First in a two-part series about the haunted Aubrey House.
Marvin Kaye writes horror and mystery and a nonfiction book, called The Handbook of Mental Magic- “A comprehensive course of mind reading and mental magic.” He also compiles many anthologies. Kaye is the editor of Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine, and both editor and co-publisher of Weird Tales magazine. He also, oddly enough, has a website that is mostly dedicated on how to write “Casino Fiction.” At first I thought casino fiction was a kitschy name to describe some way of writing a sub-genre of fiction but no it’s literally about casinos.
Parke Godwin (1929-2013) wrote a graphic novel teen series called W.I.T.C.H. and fantasy novels featuring the retelling of famous characters (King Arthur, Robin Hood etc) in settings of a different century than their usual setting. I guess? Also, I thought Parke was a lady but no, Parke was a man.
When the book starts the introduction chapter is very much like House on Haunted Hill. At least as far as the movie goes. I haven’t read the book yet as I’m holding out for an older copy. At least one without a shitty Netflix sticker on it. We get an introduction of the five main characters and what they are all about.
Merlyn (Merlin?) Aubrey is the house owner and at the tail end of a well-to-do lineage. She has some mental issues wherein she reverts back to a small child when things get too adult. She’s abrasive, lackadaisical, sexy, angry, apologetic…she’s all over the place. She’s also into ESP and the paranormal.
She has two best friends; Vita and Charles.
Vita is in her late 30’s early 40’s. Single. Clairvoyant. Has a nice figure. Looking for a man that’s into the paranormal and can take her to pleasure town. Ha! She’s actually shy and quiet. She has a long-lost love that haunts her life. She regrets decisions that she made and has lived her life wishing things were different.
Charles is a professional paranormal writer and clairvoyant who loves holding seances and kicking around with his two ghost hunting buddies, Merlyn and Vita. He is also a gay man.
Our fourth character, Drew, is in town from Ireland. He is a…paranormal investigator and intellectual who believes the research should have a more scientific approach. He does his homework and looks down upon the true believers even though he is one himself. And guess what? He’s also clairvoyant. Oh and he has some physical disabilities.
Our final character is Richard Creighton. Professional philosopher, writer and paranormal debunker. He’s straight science and has no time for your ghostly bullshit. He thinks it’s all in your head. He also didn’t get the brakes fixed on his car and now his wife and child are dead so he’s a mopey sad sack but hoping to get his engines running by hooking up with Meryln.
We get a little preliminary meeting after the introductions and off we go to Aubrey house in Pennsylvania.
We got spooky painting of Grandma Aubrey on the wall. House history. Spooky dolls. Paranormal research arguing. Ghosts?! Seances. A cold blue light. Paranormal aphrodisiacs. Blue balls. Rainstorms. And some action.
I loved this! Excellent setting and ambiance. I liked the pacing. A ghost story shouldn’t be quick, jumpy and gory. I want it creepy and slow. I also enjoy the technical paranormal jargon. I’m into that stuff and it delivered. When they wrote this, they did their research, even mentioning actual real-world studies and books. The characters were real, intricate, flawed human beings who were never boring. The book didn’t have a lot of filler. I mean, sure the characters sat around, had a couple drinks and argued paranormal technique but I wouldn’t consider that filler.
My only complaints were sometimes the chapters opened in this poetic dream sequence sentence fragment word salad. You couldn’t tell what was going on and it was pretty much pointless. Also, each character had subconscious thoughts chime in every once in a while. Like a character would get asked if they were excited about going to the house and they’d say yes and then the next sentence would be but are you? Italicized. It was corny and unnecessary especially considering how well the authors wrote the characters personalities.
If you’re looking for a classic style ghost story ambiance and are actually into paranormal research this book is wonderful. If you’re looking for a fast-paced scare you might want to skip it.
Charter Books 1983
Cover art by Jill Bauman
Review by Nick Anderson
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