What Hides in The Cupboards by Cassondra Windwalker

Published - Out Now

Price - £14.99 paperback £4.74 Kindle eBook

Following a traumatic accident, ceramic artist Hesper Dunn trades life in Chicago for the enchanted deserts of New Mexico. But not all is quaint, and it’s far from what it seems. There’s a mystery buried deep in the heart of her new home.
Love, guilt, and grief demand that Hesper remain within the haunted pueblo. To free herself, she must free the trapped spirits…but the creatures lurking in the shadows are not what they appear. Hesper dares to wade through the murky fog of tragedy to uncover the truth. A truth that will be harder to handle than she ever dared imagine.

The ghost story always raises an interesting question of who exactly is being haunted. Is the ghost simply haunting the classic house, is it a restless spirit or as classics such as The House on Haunted Hill asked more about the person being haunted by the ghost (or even if that is ghost). In Cssondra Windwalker’s disturbing modern gothic horror novella What Hides In The Cupboard a series of mysteries surrounding a couple in their new home bring about disturbing consequences.

Hesper and Richard have moved 1200 miles to the town of Toas in New Mexico for a fresh start. Hesper is slowly recovering from her injuries after an accident and is desperate to restart her art career as a potter. This is a chance for a fresh start despite her many friends and family members worried about her. Soon after moving in the new home though Hesper discovering a series of hidden artworks in cupboards all showing a unhappy child staring out. Hesper finds out her home belonged to a up and coming artist named Leon Oberman who lost his only child while living at the house and committed suicide within it. Hesper finds herself troubled by strange noises and shapes just out of sight and starts to investigate this mystery but it also may open up answers for Hesper and her own life

This is a powerful dark tale of the guilt we carry and how that can both blind us to the truth and risk our destruction. It covers dark subjects such as suicide and the death of a child but offers a fascinating ghost tale. Rather than the classic creaky old house we get a New Mexico desert home which we imagine full of light and heat but Windwalker also makes us feel through their writing the isolation from everyone (even going the shops is a long drive to plan for); the nights in particular while can be beautiful are full of darkness and even simple threats like a scorpion in your shoes to fend off. We get a darker place full of myths and legends and who knows what kinds of supernatural dangers are also possibly lying in wait? The more we stay in this house with these disturbing figures the more we feel Hesper is being watched and the danger to them is increasing.

At the centre of the tale is Hesper a really complex yet sympathetic character. With her very funny alternate swearwords such as ‘Son of a Cinnamon stick’ we have someone who can be funny, self-effacing and yet also clearly loves her art and wants to get better. She knows her industry, can take on snooty art galleries in her stride - we learn to quickly get on her side. Yet Windwalker also paints the picture that Hesper is not at her best, clearly loving the husband she talks to constantly she is also struggling over her accident and what happened. We gather immense stress is within her and the growing concerns of her friends all hint things are not right. The reader quickly suspects Hesper is in denial which leads to the first of several key reveals but while the first is likely one readers will suspect the more interesting question is what this secret of Hesper’s has to do with the haunting.

The mix of haunted home and troubled hauntee is a classic as we have to explore both tales and work out the connections. We have a tale about the power of art to consume someone and the guilt about how that obsession can turn people inwards. Hesper finds herself connecting with Leon and she starts investigating his life and those who knew him. In some ways this is about someone finding a tale that gives themself a cause to follow but any obsession can have a cost and blind us to the dangers we are in and the truths we don’t like to admit about ourselves.

What Hides In the Cupboards is an extremely well crafted ghost story that offers scares but also an exploration of the flaws we love to hide from. When we finally do see them we may learn something or perhaps quickly look away again. Perfect for a winter or summer evening to chill you down.