Post by Dreadlocksmile on Jul 30, 2009 20:16:11 GMT
Dreadlocksmile review:
First published back in 1988, `Haunted' was Herbert's fourteenth full length novel to be published.
`Haunted' was the first novel to introduce the anti-hero character of David Ash, who later returned in Herbert's 1994 novel `The Ghosts Of Sleath', which takes on the role of a loose sequel to `Haunted'.
From the very beginning the reader soon becomes accustomed to Ash's bad habits, cynical view on life and overall downbeat traits, of which followers of Herbert's work will recognise as a somewhat recurring theme within his novels. Ash is certainly not a polished, goodie-two-shoes type of character, and this in itself gives the novel a harder and more true to life feel to it.
The book follows the classic structure of a `haunted house' novel, laying down the premise of a possible supernatural presence from the offset. Herbert carefully builds the underlying tension of the storyline, interweaving the sub-plots of the developing character relationships, whilst still subtly hinting to the reader an uneasy atmosphere to the whole scenario.
With suggestive bursts of ghostly appearances that become more and more frequent as the tale progresses, the old cliché of "am I going insane" is thrown into the equation, until finally the horrifying truth is revealed in an almost explosive manner.
For sheer nail biting tension this novel delivers the goods from the very first page until the dramatic final conclusion. Well written, Herbert weaves a tale that beckons the reader into the storyline, with heart-stopping suspense that you can cut with a knife.
At only 224 pages in length, you will find yourself wondering how you managed to get so absorbed in the novel in such a short span of pages.
The film director Lewis Gilbert (him of James Bond fame no less) later went on to make the film adaptation of `Haunted' in 1995 of the same name. The film did not stick particularly firmly to the course of Herbert's original tale, but is nevertheless a reasonably enjoyable film.
www.amazon.co.uk/review/RXQNKE3L384NU/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm