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The Thing From The Lake - Eleanor Ingram
Mar. 2nd, 2014 09:25 pmRoger Locke, a lame but wealthy composer from a snobby family, moves into his recently purchased farmhouse by the lake with his cousin Phillida and her new husband. He finds a dread supernatural horror intimately connected with a beautiful mystery woman with a thick plait of golden hair. Is his fair unknown the wicked Desire Mitchell who murdered a man by witchcraft hundreds of years ago, or is the solution to his beloved's origins something else? And can he survive the dark demonic power of the dreadful Thing that haunts the farm each night?
Additionally, there's practical necessities to deal with, since Roger's rebellious cousin Phillida quit university to marry a skating ballet dancer from a low cabaret, Ethan Vere. Roger's decided to support them both by giving Vere and Phillida a trial run as his farm managers. Fortunately Vere turns out to be a war veteran raised in the country, who can't think of anything better than this opportunity, and Phillida also turns out to love the wholesome lifestyle. They make a light and human balance to Roger's alchemic relationship with the mysterious Desire.
The story begins with a very sensual description of the thick scented braid left on Roger's pillow when he surprises the strange lady in the dark rummaging through his possessions. This supernatural romance carried out only in the hours of night provides Roger's motive to defy the forces of darkness, and advances the story through.
The narrative suggests that ingenious mundane explanations are possible for all the strange events represented in the book, but the reader's left assured that the unreal is by far the most likely. In the end it's quite possible that the heroes can get the best of both worlds.
This is good; much better than I expected, and it made me want to read more books by the same author. (THE GAME AND THE CANDLE is a good novei in the vein of THE PRISONER OF ZENDA, with an American hero, a manipulative genius young Emperor, and a very large dollop of homoerotic subtext.) Between the supernatural horror elements lies a lot of warm, optimistic human touches. The writing style veers between melodramatic but fascinating descriptions of the supernatural mysteries, and nicely done dialogue and characterisation in the mundane background of the book.
There's not much to say about this novel; it's not very deep, but it is fairly good, entertaining, and capably written supernatural fiction. The publication date is 1921.
Additionally, there's practical necessities to deal with, since Roger's rebellious cousin Phillida quit university to marry a skating ballet dancer from a low cabaret, Ethan Vere. Roger's decided to support them both by giving Vere and Phillida a trial run as his farm managers. Fortunately Vere turns out to be a war veteran raised in the country, who can't think of anything better than this opportunity, and Phillida also turns out to love the wholesome lifestyle. They make a light and human balance to Roger's alchemic relationship with the mysterious Desire.
The story begins with a very sensual description of the thick scented braid left on Roger's pillow when he surprises the strange lady in the dark rummaging through his possessions. This supernatural romance carried out only in the hours of night provides Roger's motive to defy the forces of darkness, and advances the story through.
The narrative suggests that ingenious mundane explanations are possible for all the strange events represented in the book, but the reader's left assured that the unreal is by far the most likely. In the end it's quite possible that the heroes can get the best of both worlds.
This is good; much better than I expected, and it made me want to read more books by the same author. (THE GAME AND THE CANDLE is a good novei in the vein of THE PRISONER OF ZENDA, with an American hero, a manipulative genius young Emperor, and a very large dollop of homoerotic subtext.) Between the supernatural horror elements lies a lot of warm, optimistic human touches. The writing style veers between melodramatic but fascinating descriptions of the supernatural mysteries, and nicely done dialogue and characterisation in the mundane background of the book.
There's not much to say about this novel; it's not very deep, but it is fairly good, entertaining, and capably written supernatural fiction. The publication date is 1921.
