Kara finds these words in the mysterious bunker that she's discovered behind a hole in the wall of her uncle's house. Freshly divorced and living back at home, Kara now becomes obsessed with these cryptic words and starts exploring the peculiar bunker-only to discover that it holds portals to countless alternate realities. But these places are haunted by creatures that seem to hear thoughts...and the more you fear them, the stronger they become.
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Nobody ever believes me when I tell them my Uncle Earl owns a museum. 1
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(@TitanBooks, 3 November 2020, 368 pages, ebook, #ARC from the publisher and voluntarily reviewed)
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I had high hopes for The Hollow Places as I enjoyed The Twisted Ones so much. This is even better. I loved it. It's been ages since I read a horror novel I enjoyed so much. The book is apparently inspired by The Willows by Algernon Blackwood. I haven't read it but The Hollow Places has got me interested so I will definitely check it out. I've downloaded a free copy from Project Gutenberg. This is really a book in two halves. The first half isn't what I'd call horror, there are some unsettling moments Kara explores the bunker and the strange world outside it but the overall feeling is one of unsettling and intrigue. Just who made the bunker and why? Where do the other bunkers lead? Where did all the willows come from? Things gradually start to get darker and darker as Kara stumbles across a man, still alive even though he has been partially devoured who warms her about things that live in the spaces in the willows and can read your mind. Things get a little freaky after that. The rest of The Hollow Places is pure horror as Kara learns it's not easy to just leave the bunker and forget what lurks behind the walls. Some freaky shit happens. This is a brilliant horror novel.
