Review: HEX

HEX by Thomas Olde Heuvelt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I am so, so glad to be done with this brilliantly horrific, absolutely terrifying novel.

The short version : If you love creepy supernatural horror that makes you jump at the slightest noise and see ghosts in every shadow, read this book.

When I started on it, my thoughts were something like, 'oh, this isn't so scary. She just kind of stands there.' and then I put the book the book down and was consumed by the horror: she just kind of stands there. It's that silent menace, the subtle fear of possibility and not knowing why that makes this book so utterly terrifying.

The setting: a modern, small town, haunted by a 17th century witch, whose eyes and mouth have been sewn shut. The town has come to terms with the fact that a ghost-witch is constantly appearing among them, and that they can never leave the town and thus, its curse. It seems pretty simple, and rather than being treated with fearful reverence, the witch is more of an annoying inconvenience. That in itself scared the bejeezuz out of me: NEVER DISRESPECT GHOSTS, PEOPLE!! You're just asking for trouble!

Of course, enter the troublemaker children, who dream bigger dreams than their cursed town can provide. Naturally you're sucked in, helplessly reading about all these events that you know are gonna cause sh*t to hit the fan sooner or later.

As mentioned, the horror is quite subtle; there's endless questions about the past, and what the witch's purpose is, and how this can possibly be resolved. So much of the terror of this book is simply not knowing; of the imagination running wild with ideas and theories. Once I got into it, I read it as fast as possible, because I didn't want to read it at night but I also couldn't stop reading.

The characters in this story are everything, and are brilliantly flawed:

Steve, who would sacrifice the entire town for his family.

His son, Tyler, who dreams of living a normal life.

Griselda, driven by her all-consuming fear.

Grim, the cynic charged with hiding the witch from Outsiders.

There's so many more, and they come together to tell a story about a town haunted by its own fears, as much as by the witch. This book raises moral questions and explores the lengths people will go to when motivated by fear. The result is absolutely chilling.

There are so many elements to this story that make it incredibly successful in its chill factor. The pace travels along brilliantly, and the varying elements of horror mean there's no danger of being bored. Questioning the motives and actions of the characters, wondering why things happen and how, expecting the unexpected and being terrified of what you know won't end well ... it just comes together so seamlessly (haha) and makes for a rather epic horror story.

The acknowledgements at the end mention that the Dutch version has a different ending, and definitely tempts me to bribe a Dutch reader for that secret. That being said, I do love these books that leave me with goosebumps as the final word. I can't imagine a better ending, really.

This is one of the best stories I've ever read, and I imagine I'll be haunted by this witch for the next few nights at least. Highly recommend for horror lovers.


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