I love a good ghost story. That is why my horror-nerve tingled when I received a copy of Bill Hussey’s second novel, ‘The Absence’ (Bloody Books UK, 2009); because I can say that this novel is definitely one of the finest ghost stories I have read in a long time. There are so many elements in this novel – a child ghost, borderline stereotypical bit-characters, a Fenland millhouse and mythology, and a troubled family – that I was at first perturbed it would be a ride of clichés and rehashed plots. Not so. It is Bill Hussey’s confident writing that adds depth and draws you in to the point where you just don’t care, you just have to get to the end and let your breath go.
‘The Absence’ tells the story of the Nightingale family, perhaps one of the most messed-up families in literature for quite a while. It has been seven months since eldest son Joe, nearing his 18th birthday, diverted his concentration for a split-second and crashed his car, killing the passenger – his mother. Joe’s father, Richard, has sunk into a life of alcoholism, which he doesn’t think his sons know about, rather than talk about what happened. And the youngest brother, Bobby, just discovered his best friend’s suicide-inflicted body in the school showers. The friend came to him for help, a victim of bullying, but Bobby turned him away, unable to let a certain incident between them pass. Now Bobby feels a remorse he can only squash with harder drugs and thoughts of suicide himself, which Joe and Richard know nothing about, since they are in their own little worlds.
Then the Nightingale family receive news they have inherited an old house and mill – Daecher’s Mill – out on what used to be a large marshland. Yes, the old inheritance trick. Of course, the mill has a few catches – like the spirit of a girl who ‘feeds’ on people’s dark memories, removing their soul (so to speak) and leaving them with ‘The Absence’. The Absence is tied to the Nightingale family in a big way, and features a creature tied to Fenland mythology.
Richard thinks the inheritance is a good way to get his family together – a feeble attempt to sort out their problems and reunite. It’s a little bit of fathering a little too late, because once they arrive at Daecher’s Mill, bad things start to happen.
In my review of Bill Hussey’s debut novel, ‘Through A Glass, Darkly’, I noted that there was a lot of back-story that, whilst written well, interrupted the flow of the novel. This is not the case in ‘The Absence’. Aside from a bizarre dream sequence Richard experiences (only a small back-story this time), the novel moves at a wonderful pace, building into a typically-epic horror ending. Interspersed throughout are Interludes, with a ‘Guest’, that shows a past instance of someone receiving the Absence. Yes, I know this is back-story, but each Interlude is very short, and only help heighten the tension of just what will happen to the Nightingale family – especially when the trinkets from each ‘Guest’ are discovered beneath the floorboards (Richard and Joe try to unite and renovate the old house).
I don’t want to reveal too much of the story, only to say that I love the recollections of the Absence, with those effected by it flashing Grudge-style black, empty eyes that would creep out anyone having to stare at them. And the settings are wonderful, as is the realism of the troubled characters. The end twist, too, well... I could keep going.
If you like a good mystery, read this book (and Hussey’s debut). If you like old-fashioned horror, read this book. If you like mythology and detailed settings in your horror, then... well, you see where I’m going with this. I wrote for my review of Hussey’s debut that “I feel this is the start of something big for this new horror writer, and can’t wait to see what he has to offer next.” I am happy to say Hussey hasn’t disappointed. Bloody Books are on to a good thing with their two horror writers (I did enjoy D’Lacey’s offering a little more than my review had some perceive), and I wait with eager anticipation as to what will surface next.
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