The Woman in Black in The Roundtable

May 28, 2016 Viv JM rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2016, horror, audio, author-female, gothic

The Woman in Black is a short, spooky and terribly English ghost story. The author does a great job of setting up a gloomy and gothic atmosphere, with descriptions of fog and marshes and the remoteness of Eel Marsh House.

I listened to the audiobook of this, narrated by Paul Ansdell, and I think he was a superb choice. He was especially good at conveying the utter terror of Arthur Kipps at encountering the woman in black.

Recommended if you want a short but scary read or listen!

13 likes · Like · see review

Nov 10, 2015 Christopher rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, audiobooks, british, horror, novellas

In no other genre is setting more important than in horror. To be really scared, you need a place that traps you, sucks you into its dark heart and doesn't let you go. So it is with Eel Marsh House, a rotting old mansion set at the end of a causeway that disappears twice a day under the rising tide. Once the water comes up, you don't leave. Arthur Kipps, a dull clerk charged with settling a dead woman's estate, is the recording angel sent to witness and relay for us all the ghostly movements wit ...more

11 likes · Like · see review

Dec 17, 2011 El rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: horror, 20th-centurylit-late

I'm enjoying using this month to get caught up on things I probably wouldn't normally get around to reading by taking a break from the things I normally do feel the need to read right freaking now. This is a good example. I wanted to read it because, of course, the movie comes out soon-ish, and I'm totally excited to see Harry Potter play someone other than Harry Potter (and doesn't involve him taking his clothes off with animals on stage). And my friend owned a copy which made it easier for me ...more

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Oct 13, 2014 Petra rated it liked it · review of another edition

I listened to this while jogging. It's a fun, spooky, gothic story with terror, palpitations, fog, moors.....it's atmospheric, to say the least.
This is a short story. There's a lot left unsaid and unresolved. The ending is fitting and yet unexplained.
A fun story but feels a bit unfinished. ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Oct 27, 2017 Wendy rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks, gothic, 2017

I appreciated the authentic Victorian vibes of this atmospheric tale, but I wanted more—a modern twist perhaps. There’s some good, slow-building creepiness but the ending was quite predictable.

1 like · Like · see review

Feb 23, 2017 Elise rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: women, 1980s, spooky, read-in-2017, historical

The prose effectively creates a spooky atmosphere and it's cool to read a Victorian-style gothic tale without committing to 700+ pages, but the hauntings are pretty damn limp and the only good character is the dog. ...more

1 like · Like · see review