Suzi Feay

Something scary in the attic

What horrifies one person may baffle, or even bore, another. Laura Purcell’s gothic debut doesn’t do it for Suzi Feay

issue 21 October 2017

How do you like your ghosts? Supernatural fiction is arguably the hardest to get right. Ideally it should terrify, but what appals A might bore B and merely confuse C. The mechanics of apparition, however fanciful, must be internally consistent, and explanations kept simple. M.R. James excelled at giving his spectres agency and focus, but in some hands ambiguity is more effective.

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