Once (Paperback)

The story surrounds Thom Kindred returning to his childhood home after suffering a stroke, and finds more than he bargains for, this was such a well written book and my 1st by JH, I had heard from reviews that this is maybe not the best of JH's books to read but, I really enjoyed it, but watch out for the bits about the spiders, that really creeped me out!

A brilliant book, and if you have any interest in Faeries or Wicca I am sure you will love it!

So imagine my excitement when ONCE came out, immediantly I seized it, (paid for this time!- a present) in Hardback, not wasting time, I read the whole thing in an afternoon.
I was very disappointed. What can I say...it had a familiar ring to it, Herbert wrote, the fantastic "The Magic Cottage", ONCE was a watered down version.
Both have a Magical Cottage with strange things happening, while the occupier tried to figure out what was going on and what was going "bump in the night", both showed the "good" and the "bad" slowly emerging out of the woodwork. Both have a Forest. Both feature the Baddie being defeated. This did not feel like Herbert usual sharp rivetting style at all.
Instead it felt like a Writer who has writers block, and is desperately grabbing at old stuff and trying to churn it into new and Modern.
Inshort: RE-cycled. To read one review who compared him to JK Rowling is an insult to an Old Fan of Herberts.

The book is Pretty, illustrations will never be replace our imagination, and all I felt that effect acheived was just to reassure me that it wasn't as horrible as my imagination pictured!

After reading ONCE, I picked up my old Hardback of The Magic Cottage (of which I have two, one signed by Herbert himself years ago) and was convinced that, yes, he has lost the "magic" with his new offering.

Herbert, please restore my faith in you!
ONCE has no BITE at all.. "For adults"? Only the sexually explicit scene with a faery and a lesbian rape. Something cheap and nasty to be found in Adult mags lining the top shelf.
He has alway had a Sex-horror element in a few of his work, but it was there for a reason.This was just thrown in to pep-up the bland storyline.

I recommend MAGIC COTTAGE, ONCE you read that,(pardon the pun),you will know what I mean, to all old fans of Herbert, I am sure you will agree with me.

A friend of mine says his story are often very 'twee' and British, and it has to be said this follows the previous novels like The Magic Cottage, Haunted, etc etc very well. The old fashioned ghost stories are certainly a genre of the past when looking over the new horror releases and it is refreshing the James comes along every year or so to gives us another fix.

Not his best really but a solid interesting and spooky tale with the undertones of an adult fairy story. Sexual in nature, with portions taken from his other works... but he writes such a fine yarn that you are taken along at pace. The haunted woods , mansion , cottage are all here, and sewn together with a needle full of witchcraft.

If you've read his other stuff you know what your getting... if not try The Fog or the Rats trilogy first.

Recommended!