In this book James Herbert has created a fairy tale which is definitely for adults. Returning to his family home in the countryside the main character, Thom Kindred, is drawn into a fantastical world of faries, witches and demons.
There is a definite progression through the book which starts out full of enchantment and childlike wonder and gradually becomes darker and more twisted until it reaches a crescendo at the end. There is also a strong erotic theme throughout the book, which mirrors the duality of the rest of the story. Loves scenes between kindred and a water nymph evoke a real sense of innocent pleasureand the joy of nature, whereas the attack of the succubus, which seeks to enmesh him in a tawdry fantasy it weaves around him in order to feed of the magical energy in his semen, before the spell is broken and it reveals it's true form, is one of the more disturbing passages of the book.
I enjoyed the unusual combination of childlike wonder and dark horror and would personally say that this is one of James Herberts best books, although his fans of some if his early work such as Rats may not be happy with the move away from pure horror that this presents.
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