The chills creep up on you!, 07 Jan 2009
This is the second book by Hill that I have read and out of the two, this is definitely my favourite.
THE WOMAN IN BLACK is what I would class as a classic ghost story - there is a large house at the centre of the story along with a family touched by tragedy. This is the sort of ghost story that unsettles you because it leaves you wondering - is there something after death? Are there times when a person's soul does not pass onto whatever is next?
The atmosphere builds quite gardually as Arthur, the narrator of the story, slowly tells you his experience with the woman in black and the history of Eel Marsh House.
Brilliant for these dark winter nights when fog is wrapping itself around your house, THE WOMAN IN BLACK is a good read that will slowly but surely take hold of you.

The Woman in Black, 19 Aug 2008
I was introduced to The Woman in Black by my mother who took me for a birthday treat to see the long running west end show. I was hooked. For anyone who is thinking of seeing a truly memorable play in London, this is the one. It is done with the bare minimum of props and set design, so allowing your imagination to completely take over, which it does. It is completely spine-chilling and unforgettable. Go and see it!

a real chiller, 15 Aug 2008
I have read many ghost stories over the years, but this is the one that literally makes the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. Although it was most chilling the first time I read it, I keep re-reading it from tme to time and it loses little of its power. I have banned my children from reading the book alone or watching the TV adaptation until they are 18. My wife and I were terrified out of our wits by it when it was shown on Christmas Eve and we had to keep the light on all night! The book is so much better than the adaptation, I must say , and it is extremely well written - some other modern ghost writers (eg James Herbert) just do not not match up.

So scary, what a great story!, 12 May 2008

If you like ghost stories then this is for you! This was recommended to me by my librarian and it was sooo good. I read it, my girlfriend read it and then we went to see the play in the west end and that was brilliant too.

It has all the ingredients of a great ghost story, suspense, murder, fog, a lonely house, a mystery and a great finale at the end. I cant say too much here without giving away too much, but I really enjoyed it.

Read this book!!!

AMAZING GHOST STORY, 15 Apr 2008
This book is truly thrilling. It is both frightening and moving and is a great read for anyone who either likes ghost stories in general or anyone who is studying the Victorians. The book has been made into a play in the West end and I would highly recommend it - read the book first though.

The chills creep up on you!, 07 Jan 2009
This is the second book by Hill that I have read and out of the two, this is definitely my favourite.
THE WOMAN IN BLACK is what I would class as a classic ghost story - there is a large house at the centre of the story along with a family touched by tragedy. This is the sort of ghost story that unsettles you because it leaves you wondering - is there something after death? Are there times when a person's soul does not pass onto whatever is next?
The atmosphere builds quite gardually as Arthur, the narrator of the story, slowly tells you his experience with the woman in black and the history of Eel Marsh House.
Brilliant for these dark winter nights when fog is wrapping itself around your house, THE WOMAN IN BLACK is a good read that will slowly but surely take hold of you.

The Woman in Black, 19 Aug 2008
I was introduced to The Woman in Black by my mother who took me for a birthday treat to see the long running west end show. I was hooked. For anyone who is thinking of seeing a truly memorable play in London, this is the one. It is done with the bare minimum of props and set design, so allowing your imagination to completely take over, which it does. It is completely spine-chilling and unforgettable. Go and see it!

a real chiller, 15 Aug 2008
I have read many ghost stories over the years, but this is the one that literally makes the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. Although it was most chilling the first time I read it, I keep re-reading it from tme to time and it loses little of its power. I have banned my children from reading the book alone or watching the TV adaptation until they are 18. My wife and I were terrified out of our wits by it when it was shown on Christmas Eve and we had to keep the light on all night! The book is so much better than the adaptation, I must say , and it is extremely well written - some other modern ghost writers (eg James Herbert) just do not not match up.

So scary, what a great story!, 12 May 2008

If you like ghost stories then this is for you! This was recommended to me by my librarian and it was sooo good. I read it, my girlfriend read it and then we went to see the play in the west end and that was brilliant too.

It has all the ingredients of a great ghost story, suspense, murder, fog, a lonely house, a mystery and a great finale at the end. I cant say too much here without giving away too much, but I really enjoyed it.

Read this book!!!

AMAZING GHOST STORY, 15 Apr 2008
This book is truly thrilling. It is both frightening and moving and is a great read for anyone who either likes ghost stories in general or anyone who is studying the Victorians. The book has been made into a play in the West end and I would highly recommend it - read the book first though.

The Man in the Picture, 06 Jan 2009
An enjoyable novella, marred by occasionally clumsy prose. It reads a little too much like a first draft. The plot is good but there are instances such as the revelation that Oliver has a girlfriend who he intends to marry. She is important to the plot but the fact that she is only mentioned as we get to the final chapters makes her feel tacked on. I also found it difficult to work out when the book was set. It feels very old-fashioned which I have no problem with but the mention of a mobile phone near the end feels out of place. Not as good as her other ghost stories.

A terrifically chilling mystery, 31 Dec 2008
The "Man in the Picture" is a novella that concerns a Cambridge student who visits his professor and old friend at the university. In the course of the meeting, the two discuss a painting of a Venetian ball the old man bought many years ago, the terrible secrets it keeps and the inevitable consequences for those who discover who is the man in the picture...

A clever ghost story, "The Man in the Picture" may be short, but Susan Hill, having already shown her expertise in the format with "The Woman in Black" and "The Mist in the Mirror," delivers a finely-tuned, masterfully constructed supernatural mystery. A sense of dread permeates every page and the unrelenting pace will leave you breathless right up until the horribly disquieting finale. Hill reaffirms her position as a peerless exponent of a neglected genre with this elegant masterpiece.

Excellent and highly recommended.

No shivers up this spine, 25 Dec 2008
Not having read any other books by Hill, I cannot comment upon how THE MAN IN THE PICTURE stands up against her other works. I came to the book hoping for a chilling ghost story; something I always look out for at this time of year. But, like many others on Amazon, I have come away from it more disappointed than chilled to the bone.
The book has at its heart the story of a woman scorned, looking for revenge, and a Venetian painting which seems to have a remarkable power to help her in her search.
I appreciate that the genre of ghost stories is perhaps one of the most challenging for a writer to get right. Atmosphere has to be built up, and in this instance, Hil had to try and create a story which, although supernatural, had to have a feel of the possible to it. Overall, Hill has managed to succeed at this. However, I did not find it as chilling as the reviews suggest - there were no shivers up my spine and I could easily read it before bed without the threat of nightmares keeping me up! Perhaps though, this disappointment on my behalf is due to not being used to her writing style - perhaps the sense of dread she creates is more subtle than that. While I may have been let down by this particular book, I shall probably look out for her other book, THE WOMAN IN BLACK, to see how they compare.

I've been more scared getting lost in lakeside, 10 Oct 2008
I was very disappointed with this book, it started off really well but just seemed to evaporate into nothing, the story was ok but nothing was really explained and it wasn't scary either! the story wasn't in anyway spine tingling, infact it feel flat on it's face, very disappointing and even more so for the fact that it's a very thin paperback (I read it in a day) and it cost me £6.99 !!! not worth it at all !!!

Great start but then..., 02 Sep 2008
Not as good as the "Woman in Black". It starts (very) well but the plot loses direction at the middle and the becomes downright silly in the end. A good ghost story requires suspension of disbelief. It is an indictement of the plot that the disbelief occurs at the final actions of the protagonists rather than the manifestation of the supernatural.

The chills creep up on you!, 07 Jan 2009
This is the second book by Hill that I have read and out of the two, this is definitely my favourite.
THE WOMAN IN BLACK is what I would class as a classic ghost story - there is a large house at the centre of the story along with a family touched by tragedy. This is the sort of ghost story that unsettles you because it leaves you wondering - is there something after death? Are there times when a person's soul does not pass onto whatever is next?
The atmosphere builds quite gardually as Arthur, the narrator of the story, slowly tells you his experience with the woman in black and the history of Eel Marsh House.
Brilliant for these dark winter nights when fog is wrapping itself around your house, THE WOMAN IN BLACK is a good read that will slowly but surely take hold of you.

The Woman in Black, 19 Aug 2008
I was introduced to The Woman in Black by my mother who took me for a birthday treat to see the long running west end show. I was hooked. For anyone who is thinking of seeing a truly memorable play in London, this is the one. It is done with the bare minimum of props and set design, so allowing your imagination to completely take over, which it does. It is completely spine-chilling and unforgettable. Go and see it!

a real chiller, 15 Aug 2008
I have read many ghost stories over the years, but this is the one that literally makes the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. Although it was most chilling the first time I read it, I keep re-reading it from tme to time and it loses little of its power. I have banned my children from reading the book alone or watching the TV adaptation until they are 18. My wife and I were terrified out of our wits by it when it was shown on Christmas Eve and we had to keep the light on all night! The book is so much better than the adaptation, I must say , and it is extremely well written - some other modern ghost writers (eg James Herbert) just do not not match up.

So scary, what a great story!, 12 May 2008

If you like ghost stories then this is for you! This was recommended to me by my librarian and it was sooo good. I read it, my girlfriend read it and then we went to see the play in the west end and that was brilliant too.

It has all the ingredients of a great ghost story, suspense, murder, fog, a lonely house, a mystery and a great finale at the end. I cant say too much here without giving away too much, but I really enjoyed it.

Read this book!!!

AMAZING GHOST STORY, 15 Apr 2008
This book is truly thrilling. It is both frightening and moving and is a great read for anyone who either likes ghost stories in general or anyone who is studying the Victorians. The book has been made into a play in the West end and I would highly recommend it - read the book first though.

The Man in the Picture, 06 Jan 2009
An enjoyable novella, marred by occasionally clumsy prose. It reads a little too much like a first draft. The plot is good but there are instances such as the revelation that Oliver has a girlfriend who he intends to marry. She is important to the plot but the fact that she is only mentioned as we get to the final chapters makes her feel tacked on. I also found it difficult to work out when the book was set. It feels very old-fashioned which I have no problem with but the mention of a mobile phone near the end feels out of place. Not as good as her other ghost stories.

A terrifically chilling mystery, 31 Dec 2008
The "Man in the Picture" is a novella that concerns a Cambridge student who visits his professor and old friend at the university. In the course of the meeting, the two discuss a painting of a Venetian ball the old man bought many years ago, the terrible secrets it keeps and the inevitable consequences for those who discover who is the man in the picture...

A clever ghost story, "The Man in the Picture" may be short, but Susan Hill, having already shown her expertise in the format with "The Woman in Black" and "The Mist in the Mirror," delivers a finely-tuned, masterfully constructed supernatural mystery. A sense of dread permeates every page and the unrelenting pace will leave you breathless right up until the horribly disquieting finale. Hill reaffirms her position as a peerless exponent of a neglected genre with this elegant masterpiece.

Excellent and highly recommended.

No shivers up this spine, 25 Dec 2008
Not having read any other books by Hill, I cannot comment upon how THE MAN IN THE PICTURE stands up against her other works. I came to the book hoping for a chilling ghost story; something I always look out for at this time of year. But, like many others on Amazon, I have come away from it more disappointed than chilled to the bone.
The book has at its heart the story of a woman scorned, looking for revenge, and a Venetian painting which seems to have a remarkable power to help her in her search.
I appreciate that the genre of ghost stories is perhaps one of the most challenging for a writer to get right. Atmosphere has to be built up, and in this instance, Hil had to try and create a story which, although supernatural, had to have a feel of the possible to it. Overall, Hill has managed to succeed at this. However, I did not find it as chilling as the reviews suggest - there were no shivers up my spine and I could easily read it before bed without the threat of nightmares keeping me up! Perhaps though, this disappointment on my behalf is due to not being used to her writing style - perhaps the sense of dread she creates is more subtle than that. While I may have been let down by this particular book, I shall probably look out for her other book, THE WOMAN IN BLACK, to see how they compare.

I've been more scared getting lost in lakeside, 10 Oct 2008
I was very disappointed with this book, it started off really well but just seemed to evaporate into nothing, the story was ok but nothing was really explained and it wasn't scary either! the story wasn't in anyway spine tingling, infact it feel flat on it's face, very disappointing and even more so for the fact that it's a very thin paperback (I read it in a day) and it cost me £6.99 !!! not worth it at all !!!

Great start but then..., 02 Sep 2008
Not as good as the "Woman in Black". It starts (very) well but the plot loses direction at the middle and the becomes downright silly in the end. A good ghost story requires suspension of disbelief. It is an indictement of the plot that the disbelief occurs at the final actions of the protagonists rather than the manifestation of the supernatural.



Beautifully atmospheric writing, 26 Nov 2007
This short story is beautifully written and atmospheric. The descriptions of the marsh and isolated island in all weathers are wonderful and the characterisations are excellent. My one criticism would be that it wasn't heartstoppingly chilling as advertised on the cover.

Arthur Kipps is a young lawyer dispatched to attend the funeral of reclusive Alice Drablow. While visiting the isolated Eel Marsh House he is to put Mrs Drablow's affairs in order and then return to London.
What appears to be a routine task turns out to be anything but; with repercussions that will affect the rest of his life.
The villagers refuse to be drawn on the subject of Eel Marsh House or the mysterious woman dressed in black whom he first sees in the churchyard at the time of the funeral. When Arthur visits the isolated house scary events become more frequent and he begins to unravel the mystery of the Woman in Black.

I enjoyed this book more for the descriptions than the story itself.
I have seen it performed on stage, where it was much more spooky and enveloping.

The chills creep up on you!, 07 Jan 2009
This is the second book by Hill that I have read and out of the two, this is definitely my favourite.
THE WOMAN IN BLACK is what I would class as a classic ghost story - there is a large house at the centre of the story along with a family touched by tragedy. This is the sort of ghost story that unsettles you because it leaves you wondering - is there something after death? Are there times when a person's soul does not pass onto whatever is next?
The atmosphere builds quite gardually as Arthur, the narrator of the story, slowly tells you his experience with the woman in black and the history of Eel Marsh House.
Brilliant for these dark winter nights when fog is wrapping itself around your house, THE WOMAN IN BLACK is a good read that will slowly but surely take hold of you.

The Woman in Black, 19 Aug 2008
I was introduced to The Woman in Black by my mother who took me for a birthday treat to see the long running west end show. I was hooked. For anyone who is thinking of seeing a truly memorable play in London, this is the one. It is done with the bare minimum of props and set design, so allowing your imagination to completely take over, which it does. It is completely spine-chilling and unforgettable. Go and see it!

a real chiller, 15 Aug 2008
I have read many ghost stories over the years, but this is the one that literally makes the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. Although it was most chilling the first time I read it, I keep re-reading it from tme to time and it loses little of its power. I have banned my children from reading the book alone or watching the TV adaptation until they are 18. My wife and I were terrified out of our wits by it when it was shown on Christmas Eve and we had to keep the light on all night! The book is so much better than the adaptation, I must say , and it is extremely well written - some other modern ghost writers (eg James Herbert) just do not not match up.

So scary, what a great story!, 12 May 2008

If you like ghost stories then this is for you! This was recommended to me by my librarian and it was sooo good. I read it, my girlfriend read it and then we went to see the play in the west end and that was brilliant too.

It has all the ingredients of a great ghost story, suspense, murder, fog, a lonely house, a mystery and a great finale at the end. I cant say too much here without giving away too much, but I really enjoyed it.

Read this book!!!

AMAZING GHOST STORY, 15 Apr 2008
This book is truly thrilling. It is both frightening and moving and is a great read for anyone who either likes ghost stories in general or anyone who is studying the Victorians. The book has been made into a play in the West end and I would highly recommend it - read the book first though.

The Man in the Picture, 06 Jan 2009
An enjoyable novella, marred by occasionally clumsy prose. It reads a little too much like a first draft. The plot is good but there are instances such as the revelation that Oliver has a girlfriend who he intends to marry. She is important to the plot but the fact that she is only mentioned as we get to the final chapters makes her feel tacked on. I also found it difficult to work out when the book was set. It feels very old-fashioned which I have no problem with but the mention of a mobile phone near the end feels out of place. Not as good as her other ghost stories.

A terrifically chilling mystery, 31 Dec 2008
The "Man in the Picture" is a novella that concerns a Cambridge student who visits his professor and old friend at the university. In the course of the meeting, the two discuss a painting of a Venetian ball the old man bought many years ago, the terrible secrets it keeps and the inevitable consequences for those who discover who is the man in the picture...

A clever ghost story, "The Man in the Picture" may be short, but Susan Hill, having already shown her expertise in the format with "The Woman in Black" and "The Mist in the Mirror," delivers a finely-tuned, masterfully constructed supernatural mystery. A sense of dread permeates every page and the unrelenting pace will leave you breathless right up until the horribly disquieting finale. Hill reaffirms her position as a peerless exponent of a neglected genre with this elegant masterpiece.

Excellent and highly recommended.

No shivers up this spine, 25 Dec 2008
Not having read any other books by Hill, I cannot comment upon how THE MAN IN THE PICTURE stands up against her other works. I came to the book hoping for a chilling ghost story; something I always look out for at this time of year. But, like many others on Amazon, I have come away from it more disappointed than chilled to the bone.
The book has at its heart the story of a woman scorned, looking for revenge, and a Venetian painting which seems to have a remarkable power to help her in her search.
I appreciate that the genre of ghost stories is perhaps one of the most challenging for a writer to get right. Atmosphere has to be built up, and in this instance, Hil had to try and create a story which, although supernatural, had to have a feel of the possible to it. Overall, Hill has managed to succeed at this. However, I did not find it as chilling as the reviews suggest - there were no shivers up my spine and I could easily read it before bed without the threat of nightmares keeping me up! Perhaps though, this disappointment on my behalf is due to not being used to her writing style - perhaps the sense of dread she creates is more subtle than that. While I may have been let down by this particular book, I shall probably look out for her other book, THE WOMAN IN BLACK, to see how they compare.

I've been more scared getting lost in lakeside, 10 Oct 2008
I was very disappointed with this book, it started off really well but just seemed to evaporate into nothing, the story was ok but nothing was really explained and it wasn't scary either! the story wasn't in anyway spine tingling, infact it feel flat on it's face, very disappointing and even more so for the fact that it's a very thin paperback (I read it in a day) and it cost me £6.99 !!! not worth it at all !!!

Great start but then..., 02 Sep 2008
Not as good as the "Woman in Black". It starts (very) well but the plot loses direction at the middle and the becomes downright silly in the end. A good ghost story requires suspension of disbelief. It is an indictement of the plot that the disbelief occurs at the final actions of the protagonists rather than the manifestation of the supernatural.



Beautifully atmospheric writing, 26 Nov 2007
This short story is beautifully written and atmospheric. The descriptions of the marsh and isolated island in all weathers are wonderful and the characterisations are excellent. My one criticism would be that it wasn't heartstoppingly chilling as advertised on the cover.

Arthur Kipps is a young lawyer dispatched to attend the funeral of reclusive Alice Drablow. While visiting the isolated Eel Marsh House he is to put Mrs Drablow's affairs in order and then return to London.
What appears to be a routine task turns out to be anything but; with repercussions that will affect the rest of his life.
The villagers refuse to be drawn on the subject of Eel Marsh House or the mysterious woman dressed in black whom he first sees in the churchyard at the time of the funeral. When Arthur visits the isolated house scary events become more frequent and he begins to unravel the mystery of the Woman in Black.

I enjoyed this book more for the descriptions than the story itself.
I have seen it performed on stage, where it was much more spooky and enveloping.


More of an adult read, 07 Dec 2008
a good book but with some things in it more of an adult read. If you like the modern fantasy type of read this is for you a good change from her Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series

Kiss of Shadows, 06 Nov 2008
Kiss of Shadows is the first book in an amazing series, this is the opening book, and one that you cant put down. this is where merry starts her journey. Shes a PA, then is attacked and taken back to the uncellie court. where her aunt gives her the wager, past the death attemps by cel she makes it to fight another day! But can she become the Queen?

fairy porn, 24 Jun 2006
My Nan bought me this book, believing it to be a story about happy, helpful little fairies flitting from flower to flower - oh, how wrong she was! On reading the blurb, I realised her mistake but thought I might as well read it even though it isn't the type of book I would usually go for. And to tell you the truth, it isn't that bad. Yes, the characters are a bit two-dimensional and the sex scenes slightly excessive and just plain baffling at times but, despite all that, i found myself unable to put this book down. In fact, I have even bought the other two books in the series and eagerly await the next installment. Why? I honestly couldn't tell you. The writing does occasionally suck ("my skin glowed like i'd swallowed the moon" is included countless times) but the imaginary world that Hamilton has created is vast and intriguing and somehow leaves you wanting more. So I guess I'm recommending this book...sort of...

Awful, 29 Jan 2006
Absolutely dire. A trashy romance thing pretending to be an actual story. Should have guessed from the cover, I suppose, but I've enjoyed the author's other work. Shame because the first couple of chapters actually sounded like there was going to be a decent plot to the book but it quickly degenerated into soft porn with cookie-cutter characters who had all the individual personality of a piece of cardboard that had a face painted on it. I only got the damned thing because Smiths didn't have the eighth Anita Blake novel in and I pray to any listening deity that this isn't the direction the later books in that series took. It's a distinct and disturbing possibility because the main character has more than a little in common with Anita in both personality and appearance. Distinct lack of imagination there really.

Painful "Kiss", 29 Dec 2005
Laurell K. Hamilton branches out from her bestselling Anita Blake novels with a new, fae-oriented series. She really shouldn't have bothered. While "Kiss of Shadows" starts off dark and intriguing, the plot rapidly degenerates into a NC-17 fantasy without much more than sweaty gyrations to recommend it.

Part-mortal Princess Meredith NicEssus -- undercover as Merry Gentry -- is a P.I. in Los Angeles, which apparently is swarming with fey and fey-wannabes. Keeping her identity a secret is vital, since she knows the dangers that would follow being uncovered. But while investigating a supernatural date-raper (and falling prey to him) Merry's identity leaks out.

Before you can say "bonk 'em all," she is given an ultimatum by her aunt, the queen of the Unseelie Court: she and her evil cousin Cel are both going to try to have a baby. The one who succeeds will be the next ruler -- the other is toast. Merry is assigned a harem of fae men, all of whom want her as much as she wants them. Physically, anyway.

Here's a warning: "Kiss of Shadows" has a lot of sex. A LOT of sex. A sufficient amount that, among other things, Merry hops in the happy sack with any guy lucky enough to meet her. Oh, and she has a male harem. Sound like an adult movie? Well, it pretty much is -- lots of excuses to have sex, including an enjoyable rape (did a woman really write this book?) and Merry nearly being molested by the entire L.A.P.D. And that's before it gets REALLY raunchy.

For anyone hoping for more than soft-porn, the book is lacking. It starts off strong, with a battered woman and a magical want ad, and Merry going undercover to lure out the magic-sucking guy involved. But once she bonks her selkie boyfriend, the plot goes down the tubes. What is worse, the sex obscures the mysterious cultures and subcultures of the fey and sidhe -- Hamilton hints at interesting cultures, rituals and different races, but seems to lose interest in the idea.

Without a developed backdrop, the actual plot feels rushed and half-finished. Hamilton also could use a better editor, since her writing quickly becomes repetitive -- lots of hair, unusual eye color, strange powers. All the men are madly attractive, chiseled, and devoid of any individual personality. All the women are beautiful, usually dainty.

Merry isn't terribly interesting -- she starts off as a moderately entertaining P.I. with a barbed sense of humor. Then it just sort of fades away. Queen Andais is also moderately interesting, as the villain of the piece. Merry's harem guys have paint-by-numbers personalities, and after the initial introductions they just become a heap of interchangeable sexy bodies.

Buried somewhere in "Kiss of Shadows" is a really good novella, but it's choked by a poorly thought-out soft-porn movie. Hamilton had the right idea, but the execution is a painful "Kiss."

The chills creep up on you!, 07 Jan 2009
This is the second book by Hill that I have read and out of the two, this is definitely my favourite.
THE WOMAN IN BLACK is what I would class as a classic ghost story - there is a large house at the centre of the story along with a family touched by tragedy. This is the sort of ghost story that unsettles you because it leaves you wondering - is there something after death? Are there times when a person's soul does not pass onto whatever is next?
The atmosphere builds quite gardually as Arthur, the narrator of the story, slowly tells you his experience with the woman in black and the history of Eel Marsh House.
Brilliant for these dark winter nights when fog is wrapping itself around your house, THE WOMAN IN BLACK is a good read that will slowly but surely take hold of you.

The Woman in Black, 19 Aug 2008
I was introduced to The Woman in Black by my mother who took me for a birthday treat to see the long running west end show. I was hooked. For anyone who is thinking of seeing a truly memorable play in London, this is the one. It is done with the bare minimum of props and set design, so allowing your imagination to completely take over, which it does. It is completely spine-chilling and unforgettable. Go and see it!

a real chiller, 15 Aug 2008
I have read many ghost stories over the years, but this is the one that literally makes the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. Although it was most chilling the first time I read it, I keep re-reading it from tme to time and it loses little of its power. I have banned my children from reading the book alone or watching the TV adaptation until they are 18. My wife and I were terrified out of our wits by it when it was shown on Christmas Eve and we had to keep the light on all night! The book is so much better than the adaptation, I must say , and it is extremely well written - some other modern ghost writers (eg James Herbert) just do not not match up.

So scary, what a great story!, 12 May 2008

If you like ghost stories then this is for you! This was recommended to me by my librarian and it was sooo good. I read it, my girlfriend read it and then we went to see the play in the west end and that was brilliant too.

It has all the ingredients of a great ghost story, suspense, murder, fog, a lonely house, a mystery and a great finale at the end. I cant say too much here without giving away too much, but I really enjoyed it.

Read this book!!!

AMAZING GHOST STORY, 15 Apr 2008
This book is truly thrilling. It is both frightening and moving and is a great read for anyone who either likes ghost stories in general or anyone who is studying the Victorians. The book has been made into a play in the West end and I would highly recommend it - read the book first though.

The Man in the Picture, 06 Jan 2009
An enjoyable novella, marred by occasionally clumsy prose. It reads a little too much like a first draft. The plot is good but there are instances such as the revelation that Oliver has a girlfriend who he intends to marry. She is important to the plot but the fact that she is only mentioned as we get to the final chapters makes her feel tacked on. I also found it difficult to work out when the book was set. It feels very old-fashioned which I have no problem with but the mention of a mobile phone near the end feels out of place. Not as good as her other ghost stories.

A terrifically chilling mystery, 31 Dec 2008
The "Man in the Picture" is a novella that concerns a Cambridge student who visits his professor and old friend at the university. In the course of the meeting, the two discuss a painting of a Venetian ball the old man bought many years ago, the terrible secrets it keeps and the inevitable consequences for those who discover who is the man in the picture...

A clever ghost story, "The Man in the Picture" may be short, but Susan Hill, having already shown her expertise in the format with "The Woman in Black" and "The Mist in the Mirror," delivers a finely-tuned, masterfully constructed supernatural mystery. A sense of dread permeates every page and the unrelenting pace will leave you breathless right up until the horribly disquieting finale. Hill reaffirms her position as a peerless exponent of a neglected genre with this elegant masterpiece.

Excellent and highly recommended.

No shivers up this spine, 25 Dec 2008
Not having read any other books by Hill, I cannot comment upon how THE MAN IN THE PICTURE stands up against her other works. I came to the book hoping for a chilling ghost story; something I always look out for at this time of year. But, like many others on Amazon, I have come away from it more disappointed than chilled to the bone.
The book has at its heart the story of a woman scorned, looking for revenge, and a Venetian painting which seems to have a remarkable power to help her in her search.
I appreciate that the genre of ghost stories is perhaps one of the most challenging for a writer to get right. Atmosphere has to be built up, and in this instance, Hil had to try and create a story which, although supernatural, had to have a feel of the possible to it. Overall, Hill has managed to succeed at this. However, I did not find it as chilling as the reviews suggest - there were no shivers up my spine and I could easily read it before bed without the threat of nightmares keeping me up! Perhaps though, this disappointment on my behalf is due to not being used to her writing style - perhaps the sense of dread she creates is more subtle than that. While I may have been let down by this particular book, I shall probably look out for her other book, THE WOMAN IN BLACK, to see how they compare.

I've been more scared getting lost in lakeside, 10 Oct 2008
I was very disappointed with this book, it started off really well but just seemed to evaporate into nothing, the story was ok but nothing was really explained and it wasn't scary either! the story wasn't in anyway spine tingling, infact it feel flat on it's face, very disappointing and even more so for the fact that it's a very thin paperback (I read it in a day) and it cost me £6.99 !!! not worth it at all !!!

Great start but then..., 02 Sep 2008
Not as good as the "Woman in Black". It starts (very) well but the plot loses direction at the middle and the becomes downright silly in the end. A good ghost story requires suspension of disbelief. It is an indictement of the plot that the disbelief occurs at the final actions of the protagonists rather than the manifestation of the supernatural.



Beautifully atmospheric writing, 26 Nov 2007
This short story is beautifully written and atmospheric. The descriptions of the marsh and isolated island in all weathers are wonderful and the characterisations are excellent. My one criticism would be that it wasn't heartstoppingly chilling as advertised on the cover.

Arthur Kipps is a young lawyer dispatched to attend the funeral of reclusive Alice Drablow. While visiting the isolated Eel Marsh House he is to put Mrs Drablow's affairs in order and then return to London.
What appears to be a routine task turns out to be anything but; with repercussions that will affect the rest of his life.
The villagers refuse to be drawn on the subject of Eel Marsh House or the mysterious woman dressed in black whom he first sees in the churchyard at the time of the funeral. When Arthur visits the isolated house scary events become more frequent and he begins to unravel the mystery of the Woman in Black.

I enjoyed this book more for the descriptions than the story itself.
I have seen it performed on stage, where it was much more spooky and enveloping.


More of an adult read, 07 Dec 2008
a good book but with some things in it more of an adult read. If you like the modern fantasy type of read this is for you a good change from her Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series

Kiss of Shadows, 06 Nov 2008
Kiss of Shadows is the first book in an amazing series, this is the opening book, and one that you cant put down. this is where merry starts her journey. Shes a PA, then is attacked and taken back to the uncellie court. where her aunt gives her the wager, past the death attemps by cel she makes it to fight another day! But can she become the Queen?

fairy porn, 24 Jun 2006
My Nan bought me this book, believing it to be a story about happy, helpful little fairies flitting from flower to flower - oh, how wrong she was! On reading the blurb, I realised her mistake but thought I might as well read it even though it isn't the type of book I would usually go for. And to tell you the truth, it isn't that bad. Yes, the characters are a bit two-dimensional and the sex scenes slightly excessive and just plain baffling at times but, despite all that, i found myself unable to put this book down. In fact, I have even bought the other two books in the series and eagerly await the next installment. Why? I honestly couldn't tell you. The writing does occasionally suck ("my skin glowed like i'd swallowed the moon" is included countless times) but the imaginary world that Hamilton has created is vast and intriguing and somehow leaves you wanting more. So I guess I'm recommending this book...sort of...

Awful, 29 Jan 2006
Absolutely dire. A trashy romance thing pretending to be an actual story. Should have guessed from the cover, I suppose, but I've enjoyed the author's other work. Shame because the first couple of chapters actually sounded like there was going to be a decent plot to the book but it quickly degenerated into soft porn with cookie-cutter characters who had all the individual personality of a piece of cardboard that had a face painted on it. I only got the damned thing because Smiths didn't have the eighth Anita Blake novel in and I pray to any listening deity that this isn't the direction the later books in that series took. It's a distinct and disturbing possibility because the main character has more than a little in common with Anita in both personality and appearance. Distinct lack of imagination there really.

Painful "Kiss", 29 Dec 2005
Laurell K. Hamilton branches out from her bestselling Anita Blake novels with a new, fae-oriented series. She really shouldn't have bothered. While "Kiss of Shadows" starts off dark and intriguing, the plot rapidly degenerates into a NC-17 fantasy without much more than sweaty gyrations to recommend it.

Part-mortal Princess Meredith NicEssus -- undercover as Merry Gentry -- is a P.I. in Los Angeles, which apparently is swarming with fey and fey-wannabes. Keeping her identity a secret is vital, since she knows the dangers that would follow being uncovered. But while investigating a supernatural date-raper (and falling prey to him) Merry's identity leaks out.

Before you can say "bonk 'em all," she is given an ultimatum by her aunt, the queen of the Unseelie Court: she and her evil cousin Cel are both going to try to have a baby. The one who succeeds will be the next ruler -- the other is toast. Merry is assigned a harem of fae men, all of whom want her as much as she wants them. Physically, anyway.

Here's a warning: "Kiss of Shadows" has a lot of sex. A LOT of sex. A sufficient amount that, among other things, Merry hops in the happy sack with any guy lucky enough to meet her. Oh, and she has a male harem. Sound like an adult movie? Well, it pretty much is -- lots of excuses to have sex, including an enjoyable rape (did a woman really write this book?) and Merry nearly being molested by the entire L.A.P.D. And that's before it gets REALLY raunchy.

For anyone hoping for more than soft-porn, the book is lacking. It starts off strong, with a battered woman and a magical want ad, and Merry going undercover to lure out the magic-sucking guy involved. But once she bonks her selkie boyfriend, the plot goes down the tubes. What is worse, the sex obscures the mysterious cultures and subcultures of the fey and sidhe -- Hamilton hints at interesting cultures, rituals and different races, but seems to lose interest in the idea.

Without a developed backdrop, the actual plot feels rushed and half-finished. Hamilton also could use a better editor, since her writing quickly becomes repetitive -- lots of hair, unusual eye color, strange powers. All the men are madly attractive, chiseled, and devoid of any individual personality. All the women are beautiful, usually dainty.

Merry isn't terribly interesting -- she starts off as a moderately entertaining P.I. with a barbed sense of humor. Then it just sort of fades away. Queen Andais is also moderately interesting, as the villain of the piece. Merry's harem guys have paint-by-numbers personalities, and after the initial introductions they just become a heap of interchangeable sexy bodies.

Buried somewhere in "Kiss of Shadows" is a really good novella, but it's choked by a poorly thought-out soft-porn movie. Hamilton had the right idea, but the execution is a painful "Kiss."

Easy To Like, Hard To Love., 25 Sep 2008
I'm sure I'm not alone in saying that the Susan Hill novel The Woman in Black (and the superlative ITV adaptation) was one of the defining moments in my love affair with the Ghost Story. I can honestly say it stayed with me for years and as any fan of the genre will tell you, that's harder than you might think when you read a good deal of literary ghost stories. So understandably when I came to The Mist in the Mirror the freight of expectation was heavy, and for the most part I wasn't disappointed. Any readers thinking they're in for a similar experience to The Woman in Black however, most definitely will be. Unfortunately The Mist in the Mirror is rather less than the sum of its parts.

I think there are few writers who can conjure that Victorian spirit (no pun intended) Like Susan Hill. Almost immediately you're right in the thick of it; James Monmouth, an Englishman raised in Africa bequeaths a manuscript to an acquaintance at his club. What follows is thoroughly entertaining, well written but not necessarily frightening or ultimately very satisfying.

Obsessed with the travels of the explorer Conrad Vane, Monmouth returns to England after years of tracing the mysterious adventurer's footsteps. Fresh off the boat he begins researching Vane's history and his own, having no memory of his childhood in England. Cue swirling mists, dark rain-soaked cobblestones, unfriendly innkeepers (aren't they always), cries in the night and half seen apparitions at the end of corridors. What keeps this fresh and sets it apart from every other rendering of Victorian London as some kind of pitch black urban hell is that Monmouth sees it as we would, as an awestruck stranger. The narrative voice is easy and confidential, and the language is fairly unadorned which allows the reader to concentrate on the action and there's plenty of it.

The deeper Monmouth delves into the history of his hero Conrad Vane the more he is alarmed by the warnings of the various characters he encounters. Along with the usual suspects (threatening academic, kindly schoolmaster) there's an aristocratic clairvoyant in the mix, awesomely named Viola Quincebridge. Monmouth however is undeterred and continues to meddle with the past. There's something very, very sinister about Vane, could it be somehow connected to the sorrowful ghostly child that stalks Monmouth from London all the way to his dilapidated family estate in the North?

Sounds good? here's the rub. After such a great set up Hill squanders it in the final chapters on a rushed, unsatisfactory climax and an ending so ambiguous I thought I'd missed something. Major elements in the plot are left unresolved, so much so that I found it hard to believe that this is what Hill intended. Did she run out of time? Did she lose interest? like so much else in this book, you'll never know for sure. Of course there's enough of an explanation to cursorily satisfy but some of the most striking and well thought out elements of the novel are swept under the rug in the final sentences, and some, ultimately are utterly ignored.

That said,I did enjoy at least ninety per-cent of this book. If your after an entertaining, thrilling but not terribly scary ghost story and don't mind the fact that this novel won't answer all of the mysteries it sets up so well then go for it. I enjoyed every word of it but it didn't inspire me to read more Susan Hill novels, only to finish writing this one on her behalf.


A terrific and compelling classic ghost story., 04 Nov 2007
For me, this is Susan Hill's best book - and it's a pity it's so often over-shadowed by The Woman in Black. The writing is beautiful and skilful, and the atmosphere evoked is gently chilling in the style of many of the great ghost-story writers - M R James and E F Benson come irresistibly to mind, although Ms Hill has her own plots and characters. It's a book to read and enjoy over and over again, finding new things in it at each reading. Very highly recommended for lovers of the genre.

Another Atmospheric Read from the Hill Stable..., 15 Jul 2007
Susan Hill has achieved another great read to accompany her many other excellent novels. Always a writer who takes in lots of detail to paint the backdrop and build tension here she takes the reader and transplants them into Victorian London with its rain, mists and claustraphobic buildings. The atmosphere is excellent as the tension slowly rises and Sir James Monmouth seeks the answers to his past and present hauntings. Some reviewers seem to have found the climax to have been less than it is and rate it as disappointing. This view is more an reflection of the present age than a flaw with his novel. The writer beautifully uses understatement and suggestion to add to the tension whereas many modern writers/directors leave nothing to suggestion and spoil a plot as a consequence. I found the end to be both fulfilling and climatic. This is typical Hill, and not a cheap horror novel! Therein lies both its quality and strength.

Reservedly Recommended, 09 Feb 2007
On the plus side, Susan Hill has been profoundly influenced by, and has learned a great deal from, the indisputable masters of the genre -- e.g., the incomparable M.R. James -- and has added her own unique voice to the tried-and-true approach to traditional ghost-story telling. She's part of the continuum, and we should all be delighted to have her. I know that I am, and I know that I enjoyed "The Mist in the Mirror". But....

Although a fairly short book, it did manage to drag on occasion. And I was disappointed by the ultimately incomplete and unsatisfactory explanation. I also found the ending gimmicky and, as other readers have commented, strangely anti-climactic.

A decent read, all in all, but not in the same league as her masterpiece, "The Woman in Black".

Highly atmospheric, but ultimately unsatisfying., 27 Dec 2006
Comparison with The Woman in Black is inevitable, and unfortunately The Mist in the Mirror is not quite in the same class.

The reason? Well, to echo most other reviewers, I feel Susan Hill missed a great chance to turn out a fantastic ghost story by copping out on the ending.
For instance, there's Vane standing in the chapel, heralding (so I thought) a terrifying and spine tingling climax, and.......? He's not mentioned again. Too many loose ends generally.
It's almost as if SH got fed up after 180 - odd pages and decided to finish off the story there and then, any which way.

Having slated the ending, I must clarify that the rest of the book is very exciting. Lashings of Victorian atmosphere and some genuinely scary moments. I'm glad I read it and would recommend to others, but with a note of warning over the disappointing ending.

The chills creep up on you!, 07 Jan 2009
This is the second book by Hill that I have read and out of the two, this is definitely my favourite.
THE WOMAN IN BLACK is what I would class as a classic ghost story - there is a large house at the centre of the story along with a family touched by tragedy. This is the sort of ghost story that unsettles you because it leaves you wondering - is there something after death? Are there times when a person's soul does not pass onto whatever is next?
The atmosphere builds quite gardually as Arthur, the narrator of the story, slowly tells you his experience with the woman in black and the history of Eel Marsh House.
Brilliant for these dark winter nights when fog is wrapping itself around your house, THE WOMAN IN BLACK is a good read that will slowly but surely take hold of you.

The Woman in Black, 19 Aug 2008
I was introduced to The Woman in Black by my mother who took me for a birthday treat to see the long running west end show. I was hooked. For anyone who is thinking of seeing a truly memorable play in London, this is the one. It is done with the bare minimum of props and set design, so allowing your imagination to completely take over, which it does. It is completely spine-chilling and unforgettable. Go and see it!

a real chiller, 15 Aug 2008
I have read many ghost stories over the years, but this is the one that literally makes the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. Although it was most chilling the first time I read it, I keep re-reading it from tme to time and it loses little of its power. I have banned my children from reading the book alone or watching the TV adaptation until they are 18. My wife and I were terrified out of our wits by it when it was shown on Christmas Eve and we had to keep the light on all night! The book is so much better than the adaptation, I must say , and it is extremely well written - some other modern ghost writers (eg James Herbert) just do not not match up.

So scary, what a great story!, 12 May 2008

If you like ghost stories then this is for you! This was recommended to me by my librarian and it was sooo good. I read it, my girlfriend read it and then we went to see the play in the west end and that was brilliant too.

It has all the ingredients of a great ghost story, suspense, murder, fog, a lonely house, a mystery and a great finale at the end. I cant say too much here without giving away too much, but I really enjoyed it.

Read this book!!!

AMAZING GHOST STORY, 15 Apr 2008
This book is truly thrilling. It is both frightening and moving and is a great read for anyone who either likes ghost stories in general or anyone who is studying the Victorians. The book has been made into a play in the West end and I would highly recommend it - read the book first though.

The Man in the Picture, 06 Jan 2009
An enjoyable novella, marred by occasionally clumsy prose. It reads a little too much like a first draft. The plot is good but there are instances such as the revelation that Oliver has a girlfriend who he intends to marry. She is important to the plot but the fact that she is only mentioned as we get to the final chapters makes her feel tacked on. I also found it difficult to work out when the book was set. It feels very old-fashioned which I have no problem with but the mention of a mobile phone near the end feels out of place. Not as good as her other ghost stories.

A terrifically chilling mystery, 31 Dec 2008
The "Man in the Picture" is a novella that concerns a Cambridge student who visits his professor and old friend at the university. In the course of the meeting, the two discuss a painting of a Venetian ball the old man bought many years ago, the terrible secrets it keeps and the inevitable consequences for those who discover who is the man in the picture...

A clever ghost story, "The Man in the Picture" may be short, but Susan Hill, having already shown her expertise in the format with "The Woman in Black" and "The Mist in the Mirror," delivers a finely-tuned, masterfully constructed supernatural mystery. A sense of dread permeates every page and the unrelenting pace will leave you breathless right up until the horribly disquieting finale. Hill reaffirms her position as a peerless exponent of a neglected genre with this elegant masterpiece.

Excellent and highly recommended.

No shivers up this spine, 25 Dec 2008
Not having read any other books by Hill, I cannot comment upon how THE MAN IN THE PICTURE stands up against her other works. I came to the book hoping for a chilling ghost story; something I always look out for at this time of year. But, like many others on Amazon, I have come away from it more disappointed than chilled to the bone.
The book has at its heart the story of a woman scorned, looking for revenge, and a Venetian painting which seems to have a remarkable power to help her in her search.
I appreciate that the genre of ghost stories is perhaps one of the most challenging for a writer to get right. Atmosphere has to be built up, and in this instance, Hil had to try and create a story which, although supernatural, had to have a feel of the possible to it. Overall, Hill has managed to succeed at this. However, I did not find it as chilling as the reviews suggest - there were no shivers up my spine and I could easily read it before bed without the threat of nightmares keeping me up! Perhaps though, this disappointment on my behalf is due to not being used to her writing style - perhaps the sense of dread she creates is more subtle than that. While I may have been let down by this particular book, I shall probably look out for her other book, THE WOMAN IN BLACK, to see how they compare.

I've been more scared getting lost in lakeside, 10 Oct 2008
I was very disappointed with this book, it started off really well but just seemed to evaporate into nothing, the story was ok but nothing was really explained and it wasn't scary either! the story wasn't in anyway spine tingling, infact it feel flat on it's face, very disappointing and even more so for the fact that it's a very thin paperback (I read it in a day) and it cost me £6.99 !!! not worth it at all !!!

Great start but then..., 02 Sep 2008
Not as good as the "Woman in Black". It starts (very) well but the plot loses direction at the middle and the becomes downright silly in the end. A good ghost story requires suspension of disbelief. It is an indictement of the plot that the disbelief occurs at the final actions of the protagonists rather than the manifestation of the supernatural.



Beautifully atmospheric writing, 26 Nov 2007
This short story is beautifully written and atmospheric. The descriptions of the marsh and isolated island in all weathers are wonderful and the characterisations are excellent. My one criticism would be that it wasn't heartstoppingly chilling as advertised on the cover.

Arthur Kipps is a young lawyer dispatched to attend the funeral of reclusive Alice Drablow. While visiting the isolated Eel Marsh House he is to put Mrs Drablow's affairs in order and then return to London.
What appears to be a routine task turns out to be anything but; with repercussions that will affect the rest of his life.
The villagers refuse to be drawn on the subject of Eel Marsh House or the mysterious woman dressed in black whom he first sees in the churchyard at the time of the funeral. When Arthur visits the isolated house scary events become more frequent and he begins to unravel the mystery of the Woman in Black.

I enjoyed this book more for the descriptions than the story itself.
I have seen it performed on stage, where it was much more spooky and enveloping.


More of an adult read, 07 Dec 2008
a good book but with some things in it more of an adult read. If you like the modern fantasy type of read this is for you a good change from her Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series

Kiss of Shadows, 06 Nov 2008
Kiss of Shadows is the first book in an amazing series, this is the opening book, and one that you cant put down. this is where merry starts her journey. Shes a PA, then is attacked and taken back to the uncellie court. where her aunt gives her the wager, past the death attemps by cel she makes it to fight another day! But can she become the Queen?

fairy porn, 24 Jun 2006
My Nan bought me this book, believing it to be a story about happy, helpful little fairies flitting from flower to flower - oh, how wrong she was! On reading the blurb, I realised her mistake but thought I might as well read it even though it isn't the type of book I would usually go for. And to tell you the truth, it isn't that bad. Yes, the characters are a bit two-dimensional and the sex scenes slightly excessive and just plain baffling at times but, despite all that, i found myself unable to put this book down. In fact, I have even bought the other two books in the series and eagerly await the next installment. Why? I honestly couldn't tell you. The writing does occasionally suck ("my skin glowed like i'd swallowed the moon" is included countless times) but the imaginary world that Hamilton has created is vast and intriguing and somehow leaves you wanting more. So I guess I'm recommending this book...sort of...

Awful, 29 Jan 2006
Absolutely dire. A trashy romance thing pretending to be an actual story. Should have guessed from the cover, I suppose, but I've enjoyed the author's other work. Shame because the first couple of chapters actually sounded like there was going to be a decent plot to the book but it quickly degenerated into soft porn with cookie-cutter characters who had all the individual personality of a piece of cardboard that had a face painted on it. I only got the damned thing because Smiths didn't have the eighth Anita Blake novel in and I pray to any listening deity that this isn't the direction the later books in that series took. It's a distinct and disturbing possibility because the main character has more than a little in common with Anita in both personality and appearance. Distinct lack of imagination there really.

Painful "Kiss", 29 Dec 2005
Laurell K. Hamilton branches out from her bestselling Anita Blake novels with a new, fae-oriented series. She really shouldn't have bothered. While "Kiss of Shadows" starts off dark and intriguing, the plot rapidly degenerates into a NC-17 fantasy without much more than sweaty gyrations to recommend it.

Part-mortal Princess Meredith NicEssus -- undercover as Merry Gentry -- is a P.I. in Los Angeles, which apparently is swarming with fey and fey-wannabes. Keeping her identity a secret is vital, since she knows the dangers that would follow being uncovered. But while investigating a supernatural date-raper (and falling prey to him) Merry's identity leaks out.

Before you can say "bonk 'em all," she is given an ultimatum by her aunt, the queen of the Unseelie Court: she and her evil cousin Cel are both going to try to have a baby. The one who succeeds will be the next ruler -- the other is toast. Merry is assigned a harem of fae men, all of whom want her as much as she wants them. Physically, anyway.

Here's a warning: "Kiss of Shadows" has a lot of sex. A LOT of sex. A sufficient amount that, among other things, Merry hops in the happy sack with any guy lucky enough to meet her. Oh, and she has a male harem. Sound like an adult movie? Well, it pretty much is -- lots of excuses to have sex, including an enjoyable rape (did a woman really write this book?) and Merry nearly being molested by the entire L.A.P.D. And that's before it gets REALLY raunchy.

For anyone hoping for more than soft-porn, the book is lacking. It starts off strong, with a battered woman and a magical want ad, and Merry going undercover to lure out the magic-sucking guy involved. But once she bonks her selkie boyfriend, the plot goes down the tubes. What is worse, the sex obscures the mysterious cultures and subcultures of the fey and sidhe -- Hamilton hints at interesting cultures, rituals and different races, but seems to lose interest in the idea.

Without a developed backdrop, the actual plot feels rushed and half-finished. Hamilton also could use a better editor, since her writing quickly becomes repetitive -- lots of hair, unusual eye color, strange powers. All the men are madly attractive, chiseled, and devoid of any individual personality. All the women are beautiful, usually dainty.

Merry isn't terribly interesting -- she starts off as a moderately entertaining P.I. with a barbed sense of humor. Then it just sort of fades away. Queen Andais is also moderately interesting, as the villain of the piece. Merry's harem guys have paint-by-numbers personalities, and after the initial introductions they just become a heap of interchangeable sexy bodies.

Buried somewhere in "Kiss of Shadows" is a really good novella, but it's choked by a poorly thought-out soft-porn movie. Hamilton had the right idea, but the execution is a painful "Kiss."

Easy To Like, Hard To Love., 25 Sep 2008
I'm sure I'm not alone in saying that the Susan Hill novel The Woman in Black (and the superlative ITV adaptation) was one of the defining moments in my love affair with the Ghost Story. I can honestly say it stayed with me for years and as any fan of the genre will tell you, that's harder than you might think when you read a good deal of literary ghost stories. So understandably when I came to The Mist in the Mirror the freight of expectation was heavy, and for the most part I wasn't disappointed. Any readers thinking they're in for a similar experience to The Woman in Black however, most definitely will be. Unfortunately The Mist in the Mirror is rather less than the sum of its parts.

I think there are few writers who can conjure that Victorian spirit (no pun intended) Like Susan Hill. Almost immediately you're right in the thick of it; James Monmouth, an Englishman raised in Africa bequeaths a manuscript to an acquaintance at his club. What follows is thoroughly entertaining, well written but not necessarily frightening or ultimately very satisfying.

Obsessed with the travels of the explorer Conrad Vane, Monmouth returns to England after years of tracing the mysterious adventurer's footsteps. Fresh off the boat he begins researching Vane's history and his own, having no memory of his childhood in England. Cue swirling mists, dark rain-soaked cobblestones, unfriendly innkeepers (aren't they always), cries in the night and half seen apparitions at the end of corridors. What keeps this fresh and sets it apart from every other rendering of Victorian London as some kind of pitch black urban hell is that Monmouth sees it as we would, as an awestruck stranger. The narrative voice is easy and confidential, and the language is fairly unadorned which allows the reader to concentrate on the action and there's plenty of it.

The deeper Monmouth delves into the history of his hero Conrad Vane the more he is alarmed by the warnings of the various characters he encounters. Along with the usual suspects (threatening academic, kindly schoolmaster) there's an aristocratic clairvoyant in the mix, awesomely named Viola Quincebridge. Monmouth however is undeterred and continues to meddle with the past. There's something very, very sinister about Vane, could it be somehow connected to the sorrowful ghostly child that stalks Monmouth from London all the way to his dilapidated family estate in the North?

Sounds good? here's the rub. After such a great set up Hill squanders it in the final chapters on a rushed, unsatisfactory climax and an ending so ambiguous I thought I'd missed something. Major elements in the plot are left unresolved, so much so that I found it hard to believe that this is what Hill intended. Did she run out of time? Did she lose interest? like so much else in this book, you'll never know for sure. Of course there's enough of an explanation to cursorily satisfy but some of the most striking and well thought out elements of the novel are swept under the rug in the final sentences, and some, ultimately are utterly ignored.

That said,I did enjoy at least ninety per-cent of this book. If your after an entertaining, thrilling but not terribly scary ghost story and don't mind the fact that this novel won't answer all of the mysteries it sets up so well then go for it. I enjoyed every word of it but it didn't inspire me to read more Susan Hill novels, only to finish writing this one on her behalf.


A terrific and compelling classic ghost story., 04 Nov 2007
For me, this is Susan Hill's best book - and it's a pity it's so often over-shadowed by The Woman in Black. The writing is beautiful and skilful, and the atmosphere evoked is gently chilling in the style of many of the great ghost-story writers - M R James and E F Benson come irresistibly to mind, although Ms Hill has her own plots and characters. It's a book to read and enjoy over and over again, finding new things in it at each reading. Very highly recommended for lovers of the genre.

Another Atmospheric Read from the Hill Stable..., 15 Jul 2007
Susan Hill has achieved another great read to accompany her many other excellent novels. Always a writer who takes in lots of detail to paint the backdrop and build tension here she takes the reader and transplants them into Victorian London with its rain, mists and claustraphobic buildings. The atmosphere is excellent as the tension slowly rises and Sir James Monmouth seeks the answers to his past and present hauntings. Some reviewers seem to have found the climax to have been less than it is and rate it as disappointing. This view is more an reflection of the present age than a flaw with his novel. The writer beautifully uses understatement and suggestion to add to the tension whereas many modern writers/directors leave nothing to suggestion and spoil a plot as a consequence. I found the end to be both fulfilling and climatic. This is typical Hill, and not a cheap horror novel! Therein lies both its quality and strength.

Reservedly Recommended, 09 Feb 2007
On the plus side, Susan Hill has been profoundly influenced by, and has learned a great deal from, the indisputable masters of the genre -- e.g., the incomparable M.R. James -- and has added her own unique voice to the tried-and-true approach to traditional ghost-story telling. She's part of the continuum, and we should all be delighted to have her. I know that I am, and I know that I enjoyed "The Mist in the Mirror". But....

Although a fairly short book, it did manage to drag on occasion. And I was disappointed by the ultimately incomplete and unsatisfactory explanation. I also found the ending gimmicky and, as other readers have commented, strangely anti-climactic.

A decent read, all in all, but not in the same league as her masterpiece, "The Woman in Black".

Highly atmospheric, but ultimately unsatisfying., 27 Dec 2006
Comparison with The Woman in Black is inevitable, and unfortunately The Mist in the Mirror is not quite in the same class.

The reason? Well, to echo most other reviewers, I feel Susan Hill missed a great chance to turn out a fantastic ghost story by copping out on the ending.
For instance, there's Vane standing in the chapel, heralding (so I thought) a terrifying and spine tingling climax, and.......? He's not mentioned again. Too many loose ends generally.
It's almost as if SH got fed up after 180 - odd pages and decided to finish off the story there and then, any which way.

Having slated the ending, I must clarify that the rest of the book is very exciting. Lashings of Victorian atmosphere and some genuinely scary moments. I'm glad I read it and would recommend to others, but with a note of warning over the disappointing ending.

Haunted, 19 Dec 2008
Unoriginal plot, awkward dialogue (there's nothing wrong, James, with using 'he said'/'she said'!) and an almost Point Horror style of writing. The book could have been so much more if Herbert had made it longer, but as it stands it's a real let-down. There are maybe two moments in the book that are genuinely creepy. Borrow from someone; don't spend money on it.

Recommended, 07 Jul 2008
I would recommend this book, just got in to James Herbert and the stories are really captivating, once you start you cant put it down. He does go in to detail a lot which i'm not as fussed on but still want to read more. I would recommend it to everyone.

Ploddy Plotting, 22 Feb 2008
Until now I had not read James Herbert before. Its unlikely that I will read him again. The characters are unconvincing and the style slow and uninteresting. As to the plot I lost the thread due to lack of interest.

Am I missing something..?, 09 Sep 2007
I do not quite understand how this book has been getting such good reviews!? I have enjoyed Herbert's writing in the past but this effort is sub-par at best. There was little empathy with the main character, or the seemingly 'after-thought' secondary characters.

The plot was transparent and the twists were so obvious you would have had a harder time working out the killer from an episode of Columbo! There were only two moments in the book that I actually felt any of the author's previous chilling storytelling abilities; the book does not live up to the title.



A HIGHLY ATMOSPHERIC GHOST STORY..., 29 Jul 2007
This is a spooky, well-written haunted house novel, a gothic ghost story that is a wonderfully atmospheric. The author is Britain's premier writer of horror stories. Having read many of his other books and been thoroughly satisfied, this one is no exception. Those with an interest in haunted house stories will find this one most entertaining and enjoyable.

David Ash, a man with a skeleton in his closet, is a professional investigator of psychic phenomena with a penchant for debunking so-called supernatural occurrences. After receiving an intriguing and pleading letter from a Mrs. Webb about ghostly apparitions at Edbrook, the rural manor home in which she resides, David goes to Edbrook, only to be met by the Mariell clan, consisting of Christina, and her brothers, Robert and Simon. It turns out that Mrs. Webb, in addition to being their aunt, is also their old nanny, whom they all still call Nanny Tess. She is clearly terrified of something that is going on in at Edbrook, and the Mariells all seem to be humoring her.

The Mariell siblings, at first, appear to be somewhat eccentric, but later seem to be more than just a little twisted, as it soon becomes apparent that all is not right in that household. There definitely are things that go bump in the night, and the ghostly apparition of a young girl seems to glide about the house and grounds. Moreover, Nanny Tess always appears to be in a state of acute, though restrained, terror.

As a romance heats up between David and Christina, however, David appears to turn a blind eye to what is going on in the household. Too late, he realizes the nature of the evil within this isolated, rural manor house. In the end, it takes the force of something beyond the grave to save him from an almost unimaginable horror.

Those who enjoy this book will also enjoy the wonderful film of the same name adapted from this book. It is an excellent adaptation with a stellar cast. It stars Aidan Quin as David Ash, Kate Beckinsale as Christina Mariell, Anthony Andrews as Robert Mariell, Alex Lowe as Simon Mariell, and Ann Massey as Nanny Tess. This wonderful haunted house story transitions beautifully to film. It is as spooky as the book.

The chills creep up on you!, 07 Jan 2009
This is the second book by Hill that I have read and out of the two, this is definitely my favourite.
THE WOMAN IN BLACK is what I would class as a classic ghost story - there is a large house at the centre of the story along with a family touched by tragedy. This is the sort of ghost story that unsettles you because it leaves you wondering - is there something after death? Are there times when a person's soul does not pass onto whatever is next?
The atmosphere builds quite gardually as Arthur, the narrator of the story, slowly tells you his experience with the woman in black and the history of Eel Marsh House.
Brilliant for these dark winter nights when fog is wrapping itself around your house, THE WOMAN IN BLACK is a good read that will slowly but surely take hold of you.

The Woman in Black, 19 Aug 2008
I was introduced to The Woman in Black by my mother who took me for a birthday treat to see the long running west end show. I was hooked. For anyone who is thinking of seeing a truly memorable play in London, this is the one. It is done with the bare minimum of props and set design, so allowing your imagination to completely take over, which it does. It is completely spine-chilling and unforgettable. Go and see it!

a real chiller, 15 Aug 2008
I have read many ghost stories over the years, but this is the one that literally makes the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. Although it was most chilling the first time I read it, I keep re-reading it from tme to time and it loses little of its power. I have banned my children from reading the book alone or watching the TV adaptation until they are 18. My wife and I were terrified out of our wits by it when it was shown on Christmas Eve and we had to keep the light on all night! The book is so much better than the adaptation, I must say , and it is extremely well written - some other modern ghost writers (eg James Herbert) just do not not match up.

So scary, what a great story!, 12 May 2008

If you like ghost stories then this is for you! This was recommended to me by my librarian and it was sooo good. I read it, my girlfriend read it and then we went to see the play in the west end and that was brilliant too.

It has all the ingredients of a great ghost story, suspense, murder, fog, a lonely house, a mystery and a great finale at the end. I cant say too much here without giving away too much, but I really enjoyed it.

Read this book!!!

AMAZING GHOST STORY, 15 Apr 2008
This book is truly thrilling. It is both frightening and moving and is a great read for anyone who either likes ghost stories in general or anyone who is studying the Victorians. The book has been made into a play in the West end and I would highly recommend it - read the book first though.

The Man in the Picture, 06 Jan 2009
An enjoyable novella, marred by occasionally clumsy prose. It reads a little too much like a first draft. The plot is good but there are instances such as the revelation that Oliver has a girlfriend who he intends to marry. She is important to the plot but the fact that she is only mentioned as we get to the final chapters makes her feel tacked on. I also found it difficult to work out when the book was set. It feels very old-fashioned which I have no problem with but the mention of a mobile phone near the end feels out of place. Not as good as her other ghost stories.

A terrifically chilling mystery, 31 Dec 2008
The "Man in the Picture" is a novella that concerns a Cambridge student who visits his professor and old friend at the university. In the course of the meeting, the two discuss a painting of a Venetian ball the old man bought many years ago, the terrible secrets it keeps and the inevitable consequences for those who discover who is the man in the picture...

A clever ghost story, "The Man in the Picture" may be short, but Susan Hill, having already shown her expertise in the format with "The Woman in Black" and "The Mist in the Mirror," delivers a finely-tuned, masterfully constructed supernatural mystery. A sense of dread permeates every page and the unrelenting pace will leave you breathless right up until the horribly disquieting finale. Hill reaffirms her position as a peerless exponent of a neglected genre with this elegant masterpiece.

Excellent and highly recommended.

No shivers up this spine, 25 Dec 2008
Not having read any other books by Hill, I cannot comment upon how THE MAN IN THE PICTURE stands up against her other works. I came to the book hoping for a chilling ghost story; something I always look out for at this time of year. But, like many others on Amazon, I have come away from it more disappointed than chilled to the bone.
The book has at its heart the story of a woman scorned, looking for revenge, and a Venetian painting which seems to have a remarkable power to help her in her search.
I appreciate that the genre of ghost stories is perhaps one of the most challenging for a writer to get right. Atmosphere has to be built up, and in this instance, Hil had to try and create a story which, although supernatural, had to have a feel of the possible to it. Overall, Hill has managed to succeed at this. However, I did not find it as chilling as the reviews suggest - there were no shivers up my spine and I could easily read it before bed without the threat of nightmares keeping me up! Perhaps though, this disappointment on my behalf is due to not being used to her writing style - perhaps the sense of dread she creates is more subtle than that. While I may have been let down by this particular book, I shall probably look out for her other book, THE WOMAN IN BLACK, to see how they compare.

I've been more scared getting lost in lakeside, 10 Oct 2008
I was very disappointed with this book, it started off really well but just seemed to evaporate into nothing, the story was ok but nothing was really explained and it wasn't scary either! the story wasn't in anyway spine tingling, infact it feel flat on it's face, very disappointing and even more so for the fact that it's a very thin paperback (I read it in a day) and it cost me £6.99 !!! not worth it at all !!!

Great start but then..., 02 Sep 2008
Not as good as the "Woman in Black". It starts (very) well but the plot loses direction at the middle and the becomes downright silly in the end. A good ghost story requires suspension of disbelief. It is an indictement of the plot that the disbelief occurs at the final actions of the protagonists rather than the manifestation of the supernatural.



Beautifully atmospheric writing, 26 Nov 2007
This short story is beautifully written and atmospheric. The descriptions of the marsh and isolated island in all weathers are wonderful and the characterisations are excellent. My one criticism would be that it wasn't heartstoppingly chilling as advertised on the cover.

Arthur Kipps is a young lawyer dispatched to attend the funeral of reclusive Alice Drablow. While visiting the isolated Eel Marsh House he is to put Mrs Drablow's affairs in order and then return to London.
What appears to be a routine task turns out to be anything but; with repercussions that will affect the rest of his life.
The villagers refuse to be drawn on the subject of Eel Marsh House or the mysterious woman dressed in black whom he first sees in the churchyard at the time of the funeral. When Arthur visits the isolated house scary events become more frequent and he begins to unravel the mystery of the Woman in Black.

I enjoyed this book more for the descriptions than the story itself.
I have seen it performed on stage, where it was much more spooky and enveloping.


More of an adult read, 07 Dec 2008
a good book but with some things in it more of an adult read. If you like the modern fantasy type of read this is for you a good change from her Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series

Kiss of Shadows, 06 Nov 2008
Kiss of Shadows is the first book in an amazing series, this is the opening book, and one that you cant put down. this is where merry starts her journey. Shes a PA, then is attacked and taken back to the uncellie court. where her aunt gives her the wager, past the death attemps by cel she makes it to fight another day! But can she become the Queen?

fairy porn, 24 Jun 2006
My Nan bought me this book, believing it to be a story about happy, helpful little fairies flitting from flower to flower - oh, how wrong she was! On reading the blurb, I realised her mistake but thought I might as well read it even though it isn't the type of book I would usually go for. And to tell you the truth, it isn't that bad. Yes, the characters are a bit two-dimensional and the sex scenes slightly excessive and just plain baffling at times but, despite all that, i found myself unable to put this book down. In fact, I have even bought the other two books in the series and eagerly await the next installment. Why? I honestly couldn't tell you. The writing does occasionally suck ("my skin glowed like i'd swallowed the moon" is included countless times) but the imaginary world that Hamilton has created is vast and intriguing and somehow leaves you wanting more. So I guess I'm recommending this book...sort of...

Awful, 29 Jan 2006
Absolutely dire. A trashy romance thing pretending to be an actual story. Should have guessed from the cover, I suppose, but I've enjoyed the author's other work. Shame because the first couple of chapters actually sounded like there was going to be a decent plot to the book but it quickly degenerated into soft porn with cookie-cutter characters who had all the individual personality of a piece of cardboard that had a face painted on it. I only got the damned thing because Smiths didn't have the eighth Anita Blake novel in and I pray to any listening deity that this isn't the direction the later books in that series took. It's a distinct and disturbing possibility because the main character has more than a little in common with Anita in both personality and appearance. Distinct lack of imagination there really.

Painful "Kiss", 29 Dec 2005
Laurell K. Hamilton branches out from her bestselling Anita Blake novels with a new, fae-oriented series. She really shouldn't have bothered. While "Kiss of Shadows" starts off dark and intriguing, the plot rapidly degenerates into a NC-17 fantasy without much more than sweaty gyrations to recommend it.

Part-mortal Princess Meredith NicEssus -- undercover as Merry Gentry -- is a P.I. in Los Angeles, which apparently is swarming with fey and fey-wannabes. Keeping her identity a secret is vital, since she knows the dangers that would follow being uncovered. But while investigating a supernatural date-raper (and falling prey to him) Merry's identity leaks out.

Before you can say "bonk 'em all," she is given an ultimatum by her aunt, the queen of the Unseelie Court: she and her evil cousin Cel are both going to try to have a baby. The one who succeeds will be the next ruler -- the other is toast. Merry is assigned a harem of fae men, all of whom want her as much as she wants them. Physically, anyway.

Here's a warning: "Kiss of Shadows" has a lot of sex. A LOT of sex. A sufficient amount that, among other things, Merry hops in the happy sack with any guy lucky enough to meet her. Oh, and she has a male harem. Sound like an adult movie? Well, it pretty much is -- lots of excuses to have sex, including an enjoyable rape (did a woman really write this book?) and Merry nearly being molested by the entire L.A.P.D. And that's before it gets REALLY raunchy.

For anyone hoping for more than soft-porn, the book is lacking. It starts off strong, with a battered woman and a magical want ad, and Merry going undercover to lure out the magic-sucking guy involved. But once she bonks her selkie boyfriend, the plot goes down the tubes. What is worse, the sex obscures the mysterious cultures and subcultures of the fey and sidhe -- Hamilton hints at interesting cultures, rituals and different races, but seems to lose interest in the idea.

Without a developed backdrop, the actual plot feels rushed and half-finished. Hamilton also could use a better editor, since her writing quickly becomes repetitive -- lots of hair, unusual eye color, strange powers. All the men are madly attractive, chiseled, and devoid of any individual personality. All the women are beautiful, usually dainty.

Merry isn't terribly interesting -- she starts off as a moderately entertaining P.I. with a barbed sense of humor. Then it just sort of fades away. Queen Andais is also moderately interesting, as the villain of the piece. Merry's harem guys have paint-by-numbers personalities, and after the initial introductions they just become a heap of interchangeable sexy bodies.

Buried somewhere in "Kiss of Shadows" is a really good novella, but it's choked by a poorly thought-out soft-porn movie. Hamilton had the right idea, but the execution is a painful "Kiss."

Easy To Like, Hard To Love., 25 Sep 2008
I'm sure I'm not alone in saying that the Susan Hill novel The Woman in Black (and the superlative ITV adaptation) was one of the defining moments in my love affair with the Ghost Story. I can honestly say it stayed with me for years and as any fan of the genre will tell you, that's harder than you might think when you read a good deal of literary ghost stories. So understandably when I came to The Mist in the Mirror the freight of expectation was heavy, and for the most part I wasn't disappointed. Any readers thinking they're in for a similar experience to The Woman in Black however, most definitely will be. Unfortunately The Mist in the Mirror is rather less than the sum of its parts.

I think there are few writers who can conjure that Victorian spirit (no pun intended) Like Susan Hill. Almost immediately you're right in the thick of it; James Monmouth, an Englishman raised in Africa bequeaths a manuscript to an acquaintance at his club. What follows is thoroughly entertaining, well written but not ne