"The Secret of Crickley Hall" Book Review 5/9/2013

Title: The Secret of Crickley Hall
Author: James Herbert
Genre: Supernatural/Horror/Mystery
Date Published: 2006
Rating: 3/5 Stars

Whaaaat's up people?! I read this book a while ago but never got around to blogging about it so here's your much-anticipated Crickley Hall review. This whopper of a novel written by British horror sensation James Herbert (who unfortunately passed away two months ago, rest in peace <3) was engaging at times, disappointing at times, and just-plain-disturbing at times. It was mighty depressing as well. Gabe Caleigh has recently lost his son to a suspected-kidnapping and moves his wife and kids from the city of London to a swampy village called Hollow Bay. They take a creepy old house known as Crickley Hall. Soon after moving in, the Caleigh's discover the chilling history of Crickley Hall. There was a flood back in 1943 that killed eleven children, all of whom were orphans that resided in Crickley Hall. The orphanage had been run by the infamous Augustus Cribben and his spiteful sister, Magda. The Cribbens favored the eldest orphan, Maurice, and the trio kept the other orphans in top-top shape by punishing them severely whenever they broke a rule. Flash to present. Herbert spends hundreds of pages discussing the minute details of everything I couldn't care less about, with a really interesting part only every other chapter. He also repeated himself A TON. The whole middle of the book seemed like filler material to me. The beginning and parts leading up the end were most engaging, but the very ending was a THUD with a capital T. I'll make this short because I've got people to see, places to go, etc. (in other words: stare at my computer screen, study, eat, sleep, repeat)... in the end, this 600-ish page whopper could easily have been condensed to a 200-page novel and wouldn't have been half bad. However, I could live without the overly graphic descriptions of the strangulation of small children. 

It's really okay. Thanks anyway.

I wouldn't recommend this book, especially if you're a die-hard horror junkie like myself because you will be severely disappointed. Don't say I didn't warn ya.

Let's end this conflict, shall we?!

Stay in school, be a Potterhead, respect the nature, fly like a Mockingjay, and above all be your magickal selves!
Yours truly,
The Black Rose Librarian
aka Sam  ^_^