The Harrowing
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Baird College's Mendenhall echoes with the footsteps of the last home-bound students heading off for Thanksgiving break, and Robin Stone swears she can feel the creepy, hundred-year-old residence hall breathe a sigh of relief for its long-awaited solitude. Or perhaps it's only gathering itself for the coming weekend.
As a massive storm dumps rain on the isolated campus, four other lonely students reveal themselves: Patrick, a handsome jock; Lisa, a manipulative tease; Cain, a brooding musician; and finally Martin, a scholarly eccentric. Each has forsaken a long weekend at home for their own secret reasons.
The five unlikely companions establish a tentative rapport, but they soon become aware of a sixth presence disturbing the ominous silence that pervades the building. Are they the victims of a simple college prank taken way too far, or is the unusual energy evidence of something genuine---and intent on using the five students for its own terrifying ends? It's only Thursday afternoon, and they have three long days and dark nights before the rest of the world returns to find out what's become of them. But for now it's just the darkness keeping company with five students nobody wants and no one will miss.
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I'm not sure I get the bad reviews on this one. The Harrowing showed up on a list of awesome horror you may have missed list (Bookriot, most likely, but don't quote me). I threw it on the TBR list. I'm kind of a sucker for isolated tales of horror. I was also in the mood for something that did not, a la most Scooby Doo, turn out to have a human Big Bad.
What I loved about this is the mid-90's/early 2000's setting (clear from the lack of smartphones and the sheer shock of one character's “idea” of looking stuff up on the world wide web. Lol. We have a pretty decent character in Robin- she is clearly depressed, suffering from imposter syndrome, and dealing with a hell of a home life. The setting was pretty damned gothic, the historical details about the ouija board were awesome, and I thought this was pretty fast-paced. I, like other readers, thought the characters were going to be isolated for the whole book and was surprised to find out that wasn't the case, but small potatoes.
This description: “Waverly Todd was beautiful. Apart from that, she had no redeeming qualities.” pg 12. Bwah! Excellent!
I mean, it was exactly what I was in the mood for: demon-summoning seances, a gothic setting, characters who actually take the time to research their situation, and who do not run from a fight. They could have taken off but they ran BACK into the action to try and reset what had begun. We are talking about trying to study for finals while also dealing with demonic rape and possessions all over the place.
This was a solid, 4-star horror read.
