Dark Matter: the gripping ghost story from the author of WAKENHYRST

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Lccn 2010467639 Ocr tesseract 5.0.0-alpha-20201231-10-g1236 Ocr_detected_lang en Ocr_detected_lang_conf 1.0000 Ocr_detected_script Latin Ocr_detected_script_conf 0.9634 Ocr_module_version 0.0.13 Ocr_parameters -l eng Old_pallet IA-NS-2000353 Openlibrary_edition Once more we are in a cold, secluded, location, the Hilamayas instead of the Arctic. At first glance, this is quite similar to her previous story but the feel is quite different. I would guess that this kind of tale requires a remote and dangerous setting, somewhere secluded and cut off the real world. Kangchenjunga, as well as other mountains, are places of wonder, where the immense scale becomes alien, and where euphoria morphs with desolation. Additionally, opting for the 1930s golden era of mountain climbing adds somehow that fashionable 'old' feel to it.

This feels more laboured, with a constant switching between narratives: Paver's strengths show in Edmund Stearne's diary - the gradual revelations, the disintegrating mind. But alternating this with a 3rd person narrative through the PoV of his eminently sane, though enraged, daughter Maud removes any sense of ambiguity.I had a good time. That's pretty much all. It has brotherly angst, a fight against the elements, tragedy, pettiness, and above all, really great foreshadowing. Most of my enjoyment came from trying to find out what Kind of ghost story it would become, and when I learned, I was mightily pleased. Nuff Said about that. The skipper of the Isbjorn, Mr Ericsson, is reluctant to take them to the bay they have chosen, Gruhuken, and wants to drop them off ‘forty miles short’.....he will not say why. The workers on the ship, helping to assemble the camp will not stay overnight........ there are rumours and discontentment. This is pacey, readable historical fiction with a good sense of period and atmosphere. I enjoyed Pearce’s narration, and the one-upmanship type of relationship with his brother adds an interesting dimension to the expedition dynamics. However, I never submitted sufficiently to Paver’s spell to find anything particularly scary. I’ll try again with her other ghost story, Dark Matter, about an Arctic expedition from the same time period.

A terrifying 1930s ghost story set in the haunting wilderness of the far north * PIPER AT THE GATES OF FANTASY * Her father, on the other hand, hates the landscapes, hates animals and forbids any pets (except the two horses needed for the carriage). During a walk through the local church yard, Edmund spots an eye in the undergrowth. His terror is only briefly abated when he discovers it's actually a painting, a 'doom', taken from the church. It's horrifying in its depiction of hell, and Edmund wants nothing more to do with it despite his historical significance. But the doom keeps returning to his mind. The stench of the Fen permeates the house, even with the windows closed. And when he lies awake at night, he hears a scratching sound – like claws on the wooden floor... perfectly executed little ghost story set in the Arctic wastes in the late 1930s, featuring the adventures of AN AWESOME HUSKY NAMED ISAAK and I suppose some humans as well. And so we slowly catch up on what has happened in this house throughout the decades, the tragic events happening to several individuals of three generations until the conclusion.

But all that helped to enhance the atmosphere of the tale. It was more psychological than physical terror (except for what had been done to Maude's mother), as is usually the case in such books, and it worked really well. Dark Matter is terrifying. The only novel to really get under my skin and infiltrate my nightmares.” I don’t think snowy horror gets better than Michelle Paver’s masterful fictional account of a 1937 winter in Svalbard, deep in the Arctic. The real terror of being alone in the dark, cut off by snow and ice, and with a hostile presence lurking, left me breathless. This book is terrifying!”

The slowly building sense of dread in this book may not be for everyone. If you're looking for jump-in-your-face scares, you won't find any. I could (and did) read this book alone late at night. But if you're in the mood for a subtle buildup of terror, I think this is a great book. I don't know why I didn't see it coming but when Stephen was abandoned at Camp 3, it was awhile until I truly thought he was a goner and that all of his paranoid imaginings had actualized.. The ending answered all of my questions, which I always love in a thriller and a ghost story. You will I am sure understand why I found it hard to entertain your enquiry with any pleasure. To be blunt, you evoked painful memories which I have tried for ten years to forget. The expedition crippled a friend of mine and killed another. It is not something I care to revisit. Having really enjoyed, “Dark Matter,” I was keen to read this, new novel, by Michelle Paver. Normally, I dislike comparing an author’s novels, but there is much to compare in, “Thin Air,” to “Dark Matter.” Both deal with remote places and extreme temperatures. Both are, essentially, ghost stories… This cleverly written suspenseful historical really gives a great sense of the Time period with the fascinating journal entr The story is simple, and unfolds with a sense of familiarity (which, somehow, only increases the level of dread). Michelle Paver understands the key to telling a ghost story – she plays within the confines of convention and doesn’t attempt to add any unnecessary embellishments or endless descriptive statements or gore (which, unfortunately, is an excess that many horror novels indulge in, much to their detriment). Rather, the tension and fear here is subliminal, creeping at an increasing rate to an inevitable crescendo of terror and tragedy. Plus, you can’t ever go wrong with a cabin/isolation story in an icy location ( The Thing, “Ice” from The X-Files, etc).

In Edwardian Suffolk, a manor house stands alone in a lost corner of the Fens: a glinting wilderness of water whose whispering reeds guard ancient secrets. Maud is a lonely child growing up without a mother, ruled by her repressive father. I loved this story. I couldn't put it down. It's as creepy as an M R James ghost story and yet, even though it's set in the 1930s, it doesn't feel self-consciously dated as many neo-Gothic stories do. It feels absolutely relevant. Not many people can write historical fiction without anachronism but with a contemporary feel and Michelle Paver is one of them. Dark Matter comes highly recommended * THE BOOK BAG * Well what happens is that three men become one when one of them takes ill. (Yes, they're in communication with civilization via the 'wireless,' and yet civilization is several days away in any emergency.) Plus there might be a ghost? A spirit? Or is it just your imagination? And what about all those flensing knives they found buried in the ground? Ahhh ..... To me, this was a perfect, quiet little tale of terror. One of the best true horror novels I’ve read in years, and absolutely recommended. (Just don’t read it until 2am like I did, in the middle of a cold, snowy night) The windswept wilderness, the old creaking house, the old man Jubel who lives rough in the fen and the eerie going’s on, all equate to a fabulously atmospheric read.

Eigentlich hat dieses Buch alles, was ich mag, und doch hat es mich nicht gänzlich überzeugen können. Ich habe es sehr gerne gelesen, fand es auch spannend, aber zwischendurch und immer mehr zum Ende hin gab es für mich auch mal einige Längen, wo meine Gedanken dann vom Buch abschweiften... Dark Matter is all about atmosphere and tension. It's a ghost story in the truest sense of the word, and isn't far removed from classic movies like Psycho and Poltergeist * WONDROUS READS * Dark Matter is a true ghost story. It will chill, terrify, and haunt you, while still leaving you feeling satisfied. I cannot praise this book enough. Perfectly written * EMPIRE OF BOOKS * All mountains are killers, but ours is worse than most," says Stephen, the protagonist of Thin Air as he climbs Kangchenjunga, the sacred mountain in the Himalayas. Hmm. I have no doubt at all that Michelle Paver is a talented author, she certainly writes about the cold and snow very well, but... well I wasn’t at all scared. Not once. I felt the same way about 'Dark Matter,' I couldn’t see what everyone else was talking about, I still don’t. The two novels are very similar and sadly I was underwhelmed by both of them.I have been reading quite a lot of Gothic Fiction novels of late and finding my joy in most of them but Wakenhyrst just didn’t create the suspense or tension I was expecting. Although technically a ghost story, the real horror for me is the sense of creeping dread and isolation and loneliness as the last man left in the endless night of an arctic camp. Most chilling of all is the man’s horror at contemplating the afterlife should he perish there and become a ghost himself – not just a winter of endless night alone, but an eternity. Dark Matter is a successful cross between The Riddle of the Sands and The Call of the Wild, set in Svalbard * BOOKWITCH * It was not me who discovered Michelle Paver about five years ago, but my daughter when she pulled “The Wolf Brothers” off the shelf at our local library and then read all six books of the “Chronicles of Ancient Darkness” in short succession. So you may forgive me, that I had Michelle Paver down as a middle grade author until I saw Wakenhyrst on the shelf at the same library but this time in the adult section of “new and notable releases”. The magpie on the cover sealed the deal, because I adore the birds for their chatter and cheekiness.