Burn, Witch, Burn!

A fascinating tale of creepy dolls, witchcraft and mafia. The dolls give a certain Chucky vibe, although this story considerably predates that. In many ways the age of this is surprising - first published in 1933 a lot of features of this novel feel impressively contemporary. The language suffers less from the biases of the period than some other novels I have read from a similar time period. Yes, the prose is very much of its time but it does not hurt the story telling too much at all. The vaguely scientific style fits the main protagonist (a physician) very well really, although it does give it a somewhat stilted feel. Included in the edition I read was some clever promotional material in the form of a note from the author that alluded to Dr Lovell being a real person which was a fun touch. The creepiness of dolls is something that has always stood with me, and this novel riffs on that in a very nice way.

Intriguing that this novel, very popular in its time (and largely contemporaneous with Lovecraft - Lovecraft has even written approvingly of it) is largely forgotten. Whilst it is not as innovative as Lovecraft it is certainly more accessible.