Books to Love: Haunting Reads

We’re rapidly approaching All Hallow’s Eve when ghosts and ghouls enter the land of the living and bring all sorts of frights with them. Although I’ve never been a huge Halloween fan, I do love a good scary read particularly at this time of year. Thankfully, I have just recently finished one that is simply perfect for the season in so many ways.

The Haunting of Maddy Clare by Simone St. James is the book you pick up on a cold night when you’re cozying yourself in front of the fire. Isn’t that the time to tell ghost stories? And when it comes to ghost stories, Maddy Clare’s is really engrossing.

With the backdrop of World War I lingering in the not too distant past, the haunting of a maidservant doesn’t seem like something that would awaken the ghosts of the Somme or Ypres. But little ole mysterious Maddy does just that for ghost hunters Alistair Gellis and his assistant Matthew Ryder, and she won’t stop until she has the chance to tell her story.

You see there’s a mystery surrounding her entire existence and what lingers in those haunting stacks fills the pages of this novel with a horrifying and riveting tale.

One evening, a young girl showed up on the doorstep of the Clare farmhouse. Mute and clearly brutalized, she was nearly entire feral. With delicate care, Mrs. Clare and her cook were able to draw the young girl out of herself enough to learn her name: Maddy. However, Mr. Clare could do nothing to help. It was evident that Maddy hated men, even the mild mannered and loving Mr. Clare who had taken her into his home. No one was able to discover the origins of this young girl, but from her behavior, it didn’t take a rocket scientist to see that she had been traumatized. By whom? How? We don’t know. One day, Mrs. Clare found nineteen year old Maddy’s body hanging from the rafters of the barn. And though it was a suicide, Maddy’s spirit is not at rest. She still lingers there, wreaking havoc on Mrs. Clare, her cook, and anyone who dares to enter the barn. She is seeking vengeance.

Enter Alistair Gellis, ghost hunter extraordinaire. He’s lived through the war and returned to England to find himself inheritor of a rather hefty estate that allows him to do just as he pleases. While he takes the assignment of ridding Mrs. Clare’s property of Maddy Clare’s spirit, he realizes swiftly that he and his assistant, Matthew Ryder, cannot take this project on without aid.

That’s where we meet Sarah Piper, a down on her luck temp who is in desperate need of a job. And you know what desperate times call for. Regardless of the qualms she feels about joining in with ghost hunters, Sarah’s empty stomach and pockets override her good old fashioned British common sense. Before she realizes it, she’s packed her meager possessions and thrown in with Gellis, traveling from London to the country to meet with the ghost of a girl who frightens the very women who all but raised her.

Sarah doesn’t think she has any particular gifting or sensitivity to the supernatural. However, after only a few minutes in the barn with Maddy’s spirit, Sarah has horrific visions filled with clues about Maddy’s past. Images flash before her eyes. Terrifying sounds assault her. And, they won’t stop. You see, Sarah makes an unwitting connection with Maddy, and the girl’s spirit follows her back to her hotel. There are manifestations and poltergeists and dreams and all manner of frightening things that occur, each leading Sarah closer to a convoluted conclusion that will leave you chilled to the marrow.

The genius of this read is that while the haunting of Maddy Clare is at the forefront, the other characters are all forced to deal with their own ghosts as they dig deeper into solving the riddle of Maddy’s story. While there are certainly apparitions and ghostly manifestations that impact our characters, I appreciated St. James’ inclusion of the less ghostly things that haunts us. Both Alistair Gellis and Matthew Ryder are haunted, but no exorcism will rid them of their ghosts. Rather, they must face them courageously in order to move forward. Even Sarah, who never saw a battlefield, must contend with the portions of her past that will not lay dormant. So, while we do indeed go through a harrowing haunting with Maddy Clare, some of the most poignant and even frightening times in the book are those which are less supernatural and much more relatable.

Simone St. James develops her characters beautifully. Each one is brimming with their own unique personality. One of the aspects I liked the most was how real her characters felt, as though I might pop into a pub and encounter Matthew Ryder or Sarah Piper.

Perhaps the most unexpected aspect of this story is the unlikely romances that develop. Simone St. James does not try to force anything here either. Rather, the relationships between the characters evolve organically which is important. There’s nothing worse than reading a book where it feels like the author is forcing the actions of her characters. As a writer myself, trust me, it happens. And when it does, it’s not a good thing. The romance is so good in this novel that Simone St. James won a RITA for it. The Romance Writers of America conferred the RITA award for Strong Romantic Elements on St. James’ debut novel and it absolutely deserved it. They also gave her an award for Best First Book. And, if you’re not impressed by the winning of two RITAs, then you’ll be happy to hear that the Crime Writers of Canada presented her with the Arthur Ellis Award for the best crime/mystery novel written in 2012.

This is a perfect read for Halloween. But, you might not want to read it right before bed. And if you do, you might just want to sleep with the light on. Just a word of caution.

Honorable Mention:

The House on Tradd Street by Karen White

While it is nowhere near the scary read of The Haunting of Maddy Clare, Karen White’s first novel in her Tradd Street series does offer a bit of the creepy crawl-y-ness that we all like to dip our toes into at the end of October. There are ghosts and hauntings. Even manifestations. But there are also a lot of other factors that make this a fun read: an historic house in need of some TLC, familial intrigue from more than one direction, delicious sounding desserts (and men), and the very cool setting of historic Charleston. A much lighter read, to be sure, but an enjoyable on for those of you who might not wish to scare yourself unnecessarily.

Now, dear readers, what would you suggest for a bit of creepy, frightful reading this Halloween?