Audiobook Review - Printer's Devil Court

• Title And Author: Printer's Devil Court by Susan Hill
• Publisher: Profile Books
• Physical, eBook or Audiobook: Audiobook
• Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Borrowed by BorrowBox & Essex Libraries
• Length: 113 Pages or 1 Hour and 42 Minutes

I don't understand why, after all this time and the mental note to self to not read or audiobook a Susan Hill ghost story after being disappointed with my last outings (The Man in the Picture and The Small Hand), even though I was chilled with The Woman in White back in my early days of book blogging (ta-dah to the link if you are curious). But with me wondering if I should cancel my Audible subscription due to money and seeing if Essex Libraries do really good audiobook selection. While I'm not thrilled by the selection which is really smaller than I hoped and expected, but when I saw this, I thought I would use this as an experiment. 

A mysterious little manuscript has appeared on the stepson of the late Dr Hugh Meredith. In it, he writes about a chilling events that happened years ago when he was training as a junior doctor near London's Fleet Street. Living with two other medics, they ask for his help with their research...

GoodRead - The Small Hand

This was meant to be my review for Halloween. For once, I wanted to read and review a story for Halloween and I thought it would be perfect. I mean, Hello! It says so on the cover - A Ghost Story. 

I have read two of Susan Hill's ghost stories before - The Woman in Black (review here) and The Man In The Picture (review here), and I have two quite different opinions of these titles. So this is my third and the story I hoped was going to make my opinion for Susan Hill's ghost stories go one way or the other.

Adam Snow is an antique bookseller. Late one day, on his way home from a client, Adam gets lost and finds himself at an old abandoned house and its gardens. Finding no one there, he's about to leave, only to feel a small hand grip his. But there is no one at the house or the gardens.

Soon, Adam starts to feel like he is being haunted by the small hand. But is he really haunted by a ghost or is he gripped by panic attacks and hallucinations?

Am going to admit this. Out of the three Susan Hill's ghost stories I have read, this is a my least favourite. Maybe I wasn't in the right mindset for the story, but I found it a little dull. I was hooked by the end for the first few chapters, but my attention kept wandering and, at one sitting, where I wasn't feeling so great, I read a huge section and nothing sack into my brain. It left no trace, and I didn't once feel uneasy by the story and the haunting.

My biggest issue was the writing style. In The Woman in Black, the style fitted perfectly because it was set back in the early 20th century. But The Small Hand was a modern story - they was mention of emails and texts - and it felt out of place. I don't know why, but every time something modern was mentioned or appeared, I was instantly thrown out of the story. It never felt right.

But, the writing does carry a sense of unease. Susan knows how to write that, but the feeling of unease can only go so far and I wanted something to happen. Something that would creep me out (and I can get scared very easy so I was awaiting the scare in a mix of excitement and fear). But it never came. There was a conclusion but nothing else. Where was the pay off for this story?

Another thing I wasn't happy with was when information was dropped in. I get it's a story and things can't be put right at the start, but there was one or two bits of information that was thrown at us and, while they served a purpose for the story, it felt like these were rushed in. There were dropped in as an afterthought, even. That I found jarring.

I admit that this wasn't the type of story I normally read, but out of the three, I would say read The Woman in Black if you want a ghost story that will creep you out. But this is my opinion, and from the other reviews I have read, I am in the minority so if you want to read this, read it! Please don't let me stop you! Because this wasn't my cup of tea doesn't mean it won't be yours!

GoodRead - The Man In The Picture

I fully blame Amazon and their 12 Days of Kindle sale earlier this month for this. I was scared off Susan Hill by the movie version of her classic ghost story, The Woman in Black (seriously? How was that a 12A movie?!) as the audiobook version creeped me out (review here). But when I saw this for 99p, I couldn't resist. I bought it and a few others eBooks that I hope to read over the coming year (unlikely, but I shall try!).

By the fire place, Oliver's old Cambridge dom, Theo, tells a tale. A tale about a painting he has hanging on the wall. A painting of a Venetain carnival. But behind the masks within the painting, lies something sinister. Something that will slowly have an effect on Oliver's life, although he is unaware of it. For the painting isn't simply a painting...

This is a very quick read and fills very neatly into the classic ghost story. No blood, guts and gory here. Just a feeling of uneasiness and Susan Hill does this really well. I read this in 3 sittings, two of them at night and at these sittings, I did feel a little spooked by it as it was the sense of foreboding. The reader knows something awful is going to happen but the characters in the book don't.

While this is a quick read and some of you will like this this, I have problems. Two, mainly. The first is the way the story is told. I read it with four voices in my head: Oliver, Theo, the Countess (which comes later in the story) and Oliver's fiancée, Anne. While I know it should be two technically as Oliver is writing the story down, I heard four voices. And I had no idea when one voice stopped and another started. I had to guess every time a chapter started if Theo had taken over or if Oliver was still talking to us. It was very annoying and took me out of the story every now and then.

The second was the ending and the fact it didn't spook me. Maybe it was when I read it - being very tired - but with the first two sittings of read this, I got spooked. But when I read the last bit, I didn't feel spooked. I kinda guessed the ending and it didn't unnerve me. I was kinda "... is that it?"

I can very much see some of you lot reading this and getting creeped out by this. And I will read another Susan Hill ghost story (Dolly looks quite scary!), but it didn't rock my boat like The Woman in Black did.

*

PS - I was going to try and find an image of Venice Carnival scene but came across these two pics and don't they look creepy?!

GoodRead - The Woman In Black (Unabridged Audiobook)

I keep seeing this on the iTunes audiobook chart for quite some time. I know it's a West End show (which is quite scary from what I've been told), and there's going to be a movie out next year starting Daniel Radcliffe. But, apart from that and knowing it's a ghost story, I knew nothing about it. So, on a random, late night impulse (always seems to be the case with me and audiobooks), I downloaded it and listened.

Arthur Kipp is a young solicator, asked to go to the funeral of Alice Drablow and then go to her house, Eel Marsh House, a house that stands next to the windswept marshes beyond Nine Lives Causeways, for legal paperwork. While at the funeral, Arthur sees a woman in black, watching the funeral from a distance. An unnatural feeling of unease comes to Arthur. And then, he decides to stay at Eel Marsh House to deal with the large amount of papers. It is here, when terrible things happen…

I listened to this audiobook in two sittings and I can stay that this is quite chilling. It's very much an old-fashion ghost story but there is something completely unnerving about it! It's probably how the story is told - through Arthur writing to feel himself from the demons of his past and because of that, you get caught up within his fear, panic and possible paranoia.

Not sure if I want to relisten to this on Halloween (although I would like to, just to scare myself), and I think this reading would be perfect to be played on BBC Radio 4 or BBC Radio 4 Extra on a dark stormy night near or on Halloween.

I know Susan Hill has written two more ghost stories - The Man In The Picture and The Little Hand - but from all the reviews I've seen, this is the best and scary story of them all. And if you want an old-fashioned scare, this is for you.

And because of this, I might try and see either the film or the West End show (which, I heard, is terrifying!)...