Those Who Dwell in Mordenhyrst Hall by Catherine Cavendish
I would like to thank Flame Tress press and Random Things Tours for an advance copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review
Publisher - Flame Tree press
Published - 13/2
Price - £12.95 paperback £3.82 Kindle ebook
Evil runs deep at Mordenhyrst Hall…
When Grace first sets eyes on the imposing Gothic Mordenhyrst Hall, she is struck with an overwhelming sense that something doesn’t want her there. Her fiancé’s sister heads a coterie of Bright Young Things whose frivolous lives hide a sinister intent. Simon, Grace’s fiancé, is not the man she fell in love with, and the local villagers eye her with suspicion that borders on malevolence.
Her friend, Coralie, possesses the ability to communicate with powerful spirits. She convinces Grace of her own paranormal gifts – gifts Grace will need to draw deeply on as the secrets of Mordenhyrst Hall begin to unravel.
One of the most scary encounters is meeting your partner’s family for the first time. What happens if they don’t like you? Or if you don’t get along? What will your partner do if there is no seal of approval? In Catherine Cavendish’s highly enjoyable historical horror novel Those Who Dwell in Mordenhyrst Hall we get a glamorous 1920s set tale of love, class, snobbery and added in for good measure the supernatural and extreme danger.
Grace is the eligible daughter of a wealthy Yorkshire businessman who in 1928 is bowled over by Simon Mordenhyrst the popular heir to one of Britain’s most historical Nobel families. But Grace’s father is worried and warns her that the Mordenhyrsts have an ominous reputation. Grace is still though happy to be engaged and Simon whisks Grace away to Mordenhyrst Hall to meet his father and his elder sister Cecilia. Who very quickly shows her disapproval of Grace entering the family. As well as dealing with Cecilia’s very annoying and snobbish friends she finds Simon changing into a colder and more distant man and a constant stream of suspicious glances when she enters the local village. Something is wrong in this house and Grace finds it’s has set its targets on her.
I really enjoyed the two streams of this story that complement each other. On the non-supernatural side the horror is how Grace is treated. Although it becomes clear Grace is wealthier than the family her decidedly ‘middle-class’ background means she is not viewed as worthy of Simon. It is cringing upper class games and ‘banter’ plus lots of put downs to everything Grace does to make her feel unwelcome. It’s a really interesting battle of wills as Cecilia is the key antagonist and watching how Grace learns to play her is both interesting and highly enjoyable.
The other stream is very much how the Mordenhyrsts, their home and village all feel wrong. We get rumours of inbreeding, strange family legends and mysterious sights and sounds slowly building up and clearly Claire is in trouble. We get as an ally the appearance of a wealthy American heiress Coralie; who is Black and subject to the scorn of the upper classes which adds another dimension to these but Coralie is more attuned to the supernatural and starts to aid Claire in working out what is going on. The resolution of the story goes in directions I wasn’t expecting and is strange and indeed sinister yet weirdly fits a tale of how the upper classes can think they’re above the everyone else.
Those Who Dwell at Mordenhyest Hall is a very good historical horror capturing the period, the perspective on the classes and mixed in some very satisfying scenes of horror. Highly enjoyable and well worth your time!
