The Secret Of Crickley Hall

Oct 20, 2010 Bettie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: published-2006, autumn-2010, boo-scary

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Now this is what I call the epitome of a supernatural story. I love it when there is the :Haunted Gothic Institutional Building: and no matter how hard the wind is blowing, the thunder and lightening :Is Always Just Above The Roof:

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Feb 06, 2013 B.E.L rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: ultimate-favourates, horror

Crickley Hall is an old house with an unpleasant history, and so the house is often without tenants. Although it is never truly empty. When bad things happen in a place they can leave their mark on it. Some very bad things have happened in Crickley Hall and when the Caleigh family move in it isn't long before they discover that things are not quite right with the house.

Gabe Caleigh is an Engineer. He is working on a project in the area and so he has brought his family down to the small, Devonshi...more Crickley Hall is an old house with an unpleasant history, and so the house is often without tenants. Although it is never truly empty. When bad things happen in a place they can leave their mark on it. Some very bad things have happened in Crickley Hall and when the Caleigh family move in it isn't long before they discover that things are not quite right with the house.

Gabe Caleigh is an Engineer. He is working on a project in the area and so he has brought his family down to the small, Devonshire, town of Hollow Bay to save himself a daily commute from London. He also thinks that it will do his family good to get away from the City. They need some time away, to heal. A year ago, Gabe's young son, Cam, went missing and there is slim chance of the little fellow being found alive. It's been too long now and the police offer little hope. Gabe's wife, Eve, still has her hopes, though, and believes that her son is still alive. Somewhere.

The Caleighs also have two daughters, Loren and Cally. At five, Cally is too young to fully comprehend the loss of her brother, but Loren is twelve and misses her brother terribly. She tries not to let it show though, for her mother's sake. Eve had been dangerously close to a breakdown at one point and so a change of scene is probably a good idea. Crickley Hall, however, is not, perhaps, the best place for it.

Chester, the Caleigh's dog, senses the bad atmosphere in the house straight away and they have a hard time getting him though the door. In the end Gabe has to carry the trembling pooch inside. The dog just will not settle though, and it runs away twice. The first time, they are lucky and manage to get their pet back. The second time they are not so lucky and can't see poor, old Chester for the dust.

Gabe has a practical mind and he tries to rationalize away all off the strange happenings in Crickley Hall: Chester was just homesick, the strange puddles that suddenly appear on the stairs - and then disappear just as fast - must be caused by a leaking roof. The white shadow that flitters past Loren's room on their first night must just have been imagined. And the sound of a crying child, and the banging, from inside one of the cupboards? Well, that must be mice, or air in the pipes. It could be any number of things. But not ghosts. There is no such thing as ghosts. Even when Gabe keeps finding the cellar door standing ajar and remembers locking it, he tries to find rational reasons.

If you like stories about haunted houses, The Secret of Crickley Hall might make a worthy addition to your library. At 633 pages it isn't the shortest of books, but once you get hooked on the story (and it only took a few pages in my case) that final page comes all too quickly.

I love haunted house stories and so enjoyed reading The Secret of Crickley Hall. I liked the characters and found it easy to sympathise with their points of view. Eve: open minded about spiritual matters and still clinging onto the hope of finding her son alive. Gabe: the practical man who loves his family, but could, perhaps be more open minded about some things. Lauren and Cally: two children who have to adjust to life in a big, draughty old house, miles away from their friends. Then there's Chester. I felt particularly sorry for Chester, the loyal family pet who is just too plain terrified to stay and ups sticks and leaves.

I feel that I should mention, for the benefit of any potential reader, the fact that The Secret of Crickley Hall contains scenes of child abuse (physical). Most of the horror in the book is of the supernatural kind, and the scenes in question are there to explain the history behind the haunting, but they are there and some readers might be offended or disturbed by them. So, if you love haunted house stories, then, yes, I can recommend the book. If, on the other hand, you hate to read about the abuse of children (even fictional abuse, to fictional children) then perhaps you should give this one a miss.(less)

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Oct 09, 2008 Bill rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: james-herbert

I have read most if nota all of James Herbert's books and I think he has written some excellent novels (Fluke, Portent, '48) and some that I wasn't so keen on (notably The Spear)

However with The Secret Of Crickley Hall I think he has done a fantastic job. I would say this just edges Portent from my top 3 Herbert books

The characterisations are wonderful the plot is superb and the build up is one of his best.

I really used to enjoy reading Denis Wheatley books when I was younger, one thing I loved...more

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Apr 17, 2013 Rosie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Mind the spoilers!

Hmmm. I think my overall impression of this book is that it was an interesting and compelling read, but just too long and repetitive, and at some points completely nonsensical.

I love a good ghost story and this one started off very well, with the Caleigh family heading to the very creepy Crickley Hall in Devon to get away from painful memories of their missing son on the first anniversary of his disappearance. It's the classic horror set up: main characters move to an unfamilia...more

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Apr 02, 2013 Majanka rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviews-march-2013, horror, supernatural, ghosts

Originally published here: http://www.iheartreading.net/book/boo...

I love ghost stories. They’re my absolute favorite stories, so I’ve read a lot of them. I have to say that The Secret of Crickley Hall is one of the better ghost stories I’ve read. Next to The Woman in Black and The Shining, it’s one of my absolute favorites.

First of all, the setting, which is absolutely perfect. A small, quaint town, with a rather gruesome (but not too gruesome) history. In 1943, amidst World War II, more than f...more Originally published here: http://www.iheartreading.net/book/boo...

I love ghost stories. They’re my absolute favorite stories, so I’ve read a lot of them. I have to say that The Secret of Crickley Hall is one of the better ghost stories I’ve read. Next to The Woman in Black and The Shining, it’s one of my absolute favorites.

First of all, the setting, which is absolutely perfect. A small, quaint town, with a rather gruesome (but not too gruesome) history. In 1943, amidst World War II, more than forty people drowned when the rivers flooded. Eleven of them were orphans who resided in Crickley Hall, an ancient house built in ugly, grey stone, by no means a beautiful place. When The Caleighs move to Crickley Hall, they’re trying to get away from the events that tormented them back in London. Their youngest son, Cameron went missing, and there’s been no trace of him ever since. Gabe and Eve try to deal with it as well as they can, but losing a son is never easy. Eve tries to pull through for her daughters, teenage Loren and younger Callly, but her guilt for what happened to Cameron continues to haunt her.

The strength of this book is that a lot of it thrives on emotion. Crickley Hall is haunted, and we realize that soon enough, but more important is the feelings of the protagonists, their growing anxiety and fears. The haunting itself is subtle at first, but quickly expands, a little too quickly to really make me terrified, but it was done nicely all the same. The history behind the haunting is what intrigued me the most – what exactly happened that particular night? But I also loved The Caleighs, and I enjoyed being with them through their sorrows, hardships, and also newfound happiness.

The book isn’t perfect though, although it’s a great gothic horror story. The narrative sometimes derails in long paragraphs reading to nowhere, or switches point of view where it shouldn’t, moving on to different characters. I liked it when the author got into the head of the villain, but some perspectives were unnecessary and dragged on the story.

Like with my previous James Herbert novel, which was Ash, I couldn’t help but feel like the author deliberately made the story longer, using repetitive sentences and scenes, telling instead of showing, and sometimes even offering entire paragraphs of inner monologue. The Secret of Crickley Hall is a lot better than Ash though. Here we have an actual ghost story, ghosts with rules and boundaries, an ancient mystery to unlock and genuine characters with feelings and emotions. I was ready to stop reading Herbert alltogether, and only picked this one up because it was a very cheap book. After reading, I’m ready to give Herbert another try.

If you enjoy ghost stories, or paranormal mysteries, then you’re going to enjoy The Secret of Crickley Hall. It has it all, from an old, creepy mansion to a series of ghosts, some good, others plain evil, and a family trapped in the middle of mayhem.
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Feb 15, 2013 KA N Newton rated it 5 of 5 stars

I've read a lot of James Herbert's books but had not heard of this one.

Watched Part 1 on British television and checked Amazon for the book. I found not only was it available for Kindle but that it was written by James Herbert.

You might think I have "told all" in this review but I haven't. If it interests you even slightly, read it.

Late teens and adults only.

There were scenes in the books that were not portrayed on tv or talked about in the television script. A mid teen might watch the tv episod...more

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Feb 06, 2013 Claudia Marcela rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Personas que gusten de este género.

Este libro realmente me dio mucho miedo. Supongo que eso es algo bueno, considerando que es un libro de terror.

La trama es intrigante y te mantiene atento a cada línea, a cada párrafo que pueda develar más detalles sobre lo que les sucedió a los huérfanos de Crickley Hall; y la espera vale la pena, porque los acontecimientos que se revelan casi al final son escalofriantes. Y eso es lo que tiene de impactante este libro, a pesar que llega un momento en que quieres dejar de leer porque todo es de...more Este libro realmente me dio mucho miedo. Supongo que eso es algo bueno, considerando que es un libro de terror.

La trama es intrigante y te mantiene atento a cada línea, a cada párrafo que pueda develar más detalles sobre lo que les sucedió a los huérfanos de Crickley Hall; y la espera vale la pena, porque los acontecimientos que se revelan casi al final son escalofriantes. Y eso es lo que tiene de impactante este libro, a pesar que llega un momento en que quieres dejar de leer porque todo es demasiado aterrador y un tanto retorcido y asqueroso, la verdad es que no puedes porque ya tienes el morbo (si es que podría llamarse así) de querer saber qué sucedió y mantienes aferrado el libro hasta que lo terminas.

Las descripciones son precisas y con tan buen tino que realmente sientes miedo y nauseas de imaginarte todo lo que el autor relata, tanto la parte sobrenatural como la parte enfermiza que retrata perfectamente la locura de alguien enajenado y cegado por sus creencias y su podrido ser.

Cada personaje tiene una actitud definida ante los sucesos y sus vivencias pasadas, es así que podemos llegar a conocer bien a los protagonistas y a los personajes secundarios, aunque todos revisten una cierta importancia en la trama. Un detalle que me gustó es que en algunos capítulos, cierto párrafos cambian de personaje y eso nos ayuda a comprender cómo se están sintiendo o qué están pensando.

Y hablando de eso, uno de los personajes más insoportables que he leído es la madre, Eve. O sea, te creo que te quedes en una casa porque tienes que o porque quieres encontrarle una explicación lógica a las cosas sobrenaturales que pasan de repente (como el esposo), pero si ya estás completamente segura que hay algo maligno en la casa y te das los aires de ser receptiva y ser sensible a las cosas "místicas" entonces no tienes absolutamente ninguna razón para quedarte. Pero eso de que ya siempre no me voy porque quiero saber qué paso en esta casa, a pesar de saber que estás arriesgando a tu familia a una calamidad, eso sí ya me parece una tremenda burrada, por no decir una palabra más fuerte, además de un acto de tremendo egoísmo. Si quería saber, bien podría haber aceptado que se mudaran cuando el marido lo propuso y entonces ella empezar a investigar por su parte qué onda con la casa, pero como así tenía que ser la trama pues tomó la peor decisión posible. Lo acepto, pero realmente no lo comprendo.

El final fue digno del resto del libro, sobre todo las últimas líneas quedaron perfectas para dejar un poco el suspenso en el aire.

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Jan 16, 2013 Leonie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ghosts

I read this a few years ago but decided to read it again after watching the mini series on itv recently. I won't go into the disappointment of how little like the book the series was.

For me maybe because of it being relatively modern I found this book to be one of Herbert's greatest novels. Gripping from start to finish and truly terrifying I didn't dare read it when I was alone. The story is based around an old house called crickley hall which was used as a home for orphaned refugees during th...more I read this a few years ago but decided to read it again after watching the mini series on itv recently. I won't go into the disappointment of how little like the book the series was.

For me maybe because of it being relatively modern I found this book to be one of Herbert's greatest novels. Gripping from start to finish and truly terrifying I didn't dare read it when I was alone. The story is based around an old house called crickley hall which was used as a home for orphaned refugees during the war. It focuses on a split timescale from the here and now and back in the 40s during the war.

The family move in after losing their son cam a year before in a desperate bid to take their mind off the upcoming anniversary of him going missing. They are soon upset and distressed by the ghostly hauntings, puddles on the floor, a door that won't stay locked, whippings by an unseen cane, footsteps. The sound of children and their dog daren't stay in the house. Whenever they question anyone in the village about the hall people remain cryptic. Eventually they enlist the help of a psychic who seems to be getting through and the story begins to emerge.

The Cribben's were brother and sister who ran the orphanage during the war. They were cruel and unkind to the children until a young teacher nancy tried to help the kids escape. Magda cribben enlisted the help of one of the elder boys Augustus to kill nancy and throw her down the well in the cellar. We realise just how mental the cribbens are when we discover they are both having an affair with Augustus. Returning from the war Percy finds his sweetheart nancy gone and makes attempts to help the children but to no avail. In a mad moment mr cribben breaks the neck of every child and throws them down the well. This is soon covered up by a massive storm which floods the house and kills cribben too. Terrified Magda and Augustus flee to safety but Magda goes mute and ends up in a mental institute.

Back in the present day cams body has been found and the husband is on his way back to crickley hall in the middle of a storm. He bumps into Percy on the way who has remained as the halls caretaker since returning from the war. He tells the shocked husband that the ghost hunter he has hired is actually the boy Augustus who was assaulted by the cribbens and escaped and he is after revenge after being haunted by the cribbens all that time. He is trying to provide the couples two daughters as an offering to the cribbens to make them leave him alone.

The two hurry back just in time to find him forcing the girls down the well. The husband rescues the girls and the ghost of nancy emerges and drags Augustus down the well. The family leave crickley hall and return to London. Percy's questions as to where his sweetheart had gone are now answered and the house is at peace.. Or so it seems. (less)

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Sep 28, 2012 Gordon Smith rated it 1 of 5 stars

I think the best-kept secret of Crickley Hall is the fact that absolutely nothing exciting happens there… Which is a shame, because I am a huge James Herbert fan, and have just finished reading Others (review to come), which was absolutely brilliant. But this book felt like a shade of his other ghost stories, something that looks at first glance like it should be perfectly terrifying, but which soon grows stale and familiar and dull. It’s like that moment when you wake up at night and see the sp...more I think the best-kept secret of Crickley Hall is the fact that absolutely nothing exciting happens there… Which is a shame, because I am a huge James Herbert fan, and have just finished reading Others (review to come), which was absolutely brilliant. But this book felt like a shade of his other ghost stories, something that looks at first glance like it should be perfectly terrifying, but which soon grows stale and familiar and dull. It’s like that moment when you wake up at night and see the spectre in your room, and have that soul-jolting mix of fear and excitement, only to realise that the shape you see is the dressing gown on the back of the door. This book is a dressing gown.

So what’s wrong with it…? Ostensibly it’s got great foundations for a ghost story: a family suffering from the loss of a son move to a new town to make a fresh start. And where better to forget all about death? A gloomy mansion in a middle-of-nowhere place called Devil’s Cleave. And the book starts well, with some chilling moments – a creepy disused well in the cellar and a door that won’t stay closed, eerie noises, old toys discarded in the attic, and a backstory about something awful that happened in the house a long time ago…

Hang on, isn’t all this sounding a little familiar? Yup. And from Herbert too. He’s essentially ripped himself off to create a ghost story that we’ve all heard before. There are elements of his other, and much better, novels here: Ghosts of Sleath and Haunted to name just two. These recycled horror tropes are so familiar that they just aren’t scary any more. It ends up being utterly clichéd, completely predictable. I held out because I thought there would be an amazing twist at the end, something to make the journey worthwhile, but the climax (well, the conclusion, it was anything but climactic) is the same old tired fare. You can see it coming from so far away that I actually felt angry when we got there.

The book’s worst crime, though, is the massive amount of exposition that we’re force-fed throughout. So much of the story is just that – a story – told by one of the characters. And not particularly well told at that. At one point, the guy reciting this soulless account even says, “Ah, I can tell I’m boring you.” You don’t say! It’s almost as if Herbert himself is confessing, "sorry guys, I know this sucks, I'll do better next time, promise!" It’s chapter after chapter of wittering monologue that pulls us away from what little action the book has and makes us sit twiddling our thumbs while the tedious back story grinds endlessly on. Reading this was a little bit like listening to an elderly relative drunk on sherry trying to recount a book he read half a century ago. It was excruciatingly bad.

Okay, I should add a disclaimer before finishing this review. I was reading this book on my phone, on a ten-hour train journey back from Scotland, so I was probably in a foul mood anyway. But I read countless books on my phone on long journeys, and none have infuriated me as much as this one. Crickley Hall hasn’t put me off James Herbert. He’s one of the finest horror writers on the planet, and some of his books are sheer genius. This, sadly, is not one of them. Read something else by him, because The Secret of Crickley Hall should be left a shameful secret that as few people as possible come to discover.
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Sep 01, 2012 Mark rated it 3 of 5 stars

James Herbert is held with a great deal of respect in the UK: there’s quite a few horror readers out there who were weaned on the author’s The Rats(1974) and The Fog (1975) from the 1970’s.

Since then (and twenty odd books later) Herbert’s current reputation is, well... odd. There’s been a few books that readers haven’t been too favourable of, and it seems that Herbert’s reputation as ‘Britain’s answer to Stephen King’ has not turned out the way many predicted it would. He sells very well, and ye...more

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Jun 27, 2012 Melissa rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: could-not-finish, horror

This goes on the 'could-not-finish' shelf. What a stinker. I was thoroughly impatient with the character descriptions and unnecessary explanations through dialogue, e.g., the mother explaining to the kindly old gardener why their youngest daughter is nicknamed "Callie"---I can almost picture the gardener nodding with polite disinterest. As an American, I was really irritated with the author feeling it necessary to include, during the mother's interior monologue, the information that her American...more This goes on the 'could-not-finish' shelf. What a stinker. I was thoroughly impatient with the character descriptions and unnecessary explanations through dialogue, e.g., the mother explaining to the kindly old gardener why their youngest daughter is nicknamed "Callie"---I can almost picture the gardener nodding with polite disinterest. As an American, I was really irritated with the author feeling it necessary to include, during the mother's interior monologue, the information that her American husband called the motorway the 'interstate' (even though he's lived in England for 16 years and is a mechanical engineer?). As if that weren't enough, she does this again later with "gorge" and "ravine". Hello Mr.Herbert? We have gorges in the States as well, no need to explain what one is.
Once the kindly old gardener showed up with his "West Country burr" thoughtfully re-produced for us in phonetic dialogue, I gave up. I'm not interested in being told through pointless exposition that the boot of a car is a trunk, or that cling film is plastic wrap. I already hate the mother and can see her turning into a major pain. Another peeve--it is also not necessary to show that a character is American by having him constantly say, "yeah" and "hey" and "gonna". Another inconsistency in the father's character;he is a MECHANICAL ENGINEER, i.e, he builds bridges and such, yet he doesn't know that a brook that is relatively mild during late summer might not get a bit wilder during the wetter months? Isn't knowing that stuff part of the job description of an mechanical engineer? Also, HAVING LIVED IN ENGLAND FOR SIXTEEN YEARS, doesn't he know what the weather is like? I can't be distracted with this kind of shoddy attention to detail alternating with boring attention detail (I refer you back to my comment re the youngest daughter's nickname). Especially when I'm reading a scary story. I'm the type, who while reading a recent Stephen King story was distracted by the fact that he had his character, a women in her late 30's remembering obscure 7UP jingles and Winston cigarette ads. I'm in my mid-40's and I never heard of the 7UP jingle(it likes you you like it). My husband is a few years older and he had never heard it either. I only know the Winston thing from having read an earlier King story. Maybe King was being meta and his character knew that stuff because she read his books? It didn't fly with me at all and that is a very minor detail (except for that he kept referring back to the 7UP thing). I just knew I was in for so much more in Herbert's book. I can't put myself through that. (less)

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Mar 02, 2012 Ian Mapp rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Staggered by how much I enjoyed this..... picked it up as a case of nostalgia, having been a big fan of herbert in my teens.

This is superbly paced - not easy on a 600+ book and the tension really mounts well... Good characterisation but maybe not as scary as you would expect from the premise.

It is a classic haunted house take. Crickley hall had a secret during the war, when the guardian went mad and killed his 10 charges during the night of a great storm.

Back in modern times a family who have fa...more

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Jun 23, 2011 JackieB marked it as abandoned

I abandoned this book after 80 pages. There was a lot I liked about it, but some of the characters' actions seemed really contrived. I'm going to wtite some details about what I didn't like. I don't think they constitute plot spoilers, since I only got to page 80 of a 600 page book, but anyone who hasn't read the book might want to stop reading now.

The first problem was with Crickley Hall. Why did Gabe rent it? He didn't seem to like it much and it was much bigger than they needed. It just didn'...more

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Oct 26, 2010 Shawn rated it 2 of 5 stars

Well, listened actually - I must have downloaded this during a flurry of downloading "audio horror" last year. Running out of thing to listen to, I started it up but only got about a quarter of the way through it. As much as I love horror writing, as much as it defines my life in fact, I do not seem to be much of a fan of horror at novel length, and more specifically modern horror at novel length. I like short fiction and it's been years since I've read any "newish" horror novel, as there are al...more

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Jul 23, 2012 Chris Jay rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Well, what can I say, I bought this book on the 20th, and have just finished it today, 3 days later, despite the books 633 pages.

Where do I start? Just please, if you enjoy an amazing plot, twists that left me literally gasping, (And I'm not one to over react) biting my nails, and on the verge of tears at points, then pick up The Secret of Crickely Hall.

Other reviews deterred me from reading this, and I picked it up with half heartedness, and the intention of dropping it after the first 80 pages...more Well, what can I say, I bought this book on the 20th, and have just finished it today, 3 days later, despite the books 633 pages.

Where do I start? Just please, if you enjoy an amazing plot, twists that left me literally gasping, (And I'm not one to over react) biting my nails, and on the verge of tears at points, then pick up The Secret of Crickely Hall.

Other reviews deterred me from reading this, and I picked it up with half heartedness, and the intention of dropping it after the first 80 pages. (Another reviewer had said, i was bored rigid by the first 80 pages.) Well after my first sitting, I had read the first 200 odd pages, and the only reason I stopped was it was approaching 2 am!

The characters are great and more to the point, believable. Throughout the book I was left there thinking, I DO THAT, notably the part where Eve mimics the tea drinking to Percy when offering him a cup.

The twists, and ending especially, are nail biting and shocking. I was left aghast and couldn't turn the pages fast enough to find out what was happening next! Contrary to other reviews on here, this book is definitely a well thought and planned piece, and it is reflected in the nerve shredding climatic ending, which Herbert portrays masterfully through his glorious use of language.

But the plot is what makes this book. I have read many horror novels, all of which run out of things to say, and end up repeating themselves, (notably Cell by S. King), whereas this book doesn't. We find things out in perfect timing, and as the story unfolds the book just gets better and better and better. The use of different monologues from the different characters, (view spoiler) gives good perspectives of what happened in Crickely Hall all them years ago without it turning into a long wall of text being blurted from one character. It is a brilliant combination of imagery (view spoiler), and monologue (view spoiler), which paints a detailed vivid picture in the readers mind.

Please, if you enjoy reading horror books, ignore the other reviews from people who have given up on it before it really picks up. Yes the storyline is EXTREMELY DARK, and does involve children, BUT if you can look past that, you will be reading the best novel I have ever had the pleasure to read.

DEFINITELY NOT ONE TO MISS

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May 02, 2013 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I really enjoyed this book - I found it sufficiently creepy to make me think twice before looking up from the book into the dark room, but not so creepy I wanted to put the book in the freezer a la Joey from Friends.

The bits that annoyed me were little niggling things really, but were enough to stop this being a 5* book... now fortunately I have never lost a child, and I can't imagine what that feels like, but I felt that Eve's insistence that because they were in a haunted house and she felt t...more

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Apr 18, 2013 SIMON Karine rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Je ne suis pas une grande inconditionnelle des films d’horreurs et d’épouvantes, mais de temps en temps, je n’ai rien contre un petit frisson. J’ai lu il y a peu, plusieurs avis plutôt positifs dans la blogosphère sur ce roman, et j’ai eu envie à mon tour de tenter ma chance avec Le secret de Crickley Hall.

Je vais essayer de vous en parler, sans toutefois trop vous révéler de choses, exercices parfois périlleux.

Ce roman se base sur les recettes classiques des scénarios du genre, à savoir une fam...more Je ne suis pas une grande inconditionnelle des films d’horreurs et d’épouvantes, mais de temps en temps, je n’ai rien contre un petit frisson. J’ai lu il y a peu, plusieurs avis plutôt positifs dans la blogosphère sur ce roman, et j’ai eu envie à mon tour de tenter ma chance avec Le secret de Crickley Hall.

Je vais essayer de vous en parler, sans toutefois trop vous révéler de choses, exercices parfois périlleux.

Ce roman se base sur les recettes classiques des scénarios du genre, à savoir une famille perdue ou bouleversée par un drame, qui tente de se reconstruire en quittant leur quotidien pour se ressourcer à la campagne ou dans tout autre endroit isolé.

Ici, il s’agit de Gabe & Eve, les parents de Lorren, Cally et Cam. Malheureusement l’année précédente Cam a disparu, alors qu’il était sous la surveillance de sa mère. Il n’a jamais été retrouvé, et Eve tente tant bien que mal de survivre à ce drame pour ses deux autres enfants. Parfois, elle craque, et c’est de plus en plus dur pour elle, et pour le reste de sa famille. Gabe décide d’accepter un travail un peu éloigné, et emmène sa famille à Crickley Hall pour deux mois.

Crickley Hall a tout de la maison ou plutôt du manoir hanté classique, isolé, sombre et gris, il est lugubre et glauque à souhait. Vous rajoutez quelques effets spéciaux, des bruits bizarres, des cris, des ombres blanches, des portes qui s’ouvrent seules…… Le chien de la famille qui hurle à la mort, et qui ne supportent pas d’entrer dans la maison.

Le décor est planté.

Je ne peux pas dire que j’ai eu vraiment peur dans ce livre, par contre il n’est tout de même pas à laisser à porter de main de personnes forts influençables, comme les jeunes enfants, car certaines scènes sont parfois impressionnantes pour un jeune public.

Ce livre fut une lecture agréable, même si je peux lui reprocher un rythme trop lent, et des descriptions parfois un peu trop importantes. Le suspens et le stress monte crescendo, mais un peu trop lentement à mon goût.

Ce livre a été publié aux Editions Milady en 2011.

http://milleetunepages.com/2013/04/18...
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Jan 18, 2013 Sara rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, current-fiction, 2013, suspence, horror, library-book

A family that is mourning the disappearance of their 5 yr old son has rented a creepy house to help distract them from their grief. However, they are quickly haunted by the ghosts of children that were killed in a flood. Their hauntings have a purpose, and as time goes on, their purpose reaches it's zenith- and it's big!

When I checked this out of the library, I really didn't know what this was going to be about. But when I found out this was a ghost story, I had reservations. However, this was d...more

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May 07, 2012 Philip Jackson rated it 2 of 5 stars

This novel ticks all the traditional ghost story boxes - a creepy old house in the middle of nowhere, cut off from the mainland by a river, doors that won't stay closed, inexplicable pools of water in the the hall, mysterious bangs in the middle of the night, and a decades old mystery which is the cause of the hauntings.
It should work, but I'm afraid I found this book dreadfully verbose. Herbert isn't content to tell you something once. The same information is provided over and over again which...more

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Sep 30, 2012 Oria rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Caleigh family has had a rough year. After their son, five year old Cameron, disappeared, his mother Eve had taken a turn for the worse. Still holding on to the hope that he will come back one day, she tried to put on a brave face for the sake of the family, while her husband and their two daughters found their own way of dealing with the loss. Thinking that a change of scenery would be welcome for everybody, and especially being so close to the one year anniversary of Cameron’s disappearanc...more The Caleigh family has had a rough year. After their son, five year old Cameron, disappeared, his mother Eve had taken a turn for the worse. Still holding on to the hope that he will come back one day, she tried to put on a brave face for the sake of the family, while her husband and their two daughters found their own way of dealing with the loss. Thinking that a change of scenery would be welcome for everybody, and especially being so close to the one year anniversary of Cameron’s disappearance, Gabe decided to rent a house for his family for a few months so he could be closer to work and they could relax in a new environment. That house was Crickley Hall.

It’s pouring down when they arrive, and the gloom of the huge house matches the weather. Even Chester, the family dog, can sense it, and he howls and tries to run outside at every opportunity. Strange sounds come from a cupboard, lights go on and off and a strong smell of soap is felt every now and then. There’s also a cellar door that won’t stay closed, dancing lights that appear out of nowhere, puddles of water on the floor in the middle of the night and the horrible sound of a stick hitting flesh.

As the story unfolds, the terrible history of the house is revealed. There was a group of children who lived there during the war, sent to the house by the authorities who thought the place would provide the perfect shelter against the bombing. Two guardians went with them, Augustus and Magda Cribben, and one night during a great flood, the children were found dead, Augustus disappeared and Magda never spoke again and was put in an asylum. What happened that night, how did the children die and what became of Augustus are questions that find their answers as the story goes on.

I have nothing but praise for this book. The story feels real, the characters are sympathetic and the whole atmosphere of the place is brilliantly conveyed. The story follows the main characters and we get to see their thoughts and actions while the omniscient narrator gives us insights into the mystery of Crickley Hall. What I particularly liked was how the author managed to give clues about what really happened on the night of the flood, while at the same time keeping the biggest surprise for the end. The dramatic past takes turns with the present events as the reader is also told how Cameron disappeared and what became of him, but without going into a lot of detail.
Eve really stood out for me as the strongest character in the book. Not only did she have to deal with the terrible burden of her son’s disappearance, but she also managed not to go crazy when all the dubious things started happening at Crickley Hall, and decided to stay and find out more about what happened to the children and possibly her missing son. There’s also Percy Judd, the house’s ancient caretaker who’s bound to the place by his own personal history, Gordon Pyke who has his own agenda, and Lili Peel, the young psychic who is drawn to Crickley Hall first out of curiosity, then out of a desire to help what she calls “the trapped souls of the children”.
At a little over 600 hundred pages, this was one of the best scary stories I have read. The story is straightforward and easy to follow, a small cast of characters and a dog (I am partial to dogs, I admit), the scary elements were all there and they made sense, and while there was an explanation for all at the end of the story, it still felt satisfyingly creepy and very well told. A modern day ghost story that proved to be a great nighttime read.
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Jan 20, 2013 Emma rated it 4 of 5 stars

I chose to read this book after watching one episode of the BBC drama of the same name. I subsequently missed the rest of the episodes, so I didn't know what happened which made the book more enjoyable. It did take me a while to get into, it is a big book and the genre isn't my usual type, so this may be why. After I got half way through, I did find myself getting into the book, enjoying the suspense created by the haunting happening at Crickley hall. If I hadn't of know details of the author, I...more

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Jan 18, 2013 Zainab rated it 3 of 5 stars

The main reason i gave this book a 3 star is because it started in a very slow pace, and the characters inconsistency bothered me a little, first Eve says she feels that Crickley Hall is evil but she doesnt say it outloud because it will sound "crazy" but the next minute you see her admitting that she has some telepathic power that links her to her son which she doesnt think is "crazy" so that ticked me off a little , other than that after 400 pages of excruciatingly slow series of events where...more

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Oct 26, 2011 Deb rated it 1 of 5 stars

What's wrong with Crickley Hall? The cellar door won't stay shut. There are strange noises coming from the closet. The dog hates the place. Be very afraid, run away now - from this novel.

Oy, what a stinker. It has the bones of a good story - plotty enough that I had to severely edit the synopsis to be accepted by my book database - but the story is badly told and very badly edited. There is no real character development, although there are character back stories that take up valuable pages and a...more

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Dec 14, 2012 Julie rated it 4 of 5 stars

I have not read any of James Herbert's books for a long while, since my teenage years, I have found that some authors tend to find a formula and stick to it and re-hash the same books over and over again. I guess they do get a new audience with new generations, I was worried James Herbert would have fallen into this catagory, no worries this was a good book , and he was on top form. I missed the recent dramatisation of this on the television and decided to read the book instead. This book was se...more

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Aug 04, 2012 Rebecca tedder rated it 5 of 5 stars

633 pages in less than 2 days is a new record for me. Whilst I couldn't wait for the next chapter every time, I did begin to feel sad that it was nearly finished around page 530.

Herbert is currently my favourite author as his pace is sharp and intriging from the beginning right to the last few pages.

I did suss out some of the twists and turns and I LOVED the backdrop for this book. Having spent a week in Somerset and crossing over the border into North Devon last week, this is evidently based o...more

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Apr 17, 2013 Dawn Peers rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: amazon-vine-reviews

I couldn't finish "The Secret of Crickley Hall" when I read it as a novel and listening to the audiobook was slightly more disconcerting.

I felt myself squirming in the seat, needing to turn on lights, and turning off at other uncomfortable bits when I thought it might stop me getting a good night's sleep. So, is this a successful story? You're darned right it is! Crickley Hall is a horror of a house with a dark and haunting past, and Herbert executes this story with professional and daunting pre...more

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Jul 04, 2011 Teresa rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 52-books-in-2011, library-book, 2011

Living in Devon I very much recognised the descriptions of the countryside. Narrow lanes with high hedges are typical of the county and I have experienced rain so hard that streams overflowed and cars were swept away. Knowing these things to be real made it much easier to accept the fantasy/horror elements of the story but at no point did the story really grip me. There were moments when I wondered why certain characters were important, for example the vicar's wife knocking at the door didn't re...more

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Oct 09, 2009 Lance Greenfield Mitchell rated it 3 of 5 stars

Too long!

When I was a teenager, a feature film was 90-100 minutes long and an epic novel was about 300-400 pages long. Crickley Hall is a really great story and has the right level of spookiness and tension. The end of each chapter contains a snippet that wants you to read on and find out what happens next. Reading this book during the torrential rain and floods that were suffered by most of Britain in the Summer of 2007, made the story even more poignant. However, this book is at least 200 page...more

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May 22, 2012 Delisa rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, mystery-suspense, painful-reading

I'll admit to skimming through parts of this book. Mostly, the parts that repeated, and repeated...and repeated. My Lord, the ENDLESS repetition. First one person tells the story, then another, then we get a flashback memory of the story, then a summary and then yet another person tells the same story again. Sigh.
No mystery here, no scares or creepy scenes (though plenty were meant to be)- the most disturbing parts (aside from the poorly executed and, yes, repetitious, "Americanisms") were the d...more

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May 08, 2013 Dominique rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror

I had to read James Herbert's "The Fog" (1975) for my MA literature course. That book chilled and in a very horrifying way thrilled me. I thought it would be the same for all of his books. No...

Stephen King has always said that he likes James Herbert's writing, but he has made very clear that he thinks "The Fog" and "The Rats" are his best work and that he isn't a very literary writer. I think I'll have to pick up "The Rats" one day, to make up for this atrocious work of horror I finished today....more

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Boring book.	12	87	Feb 27, 2013 11:26am
Goodreads Librari...: The Secret of Crickley Hall: 978 0 7653 2888 5	2	23	Jul 03, 2012 11:12am

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