|
Portrait of a Girl. Comment from an ARC reviewer: this is a great read. I literally devoured it in less than 24 hours. If you liked The Showing... it's better. Spooky. It reads a bit like Sheridan LeFanu or Guy de Maupassant. Classic horror short story. Awesome.
It's a full novel. Just wanted to clarify. but it READS like a classic horror short story. Tight, spare and invoking tons of imagination. |
RELEASE DATE: 20 December 2015
Here's a taster...
The Picture
The picture hung in the window of an art gallery in the arcade. Every day I walked through the arcade with its myriad of tiny exotic shops on my way to and from the station. As the arcade was narrow, and roofed with curved glass for natural light, the reflections of the passers by merged with the reflections of the goods on sale in the various windows. Sometimes I had fun with the curved glass, making silly faces that bounced backwards and forwards across the street, from shop window to shop window. Other shoppers would snigger at me, but I sometimes caught them doing the same.
Yet whenever I reached the art gallery I would stop, and peer at the portrait of a young girl. She was pictured in the first flush of her beauty, a sweet smile on her lips, her head lowered slightly so that she seemed almost to peer upwards through her auburn hair. Her dress swelled and flowed, and when the light twisted, to me, she seemed almost to move.
The label below the frame said, simply, ‘Portrait of a girl’, with no artist listed. I did go into the shop to enquire, but the price – well let’s just say it would take me a long time to earn that much money, let alone spend it on a painting by an unknown artist: however captivating. For it was captivating, at least to me. I found after a week or so that I couldn’t walk back to the station without passing the gallery. If I tried, I felt uneasy, insecure, and when I got home I had no appetite and slept indifferently and with disturbing dreams.
At last, I decided that I must break this spell, and stayed away from the arcade for a week. A whole week, it felt like a lifetime. Then, following a very long day in the office, I was hurrying to catch the last train home. A violent storm raged the skies, rain and wind battered the glass of the arcade, as I followed the damp footsteps of the last hurrying commuter. Rounding the corner, I glimpsed a figure that moved against the glass of the arcade, and seemed to shimmer. Panting, I followed the foot prints that led towards the glass – and stopped. The footprints led through the glass, and I shook to see the girl gaze adoringly into the eyes of a lover. ‘Portrait of a couple’ read the label.
Here's what the reviewers say:
This is an engrossing and thoughtful study of a man in the grip of an obsession which has drawn lesser men into peril of their lives. He has the help of a friend to offer him some protection from a very real menace older than them all, and it’s a story which keeps on moving right to the end. Christmas is the time for ghost stories. Draw the curtains, settle down and give this a try!
Are you a fan of classic horror? Sheridan le Fanu, Guy de Maupassant, or Bram Stoker? If so, you'll certainly enjoy Portrait of a Girl. In this tale of supernatural evil run amok, the most innocent seeming of objects - a portrait of an attractive young woman, harbors a compelling presence. But is she a trapped lover, or an unspeakable threat? The only way to know is to look deep into her eyes... if you dare.
Told in a spare, bare-bones styles that doesn't bog the reader down in extraneous detail, but rather keeps a fast but balanced pace, Portrait of a Girl is a mad rush into danger that classic horror lovers should adore.
The Picture
The picture hung in the window of an art gallery in the arcade. Every day I walked through the arcade with its myriad of tiny exotic shops on my way to and from the station. As the arcade was narrow, and roofed with curved glass for natural light, the reflections of the passers by merged with the reflections of the goods on sale in the various windows. Sometimes I had fun with the curved glass, making silly faces that bounced backwards and forwards across the street, from shop window to shop window. Other shoppers would snigger at me, but I sometimes caught them doing the same.
Yet whenever I reached the art gallery I would stop, and peer at the portrait of a young girl. She was pictured in the first flush of her beauty, a sweet smile on her lips, her head lowered slightly so that she seemed almost to peer upwards through her auburn hair. Her dress swelled and flowed, and when the light twisted, to me, she seemed almost to move.
The label below the frame said, simply, ‘Portrait of a girl’, with no artist listed. I did go into the shop to enquire, but the price – well let’s just say it would take me a long time to earn that much money, let alone spend it on a painting by an unknown artist: however captivating. For it was captivating, at least to me. I found after a week or so that I couldn’t walk back to the station without passing the gallery. If I tried, I felt uneasy, insecure, and when I got home I had no appetite and slept indifferently and with disturbing dreams.
At last, I decided that I must break this spell, and stayed away from the arcade for a week. A whole week, it felt like a lifetime. Then, following a very long day in the office, I was hurrying to catch the last train home. A violent storm raged the skies, rain and wind battered the glass of the arcade, as I followed the damp footsteps of the last hurrying commuter. Rounding the corner, I glimpsed a figure that moved against the glass of the arcade, and seemed to shimmer. Panting, I followed the foot prints that led towards the glass – and stopped. The footprints led through the glass, and I shook to see the girl gaze adoringly into the eyes of a lover. ‘Portrait of a couple’ read the label.
Here's what the reviewers say:
This is an engrossing and thoughtful study of a man in the grip of an obsession which has drawn lesser men into peril of their lives. He has the help of a friend to offer him some protection from a very real menace older than them all, and it’s a story which keeps on moving right to the end. Christmas is the time for ghost stories. Draw the curtains, settle down and give this a try!
Are you a fan of classic horror? Sheridan le Fanu, Guy de Maupassant, or Bram Stoker? If so, you'll certainly enjoy Portrait of a Girl. In this tale of supernatural evil run amok, the most innocent seeming of objects - a portrait of an attractive young woman, harbors a compelling presence. But is she a trapped lover, or an unspeakable threat? The only way to know is to look deep into her eyes... if you dare.
Told in a spare, bare-bones styles that doesn't bog the reader down in extraneous detail, but rather keeps a fast but balanced pace, Portrait of a Girl is a mad rush into danger that classic horror lovers should adore.
Me, in advanced Horror Writer mode.
Actually, that was at a St Valentine's Day dance.
No, really. It was.
I didn't get a date. Can't work out why.
Actually, that was at a St Valentine's Day dance.
No, really. It was.
I didn't get a date. Can't work out why.
