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Beneath
CONTAINS BONUS SHORT STORYBeneath is a terrifying horror novel.Dan Martin and his family move into a new home. Soon they discover an ancient chamber buried below the house. As the secrets of the areas dark history come to light the family begin to experience frightening supernatural phenomena. Hooded apparitions stalk their garden at night, an unseen hand carves messages on their walls, and most disturbing, their neighbours start to die.Opening the chamber has released a dark and evil force that existed eons before man. Can Dan Martin, a scientist, accept the existence of the paranormal in order to stop it? Can he protect his family? Violence, horror and death combine in a nerve shredding climax. Will they survive what dwells beneath?This is the debut novel by English writer Kit Tinsley
- GenresHorror
332 pages, Paperback
First published February 16, 2013
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89 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
May 9, 2016
It's official this book has given me the Heebie jeebies!!!
Disclaimer: I purchased a paperback copy of Beneath from the author when I met him at an author signing event in Peterborough in 2015. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.
After moving house, Dan and his family are seemingly adjusting and settling in well, they get on well with the neighbours and things are going well. Until the night their dog digs a hole and falls into it.
This hole is no ordinary hole, the hole the dog had begun digging disturbs the ground underneath which gives way and falls into a huge underground chamber. Dan and his neighbour rescue the dog and they put up a makeshift fence.
Since the chamber has been disturbed Dan and hiss family begin to experience strange happenings. Being a scientist Dan tries to rationalise the cause of these goings on but deep down he begins to wonder if there is another cause for them, one he cannot use science to explain.
Can Dan uncover what happened in the chamber? Will uncovering the past help to stop the strange occurrences and keep him and his family safe?
I met Kit at an author signing in Peterborough, UK last year. I had never heard of him at that point but I purchased a copy of Beneath once I saw the cover! I put Beneath on my bookshelf and it has sat there for just over a year, I am so disappointed that I allowed myself too leave it so long before reading it.
Beneath is one of the creepiest books I've read in a long time, and I loved all of it!! I was hooked in just a few pages.
Beneath appears to have quite a few characters but each one plays an important role and they play them well.
The book is written in the first person and is a retrospective first hand account of the things endured by a man driven to the point of breakdown by an ancient and powerful force.
Although haunted house plots are used regularly in the horror genre, I feel the Kit has managed to make it his own, and has made it captivating by telling it retrospectively in Dan's POV.
Kit's writing style definitely makes you want to believe that the things he describes are real. I for one will NOT be going anywhere near a crypt or well for a long time, if ever again!! :)
Never having read anything else by Kit; yet; I cannot say if his writing style has changed or developed. I honestly do think that he has a talent for the horror genre. I'm really looking forward to discovering more of his work.
Overall a great book! If you like horror or creepy books, go on give Beneath a chance, I don't think you'll be disappointed. I'd dish out 5*'s but I would have loved just a little more blood and gore.
Disclaimer: I purchased a paperback copy of Beneath from the author when I met him at an author signing event in Peterborough in 2015. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.
After moving house, Dan and his family are seemingly adjusting and settling in well, they get on well with the neighbours and things are going well. Until the night their dog digs a hole and falls into it.
This hole is no ordinary hole, the hole the dog had begun digging disturbs the ground underneath which gives way and falls into a huge underground chamber. Dan and his neighbour rescue the dog and they put up a makeshift fence.
Since the chamber has been disturbed Dan and hiss family begin to experience strange happenings. Being a scientist Dan tries to rationalise the cause of these goings on but deep down he begins to wonder if there is another cause for them, one he cannot use science to explain.
Can Dan uncover what happened in the chamber? Will uncovering the past help to stop the strange occurrences and keep him and his family safe?
I met Kit at an author signing in Peterborough, UK last year. I had never heard of him at that point but I purchased a copy of Beneath once I saw the cover! I put Beneath on my bookshelf and it has sat there for just over a year, I am so disappointed that I allowed myself too leave it so long before reading it.
Beneath is one of the creepiest books I've read in a long time, and I loved all of it!! I was hooked in just a few pages.
Beneath appears to have quite a few characters but each one plays an important role and they play them well.
The book is written in the first person and is a retrospective first hand account of the things endured by a man driven to the point of breakdown by an ancient and powerful force.
Although haunted house plots are used regularly in the horror genre, I feel the Kit has managed to make it his own, and has made it captivating by telling it retrospectively in Dan's POV.
Kit's writing style definitely makes you want to believe that the things he describes are real. I for one will NOT be going anywhere near a crypt or well for a long time, if ever again!! :)
Never having read anything else by Kit; yet; I cannot say if his writing style has changed or developed. I honestly do think that he has a talent for the horror genre. I'm really looking forward to discovering more of his work.
Overall a great book! If you like horror or creepy books, go on give Beneath a chance, I don't think you'll be disappointed. I'd dish out 5*'s but I would have loved just a little more blood and gore.
June 26, 2013
Oh my freak, this was one terrifying haunted house book. Totally loved it. The fact that I waited till morning to finish the book is testament enough that it was scary:-) Giving it a 4.5/5
A loving family of four moves in to a dainty neighborhood and settles down quickly. The house is cool, the neighbors are fun and everything is going picture perfect until their dog unearths an underground chamber in their back garden. Things take a nasty turn as the primordial evil residing in that sub subterranean crypt is released. As the grisly details of the chamber's horrifying past are discovered, the family start experiencing paranormal manifestations - door knob turning, ominous writings getting etched on walls, hooded apparitions stalking their garden in the night. What happens next... you should really read this one to find out.
The plot is amazing. I am in awe of Kit Tinsley, given this is his debut book. This book has a huge number of characters but incredibly each one has a logically fitting role to play. The fact that it is written in first person reminiscing about the events of his past adds that extra spooky feeling of the foreboding of doom (this would be the last time I would see her, It was the worst decision I ever took etc). I would also give 5 on 5 to the supernatural concepts mentioned and explained towards the end. The last 5 or 6 chapters are just brilliant (by the way). The worst kind of horror is when unimaginable things happen to the most innocent and loving people. That is exactly what happens in this book. The author has brought out the characters so beautifully that they are not only believable but also likeable.
However, there were quite a few things I found amiss. Poor editing is one, several typos strewn with abandon all over the book. Then I felt the beginning was not that great and pretty boring.
I loved this book thoroughly and look forward to reading more from Kit.
A loving family of four moves in to a dainty neighborhood and settles down quickly. The house is cool, the neighbors are fun and everything is going picture perfect until their dog unearths an underground chamber in their back garden. Things take a nasty turn as the primordial evil residing in that sub subterranean crypt is released. As the grisly details of the chamber's horrifying past are discovered, the family start experiencing paranormal manifestations - door knob turning, ominous writings getting etched on walls, hooded apparitions stalking their garden in the night. What happens next... you should really read this one to find out.
The plot is amazing. I am in awe of Kit Tinsley, given this is his debut book. This book has a huge number of characters but incredibly each one has a logically fitting role to play. The fact that it is written in first person reminiscing about the events of his past adds that extra spooky feeling of the foreboding of doom (this would be the last time I would see her, It was the worst decision I ever took etc). I would also give 5 on 5 to the supernatural concepts mentioned and explained towards the end. The last 5 or 6 chapters are just brilliant (by the way). The worst kind of horror is when unimaginable things happen to the most innocent and loving people. That is exactly what happens in this book. The author has brought out the characters so beautifully that they are not only believable but also likeable.
However, there were quite a few things I found amiss. Poor editing is one, several typos strewn with abandon all over the book. Then I felt the beginning was not that great and pretty boring.
I loved this book thoroughly and look forward to reading more from Kit.
June 1, 2013
I loved this story! First off, the cover caught my attention and frightened me into reading it and I had to start right away :) I absolutely love it! One thing I really found interesting was the point of view that it was written in. To me, it made the story more urgent which made me want to continue on. It was very climatic. My heart is still racing! Awesome job, Kit!!
December 29, 2016
Wow, great book! I can only compare it to the scariest episodes of Paranormal Witness and A Haunting all rolled into one. I'll definitely be reading more of this author's work.
July 20, 2016
This novel is written in the first person - being a first hand account, given retrospectively, by a man driven to the edge of madness and physical breakdown by an ancient evil. Before I go any further I think it is important for anyone who reads this book to keep that in mind. Minor inaccuracies in the account, the odd grammatical error and the highly personalised colloquial tone all add to that effect and, I would say, are all an essential part of that overall effect. When the novel is read in this way I feel it really works. To read it without this approach, in my view, does it an injustice.
This is the first novel I have read from this author so I cannot comment on whether the writing style is indicative of his other work. After all, it is very difficult to work within a first-person narrative as many of the usual opportunities to give another character's point of view, or to move the story on in a different way, are not available. I feel this author has handled this difficulty well and the characters featured do not lose any depth or relevance because of it.
The story itself is a well-trodden path of "new joy and new house rapidly give way to destructive evil after a strange discovery". However, arguably, the tired story premise is counter-balanced by the first person account style, and that lifted it for me. That said, I felt the first 20% of the narrative suffered a little from the familiarity of the story premise - almost as if the author himself felt it and was wanting to move on quickly to his own version of what differentiated his version from the familiar.
Four stars overall because the first person account is quirky, the last 10% of the novel is classic visual horror without being gory, the "ancient evil" backstory is believable and, whilst there are some co-incidences in the narrative that might cause you to raise an eyebrow, you nevertheless find yourself believing that if the evil was of the gravity we are asked to believe, then it is entirely possible for it to have orchestrated a beginning that began way before the actual beginning, and that these people, in this place with this network of access to each other, were always puppets of the greater design, hurtling blindly towards their bloody fate.
A solid first step onto the hallowed ground of the horror genre.
This is the first novel I have read from this author so I cannot comment on whether the writing style is indicative of his other work. After all, it is very difficult to work within a first-person narrative as many of the usual opportunities to give another character's point of view, or to move the story on in a different way, are not available. I feel this author has handled this difficulty well and the characters featured do not lose any depth or relevance because of it.
The story itself is a well-trodden path of "new joy and new house rapidly give way to destructive evil after a strange discovery". However, arguably, the tired story premise is counter-balanced by the first person account style, and that lifted it for me. That said, I felt the first 20% of the narrative suffered a little from the familiarity of the story premise - almost as if the author himself felt it and was wanting to move on quickly to his own version of what differentiated his version from the familiar.
Four stars overall because the first person account is quirky, the last 10% of the novel is classic visual horror without being gory, the "ancient evil" backstory is believable and, whilst there are some co-incidences in the narrative that might cause you to raise an eyebrow, you nevertheless find yourself believing that if the evil was of the gravity we are asked to believe, then it is entirely possible for it to have orchestrated a beginning that began way before the actual beginning, and that these people, in this place with this network of access to each other, were always puppets of the greater design, hurtling blindly towards their bloody fate.
A solid first step onto the hallowed ground of the horror genre.
March 7, 2019
I really enjoyed this first novel of the author. The reference to the evil monks, the whole story about this evil force, the hooded persons and naming the place Blackfriars Crescent was great. Also the underground church like vault found by Mojo in the backyard is quite eerie. The story had some length when Bill died (Dan's hesitation to tell his girls) but with the student team of archeologists more and more details of the locations and the dealings of the friars are revealed. Bit by bit you are drawn into something horrible. At the end the story gets almost apocalyptic as the evil entity is described in more detail. Izzy also reminded me a bit on Carol Ann from Poltergeist (the movie also was mentioned in the book). Very surprisingly to me also was the fact when you came to know about the future destiny of the narrator of the story. It's a simple plot with some new ingredients (pagan evil/alien) and the author turns the story into a real thrillfest. Alex is one of the characters I least liked though and the numerous forebodings made you constantly think about the ending. That killed a bit the surprise moment. Overall a very compelling and interesting horror novel with a nasty evil. Recommended!
December 11, 2016
While I'm not usually a fan of books written in the first person, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, a good idea that gripped throughout.
The only part I was unsure about was the switching between realities in the last chapter or two.
The only part I was unsure about was the switching between realities in the last chapter or two.
June 27, 2025
I love this book, I read it when it first came out and was free to amazon kindle.
I have to say it is one of my favourite and I have read it multiple times, each time loathe to put it down even though I know what's going to happen :)
It's such an easy book to read, I love the writing style, I love the characters and the plot is just wow . This would make a great film or series and thoroughly recommend his other books - i just wish he would hurry up and write some more x
I have to say it is one of my favourite and I have read it multiple times, each time loathe to put it down even though I know what's going to happen :)
It's such an easy book to read, I love the writing style, I love the characters and the plot is just wow . This would make a great film or series and thoroughly recommend his other books - i just wish he would hurry up and write some more x
December 31, 2018
Scary, but the ending was rushed and disappointing.
September 3, 2013
Solid Debut, but Grammatically Painful:
The very first thing I feel compelled to address is the statement in the book description that reads, "NOTE- This is a 2nd edition of this book, it has been professionally edited, and all reviews that mention spelling mistakes and grammatical errors refer to the first edition." I purchased the Kindle ebook version of this book on 8/29/13, just five short days ago, and I can attest that this is not an accurate statement.
I have no doubt that some corrections were made, but not nearly enough. I'll usually state in passing if there were editing needs left unaddressed and then usually have the pleasure of letting fellow readers know that it didn't detract from my experience, or the story. I cannot say that in this case.
The first thing I noticed were continuity issues. Very early in the book, our main character, Dan, is going to explore a hole in his yard that his dog has uncovered and fell down into. The neighbor, Bill, states that, "Dan and I could lower you down" when speaking to Dan. I can now only assume that the author meant, "Dan, I could lower you down," but while reading, it left me restarting from the beginning to confirm my understanding of who was in the scene and why I was so confused.
The next of these errors comes shortly thereafter when Dan wants to come back up out of the hole. At the beginning of chapter six, the sentence reads, "After getting out of the well." Again, I felt myself wondering what I missed that I was now so badly confused. Earlier in this scene, Dan notices what he thinks is an altar, a round structure with a slab on top of it, down in this cavernous space. Period. The author uses the word, "well" even before our main character, and therefore the reader, learns that that's what this structure is. Ironically, it's shortly thereafter when, again, neighbor Bill enters the picture and, upon hearing Dan's recount of his observations, states, "That sounds like a well."
The most disturbing to me were numerous exclamation points placed in very inappropriate places. This caused me to second guess the feelings evoked by the scene, and the author's words, and this, too, was extremely confusing. For example, a character has passed away, and another character is speaking to this character's family member. The author states that this family member has, understandably, been crying and describes what this distraught family member looks like to the character. Then, the family member states, "I'm [Name]!" This happens multiple times throughout the book. These errors plus numerous misspellings and missing words really did detract from my experience.
That being said, the story itself is rock solid. I really did enjoy the plot, and the characters. The author can write; of this, I have no doubt. He has a unique way of conveying a thought or emotion with mere words, and he obviously has a great understanding of how to include surprises and twists, as evidenced by the surprise ending.
In fact, my favorite quote from the book is, "It's strange how a buffet is such a perfect metaphor for life; when it begins it is a beautiful, wonderous thing, full of the promise of satisfaction, but over time people use up all that is good, leaving nothing behind but the worst parts, which quickly decay and become useless, until eventually it is all thrown out to rot."
The short story, "Fear Thy Neighbor" was included at the end of the edition I purchased and is another great example of this author's talent and promise. I read this book in one sitting, and would still recommend it to fans of horror fiction. Though I must make just as strong of a recommendation to the author to revisit the aforementioned editing needs.
The very first thing I feel compelled to address is the statement in the book description that reads, "NOTE- This is a 2nd edition of this book, it has been professionally edited, and all reviews that mention spelling mistakes and grammatical errors refer to the first edition." I purchased the Kindle ebook version of this book on 8/29/13, just five short days ago, and I can attest that this is not an accurate statement.
I have no doubt that some corrections were made, but not nearly enough. I'll usually state in passing if there were editing needs left unaddressed and then usually have the pleasure of letting fellow readers know that it didn't detract from my experience, or the story. I cannot say that in this case.
The first thing I noticed were continuity issues. Very early in the book, our main character, Dan, is going to explore a hole in his yard that his dog has uncovered and fell down into. The neighbor, Bill, states that, "Dan and I could lower you down" when speaking to Dan. I can now only assume that the author meant, "Dan, I could lower you down," but while reading, it left me restarting from the beginning to confirm my understanding of who was in the scene and why I was so confused.
The next of these errors comes shortly thereafter when Dan wants to come back up out of the hole. At the beginning of chapter six, the sentence reads, "After getting out of the well." Again, I felt myself wondering what I missed that I was now so badly confused. Earlier in this scene, Dan notices what he thinks is an altar, a round structure with a slab on top of it, down in this cavernous space. Period. The author uses the word, "well" even before our main character, and therefore the reader, learns that that's what this structure is. Ironically, it's shortly thereafter when, again, neighbor Bill enters the picture and, upon hearing Dan's recount of his observations, states, "That sounds like a well."
The most disturbing to me were numerous exclamation points placed in very inappropriate places. This caused me to second guess the feelings evoked by the scene, and the author's words, and this, too, was extremely confusing. For example, a character has passed away, and another character is speaking to this character's family member. The author states that this family member has, understandably, been crying and describes what this distraught family member looks like to the character. Then, the family member states, "I'm [Name]!" This happens multiple times throughout the book. These errors plus numerous misspellings and missing words really did detract from my experience.
That being said, the story itself is rock solid. I really did enjoy the plot, and the characters. The author can write; of this, I have no doubt. He has a unique way of conveying a thought or emotion with mere words, and he obviously has a great understanding of how to include surprises and twists, as evidenced by the surprise ending.
In fact, my favorite quote from the book is, "It's strange how a buffet is such a perfect metaphor for life; when it begins it is a beautiful, wonderous thing, full of the promise of satisfaction, but over time people use up all that is good, leaving nothing behind but the worst parts, which quickly decay and become useless, until eventually it is all thrown out to rot."
The short story, "Fear Thy Neighbor" was included at the end of the edition I purchased and is another great example of this author's talent and promise. I read this book in one sitting, and would still recommend it to fans of horror fiction. Though I must make just as strong of a recommendation to the author to revisit the aforementioned editing needs.
April 10, 2013
The Basics:
Dan Martin and his wife and two daughters move into a suspiciously affordable new house and discover the haunted undercroft of a long-demolished abbey of evil monks under their backyard. Terror and tragedy ensues.
The Downside:
The text is distractingly thick with typos and mechanical errors. It would be difficult to find a single paragraph without any missing punctuation or a misused to/too/two or their/they’re/there. The story isn’t particularly original or surprising in any way, relying on the old standbys of extreme denial and curiosity to tie the characters to the bad decisions necessary to support the plot. The characters themselves are heavily stereotyped by age and gender and then occasionally analyzed in Dan’s internal monologue as if age and gender differences are a new and untapped subject.
The Upside:
If you’re in the mood for a basic, classic haunted house story, you could do a lot worse. Reading Beneath is like going to see a decent generic jumpscare movie in the theater; as long as you don’t go in looking for groundbreaking innovation and technical prowess, you won’t be disappointed. The scares are solid, if standard, and well paced, enough so to keep even me distracted from the errors, which is quite difficult (after working as a technical editor, the urge to catch each one is hard to shake).
You’ve got your dream sequences from hell, your house calls from baffled professional ghost hunters, your it-was-only-the-cat (or in this case, dog) scenes, all effectively done. Dan himself is, for the most part, loveable and easy to root for as the heroic dad horror protagonist. Possibly, as an admitted daddy’s girl with a little sister, I have a soft spot for him, but there it is.
There is one small but well-executed acknowledgment of the dubiousness of his decision to stay and keep his family in the house after the first few horrors they survive. He notes that the evil seems to have the power to make intense, terrifying psychic experiences feel small and ridiculous after the fact. The phenomenon is so real and relatable that its description is arguably more frightening than the scenes of terror themselves, so due credit for that.
(This review and others originally posted on www.fjrtitchenell.weebly.com)
Dan Martin and his wife and two daughters move into a suspiciously affordable new house and discover the haunted undercroft of a long-demolished abbey of evil monks under their backyard. Terror and tragedy ensues.
The Downside:
The text is distractingly thick with typos and mechanical errors. It would be difficult to find a single paragraph without any missing punctuation or a misused to/too/two or their/they’re/there. The story isn’t particularly original or surprising in any way, relying on the old standbys of extreme denial and curiosity to tie the characters to the bad decisions necessary to support the plot. The characters themselves are heavily stereotyped by age and gender and then occasionally analyzed in Dan’s internal monologue as if age and gender differences are a new and untapped subject.
The Upside:
If you’re in the mood for a basic, classic haunted house story, you could do a lot worse. Reading Beneath is like going to see a decent generic jumpscare movie in the theater; as long as you don’t go in looking for groundbreaking innovation and technical prowess, you won’t be disappointed. The scares are solid, if standard, and well paced, enough so to keep even me distracted from the errors, which is quite difficult (after working as a technical editor, the urge to catch each one is hard to shake).
You’ve got your dream sequences from hell, your house calls from baffled professional ghost hunters, your it-was-only-the-cat (or in this case, dog) scenes, all effectively done. Dan himself is, for the most part, loveable and easy to root for as the heroic dad horror protagonist. Possibly, as an admitted daddy’s girl with a little sister, I have a soft spot for him, but there it is.
There is one small but well-executed acknowledgment of the dubiousness of his decision to stay and keep his family in the house after the first few horrors they survive. He notes that the evil seems to have the power to make intense, terrifying psychic experiences feel small and ridiculous after the fact. The phenomenon is so real and relatable that its description is arguably more frightening than the scenes of terror themselves, so due credit for that.
(This review and others originally posted on www.fjrtitchenell.weebly.com)
April 6, 2013
Dan Martin and his family move into a new house situated in the quiet, picturesque region of Blackfrairs Crescent in the English countryside. Everything seems perfect for the Martin family - they have found their dream home and are living next to the loveliest people who have wholeheartedly welcomed the Martins into the neighborhood. The nightmare begins when the family dog falls through a hole while digging in the back garden. During the resulting rescue mission, Dan and his next door neighbor, Bill discover an ancient chamber buried beneath the house.
As the secrets of the area's dark history come to light, the Martins begin to experience frightening supernatural phenomena. Hooded apparitions stalk their garden at night, an unseen hand carves messages on their walls, and most disturbing, their neighbors start to die. Opening the underground chamber has released a dark and evil force that has existed eons before man.
Can Dan Martin - a scientist who prides himself for his logical thinking - accept the existence of the paranormal in order to stop it? Can Dan protect his family and will they survive what dwells beneath?
This book also contains a bonus short story called 'Fear Thy Neighbor' - a story from Kit Tinsley's forthcoming collection Dark County: Tales of Terror From Rural England.
On the whole, I enjoyed this book very much. The plot was tremendously frightening and completely original and actually was a terrific debut from a very promising author. I give this book an A! and I look forward to reading more from Kit Tinsley in the future.
If I did have one complaint about Beneath by Kit Tinsley, it would be that while reading this book, I encountered multiple typos and numerous grammatical errors which I found rather annoying.
As the secrets of the area's dark history come to light, the Martins begin to experience frightening supernatural phenomena. Hooded apparitions stalk their garden at night, an unseen hand carves messages on their walls, and most disturbing, their neighbors start to die. Opening the underground chamber has released a dark and evil force that has existed eons before man.
Can Dan Martin - a scientist who prides himself for his logical thinking - accept the existence of the paranormal in order to stop it? Can Dan protect his family and will they survive what dwells beneath?
This book also contains a bonus short story called 'Fear Thy Neighbor' - a story from Kit Tinsley's forthcoming collection Dark County: Tales of Terror From Rural England.
On the whole, I enjoyed this book very much. The plot was tremendously frightening and completely original and actually was a terrific debut from a very promising author. I give this book an A! and I look forward to reading more from Kit Tinsley in the future.
If I did have one complaint about Beneath by Kit Tinsley, it would be that while reading this book, I encountered multiple typos and numerous grammatical errors which I found rather annoying.
February 6, 2014
This excellent horror story had been on on TBR list for far too long, I've read the authors other book (a collection of short stories called 'Dark County') so I was looking forward to reading this. Thankfully I wasn't dissapointed.
On the face of it the story takes a familiar form, a family move into a new home and strange and terrifying events occur. The father is a man of scientific character and struggles with the phenomena and searches for an explanation. Darker events unfold after the discovery of an old chamber in the garden and the battle is on to survive and protect his family.
While the story may have a familiar feel, the author demonstrates great skill in making the format his own and in creating an involving read. For me the strengths were how the story was grounded in the real world, quite often these things seem to be squeezed in rather than blended. The technique by which the story is recollected also worked well, it brought th eevents close to home and kept me hooked right up to the ending.
The only off notes for me were the initial familiarity with story (although it is well told and does have some interesting twists along the way, so this is really a minor complaint) and I would have liked to have discovered more about the creature at the heart of it all. Still they aren't major issues and shouldn't put you off, this is an excellent horror read.
On the face of it the story takes a familiar form, a family move into a new home and strange and terrifying events occur. The father is a man of scientific character and struggles with the phenomena and searches for an explanation. Darker events unfold after the discovery of an old chamber in the garden and the battle is on to survive and protect his family.
While the story may have a familiar feel, the author demonstrates great skill in making the format his own and in creating an involving read. For me the strengths were how the story was grounded in the real world, quite often these things seem to be squeezed in rather than blended. The technique by which the story is recollected also worked well, it brought th eevents close to home and kept me hooked right up to the ending.
The only off notes for me were the initial familiarity with story (although it is well told and does have some interesting twists along the way, so this is really a minor complaint) and I would have liked to have discovered more about the creature at the heart of it all. Still they aren't major issues and shouldn't put you off, this is an excellent horror read.
March 16, 2013
For a debut book it was ok. It could be sharpened up a bit, but I guess that will come with more experience. I certainly wouldn't have placed it in the horror genre, it's more paranormal, and in my opinion, definitely NOT scary. Mind you I don't find Steven King or James Hebert books scary either.
I won't give away the story, I hate spoilers!!! I found the plot a tad predictable, especially the ending. Mind you, Kit kinda gives the ending away at the beginning. I had hoped for more darkness, considering the content. I expected more to occur also. However, I really don't scare, and I know that many people will be scared when reading this, and they will enjoy it too.
Sadly, it's not a book I would read again, once was definitely enough for me.
Mr Tinsley, I look forward to your next book. I do hope you improve more with every book, as you have a good skill in weaving a story and putting it together.The horror genre is, in my opinion, the hardest genre to be writing in. You need so many elements to come together to make it work as a 'scary, can't put down' read. And you are almost there, for me.
I won't give away the story, I hate spoilers!!! I found the plot a tad predictable, especially the ending. Mind you, Kit kinda gives the ending away at the beginning. I had hoped for more darkness, considering the content. I expected more to occur also. However, I really don't scare, and I know that many people will be scared when reading this, and they will enjoy it too.
Sadly, it's not a book I would read again, once was definitely enough for me.
Mr Tinsley, I look forward to your next book. I do hope you improve more with every book, as you have a good skill in weaving a story and putting it together.The horror genre is, in my opinion, the hardest genre to be writing in. You need so many elements to come together to make it work as a 'scary, can't put down' read. And you are almost there, for me.
November 2, 2016
I have read a lot of haunted house books and here I am reading another haunted house book with ghosts, spooks and all the atmosphere that a haunted house brings but also we have a twist at then end that took me my surprise as well has a haunted house. I am not going to say what the twist is but let me say I loved it very unexpected.
Beneath was a page turner once started it was just impossible to put it down you feel then need to keep turning the pages just to find out what would happen next and just what was down that well.
Beneath is the first book I have read by Kit Tinsley but I hope it will not be the last I will be looking for more of his books to read.
Beneath was a page turner once started it was just impossible to put it down you feel then need to keep turning the pages just to find out what would happen next and just what was down that well.
Beneath is the first book I have read by Kit Tinsley but I hope it will not be the last I will be looking for more of his books to read.
January 3, 2014
I must admit, I found this book very hard to put down. It is a good horror story written in a simple and uncomplicated style.
The only down side is that I think he could have added a little more to the strange happenings within the house and described the horror side of it in more detail, apart from that Great!. With the added touches, this book could quite easily make a brilliant horror film.
The only down side is that I think he could have added a little more to the strange happenings within the house and described the horror side of it in more detail, apart from that Great!. With the added touches, this book could quite easily make a brilliant horror film.
April 1, 2013
Really enjoyed reading beneath. I thought it was a really good story and I couldn't put it down. It's just a shame about the editing of the book. Looking forward to reading more of Kits work
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