The House On The Old Cliffs by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Publisher - Books On the Hill
Published - out now
Price - £8.99 paperback
An imaginative mystery to be solved, which Adrian Tchaikovsky, a master of the unexpected, manages to entice and string you along, until you don't want, but need to know the answers. Pseudo-historian Doctor Hendry is missing. His employers want answers. Paranormal investigators Michael and Walter join the search party to Hendry's remote Scottish cliff-top home, accompanied by two unscrupulous mercenaries and a deeply sceptical history professor. Among the doctor's research they find more than they bargained for or can even comprehend, and the rescue becomes a fight for survival.
NB - this novella is part of a regular series of books by various authors but designed and printed as a dyslexic friendly novel
Our desire to know things is a key part of being human but curiosity has a downside as the cat found out. In horror we often have people trying to solve a mystery, a puzzle box or seeking knowledge previously forbidden and then it goes wrong faster than lightning striking your science lab. In Adrian Tchaikovsky’s horror novella The House On The Old Cliffs a unique team investigate one man’s disappearance and gets more than they bargained for often to deadly results.
Doctor Hendry dealt in rare antiques and theories on pseudo-history. He is now missing and mysterious people are keen to know where he is as he has not delivered what they expected. Paranormal investigators Michael and Walter are dispatched with the menacing mercenaries Shaw and Kelling plus the ultra-sceptical Dr Furrisky are sent to his remote scottish home that lies on the ancient sea-cliffs for clues. The house is filled with impossible things and signs that the cliffs are stranger than anyone thinks. danger though gets ever closer.
This tale propels us into a mystery that Tchaikovsky delivers with speed and the ability with just a few words to fill the reader in a lot of things going on. The story is told from Michael’s perspective and we are told usually he’s in a suit because he is in court. It is little things like this that make the story breath and help the reader to understand the world these people (except for Dr Furrisky) know about Its a classic group of people who don’t trust each other so anything could happen when the pressure rises. Armed mercenaries also rarely help these situations.
The House is the centrepiece and it is filled with nods to horror and then of course we find it’s secret. Painfully I cannot tell you too much but Tchaikovsky here is in cosmic horror territory with some neat weaving of myths and some creative traps the group need to navigate out of. Here not being overly descriptive works both for the format of the tale but also allowing the reader’s imagination to fill in the gory blanks as to what is approaching or happening just out of of sight
This is a very entertaining quick read and who doesn’t like a gory creepy adventure from time to time? Lots of fun and definitely recommended!
