Tamara Thorne
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Review of Haunted
Haunted leaps into gear with convincingly realistic paranormal events, an echo of Richard Matheson's classic Hell House, and an attitude all its own. Tamara Thorne knows what she's about, and proves it right out of the gate -- plunging you into a moody supernatural fog and never letting the breathless pace flag for a second. When famous horror novelist David Masters and Amber, his daughter, move into Baudey House, the old mansion's reputation as one-time brothel now haunted by scads of ghosts is part of the attraction. David wants to set his next bestseller ("Mephisto Palace") there. The two are old hands at experiencing real and fraudulent hauntings, but the popularly re-named Body House truly does harbor various spirits -- some neutral, others benevolent, and some evil beyond measure. Built on a strip of land jutting into the ocean and crowned by a spooky old lighthouse -- also haunted, according to legend -- the house sports leftover paraphernalia of its origins: phallic doorknobs, erotic stained glass, and cubicle-like "business" rooms. Lizzie Baudey had built the brothel at the turn of the century, but also earned a reputation as a genteel woman whose workers were treated with love and true caring. Her daughter, on the other hand, was the twisted Christabel -- whose sexual deviancy and budding voodoo powers would eventually destroy her own mother, as well as a score of customers and other visitors throughout the years, as she sought eternal life and freedom from her magical prison. David and Amber almost too late realize the extent of Christabel's evil. Aided by Eric (a true psychic), a sympathetic police chief, and the ghost of Lizzie Baudey, they must face Christabel's growing power and stop her from reclaiming her hidden physical body. In the process, they encounter a beautiful but predatory real estate agent, a group of fanatical channelers, a Geraldo-like television personality who itches to find Christabel's long-lost torture chamber beneath the house, and sundry nasties served up by both the nearby town and the house itself. Not to mention a terrifying collection of bizarre ceramic voodoo dolls fashioned by Christabel herself. In the exciting confrontation, David Masters must face his demons and reclaim his own lost love in order to survive. Gripping, gory, and generally grisly, this is a novel that delivers with punch. Using her extensive background in the investigation of paranormal phenomena, Tamara Thorne -- actually a pseudonymous Chris Curry -- brings to bear the entire haunted house arsenal (and then some), sharpening its edge with inside knowledge and true wit. When describing the eerie and slippery "cold spots" that slide up and down people's arms, for instance, there is no doubt she is relying upon her own experiences. In Haunted, Thorne pits appealing characters against a diabolical haunting that resonates with charged eroticism and enough bump-in-the-night goings-on to keep readers wide-eyed and wide-awake past any bedtime. This one turns its own pages! Return to Haunted by Tamara Thorne |
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