Wylding Hall

I enjoyed this the whole time I was reading it, but it didn't quite resolve anything to my satisfaction, whether by preserving the terror of the mystery or by demystifying the horror. Unlike the author's novel Waking the Moon, which was legitimately scary, this was more atmospheric than frightening (and I'm a big weenie about horror, easily kept up at night by very mild scares).

However I fully appreciated the characters, the 70s chaotic band dynamics, the folk song geekery and the spooky house, so it wasn't a wasted read for me at all. It could have been much longer and I would still have been engaged.

A very excellent book, though the ending was a little abrupt for me. Highly recommended for fans of light horror, folk music, and folk... horror? Is that a genre? It feels like it should be. The horror that comes from lush forests overgrown with myths and legends, that sound behind you you're not sure you really just heard- that's the kind of horror this book lends itself to. Several scenes are reminiscent of the stories you told in middle school sleepovers, without an ending or a proper beginning, but a rich and terrifying middle.

I originally gave this story 4 stars because it was interesting and subtle in its creepiness. But after thinking about it I changed my mind. I did enjoy the story, but was left with a lot of questions that I never got the answer to. Some readers like that...and this is the book for them.

I have only the vaguest idea what just happened and the ambiguity is delightful. I'm going to be rolling this book around in my mind for a long time.

This is an absolutely brilliant treatment of the fantastic emerging into the world of English folk rock.

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