Today's terror filled tale is from one of my very favorite horror writers, Jonathan Aycliffe. Aycliffe may not be as well know as King or Straub, but he is every bit as talented. Aycliffe wrote about eight horror titles throughout the 90s and almost all have achieved cult status amongst horror fans. His books are absolutely chilling and there isn't one that I wouldn't recommend to a reader looking for a good scare.
One of my faves is The Vanishment. The Vanishment tells the story of Peter and Sarah Clare, a young British couple who rent a lovely old house on the Cornish coast in hopes of rebuilding their very troubled marriage. Their plans for an idyllic vacation are soon dashed when Sarah begins to feel uncomfortable in the house. Peter dismisses her fears until she vanishes without a trace and he is forced to confront the evil that seems to emanate from the old house in order to try and discover what has happened to his wife.
Mr. Aycliffe's books are twisty, complex and extremely dark. Just when one feels that they have the situation figured out, he throws in a twist that we never see coming. His narrators are notoriously unreliable and in some cases, probably deranged. One is never quite sure if the supernatural terrors found in the stories cause the psychological breakdown or if the mental illness was there all along, feeding and in some cases, inviting the presence of the evil.
Unfortunately, Aycliffe's horror titles have been out of print for many years. If you consider yourself a true fan of the horror genre, take my advice and track down a copy of any, or more advisedly, all of his work. Although these out of print titles can be a bit pricey, they are worth every penny!
Works by Jonathan Aycliffe:
Naomi's Room - 1991
Whispers in the Dark - 1992
The Vanishment - 1993
The Matrix - 1994
The Lost - 1996
A Shadow on the Wall - 1999
The Talisman - 1999
A Garden Lost in Time - 2004
PS. Jonathan Aycliffe is a pen name for the British writer/scholar Denis McEoin, he also writes suspense thrillers under the name of Daniel Easterman.
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