David Haynes

This is the first horror story from this Master of the Macabre which is set entirely in modern times. It's all the more horrid for that!

Beneath the Boards

Amazon .com Beneath the Boards

My Review -

I’ve read and enjoyed the Victorian horror stories by David Haynes but this is the first set entirely in the present day. Perhaps because of that, I found it more intense, more creepy, because it seemed closer to the modern life I recognise. Jim Stokes is a policeman who takes early retirement on medical grounds because he was stabbed in the line of duty. After suffering flashbacks and being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, he buys a cottage by a lake in a remote area with a view to leaving the terrors behind him. He is still troubled by frightening visual images of the stabbing but he becomes convinced that there is something in the cottage with him. This is where it begins to be really scary.

This story pulled me in from the very beginning and is full of action. Because most of it is from Jim’s point of view, we are drawn down into the nightmare he suffers, witness it from his point of view and learn the awful truth about the small community he has joined. It’s a great story, a classic horror and I hope David Haynes doesn’t slip back into Victoriana without a fight!