THE MAGIC COTTAGE - James Herbert

[tristan]

Well, I've just read this for the first time since 1987 - the year of its paperback release (I brought this with from my first every wage packet!).

Though it lacked the usual 'nastiness' of his early books - I thoroughly enjoyed the premise...I don't want to give anything away to those who may yet read it...but I felt it all kind of turned Spielberg towards the end....

So...do most of you feel it was with THE MAGIC COTTAGE where Herbert made the conscious effort to shake off his pulp horror roots or do you feel it was earlier...with, probably, MOON or SHRINE.....

Tristan

[rolnikov]

I think it was the last of his books I read...

[Deleted]

I don't think Herbert's ever tried to 'shake off' his pulp roots (a novel like '48 is about as pulpy as anything he's ever done), but he has on occasion tried to show that he has other facets to him - things like Fluke and The Magic Cottage. Unfortunately, these tend to be his less enjoyable books.

[tristan]

Mar 5, 2011 20:46:58 GMT @rolnikov said:

I think it was the last of his books I read...

NOBODY TRUE was a cracker!

I reread LAIR, THE SPEAR and THE JONAH last year and I'm looking forward to THE FOG and THE DARK later this year (not since the 80s I enjoyed these).

But MAGIC COTTAGE just seemed so off-key with his earlier work.

[tristan]

Mar 5, 2011 21:21:45 GMT @johnforth said:

I don't think Herbert's ever tried to 'shake off' his pulp roots (a novel like '48 is about as pulpy as anything he's ever done), but he has on occasion tried to show that he has other facets to him - things like Fluke and The Magic Cottage. Unfortunately, these tend to be his less enjoyable books.

I'll look out for 48 - thanks

[andydecker]

James Herbert - Magic Cottage (Hodder & Stoughton, 1986, 309 pages, this edition NEL, 1989)

Cover found on the net. Thanks to the original scanner

"We thought we'd found our haven, a cottage deep in the heart of the forest. Quaint, charming, maybe a little run-down, but so peaceful. The woodland animals and birds couldn't have been more neighbourly. That was the first part of the Magic. Midge's painting and my music soared to new heights of creativity. That was another part of the Magic. Our sensing, our feelings, our love for each other - well, that became the supreme Magic. But the cottage had an alternative side. The Bad Magic. What happened to us there was horrendous beyond belief. The miracles, the healings, the crazy sect who wanted our home for themselves, the hideous creatures that crawled from the nether regions, and the bats - oh God, the bats! Even now those horrible things seem impossible to me. Yet they happened..."

A change of pace for Herbert. After his paranormal serial killer tale in Moon and before his occult thriller Sepulchre this is more slow and subtle.

[goathunter]

I loved Herbert's books...until The Magic Cottage. I hated it, and I only read two or three after that.

Shrine is still my favorite, though I honestly remember nothing about it anymore. I just remember that at the time, I thought it was his best work.