Haunted: Asylum
Haunted: Asylum
By Lee Mountford
The Sexton’s musings (spoilers are likely):
This book is happening during the same time period that “Mother Death” is happening. Starts in the same place. The location is actually a real place known to be active, paranormally. The Trans-Alleghany Lunatic Asylum has a dark, disturbing, and sad history (as so many of these types of places do). I like that he took a real place and added his own twist to it. I do hope that there is nothing quite this dark living there. Honestly when Chloe said that Sarah and Luca are up against a very strong enemy she was right. The church did not set them up for success. In fact they apparently didn’t even bother to make sure that the letter was authentic and not a trap. Let’s face it anyone could have written that letter including a possessed person. How else would they have all of that knowledge? So while they are anxious to act they are being rather reckless in their expedience.
As for the characters…Sarah is still Sarah. But even this frustratingly bullheaded woman of action thinks things are moving too quickly. That perhaps they should be doing a bit more investigation before running into a potential lions den. She’s seen what lack of knowledge can do. Unfortunately the consequences of the Churches inadequate scouting has gotten them closer to what they are trying to prevent.
Father Luca is also very much the same. Still cautious but ignorant of the paranormal. Which is why David’s knowledge comes in handy. Honestly I wonder if they had made David aware of the letter if he would have called out the possibility of it being a trap. Makes perfect sense to me. At this point there are things that the team are not aware of…like the completion of the ritual in Czech Republic and the doors being opened. They learn but when they decide to take on this mission they are not aware of this.
As for Jake, I don’t trust him at all. We know that he is definitely working for the council but it’s the side of the council that has been pushing the hardest. Our Eastern European friend with the know-it-all attitude. Makes me wonder what his end game is. I mean fire power and brute strength are not usually helpful when it comes to ghosts and inhuman entities. I think he’s there to make sure that things don’t progress any further. What that mean exactly? I think it means that when push comes to shove Sarah and Luca are expendable. After all a bullet would stop them if need be.
Oh and I called the cult crap. The current owner of the Asylum is entrenched in it. I don’t think he has much clout though. Despite his posturing when he met the team he really seems to be a minion as opposed to an elder. This reminds me so much of “Tormented”. The cult was using state run Asylums to conduct their experiments with the other realm. It seems to me that this is what was occurring here. I could be wrong but I don’t think so.
The impressive Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in Weston, W.Va., is a National Historic Landmark. (Frank Polievka
Closing thoughts:
There is quite a bit that gets revealed at the end of this one. We learn who the traitor is within the council. We learn that Jake was hired to make sure that Sarah is not turned by any means necessary and we lose a beloved character who I thought was going to see the end. Quite a ride. I really thought that Sarah was going to win the day here as well but you can’t win them all and honestly it’s more dramatic this way. The other reality is described in religious terms to fit this particular series’s narrative. But really it’s not any different than any other shitty reality. It’s born of flesh and chaos just as all life is. It’s unfortunate that those that move from this reality to that one have such a shock. I mean who’s to say what happens when we sluff this mortal coil? Perhaps we just slip into another within another reality or dimension. Perhaps not quite in terms that we understand. After all we do box ourselves in. Just something to contemplate little Ghoulies.
