Two books in one volume isn't odd, but two books in one volume where the books are upside down from each other is a bit of weird setup. It works; it's just a bit disorienting. The two books in this particular volume, Sinister House, by Leland Hall and Cold Harbour, by Francis Brett Young, are from a series by Hippocampus Press called "Lovecraft's Library" which features nine volumes -- three doubles, like this one, and six novels -- all of which, according to the Hippocampus website, offers "the modern reader a selection of works that Lovecraft himself read and admired, and that he commented upon in his letters or elsewhere." This is my first foray into the series, and it was a bit of spooky, creepy fun -- best suited for reading after dark or during a night when you're all tucked up in bed and thunder, lightning and rain are all rampaging outside.

First: Cold Harbour, by Francis Brett Young. Originally published in 1924, most of this haunted-house story takes place in the West Midlands area of England. As the story opens, a group of friends are together on a terrace somewhere on the Italian Island of Capri. While they are enjoying the night, two of the guests, Ronald and Evelyn Wake, reveal their strange adventures at an old house in England's Black Country, keeping their friends spellbound with their eerie tale.

Cold Harbour is an old-fashioned and atmospheric haunted house story with a twist. It may seem pretty tame to today's horror readers who thrive on gore and grossouts, but for an old-fashioned tale of hauntings, it's pretty scary -- especially when all is finally revealed. And it's fun.

Coming now to Leland Hall's Sinister House, this book is another haunted house story, which takes place in an old house on a cliff. Published originally in 1919, it is the story of two young newlyweds who have come to live in the Hudson Valley. Rather than follow the lead of their very good friends Pierre and Annette Smith who have settled nearby in a more modern housing development built especially for commuters, Eric and Julia Grier decide to take residence in an eerie old house in the woods that stands on a cliffside. Eric has to commute for work; when he is away he can't stand being apart from his wife; while she misses him when he's gone, she is more worried about him returning. It isn't long until Pierre realizes what's going on -- there's some sort of force within the house that wants to separate Pierre from anyone who cares about him, making them feel uneasy in his presence, and this includes his wife Julia and his friends. Pierre's little son is hypersensitive to these haunted goings-on, so much so that before long Pierre must tell Eric he can no longer come to the Smith's home. But there's more to this presence than just its isolation of Eric -- and soon Julia realizes that her very life is in danger.

Sinister House has it all -- a creepy old house with a locked room where no one dares to go, dark woods that hide it from the outside, and an ongoing sense of impending doom that creeps under your skin. At the same time, the book is also a product of its times -- while the author is great at building and maintaining a chilling atmosphere, sometimes the story heads off in a direction reminiscent of a romantic melodrama. There are also a few issues about his ghosts that make no sense if spirits are the ethereal creatures they're supposed to be -- can ghosts really trip and stumble over each other?

In spite of a few misses, Sinister House is a fun read; together with Cold Harbour there are a few hours of hair-raising entertainment to be found.If you're into old ghostly tales that depend heavily on atmosphere, you'll like this book; if that's not your thing and you prefer brain-eating zombies or other more in-your-face kind of horror, you'll definitely want to pass. I liked it, but I'm much more into creating scary scenes in my head than having them already splashed all over the pages with not much left to the imagination.

(read June, 2012) ( )