She was definitely my least favorite, not because her character development was bad, but more so I just didn’t like Danielle’s personality. Something that has terrified Dauphin Savage and Luker McCray since they were boys and which still haunts their nightmares.

In this penultimate book of Nicole’s story, join the Elementals as they journey through hell to save the world… before it’s too late. After a bizarre and disturbing incident at the funeral of matriarch Marian Savage, the McCray and Savage families look forward to a restful and relaxing summer at Beldame, on Alabama’s Gulf Coast, where three Victorian houses loom over the shimmering beach. Only 20 percent of this is scary the rest is a story about two inter married families in coastal Alabama. As an Alabama native himself, it’s clear his authorial eye has always been intrigued by the incestuous culture of wealthy southern families.The funeral service in the beginning of the book is completely bizarre, but the reason that I believe they continue to carry on with this ritual is because they are checking for sand. Honestly, I think I'd have a difficult time finding a better example of a "quiet horror" book that delivers genuine chills! The elementals aren’t traditional ghosts in a sense everyone would think of, and it’s implied heavily that they are aware of this and use it to their advantage.

He was good friends with Stephen King, with his wife Tabitha King actually finishing McDowell's final novel.

In a dimension designed to make those within it lose touch with reality, and that’s filled with dangerous creatures who want to stop them from completing their task, will they make it out alive?

this is in some ways the essence of horror: the tableau of humanity, threatened and tormented by things that spurn our paths, that exist beyond our understanding. Continuing, after moving into this new school, she was put into a class of what seemed like a bunch of awkward high school kids. Overall I really enjoyed this take on Greek mythology as it’s something that greatly interests me and I had not seen it done this way before. Two of the houses are habitable, while the third is slowly and mysteriously being buried beneath an enormous dune of blindingly white sand.I haven't even mentioned the supernatural elements in this one and that's due to all the drama packed in. Months ago, Nicole Cassidy’s life was turned upside-down when she discovered that she was a witch descended from the Greek gods. It makes sense in its own weird way and I can't imagine that it would be improved with the blanks filled in. Below is my best attempt to interpret the book, but I would also very much like to hear your thoughts as well.

His first horror novel, The Amulet, relates the tragedies that befall various individuals who come in possession of a supernatural pendant in a small town. Horror virtuoso Michael McDowell discards the gloomy norms of haunted house literature and sets this masterpiece along sandy shores of the sunny Gulf Coast. I also think fans of the ‘ Harry Potter‘ series would enjoy this too, not only down to the storyline being based around Witches, but also because a few of the references to the series that I’ve noticed being made throughout the book: “ an owl hadn’t dropped a letter down my fireplace to let me know I’d been accepted into a special school, and I certainly hadn’t taken an enchanted train to get to Kinsley High. Almost immediately, she questions her father about the third house on the island, where nobody lives, and which seems to be in the process of being inexplicably consumed by a sand dune.Many of the best moments include no horror at all, but are mere depictions of this family living their unusual lives. The atmosphere was both subtle and complex, the family dynamics were wonderfully memorable, and the plot was a throw back to childhood tales of ghosts and ghouls around campfires on lazy summer nights.