HORROR BOOK REVIEW: THE VESSEL BY ADAM NEVILL

31/10/2022

As all the weirdness mounts to a nail-biting climax, one can only admire Nevill’s tireless genius anew as ‘The Vessel’ delivers another thrilling ghost train ride through modern folk Horror, resulting in a novel that will (again) easily stand among his finest work, and as one of this reader’s favourite Horror novels of the year.

The Vessel by Adam Nevill
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Ritual Limited (31 Oct. 2022)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 172 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1739788613
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1739788612

A Horror Book Review by James Bennett

Adam Nevill (‘The Ritual’, ‘No One Here Gets Out Alive’) will need no introduction to Horror fiction fans. Known for consistently delivering stand-out and genuinely frightening novels, ‘The Vessel’ is no different, presenting an absorbing chiller that once again takes a slice of working class British life and infuses it with Machensian folk horror.

Financially struggling Jess McMachen (nice nod there) accepts a position in a grand old house to care for the elderly Flo Gardener, a wealthy and once well-regarded dementia patient. The renumeration promises a new life away from an abusive ex for Jess and her young daughter Izzy, a persistent menace on the edge of their impoverished world. At first, Jess is able to overlook the disordered state of the house and the rudeness of her co-worker, not to mention the bizarre, hostile attitude of her charge. But Nerthus House hides a dark and powerful secret. What are the strange artefacts littering its halls? What lurks in the trees at the back of the garden? And where does the seemingly wheelchair-bound Flo go at night, defying all comfort and reason? When the old woman begins to exert an ominous hold over Jess’s daughter, these mysteries start to unravel with terrifying results…

‘The Vessel’ excels in setting and atmosphere from the off. Nevill captures the situational contrast of borderline poverty and faded splendour with authenticity and aplomb. Layered on top of this are believable and heartfelt characters who carry the carefully threaded enigmas and increasing weirdness, drawing you into their world with relatable challenges and fears. Meanwhile, the tension ratchets up in a fashion that the author’s long-time readers have come to know and love. There’s an unsettling scene as Jess goes hunting in the mansion at night and finds herself plunging into a confined, ritualistic space, wondering whether she’s truly alone in the house. Oddities abound, such as levitating figures, unexplained relics and half-sketched monsters off in the trees, speaking of ages out of time and reckoning. It’s this juxtaposition of the modern and the ancient world, the struggle between them, that infuses much of Nevill’s work and always with such a delicious degree of grace and dread.

The past whispers from old photo albums and neighbourly gossip, and early on you suspect there is more to proceedings than the usual haunting. A palpable sadness pervades the novel and the effect is remarkable considering its length (‘The Vessel’ was originally conceived as a film script, the author tells us in his afterword. And like ‘Cunning Folk’ before it, what a film it would make!) There’s an undercurrent about how we treat our old folks that’s hard to ignore and unlike in previous outings, the line between hero and villain seems less well-defined, adding an unexpected depth to the otherwise pacy ride. No word is wasted here with inner monologues and exposition pared down to a literary knifepoint.

As all the weirdness mounts to a nail-biting climax, one can only admire Nevill’s tireless genius anew as ‘The Vessel’ delivers another thrilling ghost train ride through modern folk Horror, resulting in a novel that will (again) easily stand among his finest work, and as one of this reader’s favourite Horror novels of the year.

An outstanding, unnerving experience.

THE VESSEL
BY ADAM NEVILL

An eerie folk horror novel from the author of Cunning Folk, The Reddening, The Ritual, No One Gets Out Alive and the four times winner of the August Derleth Award for Best Horror Novel.

'A watcher may remark that after sleeping for so long, the building appears to have been roused.'

Struggling with money, raising a child alone and fleeing a volatile ex, Jess McMachen accepts a job caring for an elderly patient. Flo Gardner - a disturbed shut-in and invalid. But if Jess can hold this job down, she and her daughter, Izzy, can begin a new life.

Flo's vast home, Nerthus House, may resemble a stately vicarage in an idyllic village, but the labyrinthine interior is a dark, cluttered warren filled with pagan artefacts. And Nerthus House lives in the shadow of a malevolent secret. A sinister enigma determined to reveal itself to Jess and to drive her to the end of her tether. Not only is she stricken by the malign manipulation of the Vicarage's bleak past, but mercurial Flo is soon casting a baleful influence over young Izzy. What appeared to be a routine job soon becomes a battle for Jess's sanity and the control of her child.

It's as if an ancient ritual was triggered when Jess crossed the threshold of the vicarage. A rite leading her and Izzy to a terrifying critical mass, where all will be lost or saved.

James Bennett

James Bennett is a British writer raised in Sussex and South Africa. His travels have furnished him with an abiding love of different cultures, history and mythology. His short fiction has appeared internationally and his debut novel CHASING EMBERS was shortlisted for Best Newcomer at the British Fantasy Awards 2017.

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