Thomas Olde Heuvelt - Hex

[cauldronbrewer]

I've been on a 2010s horror novel kick lately, so I gave Thomas Olde Heuvelt's Hex a shot. Not being fluent in Dutch, I read the English version, translated by Nancy Forest-Flier and substantially revised by the author in the process (for one, he shifted the setting from the Netherlands to the Hudson Valley in New York). The story is about a town haunted by a centuries-old witch. Someone has sewn her eyes and mouth shut, and any attempt to cut the stitches leads to disaster. The town uses surveillance cameras and high-tech security to keep the witch a secret because outsiders invariably try to tamper with her. I liked the setup better than the follow-through, but fans of Adam Nevill might appreciate how the book's folk horror elements intrude on a modern setting with bleak results.

[helrunar]

Interesting review, Cauldron Brewer.

"I liked the set-up but not the follow-through so much" sums up my reaction to so many books, films and TV shows of the past decade to which I have been exposed. But really, I've seen very few because the results of what I did make time for were so often disappointing.

cheers, Hel.

[Dr Strange]

Apr 30, 2021 11:27:40 GMT cauldronbrewer said:

I've been on a 2010s horror novel kick lately, so I gave Thomas Olde Heuvelt's Hex a shot. Not being fluent in Dutch, I read the English version, translated by Nancy Forest-Flier and substantially revised by the author in the process (for one, he shifted the setting from the Netherlands to the Hudson Valley in New York). The story is about a town haunted by a centuries-old witch. Someone has sewn her eyes and mouth shut, and any attempt to cut the stitches leads to disaster. The town uses surveillance cameras and high-tech security to keep the witch a secret because outsiders invariably try to tamper with her. I liked the setup better than the follow-through, but fans of Adam Nevill might appreciate how the book's folk horror elements intrude on a modern setting with bleak results.

I've read that too and felt much the same about it. I found it difficult to really buy in to the set-up, which reminded me a bit too much of the film The Cabin in the Woods. I always struggle with stories where it turns out that the government, the military, the local town council, or whoever know the supernatural is real but decide to (and are somehow able to) keep it a secret from everyone else. Funnily enough, I was just looking at possibly re-reading a couple of horror novels from around that time myself - The Darkening (2009) by Stephen M. Irwin (set in present-day Australia, but with a Celtic/pagan folk-horror vibe, I don't remember much about it now other than it involves witches, forests, and spiders) and The Edinburgh Dead (2011) by Brian Ruckley (set in Edinburgh in 1828, I loved this first time around - a bit Frankenstein, but with a more definite supernatural basis, I think there may be black magic and demons involved but can't really remember now).

[hermit]

I have only read this once a while ago. I thought it was one of the better heavily promoted horror novels thats been hyped up. at least for me anyway, its still on my bookshelf.

i enjoyed the read, it kept me wanting to continue and at the end keep it, not donate it to charity shop.