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It was a tragic accident. That's what his family told Joe Nightingale, but the boy is tormented by sinister visions of his mother s death.
Seven months after the fatal car crash, the Nightingales learn they have inherited an old house from a distant relative, the reclusive Muriel Sutton. Hoping to escape the shadows of the past, they decide to spend the summer at Daecher's Mill. But darker shadows await them...
Who are the guests that have been brought here over the years? Why did the late Muriel Sutton murder her little sister, Alice? And what is the connection between Joe and this lonely Fenland millhouse? Something is moving in the attic. It looks and sounds like a little girl, but its eyes are old and its voice runs like water...
It is a weaver of shadows. A creature of Absence...
'Bill Hussey is the new Clive Barker.' Sarah Pinborough, author of The Taken
'Bill Hussey deserves to sit alongside Ramsey Campbell as one the UK's finest spinners of ghost stories' Bookgeeks
'A new master of horror.' Fatally Yours
'A strong new voice in crime and horror.' Rue Morgue
'One of the best debuts in years.' The DarkSide Magazine
'A master of psychological terror.' Speculative Fiction Junkie
Seven months after the fatal car crash, the Nightingales learn they have inherited an old house from a distant relative, the reclusive Muriel Sutton. Hoping to escape the shadows of the past, they decide to spend the summer at Daecher's Mill. But darker shadows await them...
Who are the guests that have been brought here over the years? Why did the late Muriel Sutton murder her little sister, Alice? And what is the connection between Joe and this lonely Fenland millhouse? Something is moving in the attic. It looks and sounds like a little girl, but its eyes are old and its voice runs like water...
It is a weaver of shadows. A creature of Absence...
'Bill Hussey is the new Clive Barker.' Sarah Pinborough, author of The Taken
'Bill Hussey deserves to sit alongside Ramsey Campbell as one the UK's finest spinners of ghost stories' Bookgeeks
'A new master of horror.' Fatally Yours
'A strong new voice in crime and horror.' Rue Morgue
'One of the best debuts in years.' The DarkSide Magazine
'A master of psychological terror.' Speculative Fiction Junkie
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A friend recommended Bill Hussey's first book - `Through a Glass, Darkly' - to me when it came out last year. I picked it up from my local bookshop and finished it in one sitting. I remember thinking how writing such a good first novel must be a mixed blessing - how on earth do you follow it up? Well, I needn't have feared - with this new book Hussey has developed as a writer and produced another thrilling and gut-wrenching reading experience. This is an original horror story told with real depth and with beautiful, atmospheric prose.
Joe Nightingale is a young boy crippled by the guilt surrounding his mother's death. His brother Bobby has been psychologically scarred by the suicide of his best friend. Their father Richard has his own dark thoughts to contend with. Into this world of fear and remorse comes news that the Nightingales have inherited a house from a distant relative. The family spend the summer in their new home and hope in that the isolated property will allow them a measure of peace. Instead they find an ancient horror waiting in the shadows...
The family-at-war scenario may seem familiar but in `The Absence' is it taken to horrific new levels. The emotional conflict between these characters slams out of the page and hits the reader square between the eyes. The other aspect to the book I found impressive was the atmosphere of the Fens - as with his first book, Hussey has a unique ability to transport the reader to the scene of the action. This world of damp marshes and stagnant waterways is brought eerily to life - you can almost feel the sweating Fen mist on your face!
Then we come to the horrors! I read this on a warm spring afternoon, the sun blazing, but I couldn't help shivering. Despite the almost poetic, lilting language of the prose, there are some brutal and truly frightening nuggets tucked away here. Still, it struck me that the really horrific stuff comes, not from the supernatural episodes - although those are scary enough - but from the domestic horrors that occur between the Nightingale family. Hussey has tapped into the most frightening thing about human life - not ghosts and ghouls - but the shadows of past sins and how we inflict pain and misery on those we love. Some of the horrible things the Nightingales do to each other in `The Absence' left me breathless.
So do yourself a favour: take Hussey's hand and let him lead you through the Fen mist and into the darkness of `the Shadow House'. You won't regret it.
Joe Nightingale is a young boy crippled by the guilt surrounding his mother's death. His brother Bobby has been psychologically scarred by the suicide of his best friend. Their father Richard has his own dark thoughts to contend with. Into this world of fear and remorse comes news that the Nightingales have inherited a house from a distant relative. The family spend the summer in their new home and hope in that the isolated property will allow them a measure of peace. Instead they find an ancient horror waiting in the shadows...
The family-at-war scenario may seem familiar but in `The Absence' is it taken to horrific new levels. The emotional conflict between these characters slams out of the page and hits the reader square between the eyes. The other aspect to the book I found impressive was the atmosphere of the Fens - as with his first book, Hussey has a unique ability to transport the reader to the scene of the action. This world of damp marshes and stagnant waterways is brought eerily to life - you can almost feel the sweating Fen mist on your face!
Then we come to the horrors! I read this on a warm spring afternoon, the sun blazing, but I couldn't help shivering. Despite the almost poetic, lilting language of the prose, there are some brutal and truly frightening nuggets tucked away here. Still, it struck me that the really horrific stuff comes, not from the supernatural episodes - although those are scary enough - but from the domestic horrors that occur between the Nightingale family. Hussey has tapped into the most frightening thing about human life - not ghosts and ghouls - but the shadows of past sins and how we inflict pain and misery on those we love. Some of the horrible things the Nightingales do to each other in `The Absence' left me breathless.
So do yourself a favour: take Hussey's hand and let him lead you through the Fen mist and into the darkness of `the Shadow House'. You won't regret it.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Once again plumbing the depths of folklore, Bill Hussey crafts another winner with "The Absence". As with "Through A Glass Darkly," Hussey's prose is lyrical and flowing, but "The Absence" moves at a quicker pace than its predecessor. It's story doesn't lose any strength, however, and in many ways is more poignant: it's hard to pin down the ultimate villain. That's not to say there's no resolution, but rather to highlight one of its key themes: there's darkness in everyone, and though we fight it as best we can, often it consumes us in the end.
Seven months ago, the Nightingale family suffered the worst tragedy a family can endure: the loss of a beloved parent, Janet Nightingale - mother and wife. Worse yet, it happened in a car accident in which the eldest son Joe was driving. Joe believes he's responsible for his mother's death, but he carries his burden silently, alone.
Richard Nightingale grieves for the loss of his wife, but really - he lost Janet long ago. An alcoholic carrying on a four year affair, Richard lost Janet to something he cannot define or understand, and worst of all, he can never tell Joe or his youngest son Bobby. To them, he's an uncaring, alcoholic father who's been cheating on their mother. Bobby struggles with strange desires he can't accept, and like his brother and father, they limp along on their separate, solitary paths.
They're disconnected, dysfunctional, and falling away from each other: the perfect targets for evil. There's a secret buried in Janet's past, and it comes for them when they're willed a mill house and summer home from an unknown, distant relative. For Richard, it's a last chance to try and save his family. They pack up and travel to the countryside to spend the summer at Daecher's Mill restoring the house, as well as themselves. However, something ancient and malevolent awaits them in the mill's wet shadows. It knows their secrets and savors their fears. Before the end, it will show them their worst nightmares come true.
"The Absence" brims with raw, unbridled emotion. As in his first novel, Hussy's narrative is rich, vivid, and engaging. The domestic strife of the Nightingales is real and troubling, and when mixed with Hussey's keen knowledge of myth and folklore, an engrossing story is born. There is hope here, but also the foreboding sense that a dark destiny awaits the Nightingales, one they can't escape without dread sacrifice. The only question is: who will pay?
Seven months ago, the Nightingale family suffered the worst tragedy a family can endure: the loss of a beloved parent, Janet Nightingale - mother and wife. Worse yet, it happened in a car accident in which the eldest son Joe was driving. Joe believes he's responsible for his mother's death, but he carries his burden silently, alone.
Richard Nightingale grieves for the loss of his wife, but really - he lost Janet long ago. An alcoholic carrying on a four year affair, Richard lost Janet to something he cannot define or understand, and worst of all, he can never tell Joe or his youngest son Bobby. To them, he's an uncaring, alcoholic father who's been cheating on their mother. Bobby struggles with strange desires he can't accept, and like his brother and father, they limp along on their separate, solitary paths.
They're disconnected, dysfunctional, and falling away from each other: the perfect targets for evil. There's a secret buried in Janet's past, and it comes for them when they're willed a mill house and summer home from an unknown, distant relative. For Richard, it's a last chance to try and save his family. They pack up and travel to the countryside to spend the summer at Daecher's Mill restoring the house, as well as themselves. However, something ancient and malevolent awaits them in the mill's wet shadows. It knows their secrets and savors their fears. Before the end, it will show them their worst nightmares come true.
"The Absence" brims with raw, unbridled emotion. As in his first novel, Hussy's narrative is rich, vivid, and engaging. The domestic strife of the Nightingales is real and troubling, and when mixed with Hussey's keen knowledge of myth and folklore, an engrossing story is born. There is hope here, but also the foreboding sense that a dark destiny awaits the Nightingales, one they can't escape without dread sacrifice. The only question is: who will pay?
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A haunting, poignant ghost story. A thriller of family conflict and heartbreaking tragedy. This is so much deeper, so much richer, than the average horror novel. The layers include a rich mythology, complex relationships and an atmosphere so tense that, by the end of the book, my fingernails had gouged through the cover! All this coupled with scenes of true terror - watch out for the resurrected baby! - combine to produce one of the most memorable books I have ever read. Sarah Pinbourgh has called Bill Hussey 'the new Clive Barker' but I would compare this book to another great horror master -
'The Absence' is `The Shining' for a new generation.
'The Absence' is `The Shining' for a new generation.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
The Absence
I loved "Through a Glass Darkly", the debut novel by Bill Hussey, but his second is even better. This horror novel is about the Nightingale family, two sons, Joe and Bobby and... Read more
Published 11 months ago by book fan
Some good ideas, but obfuscated
The Absence tries to follow the story of a highly dysfunctional family comprised of alcoholic widower father Richard Nightingale and his two sons, Joe and Bobby, the latter of... Read more
Published 20 months ago by Green Man Music
The absence . . . of a scary bad guy
Having read "Through A Glass Darkly" and loved every second of it I wanted to gobble up everything ever written by this author. Read more
Published on 13 May 2010 by Nicola Hepworth
Old material, fresh paint.
If I had a penny for every horror book about an evil spirit in the form of a female child with long hair (no spoilers) I would be far better off. Read more
Published on 18 Mar 2010 by Mr. G. Battle
Epilogue Ruined It
I agree wholeheartedly with the 4-star review that says the epilogue ruined it. What I liked about this book was that it delved a bit deeper into the characters and the local... Read more
Published on 19 Dec 2009 by S. Caughie
Really Dissapointed
I bought this book because I had previously read Through a Glass, Darkly from the same author and it is one of my favourite books. Read more
Published on 10 Aug 2009 by Mr. P. Patterson
Excellent Addition to the Genre.
Joe Nightingale is a young man haunted by the car accident which killed his mother. It was an accident, but he was the one driving, and he watched his mother die before him. Read more
Published on 19 July 2009 by Michelle Moore
Nothing absent in Hussey's work
When Joe Nightingale drove through a storm, too fast in a show-off car, the resulting accident killed his mother. Read more
Published on 20 May 2009 by Geoff Nelder
Another stunning work from this author
This second book by Bill Hussey is probably even better than his debut triumph, "Through A Glass Darkly". Read more
Published on 23 April 2009 by Laurence Ben-Nathan
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