Publisher's Weekly Review
Originally released in 1990 as a limited edition, this atmospheric and understated novella may not be one of Straub's most original or compelling works, but it does exemplify his supreme ability to transform a relatively pedestrian story line into one of nightmare-inducing terror through imagery, symbolism, and motif. When English professor William Standish is awarded a prestigious three-week fellowship at an English estate with a rich history of legendary literary guests, he all but abandons his pregnant wife for the opportunity to study the obscure works of his grandfather's first wife, poet Isobel Standish. The idyllic manor harbors more than a few sinister secrets, and Standish is soon drawn into its darkness. The unconventional conclusion may leave some horror aficionados less than satisfied, but hardcore Straub fans will applaud the downright creepy revelations at story's end. Agent: David Gernert. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
William Standish gets what he hopes is his entree to the prestige track in modern-lit studies when he is invited to Esswood, an English country house once frequented by the gods of high modernism and his grandfather's first wife. There he intends to complete his work on Isobel Standish's poetry, more of which resides in manuscript in Esswood's archives. In effect fleeing his pregnant wife, whose first child he insisted be aborted, he encounters little but strangeness on the road and upon arrival at Esswood. Despite the beauty of the place, things just become stranger for Standish, who ultimately melts down, thanks to malignity in the house as well as his tortured psyche. Appearing first in Houses without Doors (1990), then, lengthened, in a limited edition, Straub's novella emerges once more in a general trade printing. Not as polished, though fully as intricate, as Straub's recent work, in the right hands it could, however, become a haunted-house movie more shockingly eldritch than the 1961 Turn of the Screw adaptation, The Innocents, not to mention Stanley Kubrick's The Shining.--Olson, Ray Copyright 2010 Booklist
Library Journal Review
English professor William Standish leaves his pregnant wife for England to participate in a prestigious fellowship at the Esswood House. An institution quietly famous in scholarly circles for its former literary guests-think D.H. Lawrence and T.S. Eliot-Esswood House is manned by the reclusive Seneschals, the eccentric family in residence. As Standish conducts scholarly research on his "almost grandmother," the little-known poet Isobel, he begins to witness strange occurrences. The novella culminates with a dark, distinctive take on birth and death. Originally published in the 2002 collection Houses Without Doors, Straub's distinctive horror story makes excellent use of foreshadowing; the addled vagrants and hostile locals are an homage to traditional ghost stories. Furthermore, the main character must resolve a great deal of internal and external conflict, and this only heightens the story's superb pacing. Straub also offers a tongue-in-cheek portrayal of academia through Standish. Straub (A Dark Matter), of course, needs little introduction as a renowned horror and suspense novelist with many awards to his credit. VERDICT Horror fans will appreciate both the traditional and the nontraditional literary elements of this novella; Straub fans will simply appreciate his work.--Rebecca M. Marrall, Western Washington Univ. Libs., -Bellingham (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
