Started: 13.1.19
Finished: 15.1.19
I read this book a few years ago and it quickly became my favourite ghost story. I decided to read it again, just to see if it was as good as I remembered - I'm happy to say, it is!
Set in 1937, it follows a small group of academics who are embarking on an Arctic Expedition. The book is told from the viewpoint of Jack, written in the style of his journal about the trip. Due to illness and injury, the five-man team quickly becomes three, and then three become one - Jack volunteers to remain in the isolated bay where they have set up camp, to continue the scientific experiments alone. However, the 'polar night' is approaching - the months and months of continuous darkness, and the frozen sea which will mean that he has no way of escape. He has a pack of huskies for company, but otherwise he is totally alone... or is he?
This has pretty much everything I want in a ghost story. The era is just right, no internet and mobile phones to connect you to anywhere in the world - if you're alone, then you're really alone. Plus Jack has that very British 'stiff-upper-lip', no-nonsense approach to his situation, although as time passes, the reader wonders just how reliable his account is. Yes, there is a ghost present, and yes, Jack does describe what it looks like, but it's still vague enough to be creepy. Far more terrifying than the ghost though, is the overwhelming feeling of isolation and claustrophobia. Imagine being trapped on a secluded bay, unable to escape, being battered by violent storms, in total darkness day and night, knowing that there is 'something' out there, something malevolent, that means you harm?
I can't recommend this book enough if you want to read a really excellent ghost story. Preferably on a dark, foggy, winter's night, curled up in your favourite armchair, with just the reading lamp on, and a mug of hot chocolate. Just don't look out of the window......
