Slade House is a strange little book. The start is very strong, the middle is repetitive and the end feels like a tagged on battle of good versus evil.
It’s told in sections of nine year intervals and is based in and around Slade House, a place out of time, protecting two soul-sucking vampires. Although most of the characters are adult, it feels like a young adult story in its simplicity. Many of the scenes are strange and surreal. Repetition of time, place and action is a theme of the book, however this makes the middle part a little boring.
The first part or chapter, “The Right Sort” set in 1979, is a delight. Like the rest of the book, it’s told in first person. The boy at the centre of this section is well drawn, most likely on the autism spectrum and makes an engaging hero come victim. If the whole book could have somehow maintained the magic of this first part I would have been very impressed and scouring David Mitchell’s back catalogue for more.
The villains are more frightening in the early chapters, when we don’t understand what they are. I guess this can be true in life as well. As the book progresses we learn the history of Jonah and Norah, and the revelations, while interesting, detract from the tension of the narrative. In the final part “Astronauts” we see them as they truly are through the first person point of view of Norah herself. She reveals their petty scraps of humanity. The twist at the end works, although I honestly hope we don’t get a sequel.
It could be the perfect book for introducing your younglings to creepy house stories without giving them nightmares, but for a hardened horror nerd, like me, it offers very little.
4/5 stars, mostly because the start is so good.
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