Elizabeth
Author: Ken Greenhall, Year: 1976
Elizabeth was the first Paperbacks from Hell mention
I read that was really something special. I had enjoyed Smart as the Devil and Rooftops –
they are the kind of books I was there for – but this was
something else. A terse novel (I like ‘em that way) at 127 pages, this only
means that author Greenhall is precise in his storytelling, seeming to choose
his words carefully.
In telling the
story of a fourteen-year-old girl who may be the recipient of some supernatural
life coaching via an image in a full-length mirror (then again, she may just be
your average teenaged psychopath), Elizabeth is creepy more so for what it hints at
than it is for what it states explicitly.
After her parents
die in an accident (maybe), Elizabeth moves in with some relatives and
discovers the aforementioned mirror that reflects the image of Frances, a
long-dead witch. Soon, the family's dealing with almost as much illegal sex as
they are tragedies.
As I have never
been a fan of the “haunted mirror” trope, I’m happy to report that it’s merely
a device here, a means to an end. Much of the story is revealed through the
inner thoughts of its main character, and Greenhall does an outstanding
job of bringing us into Elizabeth’s head.
It’s that story that Elizabeth and
Greenhall have to tell here, as well as the way in which the author tells it,
that makes a lasting impression, and it’s a shame that the late Greenhall
hasn’t received more recognition before now. Thanks to re-prints of this and
others of his works from Valancourt Books,
however, all of that could be rectified.
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