Here’s the perfect read for Halloween 2015. It’s time for ghosts, witches, things that go bump in the night, and for your blood to run cold. Turn to The House on Cold Hill by Peter James (http://www.peterjames.com/). The summary is as follows. Moving from the heart of Brighton to the Sussex countryside is a big undertaking for Ollie and Caro Harcourt and their twelve-year-old daughter Jade. But when they view Cold Hill House – a huge, dilapidated Georgian mansion – Ollie is filled with excitement. Despite the financial strain of the move, he has dreamed of living in the country since he was a child, and he sees Cold Hill House as a paradise for his animal-loving daughter, the perfect base for his web-design business and a terrific long-term investment. Caro is less certain, and Jade is grumpy about being separated from her friends. Within days of moving in, it becomes apparent that the Harcourt family aren’t the only residents of the house. A friend of Jade’s is the first to see the spectral woman, standing behind her as the girls talk on FaceTime. Then there are more sightings, as well as increasingly disturbing occurrences in the house. As the haunting becomes more malevolent and the house itself begins to turn on the Harcourts, the terrified family discover Cold Hill House’s dark history, and the horrible truth of what it could mean for them … OMG!!!!!
The haunted house narrative is not exactly a new idea, of course. To frighten the crap out of yourself here is a site recommending some film versions on the theme http://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/lists/10-great-haunted-house-films. Get in the crisps, dips, booze, a bunch of friends, a big duvet. Stick on the DVD and be afraid – very afraid.
For the book enquire at your local library or consult http://www.amazon.co.uk/House-Cold-Hill-Peter-James/dp/1447255909/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1445494108&sr=8-1&keywords=the+house+on+cold+hill for full bibliographic details.
320 pages in Macmillan
First published 2015
ISBN 978-1447255901