I would like to thank Titan Books for an advance copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review

Publisher - Titan Books

Published - Out Now

Price - £9.99 paperback £4.68 Kindle eBook

A dark spirit haunts an isolated Norfolk retreat in this unsettling and sinister historical horror set in the early 1900s, perfect for readers of Michelle Paver, Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Andrew Michael Hurley.

Norfolk, 1917. Unable to join the army due to a heart condition, Freddie lives and works with his father in the grounds of the Edenwell Hydropathic, a wellness retreat in the Norfolk broads. Preferring the company of birds – who talk to him as one of their own – over the eccentric characters who live in the spa, bathing in its healing waters, Freddie overhears their premonitions of murder.

Eustace Moncrieff is a troublemaker, desperate to go to war and leave behind his wealthy family. Shipped to Edenwell by his mother to keep him safe from the horrors of the trenches, he strikes up a friendship with Freddie at the behest of Doctor Chalice, the American owner of the Hydropathic.

As the two friends grow closer and grapple with their demons, they discover a body, and something terrifying stalking the woods. The dark halls of the spa are breached, haunted by the woodland beast, and the boys soon realise that they may be the only things standing between this monster and the whole of Edenwell.

It’s not a surprise that wars often have an appropriately sized legion of ghost stories following soon in their wake. All that tragedy and death leaves imprints on the landscape, the survivors and those scarred by the losses. WW1 often looms in our past through poetry and many other stories so not surprising it speaks to our more supernatural natures. What I really loved about Verity M Holloway’s excellent gothic horror The Others of Edenwell is this tale is set far from the front line and yet WW1 looms over it casting a long shadow.

In 1917 Edenwell is a health spa with a reputation for healing waters which sadly in Great Britain there is no longer as huge a demand as there used to be even; even despite the ever enthusiastic American Doctor Chalice its good days seem far behind it. Working there is young Freddie Ferry a young farmhand working with his dad; whose weak heart prevented him from going to the front. Freddie loved the nature of Edenwell and in particular the birds which he can listen to talking in the trees. Freddie soon strikes an unlikely bond with Edenwell’s newest patient 17 year old Eustace Moncrieff a rebellious man from a wealthy family; he dreams of going to war but his own health issues are stopping him from fighting. Freddie and Eustace though find Edenwell is increasingly troubled; disturbing animal deaths hasten an ever growing sense of doom around the place. Tensions between patients and staff rise and Edenwell’s secrets are soon to be revealed.

This is a beautifully haunting novel. Holloway creates Edenwell the land and hotel as a strange dilapidated place full of strange secrets. While the house is increasingly closing down with empty wings and signs of rot and decay the outside too seems menacing. Lots of woods for things to hide in and a black lake, the original holy well, which appears to have bottomless depths and pulls many in its orbit. The land of Edenwell is firmly a character in itself and not always one to enjoy as a dark presence escalates in menacing the spa’s residents and workers. Holloway throws in history, archeology and adds in the modern horror of WW2 to create something wondrously dark, strange and unknowable but when it finally shows itself, it is terrifying and at the same time definitely inhuman. One of the most disturbing entities I’ve encountered in horror as we work out it’s purpose and goals.

The plotting of the novel is beautifully done. It’s small things at first. Dead birds, strange figures in the woods and yet at the midway point when it’s announced the spa will soon welcome the injured of WW1 to recover then we fear something truly terrible is going to happen. And we are soon proved right.

Into all this are Freddie and Eustace - the ‘Others’ of the title which in one sense refers who do not fight in the war. We have a fascinating set of character dynamics spiralling around Freddie and Eustace. Very different - one keen to fight the other accepting and perhaps happy to stay in nature. Eustace is spiky and knows how to use his higher status and Freddie is the more ethereal able to apparently to hear birds and experience Edenwell’s secrets. Both though are haunted men thanks to secrets in their past. Holloway sets up two young men who realise they’re on the way to becoming more than simple friends and it’s a compelling dynamic especially when added to the mix is the darker character of Scoles. A WW1 veteran who encourages Eustace with tales of glory and sinister anti-German propaganda; he also loves to bully Freddie who he sees as weak. There is an examination of war as being seen by some as a duty and glory compared to Eustace and Freddie’s encounters with the newer veterans who have a more nuanced and honest view of fighting. Alongside the more folk horror elements of the tale is this reminder of human cruelty and just as Scoles escalates his violent temper and urge to bully Freddie then the two plotlines converge explosively. All we know from the start though is Freddie will become known as an enigmatic artist and we then have to discover is how and what the real secrets of his artworks actually mean which gives us a compelling mystery and sense of dread throughout.

One of the horror novels of the year this is a beautiful gothic masterpiece splicing history with a powerful tale of war and loss. Strongly recommended and an author to pay attention to!