystery with the house. Then the story goes weird and confusing. And suddenly I turned the last page and the book was over. And I felt let down. It was never ever scary, if stuffed animals creeps you out, then perhaps this book will scare you. But for me it felt just like a waste of time, I could have read something much better that this book.
October 22, 2015
We read horror fiction - and watch slasher films, and gruesome documentaries, and online terrorist videos, and accident footage, etc. - because of what Joseph Conrad called "the fascination of the abomination." We like to view things that disquiet us, don't we? We hope that we see something that isn't meant for innocent eyes. Death revealed - and dodged - is as exhilarating as it is horrifying. Our minds sometimes can't take it, but also can't willingly turn away. We seek out the abominations, because we are fascinated by them. We can't help it, apparently, due to a misfire in our individual development, or the natural condition of the human brain. I'm not sure which is to blame, as I'm a fiction writer, not a goddamn psychiatrist.
Abominations are on full and varied display in Adam Nevill's House of Small Shadows, and I as a reader of this exceptional novel am incredibly fascinated. It was as if Nevill was ordered to craft a contemporary Gothic novel twisted inside out - and sewn back up again - that incorporated all the things I find spooky as shit, including but certainly not limited to:
- Small forgotten towns
- Incredibly old houses, owned by incredibly old people
- Antique dolls
- Puppet shows/marionettes
- Non traditional taxidermy
- Ritualistic parades
- Secretive groups
Throw in circus clowns and unnamed creatures with impossibly long appendages (which do not, to my memory, appear in House of Small Shadows, although the lighting is pretty dim in some of those scenes, so you never know), and you've run the full gamut of my own personalized Creep List.
As it stands, House of Small Shadows contains enough of the truly terrifying to make it a landmark read, and an unforgettable exercise in horror imagery that has not dimmed since regrettably finishing the book a few months back. It's all still there, raw and vibrant, like a fresh coat of paint on a wooden puppet face. The places, the lighting, the sounds and smells are still raw in my brainpan, and threaten to stay that way. Probably more impressive still is Nevill's ability to sustain suspense and dread throughout nearly 400 pages, starting very early with the arrival of our protagonist Catherine Howard, an appraiser (a "valuer" in British parlance) for estate auctioneer Leonard Osberne, who is sent to an aged Gothic manse in the English countryside known as Red House, which lies just outside the mostly deserted town of Magbar Wood. The interior of Red House lives up to its name in terms of sumptuous decor, and Catherine discovers that each of the numerous rooms of the house serve as staging areas for impossibly intricate dioramas of World War I horrors played out by stuffed and positioned rats, as well as a bedroom populated by half animal, half human marionettes tucked into a tiny bed like sleeping children. The entire collection Catherine was sent to appraise for a possible career-making and record-setting estate sale was created by secretive genius M.H. Mason, who was once a man of the cloth until the blood and mud of trench warfare stained that holy fabric, twisting him away from God and into the arms of utter seclusion at Red House, where he devoted his sizable talents and the rest of his life to the creation of tiny, static horror shows, and the recreation of Medieval "cruelty plays" acted out by marionettes for live audiences, and eventually a BBC camera crew. Footage of the latter never made the airwaves, as the imagery was too disturbing, too bizarre even for the notoriously eccentric British.
This is the set-up for Catherine, and for us, and as we get the sneaking suspicion of what is to come for our hard luck protagonist, we can't help but sit back and watch, breathless and silent and squirming with claustrophobia, as she is forced to confront all sorts of weird, out-of-the-way, and mostly forgotten places, bringing her face to face with a litany of weird, out-of-the-way, mostly forgotten things. Old traditions, based on older knowledge of arcane wisdom blotted out of human memory for a reason. But things linger in the quiet places untouched by modernity. Eyes look out, and prayers are whispered to ears that don't belong to god or beast. Catherine has come to escape her past, avoid her present, and secure her future, and these powerful urges give her the courage to remain on site and finish her work, lest it all unravel for her. Unfortunately, as this is horror fiction we're talking about, it unravels for her anyway, in a multitude of unsettling ways.
Nevill's language is perfectly balanced, clean with a perfect dusting of melody, and his ability to build atmospherics is masterful. We're in those rooms with Catherine, dealing with these incredibly lifelike dead things. We can see the clothing and wig and skin and teeth and wheelchair of Edith Mason, the elderly niece of M.H. who now oversees Red House and the weird, multi-million dollar installations that clog the place. We can hear the heavy footsteps of Maude, the mute maid whose inscrutable expression hints at deeper mysteries surrounding this family and their strange house. And those marionettes... We're inches away from them as they are arranged in their tiny beds, facing away from us, grotesque hair covering the backs of their misshapen heads. We don't want them to turn around.
That expectancy, that impending doom, all blossom organically from the foundation Nevill lays like black soil, so fertile it literally pops and fizzes with potential life. And we as readers are caught in it up to our necks, our chins. Something very bad will happen, and happen soon. But when? And where? Will it be as bad as you imagine? Will it be worse? We scream for Catherine to leave the house, for her unfit boyfriend Mike or her boss Leonard or even her backstabbing coworker Tara to show up and wake her from the nightmare, but things are never as simple as that, and Nevill deftly spins a web that invisibly traps Catherine from the beginning, giving her just enough twine to allow her a frantic run at hope, at escape, before reaching the end of the sticky tether, and winding it back up again, slowly and determinedly, drawing the moth to the spider waiting at the center of the beautifully constructed latticework nest.
House of Small Shadows reads like one unbroken, spellbinding tracking shot capturing places that you never want to see where things happen that you that you never thought possible, Nevill's grainy camera picking up details along the way, hinting that something terrible can and probably will occur in the next frame. Martyrs will be torn to shreds, and parades will begin in the streets. A booming voice track begins, narrating the spectacle, as the images become more and more unspeakable. And we just sit and watch. Fascinated.
Abominations are on full and varied display in Adam Nevill's House of Small Shadows, and I as a reader of this exceptional novel am incredibly fascinated. It was as if Nevill was ordered to craft a contemporary Gothic novel twisted inside out - and sewn back up again - that incorporated all the things I find spooky as shit, including but certainly not limited to:
- Small forgotten towns
- Incredibly old houses, owned by incredibly old people
- Antique dolls
- Puppet shows/marionettes
- Non traditional taxidermy
- Ritualistic parades
- Secretive groups
Throw in circus clowns and unnamed creatures with impossibly long appendages (which do not, to my memory, appear in House of Small Shadows, although the lighting is pretty dim in some of those scenes, so you never know), and you've run the full gamut of my own personalized Creep List.
As it stands, House of Small Shadows contains enough of the truly terrifying to make it a landmark read, and an unforgettable exercise in horror imagery that has not dimmed since regrettably finishing the book a few months back. It's all still there, raw and vibrant, like a fresh coat of paint on a wooden puppet face. The places, the lighting, the sounds and smells are still raw in my brainpan, and threaten to stay that way. Probably more impressive still is Nevill's ability to sustain suspense and dread throughout nearly 400 pages, starting very early with the arrival of our protagonist Catherine Howard, an appraiser (a "valuer" in British parlance) for estate auctioneer Leonard Osberne, who is sent to an aged Gothic manse in the English countryside known as Red House, which lies just outside the mostly deserted town of Magbar Wood. The interior of Red House lives up to its name in terms of sumptuous decor, and Catherine discovers that each of the numerous rooms of the house serve as staging areas for impossibly intricate dioramas of World War I horrors played out by stuffed and positioned rats, as well as a bedroom populated by half animal, half human marionettes tucked into a tiny bed like sleeping children. The entire collection Catherine was sent to appraise for a possible career-making and record-setting estate sale was created by secretive genius M.H. Mason, who was once a man of the cloth until the blood and mud of trench warfare stained that holy fabric, twisting him away from God and into the arms of utter seclusion at Red House, where he devoted his sizable talents and the rest of his life to the creation of tiny, static horror shows, and the recreation of Medieval "cruelty plays" acted out by marionettes for live audiences, and eventually a BBC camera crew. Footage of the latter never made the airwaves, as the imagery was too disturbing, too bizarre even for the notoriously eccentric British.
This is the set-up for Catherine, and for us, and as we get the sneaking suspicion of what is to come for our hard luck protagonist, we can't help but sit back and watch, breathless and silent and squirming with claustrophobia, as she is forced to confront all sorts of weird, out-of-the-way, and mostly forgotten places, bringing her face to face with a litany of weird, out-of-the-way, mostly forgotten things. Old traditions, based on older knowledge of arcane wisdom blotted out of human memory for a reason. But things linger in the quiet places untouched by modernity. Eyes look out, and prayers are whispered to ears that don't belong to god or beast. Catherine has come to escape her past, avoid her present, and secure her future, and these powerful urges give her the courage to remain on site and finish her work, lest it all unravel for her. Unfortunately, as this is horror fiction we're talking about, it unravels for her anyway, in a multitude of unsettling ways.
Nevill's language is perfectly balanced, clean with a perfect dusting of melody, and his ability to build atmospherics is masterful. We're in those rooms with Catherine, dealing with these incredibly lifelike dead things. We can see the clothing and wig and skin and teeth and wheelchair of Edith Mason, the elderly niece of M.H. who now oversees Red House and the weird, multi-million dollar installations that clog the place. We can hear the heavy footsteps of Maude, the mute maid whose inscrutable expression hints at deeper mysteries surrounding this family and their strange house. And those marionettes... We're inches away from them as they are arranged in their tiny beds, facing away from us, grotesque hair covering the backs of their misshapen heads. We don't want them to turn around.
That expectancy, that impending doom, all blossom organically from the foundation Nevill lays like black soil, so fertile it literally pops and fizzes with potential life. And we as readers are caught in it up to our necks, our chins. Something very bad will happen, and happen soon. But when? And where? Will it be as bad as you imagine? Will it be worse? We scream for Catherine to leave the house, for her unfit boyfriend Mike or her boss Leonard or even her backstabbing coworker Tara to show up and wake her from the nightmare, but things are never as simple as that, and Nevill deftly spins a web that invisibly traps Catherine from the beginning, giving her just enough twine to allow her a frantic run at hope, at escape, before reaching the end of the sticky tether, and winding it back up again, slowly and determinedly, drawing the moth to the spider waiting at the center of the beautifully constructed latticework nest.
House of Small Shadows reads like one unbroken, spellbinding tracking shot capturing places that you never want to see where things happen that you that you never thought possible, Nevill's grainy camera picking up details along the way, hinting that something terrible can and probably will occur in the next frame. Martyrs will be torn to shreds, and parades will begin in the streets. A booming voice track begins, narrating the spectacle, as the images become more and more unspeakable. And we just sit and watch. Fascinated.
February 23, 2017
What a dull, sleep inducing book. The characters were bland and uninteresting, especially the main character. It started off well enough, but then it meandered through what could have been a tension building path of increasing weirdness, but for me, I just became increasingly disengaged. I found no surprise in the various reveals, in particular around Edith, where I just kept thinking would you please fucking come out and say it; you've been dancing around for well over 100 pages by this point. Some of the writing was weird - awkward weird, not cool, mind-warping weird. For example on page 3, this odd sentence fragment: "She hurried to the porch, when a group of plump black flies formed a persistent orbit around her, and tried to settle upon her exposed hands and wrists. But soon stopped and sucked in her breath." What the fuck? Who did the sucking here the flies or Catherine? I think it might be author - maybe the editor. Maybe a chunk of a sentence was lost.
On page 87, giving some back story on Catherine the phrase "No one ever asked..." struck me as unrealistic, failing to create a realistic portrayal of her situation, rather it felt like the author stretching to make Catherine seem victimy - yeah, that's not a real word.
Another craptastic sentence on page 130 "And here she was again in a room she would not believe existed unless sat inside it." That is some atrocious prose right there. And still nothing much had happened and the story was still going nowhere. By page 304 I had gotten so sick and tired of her whining and pining for Mike, that any sympathy I might have had was gone.
All this negativity might make it seem I should be giving one star instead of two, but there were some decent moments buried in the boredom. The fundamental idea of tying the taxidermy to the disappearances of children was inspired. A couple of the scenes were potentially creepy, and might have been more effective if surrounded by better ambience. This book had promise, it just failed on delivery.
Addendum:
One of the beauties of a good book club is the effect of the differing perspectives on my feeling towards a book. After the meeting of the Nightmare Factory, I have moderated my view on this book a bit, and increased the rating. I think that a substantial part of my negative reaction to this book might have been my own state of mind at the time of reading, and now having discussed this book with Joe, he has convinced me that it is better than my initial assessment would have it. I still don't like the passages that I called out for criticism, but Joe pointed out that those decisions were probably deliberate on the part of the author, and were went to pull the prose in a more poetic direction. Point well taken. I have a personal bias that means I much prefer clarity to obscurity, but this desire conflicts with my also loving weird fiction, which frequently aims for a cloudy and dreamlike feel.
On page 87, giving some back story on Catherine the phrase "No one ever asked..." struck me as unrealistic, failing to create a realistic portrayal of her situation, rather it felt like the author stretching to make Catherine seem victimy - yeah, that's not a real word.
Another craptastic sentence on page 130 "And here she was again in a room she would not believe existed unless sat inside it." That is some atrocious prose right there. And still nothing much had happened and the story was still going nowhere. By page 304 I had gotten so sick and tired of her whining and pining for Mike, that any sympathy I might have had was gone.
All this negativity might make it seem I should be giving one star instead of two, but there were some decent moments buried in the boredom. The fundamental idea of tying the taxidermy to the disappearances of children was inspired. A couple of the scenes were potentially creepy, and might have been more effective if surrounded by better ambience. This book had promise, it just failed on delivery.
Addendum:
One of the beauties of a good book club is the effect of the differing perspectives on my feeling towards a book. After the meeting of the Nightmare Factory, I have moderated my view on this book a bit, and increased the rating. I think that a substantial part of my negative reaction to this book might have been my own state of mind at the time of reading, and now having discussed this book with Joe, he has convinced me that it is better than my initial assessment would have it. I still don't like the passages that I called out for criticism, but Joe pointed out that those decisions were probably deliberate on the part of the author, and were went to pull the prose in a more poetic direction. Point well taken. I have a personal bias that means I much prefer clarity to obscurity, but this desire conflicts with my also loving weird fiction, which frequently aims for a cloudy and dreamlike feel.
May 15, 2018
Creepy, bizarre, atmospheric, nightmareish... Really loved it.
Read
March 14, 2024" La única defensa que existe ... Es encontrar a otros. Mentes similares."
A pesar que creo que no es un libro que pueda gustar a todos, tiene mucha descripción y se alarga mas de lo necesario, lo he disfrutado y sobre todo al primera parte, aunque no quedó entre mis favoritos del autor.
La atmósfera me pareció exquisita y creo que fue lo que me atrapó por completo e hizo que siguiera leyendo, y es que me recordó mucho a atmósferas goticas que tanto disfruto leer, con su ritmo pausado, ambientación, detalles psicológicos y físicos sombríos, etc.
Tiene una buena trama, construcción multidimensional , personajes misteriosos y bien desarrollados, temas interesantes, atmósfera fascinante que constantemente nos mantiene sumergidos en ella.
El tema de las muñecas/ títeres/etc. es una temática que disfruto mucho más en la literatura que en la pantalla y cada vez lo confirmo más.
En términos generales me ha gustado, pero aún así, la primera parte me gustó mucho más que la segunda(como suele suceder con el autor).
A pesar que creo que no es un libro que pueda gustar a todos, tiene mucha descripción y se alarga mas de lo necesario, lo he disfrutado y sobre todo al primera parte, aunque no quedó entre mis favoritos del autor.
La atmósfera me pareció exquisita y creo que fue lo que me atrapó por completo e hizo que siguiera leyendo, y es que me recordó mucho a atmósferas goticas que tanto disfruto leer, con su ritmo pausado, ambientación, detalles psicológicos y físicos sombríos, etc.
Tiene una buena trama, construcción multidimensional , personajes misteriosos y bien desarrollados, temas interesantes, atmósfera fascinante que constantemente nos mantiene sumergidos en ella.
El tema de las muñecas/ títeres/etc. es una temática que disfruto mucho más en la literatura que en la pantalla y cada vez lo confirmo más.
En términos generales me ha gustado, pero aún así, la primera parte me gustó mucho más que la segunda(como suele suceder con el autor).
January 22, 2024
An emotionally fragile woman heads to an old mansion, to catalog an enormous collection of antique dolls and hoards of creepy puppets. What could possibly go wrong?
Well, for starters she is expected to stay in the house until the job is complete. The owner's appearance is unnerving to say the least. She and her maid are rude and sullen, There is no phone service, and the job will take longer than planned since the owner seems weirdly intent on dragging it out.
The main character Catherine has suffered multiple traumatic incidents and after years of therapy and learning how to deal with what she is told is her "paranoia" she does not always trust her own judgement.
There is a pervasive atmosphere of wrongness in the house that would have had me saying take this job and shove it, but sadly Catherine ignores her gut feelings.
This was a deeply disturbing gothic horror, slightly reminiscent of "Burnt Offerings."
4 out of 5 stars.
Well, for starters she is expected to stay in the house until the job is complete. The owner's appearance is unnerving to say the least. She and her maid are rude and sullen, There is no phone service, and the job will take longer than planned since the owner seems weirdly intent on dragging it out.
The main character Catherine has suffered multiple traumatic incidents and after years of therapy and learning how to deal with what she is told is her "paranoia" she does not always trust her own judgement.
There is a pervasive atmosphere of wrongness in the house that would have had me saying take this job and shove it, but sadly Catherine ignores her gut feelings.
This was a deeply disturbing gothic horror, slightly reminiscent of "Burnt Offerings."
4 out of 5 stars.
April 24, 2015
It's true that antique dolls, marionettes, and taxidermy are easy mood-makers in a horror novel, as are mad old ladies living in ancient, crumbling mansions and characters with a history of mental instability. Yet, Adam Nevill took all of these typical scary things to a new place for me and really freaked me the f*** out. My main criticism is that the fever pitch of terror he creates in the last half of the novel is sustained for too long and I started to get impatient with the way Catherine, the lead character, kept running into one more horrible thing. Gibbering madness is best in short bursts, I feel, and I was ready to stop pin-balling among the (admittedly) cinematic scenes of horror to get the story moving again. Once that finally happens, I couldn't stop reading until the quite disturbing end.
I feel like I always say this when I read a really good horror novel, but this would make a killer movie.
Read Harder Challenge 2015: Book by a person whose gender is different from your own
I feel like I always say this when I read a really good horror novel, but this would make a killer movie.
Read Harder Challenge 2015: Book by a person whose gender is different from your own
May 14, 2018
This one took a while to get into. We do get some of the awesome scary as hell imaginery that I've come to expect from Adam Neville but it wasn't enough for me to rate this higher than 3 stars. The ending is bat shit crazy and a little messy. I didn't hate this one but it isn't his best, either. I will continue to read more by him, though.
October 20, 2013
5 Stars
Adam Nevill has become my favorite horror author over the last several years. He was always second to the wonderful Catherine Kiernan who just does not write enough these days. (She was my former favorite and still would be if she put out new material.) Those of you not familiar with Nevill, he is a talent not to be missed. Like most of the British horror these days, Nevill is more concerned with the buildup, the suspension, and the atmosphere over our American quick scares and gory action. His novels have literary value and can sit on the same shelves with the great authors of fiction.
House of Small Shadows is a book that is all about the atmosphere, the suspense, and the tension as it builds. There is a great deal of things lurking in the shadows, things left unsaid, and things that are not what they appear to be. I loved the world building that Nevill puts into this one and the Red House is simply amazing. I devoured this book in a day and was disappointed when it was over. There are plenty of scares and jumps to satisfy most horror readers but it mostly works through the story and the way that it makes you think.
Adam Nevill write with a wonderful literary prose:
“Where did fear end and wonder begin?
If she had not been inside the house she suspected she would be swept upwards, or extinguished by a brief awareness that she was trapped on a planet that didn’t matter to anything up there. Extinction seemed to be a better option than awareness.
She felt like a child again. An inexplicable regression. Would other people feel the same way here? Would they cope and handle themselves and know what to do and say, or would they wait fretting and alone in a forgotten corner?”
“The decision to leave quelled her anxiety, as if a valve had suddenly opened to release a huge pressure, and its venting was close to bliss. All here was unhealthy, toxic. Was damaged and infectious. It was a bad place. Some places just were. She’d long suspected it. Here was confirmation. The Red House had corrupted then killed the village. The house and village had expired and should be buried, but clung on. And they’d seeped into her like a poison.”
This book is a slow burner that not only builds up the tension as the story progresses, it also paints a woman’s decent into madness. Catherine is a wonderful damaged protagonist that was easy to identify with and her back story made her much more. She easily carries the weight of this story and I found myself routing for her the whole time.
If you have not read an Adam Nevill novel and are a fan of the horror genre than do yourself a favor and put him next on your list to read. He is an author not to be missed. House of Small Shadows would be a great starting point for new readers as he touches on all the areas that make him a gifted writer of the macabre. This is a fast paced atmospheric story that does not fill in all the details. It is awesome!!!
Adam Nevill has become my favorite horror author over the last several years. He was always second to the wonderful Catherine Kiernan who just does not write enough these days. (She was my former favorite and still would be if she put out new material.) Those of you not familiar with Nevill, he is a talent not to be missed. Like most of the British horror these days, Nevill is more concerned with the buildup, the suspension, and the atmosphere over our American quick scares and gory action. His novels have literary value and can sit on the same shelves with the great authors of fiction.
House of Small Shadows is a book that is all about the atmosphere, the suspense, and the tension as it builds. There is a great deal of things lurking in the shadows, things left unsaid, and things that are not what they appear to be. I loved the world building that Nevill puts into this one and the Red House is simply amazing. I devoured this book in a day and was disappointed when it was over. There are plenty of scares and jumps to satisfy most horror readers but it mostly works through the story and the way that it makes you think.
Adam Nevill write with a wonderful literary prose:
“Where did fear end and wonder begin?
If she had not been inside the house she suspected she would be swept upwards, or extinguished by a brief awareness that she was trapped on a planet that didn’t matter to anything up there. Extinction seemed to be a better option than awareness.
She felt like a child again. An inexplicable regression. Would other people feel the same way here? Would they cope and handle themselves and know what to do and say, or would they wait fretting and alone in a forgotten corner?”
“The decision to leave quelled her anxiety, as if a valve had suddenly opened to release a huge pressure, and its venting was close to bliss. All here was unhealthy, toxic. Was damaged and infectious. It was a bad place. Some places just were. She’d long suspected it. Here was confirmation. The Red House had corrupted then killed the village. The house and village had expired and should be buried, but clung on. And they’d seeped into her like a poison.”
This book is a slow burner that not only builds up the tension as the story progresses, it also paints a woman’s decent into madness. Catherine is a wonderful damaged protagonist that was easy to identify with and her back story made her much more. She easily carries the weight of this story and I found myself routing for her the whole time.
If you have not read an Adam Nevill novel and are a fan of the horror genre than do yourself a favor and put him next on your list to read. He is an author not to be missed. House of Small Shadows would be a great starting point for new readers as he touches on all the areas that make him a gifted writer of the macabre. This is a fast paced atmospheric story that does not fill in all the details. It is awesome!!!
August 29, 2015
So I received this book through a Goodreads First Reads giveaway, that being said, I doubt the publishers will be terribly happy that I was one of the winners.
So I tried really hard to enjoy this book, but the more I read the lower my rating went. I have been reading a fair amount of "horror" novels this year, so I figured this would be right up my alley. Turns out this was way to gothic and plodding a story for me. I think I have learned my lesson, I am not a fan of suspense horror centered around creepy houses (see also Turn of the Screw and Haunting of Hill House).
But it wasn't just the creepy house that didn't do it for me, it was the overloading of "creepy" things all into a single novel. Yes, porcelain dolls are creepy, as are marionettes and taxidermy dioramas. Victorian old ladies, missing children, abandoned villages, creepy village fetes/pageants all rate high on the creepiness scale. But did the novel really need them all? I think having highlighted one or two of these creepy things and really making a strong story about that would have been far more beneficial.
So, why exactly am I feeling so unimpressed by this book?
1. The main character Catherine. She is noted for being different and bullied all her life. And this plays a large part in her decision making, but why does she have trances? Like what specifically about being connected to this house should cause trances? Also, why was she so very wishy-washy?
2. Repetitive writing. I feel like this book could have been half the length and still gotten to the same point. Catherine had the same conversation with herself about eight times throughout the book. It was old the second time, it continued to get more frustrating the further I read. I am paraphrasing here, but this was my experience, "What were those footsteps? They sound like animals, or children?" Fifty pages later, "She could have sworn there were children or maybe animals downstairs." Twenty pages, "but it couldn't be children Edith said there were no children, so it must be animals." So on and so forth. By the time the reveal came I had basically figured out that she was clearly hearing some sort of animal/human hybrid.
3. Leonard. What was the point of Leonard? He appears at the beginning of the book, and then reappears totally out of the blue at the end to show he was part of the terrible plot the whole time, but it felt so artificial, like a deus ex machina of horror. Quick, we need to make someone evil, I know Leonard! And the creepy no face flesh mask, wtf.
4. The book was just grotesque. It framed itself as a psychological horror, but for me it was really about the grotesque. I recently read Bird Box and that was psychological terror. This was more, let's take things that are often visually disturbing or unsettling and describe them in graphic detail. That to me is a cheap thrill. It's horrific because it would be horrific in any setting. It just felt to me like much of the violence and gruesome stuff was unnecessary. I remember when I was in high school I read a novel by Dean Koontz and it was so disturbing in this similar sense, violence and gore for no other reason than to have disturbing violence and gore, without even nice language to enfold it (see Zombie by Joyce Carol Oates, or really many books by her), that I steered away from horror books of any sort. It was only recently I came back to the genre and I have now learned there are some key differences in the flavors of horror novels which I will now be much more aware of when selecting my books.
I give this book a disappointed, cynical, and annoyed single star.
So I tried really hard to enjoy this book, but the more I read the lower my rating went. I have been reading a fair amount of "horror" novels this year, so I figured this would be right up my alley. Turns out this was way to gothic and plodding a story for me. I think I have learned my lesson, I am not a fan of suspense horror centered around creepy houses (see also Turn of the Screw and Haunting of Hill House).
But it wasn't just the creepy house that didn't do it for me, it was the overloading of "creepy" things all into a single novel. Yes, porcelain dolls are creepy, as are marionettes and taxidermy dioramas. Victorian old ladies, missing children, abandoned villages, creepy village fetes/pageants all rate high on the creepiness scale. But did the novel really need them all? I think having highlighted one or two of these creepy things and really making a strong story about that would have been far more beneficial.
So, why exactly am I feeling so unimpressed by this book?
1. The main character Catherine. She is noted for being different and bullied all her life. And this plays a large part in her decision making, but why does she have trances? Like what specifically about being connected to this house should cause trances? Also, why was she so very wishy-washy?
2. Repetitive writing. I feel like this book could have been half the length and still gotten to the same point. Catherine had the same conversation with herself about eight times throughout the book. It was old the second time, it continued to get more frustrating the further I read. I am paraphrasing here, but this was my experience, "What were those footsteps? They sound like animals, or children?" Fifty pages later, "She could have sworn there were children or maybe animals downstairs." Twenty pages, "but it couldn't be children Edith said there were no children, so it must be animals." So on and so forth. By the time the reveal came I had basically figured out that she was clearly hearing some sort of animal/human hybrid.
3. Leonard. What was the point of Leonard? He appears at the beginning of the book, and then reappears totally out of the blue at the end to show he was part of the terrible plot the whole time, but it felt so artificial, like a deus ex machina of horror. Quick, we need to make someone evil, I know Leonard! And the creepy no face flesh mask, wtf.
4. The book was just grotesque. It framed itself as a psychological horror, but for me it was really about the grotesque. I recently read Bird Box and that was psychological terror. This was more, let's take things that are often visually disturbing or unsettling and describe them in graphic detail. That to me is a cheap thrill. It's horrific because it would be horrific in any setting. It just felt to me like much of the violence and gruesome stuff was unnecessary. I remember when I was in high school I read a novel by Dean Koontz and it was so disturbing in this similar sense, violence and gore for no other reason than to have disturbing violence and gore, without even nice language to enfold it (see Zombie by Joyce Carol Oates, or really many books by her), that I steered away from horror books of any sort. It was only recently I came back to the genre and I have now learned there are some key differences in the flavors of horror novels which I will now be much more aware of when selecting my books.
I give this book a disappointed, cynical, and annoyed single star.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 9, 2020
My third Adam Nevill book and this author is really scoring high points. Three cheers for Nevill and other British horror authors for writing the kind of books I like to read. Thank you, thank you, thank you for inspiring those feelings of dread and unease, and thank you for being so inventive with the creatures that inspire those feelings. You all could take the low road, like so many American horror writers, and go for the lowest common denominator with depressing, disgusting tales of human beings savaging one another in the most brutal and torturous ways. Guts, gore and gristle might be horrific, but they certainly aren't scary. Also, it is distracting to read this stuff and find that your most urgent emotion is anxiety for whoever has to clean up all that mess.....the suspension of disbelief suffers.
So once again, I am appreciating those horror authors who base their novels on supernatural or unexplained anomalies of nature.
Inanimate objects with the ability to move around on their own, communicate, manipulate the actions of humans, plot and plan for their future are........scary.
Dolls, puppets, and taxidermy animals can be terrifying to individuals with active imaginations. Imagine how weird hybrids of all those things might make you a little panicky. Especially if your grip on the reality of who the puppet master really is happens to be on shaky ground.There are sub-themes in the novel, such as the curse of non-conformity, the nature of human cruelty, the sacred beauty of childhood innocence, etc. At the end, it all ties in somehow.
This compelling book was also full of atmosphere. Nevill's creation of the Red House is lovely and creepy and utterly delicious to those of us with love for Gothic Revival architecture. I fully imagined an original William Morris interior in mint condition. It would have been a lovely place to live.......after a major auction of the houses less desirable objets d'art.
Kudos to Adam Nevill, for his research on architecture during his work on this novel. I think all writers of paranormal fiction should spend a couple of days perusing architectural tomes that would pertain to their fictional building. Reprints of period house plan books are readily available and always a treat to look at. These books originally served as catalogs for the architects to direct-market their plans to the public. Now they serve as a piece of architectural history.
A major part of the attraction of the haunted house story is the house itself. The way I see it, there is no point in setting a haunting in a house that is gross and ugly or bland and boring. The house has to be an object of desire to lure people in and keep them there. The Red House in this book is all of that and more.
Thanks to Goodreads, I have found this author. I live in a small town with a small library on a small budget. The nearest bookstore is thirty miles away and is a corporate bookstore (sigh). Even though books are a line item in my household budget I still don't want to buy books I'm not going to like, so I have to trust the recommendations and reviews here while I research books I want to purchase. Because of this I have discovered the works of Susan Hill, Phil Rickman, Adam Nevill and a couple of authors on my 'to read' list. What an adventure in reading! So much more satisfying than the old days of waiting for a new book from that one reliable author whose work you were familiar with.
So once again, I am appreciating those horror authors who base their novels on supernatural or unexplained anomalies of nature.
Inanimate objects with the ability to move around on their own, communicate, manipulate the actions of humans, plot and plan for their future are........scary.
Dolls, puppets, and taxidermy animals can be terrifying to individuals with active imaginations. Imagine how weird hybrids of all those things might make you a little panicky. Especially if your grip on the reality of who the puppet master really is happens to be on shaky ground.There are sub-themes in the novel, such as the curse of non-conformity, the nature of human cruelty, the sacred beauty of childhood innocence, etc. At the end, it all ties in somehow.
This compelling book was also full of atmosphere. Nevill's creation of the Red House is lovely and creepy and utterly delicious to those of us with love for Gothic Revival architecture. I fully imagined an original William Morris interior in mint condition. It would have been a lovely place to live.......after a major auction of the houses less desirable objets d'art.
Kudos to Adam Nevill, for his research on architecture during his work on this novel. I think all writers of paranormal fiction should spend a couple of days perusing architectural tomes that would pertain to their fictional building. Reprints of period house plan books are readily available and always a treat to look at. These books originally served as catalogs for the architects to direct-market their plans to the public. Now they serve as a piece of architectural history.
A major part of the attraction of the haunted house story is the house itself. The way I see it, there is no point in setting a haunting in a house that is gross and ugly or bland and boring. The house has to be an object of desire to lure people in and keep them there. The Red House in this book is all of that and more.
Thanks to Goodreads, I have found this author. I live in a small town with a small library on a small budget. The nearest bookstore is thirty miles away and is a corporate bookstore (sigh). Even though books are a line item in my household budget I still don't want to buy books I'm not going to like, so I have to trust the recommendations and reviews here while I research books I want to purchase. Because of this I have discovered the works of Susan Hill, Phil Rickman, Adam Nevill and a couple of authors on my 'to read' list. What an adventure in reading! So much more satisfying than the old days of waiting for a new book from that one reliable author whose work you were familiar with.
November 27, 2023
This is one of the books I read while doing the horrible commute on the rickety metro system between Newcastle & Sunderland. Probably not really concentrating, often falling asleep, sat next to a dribbling man or an insane whistler. To be honest I couldn't really remember much about it, hence the 2nd read.
All I can say is, WTF!! WTAF!! First half is peak Nevill, the horror is real, loneliness, desperation, feelings of failure, a life on the verge of a breakdown held together with a little bit of hope and a sympathetic boss called Leonard. Then we take a sharp turn into insanity. We've got dolls, stuffed animals, lots of rats, medieval music, vintage torture porn and poor lighting. Not going to lie, it's not an easy read, in fact it's quite an uncomfortable read. The ending does tie everything up quite nicely but getting there sure is trippy and maybe the trippiness overshadows some of the reveals at the end.
All I can say is, WTF!! WTAF!! First half is peak Nevill, the horror is real, loneliness, desperation, feelings of failure, a life on the verge of a breakdown held together with a little bit of hope and a sympathetic boss called Leonard. Then we take a sharp turn into insanity. We've got dolls, stuffed animals, lots of rats, medieval music, vintage torture porn and poor lighting. Not going to lie, it's not an easy read, in fact it's quite an uncomfortable read. The ending does tie everything up quite nicely but getting there sure is trippy and maybe the trippiness overshadows some of the reveals at the end.
October 29, 2013
Adam Nevill is an author who just keeps getting better and better. His third novel, The Ritual, won the August Derleth Award for Best Horror Novel, and helped bring more attention to his two earlier novels, Banquet for the Damned and Apartment 16. Nevill's follow-up to The Ritual, Last Days, was a solid novel despite a lackluster ending. Now Nevill is back with House of Small Shadows, which is doubtless his best work yet.
The cover and blurbs should be enough to get any horror fan salivating. Dolls, puppets and taxidermy are all three creepy enough on their own, together they are a recipe for terror overload. The blurbs do not do the book justice, however, as the novel goes into much, much weirder territory.
Nevill finds success in creating the perfect atmosphere for paranoia. The Red House and the nearby, decrepit village of Magbar's Wood both exude a sense of being forgotten, tucked away into their own secret corner of England. Taking example from all the best haunted house stories, The Red House itself often transcends being simply a setting and becomes a character in it's own right. Populated by the highly eccentric, if not completely insane, niece of artist M.H. Mason as well as her mute, unfriendly housekeeper, The Red House soon becomes a prison for Catherine. The atmosphere is heavy and oppressive, from the muted, red lighting to the unpleasant smells. Mason's gruesome exhibits and creepy collection of puppets push an already tense, scary atmosphere into one of pure terror.
Catherine, the protagonist, is a deeply troubled individual. Early on in the book, her past is almost too convoluted, a long history including adoption, severe bullying, her best friend disappearing without a trace, mental health issues involving trances and a multitude of therapists, a humiliating departure from a previous job, and a relationship beset by issues such as an earlier miscarriage. Quite a lot to take in, but it's soon clear that Catherine is about as much of a wreck as they come, and is only barely holding it together. All the complexities of her life are almost overwhelming for the reader, but over time they all come together nicely.
When Catherine is invited to stay at The Red House while she values Mason's collection, things really take off. It's not soon before she feels more like a prisoner than anything, like a player on a stage who doesn't know her lines but can't help but playing out her role. Her predicament bleeds through the pages, so readers feel her claustrophobia and her worries. At times her reactions almost seem to be too much, as she is in hysterics for a good half of the novel, although having the feeling that one is stuck in a living nightmare will do that to most people.
House of Small Shadows is a great example of weird horror with a good blend of the psychological. Troubled Catherine starts to question what is real and what isn't as things become more and more bizarre. There's a certain turning point halfway through the novel where things immediately go into overdrive, and stay there, making the second half a wild nightmare trip with nowhere to turn. Puppets that may be much more, an ancient cult, otherwordly beings, things not being what they seem, this novel has tons to offer. Without a doubt Nevill's best work to date, and one that readers will lose sleep over. Highly recommended.
Review Originally appeared on my blog, The Arkham Digest.
The cover and blurbs should be enough to get any horror fan salivating. Dolls, puppets and taxidermy are all three creepy enough on their own, together they are a recipe for terror overload. The blurbs do not do the book justice, however, as the novel goes into much, much weirder territory.
Nevill finds success in creating the perfect atmosphere for paranoia. The Red House and the nearby, decrepit village of Magbar's Wood both exude a sense of being forgotten, tucked away into their own secret corner of England. Taking example from all the best haunted house stories, The Red House itself often transcends being simply a setting and becomes a character in it's own right. Populated by the highly eccentric, if not completely insane, niece of artist M.H. Mason as well as her mute, unfriendly housekeeper, The Red House soon becomes a prison for Catherine. The atmosphere is heavy and oppressive, from the muted, red lighting to the unpleasant smells. Mason's gruesome exhibits and creepy collection of puppets push an already tense, scary atmosphere into one of pure terror.
Catherine, the protagonist, is a deeply troubled individual. Early on in the book, her past is almost too convoluted, a long history including adoption, severe bullying, her best friend disappearing without a trace, mental health issues involving trances and a multitude of therapists, a humiliating departure from a previous job, and a relationship beset by issues such as an earlier miscarriage. Quite a lot to take in, but it's soon clear that Catherine is about as much of a wreck as they come, and is only barely holding it together. All the complexities of her life are almost overwhelming for the reader, but over time they all come together nicely.
When Catherine is invited to stay at The Red House while she values Mason's collection, things really take off. It's not soon before she feels more like a prisoner than anything, like a player on a stage who doesn't know her lines but can't help but playing out her role. Her predicament bleeds through the pages, so readers feel her claustrophobia and her worries. At times her reactions almost seem to be too much, as she is in hysterics for a good half of the novel, although having the feeling that one is stuck in a living nightmare will do that to most people.
House of Small Shadows is a great example of weird horror with a good blend of the psychological. Troubled Catherine starts to question what is real and what isn't as things become more and more bizarre. There's a certain turning point halfway through the novel where things immediately go into overdrive, and stay there, making the second half a wild nightmare trip with nowhere to turn. Puppets that may be much more, an ancient cult, otherwordly beings, things not being what they seem, this novel has tons to offer. Without a doubt Nevill's best work to date, and one that readers will lose sleep over. Highly recommended.
Review Originally appeared on my blog, The Arkham Digest.
March 20, 2016
Messed up...Wow! (As I read this book in predominantly public places, I kept thinking "no one around me has any idea where my imagination is going right now.")
The book starts off introducing our main character, Catherine, an antiquity appraiser still reeling from a major fallout from her previous career and relationship. At a time when things couldn't get any worse, she is fortuned with the opportunity of a lifetime. She is tasked with cataloging the life works of a master taxidermist, which up to know have resided for almost a century in a forgotten sprawling mansion with his last surviving relation.
The surviving niece, Edith, a decrepit wheelchair-bound recluse wearing only rigid Tudor-period dressings couldn't be depicted as more frightening. She was an absolute trip - her snippy and insulting dialogue crafted these incredibly intense scenes. This truly made the book for me! Her character's derangement was apparent from the first introduction - the whole thing- from the stuffed family dog getting mistaken as a living pup ( she was stroking it for crying out loud!) to the preserved kittens of her childhood (can't even imagine - shivers!)
The first day of Catherine's introduction to the antique collection (various battlefield scenes incorporating hundreds of stuffed rats) ends with the house's sole bumbling servant, Maude, furtively passing her a crudely written, crumpled note with a sinister warning to leave and never come back.
And Bang! - off we are shot into the deep end of a lunacy most cannot imagine.
A disturbing and dark story that will not disappoint.
The book starts off introducing our main character, Catherine, an antiquity appraiser still reeling from a major fallout from her previous career and relationship. At a time when things couldn't get any worse, she is fortuned with the opportunity of a lifetime. She is tasked with cataloging the life works of a master taxidermist, which up to know have resided for almost a century in a forgotten sprawling mansion with his last surviving relation.
The surviving niece, Edith, a decrepit wheelchair-bound recluse wearing only rigid Tudor-period dressings couldn't be depicted as more frightening. She was an absolute trip - her snippy and insulting dialogue crafted these incredibly intense scenes. This truly made the book for me! Her character's derangement was apparent from the first introduction - the whole thing- from the stuffed family dog getting mistaken as a living pup ( she was stroking it for crying out loud!) to the preserved kittens of her childhood (can't even imagine - shivers!)
The first day of Catherine's introduction to the antique collection (various battlefield scenes incorporating hundreds of stuffed rats) ends with the house's sole bumbling servant, Maude, furtively passing her a crudely written, crumpled note with a sinister warning to leave and never come back.
And Bang! - off we are shot into the deep end of a lunacy most cannot imagine.
A disturbing and dark story that will not disappoint.
December 1, 2016
Creepy!
This extremely atmospheric novel is about Catherine, who is hired to value some objects at the Red House. The Red House is the estate of the reclusive Edith Mason, whose uncle was well known for his work with taxidermy. Catherine is very emotionally vulnerable: bullied as a child, and recently fired from her former job. As a small child, she was prone to trances where she (supposedly) hallucinated other children.
The Red House is one of the weirdest and most interesting houses I've read about. Porcelain dolls, tableaus made of dead rats, preserved kittens in dresses, bizarre marionettes plus much more are all shut up inside a house straight out of the 1920s. When Catherine hears someone (or something?) go bump in the night, she wonders if it's the house and it's strange inhabitants, or if her mind is starting to unravel.
This extremely atmospheric novel is about Catherine, who is hired to value some objects at the Red House. The Red House is the estate of the reclusive Edith Mason, whose uncle was well known for his work with taxidermy. Catherine is very emotionally vulnerable: bullied as a child, and recently fired from her former job. As a small child, she was prone to trances where she (supposedly) hallucinated other children.
The Red House is one of the weirdest and most interesting houses I've read about. Porcelain dolls, tableaus made of dead rats, preserved kittens in dresses, bizarre marionettes plus much more are all shut up inside a house straight out of the 1920s. When Catherine hears someone (or something?) go bump in the night, she wonders if it's the house and it's strange inhabitants, or if her mind is starting to unravel.
August 2, 2018
I wanted to like this book - I really did. But, at 371 pages - it seemed to go on forever.
"Small Shadows" is the story of Catherine, who accepts a job to evaluate an antique doll collection at red House, former home to famous taxidermist M.H. Mason...in reality, she's being groomed to take over ownership of red House, and all that it contains.
Obviously, things are not as they are presented, and Catherine quickly comes to doubt her sanity. There are links to a cult-like religion, with a sort of morality play, and frankly, I didn't understand much of the book.
What does it all mean? No idea...
"Small Shadows" is the story of Catherine, who accepts a job to evaluate an antique doll collection at red House, former home to famous taxidermist M.H. Mason...in reality, she's being groomed to take over ownership of red House, and all that it contains.
Obviously, things are not as they are presented, and Catherine quickly comes to doubt her sanity. There are links to a cult-like religion, with a sort of morality play, and frankly, I didn't understand much of the book.
What does it all mean? No idea...
October 20, 2014
Maniacal!
quoted from the text:
"A mind made strange with inebriation in oppressive darkness could see anything it wanted."
My lights will burn tonight. My dreams may nightmares be.
And if you are one who suffers from Pupaphobia I'd tread carefully here!
quoted from the text:
"A mind made strange with inebriation in oppressive darkness could see anything it wanted."
My lights will burn tonight. My dreams may nightmares be.
And if you are one who suffers from Pupaphobia I'd tread carefully here!
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