Review - The Woman In Black by Susan Hill

The Woman In Black: Movie Tie In by Susan Hill

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Blurb From Goodreads

Set in Victorian England, Arthur Kipps, a junior solicitor in London, is summoned to Crythin Gifford to attend the funeral of Mrs Alice Drablow, and to sort through her papers before returning to London. It is here that Kipps first sees the woman in black and begins to gain an impression of the mystery surrounding her. From the funeral he travels to Eel Marsh House and sees the woman again, plus he also hears the terrifying sounds of adult and child passengers sinking into the quicksand on a pony and trap.

Despite Kipps’s experiences he resolves to spend the night at the house and fulfil hi professional duty.It is this night at Eel Marsh House that contains the greatest horror for Kipps. Rescued by Mr Daily, a friend he met on the train, Kipps discovers the reasons behind the hauntings at Eel Marsh House. The book ends with tragedy, with the woman in black exacting a final, terrible revenge

My Review

It's almost Christmas at the home of Arthur Kipps and there are scary stories all round which forces Arthur to recall a time in his past he would rather not remember. Arthur is young and eager in his job to impress the boss and hopefully get a raise and then some. He has to go to a former client house to settle affairs after her death and finds more than he bargained for in her creepy house and little town where the locals hint at dark happenings associated with the lady and house.

It starts of fairly slow and to be honest keeps at that pace for most of the book, it reminded me of the Blair Witch Project movie where lots was hinted at and your mind filled in the blanks and you scared yourself rather than the scares in your face.

As ghost stories go it is quite timid until the end or almost last quarter when things pick up but again it isn't over the top horror or even close, rather some horrible scary episodes for our main character. Most of the big questions are answered but there is a lot that would leave the inquisitive mind unsettled and possibly even annoyed. I liked it but much prefer my ghost stories with much more pace, action, gore (of which there wasn't) and edge of your seat scares. This was a much more timid read that kept you on the edge of your seat if your imagination does most of the work so 3/5 for me.

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