The Haunting of King’s Head
The Haunting of King's Head
By Amy Cross
The Sexton’s musings (spoilers are likely)
Here we have another love sick female ghost sticking around for some guy that was most likely using her anyway. I swear these women need to reevaluate their taste in men because what they are doing is not working. The setting is a bit different in that it takes place in a pub, which should prove to be interesting.
Muriel Hyde
While she is old fashioned, a stick in the mud, judgmental, overly concerned with reputation, and foolish when it comes to men. I have feelings of sadness for her, and the situation that she is in. Being a woman and a landlady during this time was rare and not looked favorably upon. But she is where she is because of a promise she made to a dear friend on his death bed and she is not about to let him down. This is the mark of someone who is loyal, trustworthy, and thoughtful. I feel like she does not show this side of herself to many and that most people only see the side that seems cold and unyielding.
I like very much that she is not the villain in the story. Typically the spirit is the aggressor in these but not here. She was done so wrong that if she had become a twisted, angry spirit it would be completely justified. This is not what happened. She had one target and that target gets what's coming to him. Dude is a waste of oxygen (as I suspect were most of his ancestors). Oh, and it turns out that Jack really did love her.
Charley Lucas
She is definitely older than she actually is here. She is so very agreeable with her father. Way more so than your average teenager. I suppose losing your mother will do that to a kid. Charley is the voice of the present day part of the story. There are times where I became frustrated with her and her lack of open mindedness about the supernatural elements of the journey but overall she has a good heart and a decent brain.
Thomas Lucas (Charley's Dad)
We don't interact a lot with Tom but he seems like good people. He is willing to work hard to make a new life for himself and his daughter. It's difficult to see him fall so hard as the book progresses. He's put everything he has into this place and it infuriates me that a worthless, golden boy, who inherited what he has is tying to fuck it all up for him. Kinda makes me want to take an axe to his face.
Elsa (Murial's younger sister)
If this were my sister the bitch would be pig shit by now. What a fucking bitch! She's willing to destroy her sister for money. Blackmail her sister for money. Hell I'm supposed she didn't just outright tell that phallus Hayes that Murial was responsible for the nephews injuries, or suck his dick for a few pounds. Murial owes her nothing. She's an entitled little piece of shit and she needs to be cleaned off the shoe of humanity. I don't know why Murial was so forgiving. She's a piece of garbage. That bitch would have stayed down in that cellar becoming some great top soil. Shit and compost always make the best top soil.
Gary “the dick” Hayes (brewery owner and all around shit head)
Yeah this guy needs a vacation through a woodchipper. That's about all he deserves in the way of analysis.
Jennifer (the bartender)
She's hired on as the bartender at the King's Head. She is an eclectic type who is more down to earth than she appears. Based on her description you would not expect her to have been in this little sleepy village her whole life. She seems a bit more worldly than that but hey maybe she's just well read. I think there is also something there between her and Tom (please tell me I'm not alone in seeing this). Which is really interesting. Neither seems each other’s type but hey, never judge a book by its cover.
And then you find out what she is really like...a spy for the phallus. You know if these people would grow a pair they could easily take down a dick and a few cronies. In fact, I'm willing to bet that most of them don't like the foreskin anyway. At the 11th hour she redeems herself. Then I'm sad again that the first townie to stand up against the phallus becomes no more.
Bonnie the dog (Judith's companion)
Had to mention the dog of course. What happens to Judith is so very tragic. Honestly I'm not sure that it was entirely as straight forward as the cops rule it to be but hey not my monkeys, not my circus. Despite my occasional annoyance with Charley and her inability to keep an open mind (she's far to young to be so closed off). The one thing that does endear her to me, is that she gives a damn about what happens to Bonnie. I'm one of those, rather see children die than an animal types so her willingness to take her in, even if only temporary made me happy. Unfortunately this gets fucked up BUT at least she tries to make it right.
Closing thoughts:
This is not your typical haunted house story. In fact, there is not much haunting going on here. There are a few bumps and footsteps but over all it's really about a woman who was wronged seeing history repeat itself. Yes Murial does take hold of Charley every now and again but it's for good reason. She is showing her the past as a warning.
The style and set up of the book is a back and forth between present day with Charley and 1910, the year the shit hit the fan for Murial Hyde. By the end, these two times and people get mashed up a bit as a lot of the second half is Murial showing Charley what really happened. Not just on that horrible night but also before that. I enjoy the departure from the spirit being the bad guy. Not all supernatural beings are out to torture the innocent...just the guilty.
The epilogue is not one of doom but one of renewal. I will say that it leaves some things open. The open end would make for an interesting second book with these characters. But alas I do not think that Cross took it anywhere else. I suppose it is up to us to fill in those blanks.
