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291st out of 298 books
—
201 voters
The Dead of Winter
Michael Vyner recalls a terrible story, one that happened to him. One that would be unbelievable if it weren't true! Michael's parents are dead and he imagines that he will stay with the kindly lawyer, executor of his parents' will ...Until he is invited to spend Christmas with his guardian in a large and desolate country house. His arrival on the first night suggests some...more
Hardcover
Published
October 4th 2010
by Bloomsbury UK
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Review from Badelynge.
Imagine if Le Fanu had tried to write for a YA market and he might have produced something like The Dead of Winter. I'm sure Chris Priestley would cite him as one of his primary influences, along with others like Elizabeth Gaskell. Her 'The Old Nurse's Story' springs to mind quite strongly. The book, more a novella, is artfully written, perfectly invoking the Victorian setting that uses as much Gothic imagery and motifs as it can possibly pack into the page count. Michael V...more
Imagine if Le Fanu had tried to write for a YA market and he might have produced something like The Dead of Winter. I'm sure Chris Priestley would cite him as one of his primary influences, along with others like Elizabeth Gaskell. Her 'The Old Nurse's Story' springs to mind quite strongly. The book, more a novella, is artfully written, perfectly invoking the Victorian setting that uses as much Gothic imagery and motifs as it can possibly pack into the page count. Michael V...more
Thanks to Amazon failing to present things clearly enough (grrr), I had no idea this was supposed to be a book for kids until I'd spotted it in my recommendations, added it to my wishlist and duly purchased it when it was reduced to 99p in the Kindle sale. Still, it sounded like a decent little ghost story and the opening chapter seemed fairly well-written (and not especially childish), so why not?
Suffice to say, I was very pleasantly surprised by this little book! The narrator, Michael Vyner, b...more
Suffice to say, I was very pleasantly surprised by this little book! The narrator, Michael Vyner, b...more
Victorian horror and mystery comes to the fore in this tale that seems to blend Alfred Hitchcock, Edgar Allan Poe and Charles Dickens. Michael Vyner is sharing his own personal tale about a time when ti seemd lieke everything in his world had fallen apart. His mother has just passed away, and he would seem to have no one. At least, that would seem to be the case until a lawyer by the name of Mr. Jeerwood comes along with news. It would seem that young Michael has a very wealthy person who would...more
Priestly, Chris. The Dead of Winter.
In Victorian London, Michael's mother dies, leaving him an orphan, since his father was killed in a war. Luckily, he died saving Sir Stephen Clarendon, and this gentleman is now going to take Michael in. Michael ventures out to the windswept moors where Sir Stephen lives with his sister Charlotte and a variety of caretakers, and will stay until it is time for him to go to boarding school. All is not well at Hawton Mere-- Sir Stephen is haggard and haunted, and...more
In Victorian London, Michael's mother dies, leaving him an orphan, since his father was killed in a war. Luckily, he died saving Sir Stephen Clarendon, and this gentleman is now going to take Michael in. Michael ventures out to the windswept moors where Sir Stephen lives with his sister Charlotte and a variety of caretakers, and will stay until it is time for him to go to boarding school. All is not well at Hawton Mere-- Sir Stephen is haggard and haunted, and...more
Originally Reviewed on The Book Smugglers
Young Michael Vyner has had a rough lot in life - his father died heroically in the first world war saving the life of a fellow soldier, leaving Michael and his mother pressed to make ends meet. After his mother dies of illness, Michael is orphaned and left adrift in the world when he learns that Sir Stephen Clarendon - the same soldier his father died rescuing in the war - has become Michael's legal guardian. Whisked away from his home, Michael is sent t...more
Young Michael Vyner has had a rough lot in life - his father died heroically in the first world war saving the life of a fellow soldier, leaving Michael and his mother pressed to make ends meet. After his mother dies of illness, Michael is orphaned and left adrift in the world when he learns that Sir Stephen Clarendon - the same soldier his father died rescuing in the war - has become Michael's legal guardian. Whisked away from his home, Michael is sent t...more
Angels and statues that have been colored green by time surround Michael when the reader is introduced to this young man who has lost his mother. Standing at the funeral, Michael has no idea what he’s going to do next. What he doesn’t expect is a man to come out of the mist to let Michael know that he has now become the ward of a stranger by the name of Sir Stephen Clarendon.
Sir Stephen has been sending money ever since Michael’s father sacrificed himself so that Stephen could live and Michael...more
Sir Stephen has been sending money ever since Michael’s father sacrificed himself so that Stephen could live and Michael...more
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The beginning of the novel throws the reader straight into the story, with Michael’s mother dead and Michael being forced to move in with Sir Stephen – someone Michael’s dad once saved from death - at Hawton Mere. We see Michael move in to the mansion, and then the creepy stuff starts to kick off.
Chris Priestly’s descriptions of the scary goings on in the mansion really creeped me out – especially the parts that were talking about the priest hole! It was so easy to imagine being locked into tha...more
Chris Priestly’s descriptions of the scary goings on in the mansion really creeped me out – especially the parts that were talking about the priest hole! It was so easy to imagine being locked into tha...more
Why I decided to read this book:
I decided to read this book because I had read another book by this author and liked his style of writing, I read the first couple of sentences at the library and it really got me hooked so i never wanted to stop reading it.
Which category on the bingo board this books completes:
This book completes a book written in 2010 or 2011.
Why I liked this book:
I liked this book because you become very close to the main character throughout the story, and it feels like it is...more
I decided to read this book because I had read another book by this author and liked his style of writing, I read the first couple of sentences at the library and it really got me hooked so i never wanted to stop reading it.
Which category on the bingo board this books completes:
This book completes a book written in 2010 or 2011.
Why I liked this book:
I liked this book because you become very close to the main character throughout the story, and it feels like it is...more
Jun 25, 2011
TheBookAddictedGirl
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Everyone Who Wants A Good Thrill!
I don’t know whether it was the writing, the characters or the anticipation and hints of what was to come, but I sped through this book, completely addicted from page one.
It starts off at the end of the story, with flashbacks that make no sense at the time, but make you want to read on to find out what they’re about more than anything. You know something huge and scary is there in the book, but you don’t know where or what and you just need to find out.
Told from the point of view of the main c...more
It starts off at the end of the story, with flashbacks that make no sense at the time, but make you want to read on to find out what they’re about more than anything. You know something huge and scary is there in the book, but you don’t know where or what and you just need to find out.
Told from the point of view of the main c...more
The Dead of Winter is horrorlicious. It's a scary book that actually scared me. Priestley does a great job of giving his novel a classic Gothic feel. A few times I had to remind myself that this book wasn't written in the 19th century. The prose is classic and well-written. I loved it.
The horror:
The Dead of Winter is full of frightening scenes and these moments wouldn't have worked without Priestley's truly creepy descriptions. The book played out as a movie in my head and left me terrified. I c...more
The horror:
The Dead of Winter is full of frightening scenes and these moments wouldn't have worked without Priestley's truly creepy descriptions. The book played out as a movie in my head and left me terrified. I c...more
A middle grade gothic tale of a recently orphaned boy named Michael. He's been appointed a new guardian, Sir Stephen, a man whose life his father saved in the war, at the cost of his own. Michael resents the fact that this man lived while his father didn't, and though he wants nothing to do with the man, he has little choice and no other relatives to rely on.
Sir Stephen invites Michael to his remote country estate to spend the Christmas holidays. Once there Michael soon discovers that his new gu...more
Sir Stephen invites Michael to his remote country estate to spend the Christmas holidays. Once there Michael soon discovers that his new gu...more
This book was lovely quick read and brilliantly unique. Set in the victorian era this book followed the story of a recently orphaned young boy who suddenly found that he had been made the ward of an aristocratic man who lived in a creepy house in East Anglia where he has been summoned to spend Christmas with.
The best thing about this book was that it was incredibly uninque in its premise and I don't think I've read anything quite like it. I enjoyed the setting of the Victorian era and loved how...more
The best thing about this book was that it was incredibly uninque in its premise and I don't think I've read anything quite like it. I enjoyed the setting of the Victorian era and loved how...more
On one hand definitely a cliche, on the other had that gave this book all requisite parts & props and characters of the horror story. As I don't read horror that often, I was not bothered by the cliche and enjoyed this little work immensely. It had all that made it a successful Gothic mystery = a rambling haunted mansion in the middle of the moors, with half-crazed master of the house, hiding a great tragedy (tragedies) that destroyed his life, an orphaned boy, a kind-heated and loyal lawyer...more
I didn't realise before starting The Dead of Winter that this book is Young Adult title so it was a tiny bit simplistic in places and a bit of a guilty read but that aside, I did enjoy it as an easy read classic ghost story with a twist at the end.
The story concerns a young boy, called Michael who already has lost his father and now looses his Mother, his only family he is on his own and at the mercy of family friends The Bentleys. He is approached by Mr Jerwood a lawyer acting on Behalf of Sir...more
The story concerns a young boy, called Michael who already has lost his father and now looses his Mother, his only family he is on his own and at the mercy of family friends The Bentleys. He is approached by Mr Jerwood a lawyer acting on Behalf of Sir...more
Nov 18, 2012
LG (A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions)
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
When I was younger, I used to read lots of horror novels. The first time I raided my parents' bookshelves, I took Stephen King's Firestarter (which I enjoyed) and a German copy of Pet Sematary (that didn't work out so well – my German vocab just wasn't up to the task). I'm much more of a wimp now and rarely read horror, but I couldn't resist the bit on the back of this book that said fans of Neil Gaiman would enjoy it.
This is one of those books that I enjoyed more as I was reading it and in the...more
This is one of those books that I enjoyed more as I was reading it and in the...more
I'm not easily scared by horror books, but I must say that, right after I read this book, I was afraid to open any curtains.
Orphaned by his mother's death, a young boy named Michael Vyner is sent to live with his dead father's close friend, Sir Stephen. But Stephen has traumatising secrets, and a mysterious, pale woman is found around the old house. What is going on?
I must admit, this book is certainly not for young readers. Some moments in the book made me glance over my shoulder, and conjured...more
Orphaned by his mother's death, a young boy named Michael Vyner is sent to live with his dead father's close friend, Sir Stephen. But Stephen has traumatising secrets, and a mysterious, pale woman is found around the old house. What is going on?
I must admit, this book is certainly not for young readers. Some moments in the book made me glance over my shoulder, and conjured...more
This book to me as I read it reminds me of those winters ghost stories made so famous by M R James and the like, now that is not a bad thing but having read so many of them I feel that this is more of a homage than a true winters ghost story. I find it ironic then that the author makes reference to such works in the articles surrounding this book.
The build up to the unveiling of the crimes though suitably dramatic I felt a little rushed the conclusion to it all and the ultimate downfall of the v...more
The build up to the unveiling of the crimes though suitably dramatic I felt a little rushed the conclusion to it all and the ultimate downfall of the v...more
This was a classic gothic ghost story, the sort that I would read as a child huddled round the fire whilst the wind and rain battered against the window to add atmosphere.It contained everything you would expect of a Victorian ghost story - an orphaned child, an isolated, rambling house, mysterious characters, strange noises, visions, a priest hole and a mysterious death. The story was well formed, building suspense and creating a sense of menace and evil.Although written for young people this b...more
The Dead of Winter is quite the chilling tale! I do feel as though it would be better geared for younger readers since the main character is so young, but all the same, seriously creeped me out as I stayed up reading this one late into the night. Priestley definitely knows how to put a scare into you!
Michael is now sadly left with no family due to the recent events of his parents death. Luckily, his father had connections and a wealthy friend has decided to become his guardian and take him in....more
Michael is now sadly left with no family due to the recent events of his parents death. Luckily, his father had connections and a wealthy friend has decided to become his guardian and take him in....more
I could not help but think of The Woman in Black the whole time reading this and finding comparisons. Mostly because The Woman in Black recently came out on film and because there are a lot of similarities. But this book was written for a younger crowed, more 12-15 years of age.
Characters: I liked all of the characters in this novel. I thought that Michael was very brave and that the lawyer was above and beyond nice by taking him into his home. Michael is not afraid to ask questions and as most...more
Characters: I liked all of the characters in this novel. I thought that Michael was very brave and that the lawyer was above and beyond nice by taking him into his home. Michael is not afraid to ask questions and as most...more
I was so super excited to read this one. I am a sucker for a classic, creepy ghost story that takes place in a desolate house. Sadly, this book didn’t really work for me on a couple of levels.
First of all, it moved reeeally slowly. Normally that’s not a make-or-break issue for me but in this case things just moved a little too slow. There wasn’t a lot of action and a few times I found myself having to re-read pages because my mind had wandered. That’s unusual for me. When I read a book I’m usual...more
First of all, it moved reeeally slowly. Normally that’s not a make-or-break issue for me but in this case things just moved a little too slow. There wasn’t a lot of action and a few times I found myself having to re-read pages because my mind had wandered. That’s unusual for me. When I read a book I’m usual...more
Excellent young adult fiction in a gothic style. Call me shallow, but I do like the way we seem to get right into the story here, I imagine because of the intended young adult audience; The Woman In Black is an excellent novel from which this tale draws much inspiration, but I can quite happily lose a smidgin of the subtle hints and slow-build up for the sake of a rollicking good story.
I'm sure I would deserve to be roundly whipped for suggesting that M. R. James could trim a fair bit of prose f...more
I'm sure I would deserve to be roundly whipped for suggesting that M. R. James could trim a fair bit of prose f...more
Cover Blurb: It’s properly creepy, with the skull buried in the snow and the bold title font.
What I Liked: I have nothing negative to say about this story. It scared me, I love the writing style, and the characters, and the time period, and how isolated it feels. It reminded me of Edgar Allen Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher. I kept picturing Michael’s guardian, Sir Stephen, looking like Vincent Price.
What I Disliked: Nothing.
Believability: Not really applicable. The time period is ideal, an...more
What I Liked: I have nothing negative to say about this story. It scared me, I love the writing style, and the characters, and the time period, and how isolated it feels. It reminded me of Edgar Allen Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher. I kept picturing Michael’s guardian, Sir Stephen, looking like Vincent Price.
What I Disliked: Nothing.
Believability: Not really applicable. The time period is ideal, an...more
'The Dead of Winter' is a fantastic gothic tale for younger readers (or big kids like myself). Priestley is a very talented writer (his collections of short stories are also highly enjoyable), who has the ability to breathe fresh life into the established traditions of ghost stories. This atmospheric tale unfolds like a movie (think The Woman in Black), and delivers plenty of chills and thrills. The characters are complex, all with interesting histories, but the story is never weighed down by th...more
I enjoyed Uncle Montague's Tales of Terror very much, but this didn't have quite the same effect. Not sure why. Perhaps I enjoyed UM's Tales so much because they were more fun. This seemed a more serious approach to horror, and didn't work so well for me.
It was short and engaging, so I certainly didn't dislike it. But nor did it especially grip or frighten me. And (though I do realise I am several decades older than the target audience!) I saw pretty much everything coming a mile off, which is a...more
It was short and engaging, so I certainly didn't dislike it. But nor did it especially grip or frighten me. And (though I do realise I am several decades older than the target audience!) I saw pretty much everything coming a mile off, which is a...more
Well, um how do I start?? I'll start with… I BLOODY LOVE THIS BOOK (real thick Australian accent implied there)!!!!!!
I have never read a horror book, I just don't do creepy, but when I read this I couldn't stay away! It was so gripping and vivid, it was like watching a movie… IN MY MIND!!!!!
The only bad thing about the book was the last line. HOW IN MOTHER TRUCKING WORLD CAN YOU END A BOOK LIKE THAT?????? I wanted to find out what happened!!!!
I have never read a horror book, I just don't do creepy, but when I read this I couldn't stay away! It was so gripping and vivid, it was like watching a movie… IN MY MIND!!!!!
The only bad thing about the book was the last line. HOW IN MOTHER TRUCKING WORLD CAN YOU END A BOOK LIKE THAT?????? I wanted to find out what happened!!!!
The book's story is set within Victorian times. The main character Michael sadly is coping with the death of his Mother and is taken under the guardianship of his dead Fathers friend. The story develops around the mansion to which he is sent and the mysterious events and history of it, with a great twist at the end. I read this book after another in the series, aftering enjoying the authors style of writing. I was not dissapointed and enjoyed this great Ghost story. I look forward to the next bo...more
Once again, not sure how I got here. The only reason I even read this book was because it was short enough for me to kill in a few hours. And kill a few hours it did. I didn't really relate to the main character what so ever--mainly because we are told next to nothing about him. I wasn't even really sure what time period this story was happening in and I couldn't get over that. I had quite a few hang-ups with this book that stopped me from really caring about the story.
I guess it was scary--ther...more
I guess it was scary--ther...more
From the minute I started reading this book I was sucked into the wintry Victorian landscape of the bogland around Hawton Mere by Priestley's writing style, which reminded me of Jane Austen or one of the early gothic romances. Michael's mother has died, leaving him an orphan, so he must spend Christmas with the man, Sir Stephen, whom his father died trying to save in battle. Michael, who has a presentiment right from the beginning that something is amiss, sees a woman in white crying for help, b...more
Being a huge fan of Chris Priestley thanks to his former children's books, the trilogy Tales of Terror, I was eagerly anticipating the release of The Dead of Winter for a long time. I'm not the target audience (it's a kid's book), but both my university lecturers and the staff at my old local book store had recommended Priestley's Tales series to me and they were so good and addictive that I kept going back for more. Sadly, Winter didn't quite live up to its predecessors, but there's no denying...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
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| do you have suggestions for "contemporary" GOTHIC ghosts stories? | 1 | 3 | Jul 07, 2012 01:49pm |
His father was in the army and so he moved around a lot as a child and lived in Wales. He was an avid reader of American comics as a child, and when he was eight or nine, and living in Gibraltar, he won a prize in a newspaper story-writing competition. He decided then “that my ambition was to write and illustrate my own book”.
He spent his teens in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, before moving to Manchester,...more
More about Chris Priestley...
He spent his teens in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, before moving to Manchester,...more
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