The Demonic (Supernatural Series Book 1)
The Demonic
By Lee Mountford
The Sexton’s musings (spoilers are likely):
This story takes place in a two day time period and the amount of things that happen within that time is crazy. There is a bit of set up, which really is just as intriguing as the action because you want to know about the past and what happened. Once again the entities here are creepy as fuck! Particularly the spirit of Thomas Kerr and the demon in the mill. The descriptions are truly the things of nightmares. Let’s take a look at the characters…
Leah and Alex seem to be the most put together of the group. I can understand why Danni is in the state she is, and we will get into that, but you wonder how the kids are so well adjusted with their father being the way that he is. One would expect at least one of them to be rebellious. The two of them have what appears to be a loving sibling relationship. Some of it might stem from Alex’s condition (CP) but obviously the parents are doing something correct. Short of telling them not to believe their own eyes (Jon).
Danni is facing something that many of us do not have experience with. Mountford does a good job making the situation relatable for those that have not had these kinds of life experiences. My impression of Danni is that she is definitely a strong character, considering that she is even anywhere close to her childhood home and the man that made her life hell (her father). I would have stayed the hell away and let the lawyers handle it. Plus no way in hell I would have been talked into staying in the house. Nope! Therapeutic my ever-loving ass! This said, it is a good thing that she discovered what occurred during her childhood was not as it seemed. In the end there was peace to be found with regard to her relationship with her father. Plus I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised that she not only believed her own eyes when shit started going sound but she also believed her children. Breath of fresh air that half the book was not her trying to deny what was happening. As for her husband well…I was expecting things to end a bit differently for her but overall there was decent growth with this character over the bulk of the story.
Let’s talk about Jon. Now I am aware that some of the venom from him was due to the influence of the asshole in the mill but from what I can tell the things that were said were indeed things that he already was thinking. I mean the very act of pushing someone to relive trauma from their childhood in the name of facing ones fears is bullshit. He’s not a therapist or a psychiatrist. He knows nothing about treating people with trauma. This touch love approach is a fucking joke. I’m not one to sugar coat and encourage burying fears and issues but there is a proper way to approach them and deal with them. The human psyche is not something that the “experts” really even understand so what he was pushing for could potentially make the issue worse instead of better. So Jon, stick to whatever it is you do and fuck off with the tough love shit! Oh and not only is he the token asshole of the group he is also the token skeptic. His own philosophies, in my opinion, made him the weak one in the group. The one most susceptible to the demon’s influence. Too bad reality has done a 180 on the schmuck. I will say that in the end he does try to pull a Jack Torrance and save his family (in spectacular fashion I might add) but too little too late my dude. His skepticism made him weak and a hefty price was paid.
Closing thoughts:
A good story. Pretty straightforward as far as what you would expect it to be. The twisted spirits are very creepy but the description of the demon is goose bump producing. It’s the thing of nightmares for sure. Honestly I think that the way the entities are described is the most frightening part of this one. They are just super, sleep with the light on, creepy. It is very well written. Not a fan of the ending but we cannot always have the happy or mostly happy ending all the time. This one ends tragically in my most humble of opinion. For the very sort amount of time that this story takes place in a lot of shit happens.
The ghost entities are based on real people who were responsible for very similar atrocities to what they did in the book. Specifically those of Thomas Kerr and Margaret Hobbes. Mountford gives the reader some insight into the real cases and the individuals they were based on. I’m appreciative of that. It’s always interesting to see where authors get their inspiration from. Gives the story more meaning and meatiness. A really good basic story with decent characters. Pick it up as a snack, little Ghoulies!
