Book Review
Oct. 17th, 2022 08:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kenjariHex
by Thomas Olde Heuvelt
The town of Black Spring in the Hudson River valley is both haunted and cursed by Katherine van Wyler, who was hung in 1664 for witchcraft. When she later refused to stay entirely dead, her eyes and mouth were sewn shut and she was bound in chains. That still hasn't stopped her from haunting the town, appearing in homes, on the streets, and in the woods. The residents know that if her eyes are ever opened, something terrible will happen. But the residents can never move away, as after too much time away from the town they are overcome by a the curse. To cope with Katherine, the town has leveraged modern surveillance technology to track her movements and keep er a secret from outsiders. However, some of the town's youth have begun to chafe under the strictures of the curse and set off a chain of events that will ultimately lead to darkness and horror.
Hex was a slow burn when it came to the scares, as the way Black Spring has learned to live with their horror lulled me into accepting it as well. When the horror came, it thus had an extra wallop, and led to a very chilling ending. I especially liked the way Olde Heuvelt balanced the horrors of human cruelty and the supernatural - it was a bit reminiscent of the film The Witch.
A warning that suicide is a major part of the plot, so if that is a trigger for you, this is absolutely not the book for you.
by Thomas Olde Heuvelt
The town of Black Spring in the Hudson River valley is both haunted and cursed by Katherine van Wyler, who was hung in 1664 for witchcraft. When she later refused to stay entirely dead, her eyes and mouth were sewn shut and she was bound in chains. That still hasn't stopped her from haunting the town, appearing in homes, on the streets, and in the woods. The residents know that if her eyes are ever opened, something terrible will happen. But the residents can never move away, as after too much time away from the town they are overcome by a the curse. To cope with Katherine, the town has leveraged modern surveillance technology to track her movements and keep er a secret from outsiders. However, some of the town's youth have begun to chafe under the strictures of the curse and set off a chain of events that will ultimately lead to darkness and horror.
Hex was a slow burn when it came to the scares, as the way Black Spring has learned to live with their horror lulled me into accepting it as well. When the horror came, it thus had an extra wallop, and led to a very chilling ending. I especially liked the way Olde Heuvelt balanced the horrors of human cruelty and the supernatural - it was a bit reminiscent of the film The Witch.
A warning that suicide is a major part of the plot, so if that is a trigger for you, this is absolutely not the book for you.
