Be not daunted by the length of this engrossingly book by Brit author Rickman - it's time well spent on ghostie-ghoulie terrain seldom explored by American horror-meisters. Kim Newman's "Jago" touched on some ancient mysteries in the borderlands but not so compellingly as Rickman. A treat for those of us always looking for new supernatural stories. ( )

Great book! If you like Stephen King's books, you'll enjoy this one. Not as much horror, but the tension keeps building and you have to read it to the end. The town is a real character and the people's reaction to old history and superstition is very well drawn. Great writer, great story. The only negative, a bit too long at 498 pages. ( )

Phil Rickman is an author who continues to write the kind of horror novels I like best. This novel managed to keep me from guessing the outcome ahead of time.

Bless you, Phil Rickman, for your sensitive handling of Arnold's storyline and not going for the cheap emotional manipulation so frequently used by the tired hacks of the horror genre. This book earns a Pet Lovers Seal of Approval!

*SPOILERISH*

I do love a story where sweet ladies of a certain age wearing tartan skirts and errant heavy equipment operators can be heroes and possibly hook up for a happily-ever-after ending in the readers imagination. ( )

Loved this book. ( )

I picked Curfew up from the library after coming it across it on a thread on Facebook where people had posted on their scariest reads. It's a long time since I've read a book that really petrified me and love watching films through my fingers. I admit to binging on Shaun Hutson in my teenage years. Then got into a bit of a silly snobby phase of reading "literature." So left the horror genre behind and never really got back to it.

Now I've read that Rickman doesn't like his early books - of which "Curfew" (originally published as "Crybbe") was his second offering - being caterogised as horror. So he may be happy to read that I wouldn't class it as a horror either. It is a certainly a story with supernatural elements; creepy but not terrifying; violent deaths abound but descriptions aren't playing for shock value gore. What makes it engaging is that Rickman draws his inspiration from British folklore and ritual; you get a sense of the eerie atmosphere of historic and sometimes ancient towns and villages. You certainly get a realistic experience of the distrustful and exclusionary nature of locals towards people from 'off'.

The novel moves with the pace of visiting tourist. It's almost 700 pages but I enjoyed every page. The multiple characters are well drawn and distinct. They are believable and have to be for the reader to accept the supernatural events that slowly build to a crescendo.

Rickman is an author I will certainly read again. ( )