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LA <spoiler> The baby was not malformed, but it was charmed in some way. The fact that Else was only 13 but had had many babies made me think that she wa…more<spoiler> The baby was not malformed, but it was charmed in some way. The fact that Else was only 13 but had had many babies made me think that she was timeless, that perhaps she and Laura and Leonard had been selling "cures" for decades but never aged.

The baby represents the Christ child in a disturbed pagan way, and during the week leading up to the Easter crucifixion, I think that they harmed the baby every time a paid customer showed up. Remember the bloody hands on Leonard when the boys showed up unexpectedly? At first, I thought it was from delivering the baby but when it was wailing in the cellar and suddenly heard Leonard coming down to it, the pitch changed entirely into screams of terror. I think they likely stabbed it in the stigmata way.

When a paying customer was placed next to the baby and the harm was done, that person's clawed hand (remember Collier couldn't work for five years because of his), blind mushroom colored eyes, jaundice, arthritis, etc were transferred onto the sacrificial baby. Once all payments were taken in, they'd kill and leave it.

Years later, when someone rang the bell on New Years, it was a call to Leonard that new paying customers were ready.

Of course, I could be bewitched and totally wrong! But wow...this book makes you tie little things together. Loved it. </spoiler>(less)

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Kelly B

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Mariano

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WTF! Am I missing something? Perhaps you have to be a "Jordy" or a Druid to understand what this book is about. By the way, are English Catholics like Southern U.S. Fundamentalist Evangelicals? There are so many holes in this tale that I hardly know where to begin. I guess it's just a big allegory saying that belief in "God" and belief in "The Devil" are inseparable. I guess one is as good (or bad) as the other.

Regina

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I read it and was disappointed. It went nowhere and left many points unresolved - exactly what was terrifying about it?

D.J. Reid It's not a horror novel in the traditional sense. I thought the author did very well in conjuring up an atmosphere of menace and foreboding throughout…moreIt's not a horror novel in the traditional sense. I thought the author did very well in conjuring up an atmosphere of menace and foreboding throughout. There were horror elements in the use of the baby. I'm not sure what you thought was unresolved. Some of the clues were well hidden though. I had to re-read the description of the baby and the first chapter to understand what really happened.(less)

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