'The Dark' – James Herbert (New English Library)

Just a quick post today; mostly because today has been one of those days (and the forecast says that tomorrow looks like being one of those days as well...) but also, well... Let me tell you about 'The Dark'...

It came like a malignant shadow with seductive promises of power. And somewhere in the night . . . a small girl smiled as her mother burned... Asylum inmates slaughtered their attendants... In slimy tunnels once-human creatures gathered. Madness raged as the lights began to fade and humanity was attacked by an ancient, unstoppable evil...

It wasn't so long ago that I got ahead of my reading and had a little stockpile of books to get me through those times when I was in the middle of another book and wanted to post something. They were good times :o) As these things do, that pile of books grew smaller but there was always one book that never made it off the pile and onto the blog. And that book was... you guessed it.

Today though... Today is the day that 'The Dark' gets its post.

I love a bit of James Herbert in my reading, horror that pulls no punches and is just plain nasty. You read it for that delicious feeling of discomfort seeing what happens to some poor soul; feeling like you shouldn't be watching it play out but knowing that unless someone is reading over your shoulder then it's all a secret between you and the book. That's what I was looking for in 'The Dark' but it didn't happen.

With 'The Dark', Herbert opts to take his plot in a more supernatural direction with a little bit of horror where unsuspecting people are possessed by the 'Dark' and encouraged to indulge all their darkest fantasies. So there is some horror then but it's diluted by not only the supernatural elements but also by a long ranging discussion about what is going on, can it all be explained by science, is there an afterlife etc... You can see where this is going, can't you? Herbert's trademark 'horror build ups', used so effectively in books like 'The Rats', are deployed here but get swallowed up in what ends up being a detective story with some ghosts and a little horror. It's not a bad read if you're in the mood to consider what happens after death; 'The Dark' gives you that but it doesn't give you a lot else, just hints of potential that don't come to anything. And that's why 'The Dark' sat in the pile for far longer than the other books. It's harder than it looks to get enthusiastic about a book (either positively or negatively) that isn't an enthusiastic read and just plods along dutifully.

If you're after a touch of the supernatural then Herbert's 'Haunted' or 'The Ghosts of Sleath' are far superior reads. I wouldn't bother with 'The Dark' if I were you...