The House of Susan Lulham

Merrily Watkins #12.5

by Phil Rickman

THE FIRST EVER MERRILY WATKINS SHORT STORY – NOW EXPANDED INTO THE FULL STORY

A new husband and a new house.

Just as well, because Zoe doesn't like old.

Back in the 1960s, this house was built to look ultra-modern, with lots of glass and sharp angles. And it was going cheap, perhaps because of the self-inflicted death of a previous owner - notoriously bloody and prolonged.

But Zoe didn't know that. And if her husband Jonathan knew, he kept very quiet.

How is Merrily Watkins, diocesan exorcist for Hereford, to know what’s behind Zoe’s claim that the late Susan Lulham is still in residence?

Sceptical neighbours seem unlikely to help, and fresh blood will decorate the pristine white walls of the New House before its secret history begins, at last, to leak out.

A stunning addition to Phil Rickman’s bestselling 12-volume Merrily Watkins series – currently being filmed by ITV Drama for broadcast in 2015. This short novel, exploring the problems of exorcism in a secular age, is volume twelve and a half in the series.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Horror, Crime, Supernatural, Suspense, Ghost Stories

119 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 15, 2014

About the author

Phil Rickman, also known under the pen names Thom Madley and Will Kingdom, was a British author of supernatural and mystery novels.

Reviews

[hawk · Rating 4 out of 5]

a Merrily Watkins novella! 😃 (apparently developed from a short story originally included in an anthology)

🌟

I noticed I liked this one more than others in the Merrily Watkins series, and I realised towards the end that it was probably because it was much more focussed on Merrily and her exorcism/deliverance work and a 'haunting' of kinds... and contained alot less of the sexism, violence, etc etc. and maybe also had a slightly slower, fuller pace. a smaller cast too, and a greater ratio of women to men than usual - I think this was also a positive difference for me 🙂

I think these things enabled me to appreciate the writing and structure more, the construction around both the story told and the commentary made around the issues included, awa the focus on the main character of Merrily and her development.
I imagine that any longer novels in the series I should chance to read might go back to their usual pace, feel, patterns... but I really appreciated the respite this one gave from some of that, and the relative simplicity of the focus and story, and liked the author more for it 🙂

🌟

💀 content warning for self harm 💀

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accessed as a library audiobook, well read by Emma Powell 🙂

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Merrily Watkins find herself at the center of Facebook. Okay, she goes to help a woman who misrepresents what happens. The story is actually quite gripping. You do not need to have read other Watkins books to follow this one.

[Jo Hurst · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novella was pretty creepy and sees Merrily really having to work the deliverance angle. I read it whilst babysitting and scared myself silly when the man next door started doing late night DIY. This is full of blood and murder and is almost as creepy as midwinter of the spirit was. Great stuff.

[Jamie Collins · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. A novella from the Merrily Watkins series, which I thoroughly enjoy. This is short on plot but has the same spooky, paranoid atmosphere of the longer novels.

Merrily visits a woman who claims that her new house is haunted by the spirit of the previous owner, who committed suicide there in a spectacular fashion. Is the homeowner genuinely frightened, or is she setting Merrily up as a defense witness? Merrily experiences the usual qualms about her profession which help to make this series so fascinating.

There’s a brief contribution from her daughter Jane, who’s spending her gap year at an archaeological dig, and there are scenes with Sophie at the Cathedral and with Detective Sergeant Bliss, but there’s nothing with Gomer Parry (“Gomer Parry Plant Hire”) or Lol.

[Paromjit · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short and quick read. It bears all the hallmarks of a Rickman story but without the glorious additional characters and depth in plotting. I enjoyed it, but I have been spoilt by Rickman's other full length novels.

The House of Susan Lulham is the story of a house that from the very beginning has been steeped in blood. More specifically, it gained notoriety for the self inflicted death/suicide of an unstable Suze, otherwise known as Susan Lulham. In the present day, we have a current occupant, Zoe, who kills her husband. For Merrily, the question is whether Zoe is really possessed by Suze or is she a clever, calculating woman who has murdered her husband?

This is well worth a read. Just think of it as quick snack from Mr Rickman.

[Gayle (OutsmartYourShelf) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zoe & Jonathan Mahonie move to city of Hereford & move into a modern-looking house, unaware that it had been the scene of a suicide several years before. Now Jonathan is away & Zoe calls in Diocesan Exorcist, Merrily Watkins, as Zoe says that she has been hearing a woman's laughter & seeing a woman who looks very much like the previous resident, Susan Lulham.

This is a novella which means that the slow set-up indicative of this series is curtailed & the story suffers for that. Also, is it just me or is Merrily a bit thick at times? Everyone advises her to stay away for the moment but the next scene, she is back at the house looking for Zoe. I also sometimes just want her to get the point rather than going all round the houses - I found her rather wearing in this story.

TWs: Suicide, self-harm, blood.

[Emma Darcy · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

Sometimes a bit hard to follow. I found that quite a few times I had to backtrack, reread passages because it would cut away and then jump or refer back to scenes.

The ending was a bit underwhelming, it's a very short book and not much happens. it just sort of fizzles out.

Spoiler alert: Facebook is the real evil

[Carole Tyrrell · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was originally a short story written for an Oxfam anthology, OxCrimes. But Phil Rickman, the author, decided to look it over again and expand it into this novella. It’s also a good introduction to Merrily Watkins.
This novella was my first acquaintance with Mr Rickman’s exorcist – sorry Diocesan Deliverance Consultant - Rev Merrily Watkins. It begins with an interview between Merrily and a reporter. In it Merrily agrees that her appointment to the role was probably ‘political’ as she was to be ‘at the coal face of Christianity.’ She also admits that she took the job because of a personal experience in the vicarage and the subsequent response that she received from the church.
She is asked for help by Zoe Mahonie who, together with her husband, Jonathan are newcomers to Hereford. They’re bought a modern house, ‘1960’s, at what they thought was a good price. However it may have come at too high a price for them. The house is described as ‘like an offcut from an arts centre from the 1960’s’ but that’s the least of its problems. The Mahonies discovered too late who the previous owner of the house had been. This was a Susan, aka Suze, Lulham, a successful and flamboyant hairdresser who owned four salons. She was making a drunken phone call to a soon to be ex-boyfriend when she started to cut herself and bled to death in her living-room.
Zoe reports lipstick messages purporting to come from Susan on a mirror, lights and the TV going on and off and a generally nasty atmosphere Merrily conducts a first stage exorcism and hopes that all will be well.
But Zoe doesn’t want it to end there and voices her frustration on social media by uploading a clip of Merrily’s exorcism.
And then comes the fateful night when Merrily and one of Zoe’s neighbours see two smeared handprints in dark red and dark spots on the window of the Mahonies house. Zoe is brought out saying that she’s started to cut herself……
‘A house that seems to want blood’ is another description of the house. The Mahonies marriage was not a happy one. Jonathan, or Jonno, wanted a divorce and was beginning to regret marrying a much younger woman. Now it’s culminated in a bloody murder and a woman who claims that she was possessed by the spirit of Susan Lulham. Now they’re looking for a scapegoat – Merrily.
The house is almost a character in itself. It jabs a ‘concrete elbow at the sky’ and in the aftermath of the murder with lights everywhere and people in and out ‘the house looked excited’ and later, ‘it grinned savagely in her mind.’
Merrily begins to investigate the background to the house and discovers a troubled, dark history. In the meantime she has to contend with her own sense of isolation and a secular society that doesn’t need her or the Church. She is an outsider but fells that a full exorcism is necessary.
But if you hear the word ‘exorcist’ and automatically think of projectile vomiting then you might be disappointed with Merrily. However, in her quiet, unassuming way she is more convincing. She is painfully aware that her job is the ‘last chance saloon’ for some people and she steels herself for the final confrontation in Zoe’s lounge by saying ‘Do the job.’
In a house that literally dripped blood from the day it was built does Susan Lulham lie easy now?

[Joyce D · Rating 3 out of 5]

quick history - love this series with Merrily Watkins; a deliverance minister (exorcist) for the Anglican Church in Ledwardine, England.
I don't normally read books about monsters; witchcraft; etc. UNLESS the book is grounded in reality (translation: it COULD happen, be possible; subtle; who knows what is possible in this world - LOL). That is why I LOVE this series. sounds like a girly series (female protagonist) but not even!!! Very subtle and "the lay of the land" and very psychic history (especially being that close to the Welsh border) lends itself to the atmosphere of the series.
trying not to ramble - this particular book in the series (12.5) is really a short story and as such was not developed or layered like the books (of which i grade 4 or 5). But really exciting towards the end of the story.
read the series from book 1 - even though the first few books are not as "modern" in technology as the more recent ones; you will get a better feel for the land and exorcism in the modern church.

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the most overtly supernatural of the Merrily Watkins canon that I can think of.

A house on a hill with a violent history brings trouble to a couple who perhaps should never have been there. Some might say this is much more cliched than usual from Phil Rickman, but I think that given the constrictions of a novella, he played it correctly.

I often feel that the Merrily Watkins books can be quite heavy to read when the part of the plot hits that Merrily begins to be mired in psychic warfare. I'm also becoming a bit weary of the interminable hostile politics of the diocese - sometimes it feels like it takes over the entire book.

All of this is avoided here. It's probably why I enjoyed it so much.

As good fun as ghostly murder and mayhem gets!

[Cathleen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've read a number of the Merrily Watkins series by Phil Rickman, and I really have liked them. This one, though, wasn't nearly as enjoyable reading as the others. Maybe it was the brevity: not enough time to develop characters or complicate the plot. Maybe it was the writing: too much of the plot was translated through characters' conversations rather than actual events and most of the characters spoke in unfinished sentences. That became tedious after awhile. Overall, if I hadn't already followed this series, I wouldn't have been able to piece together Merrily Watkins' purpose or actions. Only an ok read.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a small Merrily Watkins novella where Merrily finds herself investigating a house which seems to be possessed by an evil presence and which has been the scene of a gruesome suicide of a previous owner, Susan Lulham.

I found this little book much scarier than the larger Merrily books. I think that is because of its length - there was no time spent on the usual secondary stories of Lol and Jane, it was all about Merrily and the forces of darkness.

It was a nice little addition to the oeuvre but I was glad to be able to put this one down and pick up the next full size novel.

[Katie Grainger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Number 12.5 in the Merrily Watkins series and a little book about bad vibes and whether they can be used to cover up a murder. This is a clever little novella and really leaves the reader to draw its own conclusion as the whether what happened in Susan Lulham’s house was an accident or premeditated. Quite a fascinating story and a worthy addition to the series. The themes of the novella are continued in the next full length book.

[Elle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Because I could only access this as an audiobook, my listening/reading was a bit erratic. I was annoyed at first, but it was an exceptional recording, and kind of a privilege to get to hear something so well produced, both in casting and in overall quality. The story itself was magnificent, if not nearly as vague in its assertion of the paranormal as the novels.

[Richard Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this novella a lot more satisfying than some of the recent, longer, outings of Merrily Watkins and wonder whether a volume of short stories might restore a few more chills to a series that has - to my mind - become a bit moribund. In this novella, there is no padding and the story builds to a satisfying, frisson- inducing ending.

[Marcus Wilson · Rating 2 out of 5]

A short story updated to a novella by Phil Rickman, featuring Merrily Watkins. It has the feel of one of those TV Christmas Specials about it, a little diversion from the main series, not as good but with enough to satisfy while you wait for the next installment. A decent read, but hardly essential.

[Jane Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it, just as I have all the Merrily Watkins books

Compelling as always and ending with unanswered mysteries. As all good fiction should. Leaves readers wanting more. What could be better?

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know quite what to say about this book.
It certainly has plenty of suspense & is well written, but terribly hard to read. The prose seems very stilted & hard to follow. The subject matter was enticing but too much was left unsaid & there were too many threads seemingly left undone.

[Bethnoir · Rating 4 out of 5]

A long, short story with a less coy attitude towards the supernatural than some others. Full of suspense and danger, I felt even more scared for Merrily than usual. Worth reading.

[Russell Sanders · Rating 5 out of 5]

The British often have compilation TV specials where the cast and creators of popular series will do a short sketch using their characters, settings, and ongoing plots—sort of Downton Abbey light. Phil Rickman’s The House of Susan Lulham is Merrily Watkins light. Anyone who reads his Merrily Watkins series knows that each book is quite long, full of characters—many of them regulars in the series—and complex with plot and subplot. This book, The House of Susan Lulham, grew from a short story Rickman published in an anthology. He was encouraged to develop it into a novella and thus Merrily Watkins light was born. Of the regular recurring characters of the series, there are only four here—Merrily, of course, plus the diocesan secretary Sophie, Merrily’s mentor Huw Owen, and the police inspector Frannie Bliss. Merrily’s daughter Jane makes a sort of cameo appearance. The novella is long on plot and fairly short on character development, with Rickman probably figuring that we Merrily Watkins fans are well aware of the regular characters’ flaws and qualities. The house in the title may or may not be haunted, and Deliverance Minister (read Exorcist) Merrily must decide and then do what she feels she needs to do. This is a swift, light read, but it is a good introduction to the world of Merrily Watkins, and Rickman says in an afterword that more of the story will appear in the next novel of the Merrily series. I look forward to that. In fact, that book Friends of the Dusk is already on my “to read” shelf.

[Helen Birkbeck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unusual addition to the series, as it is a novella. I read it in two days as it is gripping despite its brevity. There's a lot of gore and quite a few themes for such a short book, such as the (negative?) influence of social media, the perceived irrelevance of the church, the intriguing mix of psychological and psychic disturbance, Merrily's doubts about her role...

My only (mild) criticism would be of the unfair, poorly researched barbs aimed at evangelicals in the church. We are not crazy and most of us don't 'scream', and there is a valid argument that the woolly, liberal theology of the sort that Merrily seems to represent has played a real part in getting the church into its current mess. But, of course, fictional characters are entitled to their views!

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short novella in the Merrily Watkins series. Suitably creepy and eerie as the Deliverance minister is called in to exorcise the spirits of a supposed haunted house. As this was a novella, a couple of my favorite characters of this entertaining series were not featured hence the lower than normal rating for anything written by Phil Rickman. Lol was only mentioned once briefly in passing and Jane only made a brief “appearance” via a phone conversation. Gomer did not appear at all. At least Frannie Bliss and the formidable, pearl and sweater set-wearing Sophie were present and key parts of the story.

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really well done novella in the Merrily Watkins series. Fast paced, lots of action, but it all happened within 200 pages. The question in this one is: Is the house haunted with the spirit of a suicide? Or, is the person living there playing games with Merrily? It turns out that Zoe murders her husband, Jonathan. But she claims that Susan Lulham forced her to. And it turns out that the house is built on top of the ruins of an older house, where there was another suicide. Merrily is forced to make decisions without much support, in hopes of at least laying an uneasy spirit to rest. A bit scary in places, actually. Great read!

[Nick Brough · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novella is an almost perfect Merrily deliverance investigation. The only elements, which feel repeated are that MW looks likely to end up in court as a witness again, which is rather repetitive as the theme was done previously. Being a shorter, story, it focusses on a single deliverance case study, without any of the side elements and twists, multi-plot lines that feature in the extended novels.

Its also one of the "scarier" stories in the series as well as being much more realistic feeling. Its just something you could imagine happening somewhere, but not anything that anyone outside the events ever talks about.

[Kinsey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Man, everytime I read a book and get on here to do a review, I'm surprised by how much people liked it. This book was a solid two stars for me so it's interesting that other people loved it so much. I didn't dislike it or like it, I was just very indifferent. Again, cleaning out my bookshelves and I honestly have no idea where this one came from or how long I've had it, I definitely didn't know it was #12.5 in a series. I think Rickman's way of writing, specifically how he introduces characters, was confusing to me and if I hadn't been confused I probably would have enjoyed the story more.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Neatly plotted and quite suspenseful, this novella manages to combine mystery and bloody set pieces with Merrily's self-doubt and wider concerns with her ministry. Rickman splices the haunted house and the murder mystery together pretty well, with some effective sideswipes at social media along the way. I never quite warmed to the peripheral characters and felt the story sagged before the arrival of the elderly estate agent, Mr Backstory, but it was an enjoyable read on a chilly autumn night.

[Judith Paterson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was disappointed when I picked this book up from the library and realised it was only a novella! However, although much shorter than the usual Merrily Watkins stories, it concentrates just on the case in question, no distractions from Gomer, Lol or Jane's doings and less of Merrily's soul searching. It is a really creepy punchy story which I liked!

[Chris Browning · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s not bad, but it also feels significantly undercooked and Rickman ridiculously decides that even if this is a novella he’s still going to fart about with some tin eared dialogue which in this case clearly confuses Facebook with text speak. Those passages are almost unreadable. I wish he would avoid the yawning chasm of a trap of patois but EVERY BLOODY TIME…

[Sas astro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you Phil Rickman. For various reasons 2019 was tense, I needed to occasionally escape into a good book so with this in mind I decided to re-read the whole of the Merrily Watkins series. They didn't disappoint, each one is a gem, Phil Rickman is one of the best British authors there is.

[Linda Joan Booth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very entertaining

This is my second visit with Merrily. Really neatly worked out story. Lovely twist at the end. Find the context of doing the night job in a secular society and the soul searching that brings intriguing.