Here's a gothic paperback I stumbled across while scrolling through items listed for sale by a seller from whom I was already purchasing another book. The title immediately caught my attention, as did the cover - however, I readily admit, I was also hooked by the tagline that read: "First in a new occult-gothic series!" Anyone who knows me knows what I sucker I am for a "series" of books. So, I purchased it, figuring this would be the start of yet another new series (like I really needed any new ones!), and I could begin hunting for the rest of the books in the series. Of course, at the time of purchase, I knew nothing about the book, the series, or even the author. This is the first - and right now, only - book I have by Annie Laurie McMurdie - and having now read the book and done some research on the series and its author, I find that just like the genre itself, things are not always what they seem!
Nightmare Hall is said to be "An Aleister Burke Gothic," which would obviously lead one to believe that Mr. Burke would be the main character in the story; however, Burke is actually nothing more than a supporting cast member. Lisa Moore, a young woman from New England whose parents are dead and who has been offered a new life in California by an aunt she has never met, is the actual main character. In fact, the story is written in first-person point-of-view from Lisa's POV. Aleister Burke turns out to be a mysterious man who seems to show up and disappear at the moments when he is needed, and Lisa (as well as the reader) do not really find out anything about the man until more than half-way through the book. Is he good? Is he evil? Is he even real, or is he some supernatural force? Well, supernatural definitely plays a part in this story, as Lisa quickly discovers when she arrives at Morena Hall, the home of her Aunt Margo - a former actress whose husband died years ago, sending her into complete seclusion. Upon arriving, Lisa learns that her aunt is trying to make contact with her dead husband's spirit. She scoffs at the idea, but in her own minds she questions the reality of it, since she, herself, has abilities most people would never believe. You see, Lisa is a psi - meaning, she has mental capabilities, such as clairvoyance, telepathy, and even precognition. So, can she really discount the possibility of the spirit world?
The book is divided into three parts. The first part, titled "Tomas," focuses on the ghost of Aunt Margo's husband. Lisa unexpectedly comes face-to-face with what she believes to be the ghost of her aunt's dead husband, and even has dinner with him, as he mistakenly believes she is a younger version of her aunt (the book indicates numerous times how much Lisa resembles her aunt in her younger days). But as they are together, Lisa sees a darker side to this "Tomas" - a crueler, almost vicious side of him that mentions the name 'Beherit' several times. Lisa does not understand, but she knows she cannot fall under this man's spell, and so she breaks free and returns to her room. The next morning, she wonders if it was all a dream or did it really happen - a question that makes her doubt herself more when she returns to the closed-off part of the house where she saw him and finds all of the furnishing she previously saw are gone! The author does a great job of keeping Lisa, as well as the reader, off-kilter, and one cannot easily discern whether the events were real or a product of Lisa's imagination.
The second part, titled "Beherit," provides readers with some information regarding this demon, who is only one of many that allegedly possessed some women many years ago. Is the demon really back? Is he pretending to be Tomas; or has Tomas really returned, only still possessed by the demon Aunt Margo says he was possessed by when he was alive? It is in this second part we start to see more of Burke and learn a bit about who he is and what he is really up to. We also begin to gain more insight into what is really going on at Morena Hall, although things continue to happen that blur the lines between reality and the spirit world. Are the darker forces at work really from beyond, or are they simply the dark side of humanity?
The third and final part of the story is titled "Andrew," which threw me off, as up until this point, there was no character in this book by that name. But don't worry, as all is definitely explained in these concluding chapters (well, almost all). Lisa, and the reader, learn what is really going on at Moreno Hall, who is behind it, and why. More importantly, a trap is set to capture the criminals - but it backfires, and poor Lisa is taken in the clutches of a madman, one who very well could be possessed by a demon! There's quite an exciting seance that takes place, and while most of the events are rationally explained, there are some things that occur that never do get explained. Perhaps, though, not everything needs an explanation...
The story is very well written, with engaging characters that draw you into the story. Burke's mysterious nature is eventually revealed, and we do get to learn fully who he is and why he does what he does. He definitely hides some surprises for the readers to learn! Garry Logan is an interesting character as well - a detective sergeant with the Beverly Hills police department. He is an unlikely love interest for Lisa, and his gruff nature and not-quite handsome appearance leaves one questioning what Lisa sees in him; but I give props to the author for stepping outside the norm of the typical strong, good-looking heroes for a love interest. And the final revelations regarding the ghost of Tomas, the nurse helping Aunt Margo, and the supernatural forces at work are definitely worth the build up - they make for a great payoff to the story and provide a very satisfying conclusion. Which is good, considering the conclusion to this book is also the conclusion to the series!
And speaking of that author. Yes, Annie Laurie McMurdie turns out to be another pseudonym (the more gothics I read, the more I realize few authors allowed their real names to be attached to these gothic books). McMurdie was actually a male author (surprise, surprise - not!) by the name of Bruce Cassiday. Cassiday (1920 - 2005) who worked with a number of pulp magazines back in the day. He wrote under a number of pseudonyms (Carson Bingham, Robert Faraday, C.K. Fong, Con Seffanson, and others) and wrote books in several genres. He wrote time traveling stories for young adult readers, Flash Gordon stories for sci-fi fans, and even two Kung Fu novels. In the gothic realm, he wrote The Diabolist under the pen name Mary Anne Drew, as well as Queen of the Looking Glass, a psychic gothic novel, under the pen name Annie Laurie McAllister (funny how similar that name is to the author of this book - wonder why he didn't just use the same pen name for both, particularly since both books have psychic protagonists?).
This book is a definite must-read for fans of the gothic genre, particularly for those that love a good mix of psychic, supernatural, and gothic suspense. I'm definitely going to hunt down Cassiday's other two gothic novels.
RATING: 10 cups of drugged tea out of 10 for a truly great work of gothic fiction with the added psychic twist!
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