The Elementals

McDowell has got that sweet balance between atmospheric and supernatural horror down to an art. This book kept me on the edge of my seat almost the whole way through and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. The Elementals is basically architectural horror a la [b:House of Leaves 24800 House of Leaves Mark Z. Danielewski https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1403889034l/24800.SX50.jpg 856555] meets a touch of Edgar Allan Poe and a good dash of Stephen King.The McCray and Savage families have always been inseparable - for generations, they have been neighbours in Beldame, Alabama, owning Victorian houses in the remote small peninsula that is occasionally cut off from the rest of the town by high tide. But there's also a third house next to theirs, supposedly unoccupied through the decades or centuries and now threatening to be eroded by the sand dune that has built up next to it. When the Savage matriarch, Marian Savage, passes away suddenly, the families decides to go back to Beldame to recover and pick up the pieces of their individual relationships. But the sand gets everywhere.The suspense and horror in this book was exquisite. It doesn't rely so much on jumpscare or graphic moments, but slowly builds up a creepy sense of uneasiness that something isn't quite right, before occasionally plunging you into an EEEK! moment. There were moments in this book that actually elicited a hair-raising response from me and for that, this is already a 5 star. I was even a little spooked to be reading this at 3.30am and being the last one awake in the house.At the same time, the premise of this book isn't just... ghosts. There's something a bit more complex than that, and it keeps the book fresh and interesting. There's clearly a haunted house in the book, but what exactly is haunting it? Without going too much into spoilers, I'll just say that McDowell keeps you guessing right till the end. It's an interesting concept that would certainly ruminate in my mind for a while to come.Overall, I cannot but highly recommend this book for fans of architectural and atmospheric horror, or really just anyone looking for a thoroughly spooky read.