Nessa's Thoughts

The Woman in Black and its long-running play in London is apparently a common choice for English Literature at the secondary level in England. I had actually never heard of it until a friend of mine linked me to the US trailer of the film adaptation, set to be released in February 2012. It stars Daniel Radcliffe, and as a promotion, there was a chance to be able to attend the premiere and meet Daniel himself, so long as you wrote a bone-chilling ghost story and posted a video of yourself acting it out or reading it on camera. Sadly, I didn't enter the competition, but that's probably because writing a ghost story is ridiculously difficult. Especially one of this calibre.Anyway, this book gave me a few shivers. It's about a junior solicitor called Arthur Kipps, who refuses his step-children's request for a ghost story, too traumatised by what went on all those years ago, when he was summoned to Crythin Gifford, a small town far away in the English countryside. As a city-boy, when told an abridged version of the story of Eel Marsh House, he assumes that the country folk are just superstitious bumpkins and it would be a normal case of arranging his late client's affairs. However, he ends up very isolated in a large house that can only be accessed during low tide, and has its fair share of bumps in the night.Oh goodness, this book was just fantastic. Finding out what had happened to Ms. Drablow really gave me the shivers, and that ending. Oh, that ending. Gave me the creeps, because it came completely out of nowhere. This is just a wonderful book, and a rare breed of ghost story: one that will have you reading deep into the night and biting your lip as you imagine the setting... then to be confronted with pretty terrifying images. I actually got through about 10% of the book in one night, and was a startled by a creak somewhere in the walls of the house.However, the book does have its problems. While it is very immersive and does all the things a good ghost story should do, the parts where Arthur temporarily leaves Eel Marsh House are a little bit dull in comparison. The book also contains a slight overkill when it comes to the terrible things that happens to Arthur, but that was probably just me. I also found the other characters in the story somewhat bland. For example, Mr. Daily is just a local man who comes around every now and again to fill in local knowledge or tell Arthur that the house is haunted, and Keckwick is just a bumpkin who owns the pony and trap that ferries Arthur to Eel Marsh House, and brings him back to the village every once in a while.It's a brilliant book, but with just a few hitches when it comes to any parts outside of Eel Marsh House, as well as side characters being a bit dull for my liking. 3.5/5