It has taken John Newton a long time to make it as a true crime writer but he finally done it when his last book attained the hardcover bestseller lists. Now, he and his family have moved to the bucolic village of Skelbrooke in the heart of England. John, his wife Val, their teenage son Paul, and their preadolescent daughter Elizabeth have found their dream home and have become a part of the village.

Paradise ends when the first letter arrives demanding that John deliver a candy bar to a particular grave in the nearby cemetery commonly called the Necropolis. John ignores the letter and his daughter is seriously injured. When the second letter arrives, John follows the instructions of the note and realizes other people have received the same memo as well. When the entity that is sending the letters makes his final horrific request, John decides to take his family and flee town if they can.

This is definitely a very scary horror novel that preys on our most primal emotions and fears. While the reader never actually gets to see the entity inspiring terror in Skelbrooke, the author cleverly entices the audience into imagining what it is and what it looks like. That is more terrifying than any description could be. Simon Clark understands the horror genre by terrifying his fans to the point that the electric companies will treat him as a VIP because of all the profits made from adults sleeping with the lights on.

Harriet Klausner