First published back in 1994, ‘The Ghosts Of Sleath’ is the loosely fitting sequel to Herbert’s 1988 novel ‘Haunted’, which first introduced the psychic investigator David Nash. Although this novel is somewhat of a stand alone tale, it does still include a number of references to ‘Haunted’ which add a certain depth and understanding to the character of Nash, giving a better explanation towards some of his quirks and fears.Predominantly set within the sleepy rural village of Sleath, the tale begins with a number of strange and supernatural occurrences happening throughout the village. Nash is sent to investigate these paranormal happenings, and from the moment he drives into Sleath, he is flung head first into the mysterious and sometimes deadly hauntings that are spreading fear amongst the village’s small community.Nash soon starts to uncover the terrible history that haunts the small village, with an evil that spans decades. With Nash’s investigations getting closer to unveiling the hideous truth, so the ghostly visitations become stronger and in doing so, much more deadly to the citizens of Sleath.Herbert’s ‘The Ghosts Of Sleath’ is a thoroughly engrossing tale of paranormal horror that sets down a fast pace from the very start. With a storyline that is more involved, more dramatic and on a much larger scale than that of ‘Haunted’, Herbert has really gone all out with this paranormal tale of ghostly horror.The gritty character of David Nash is just as much of an anti-hero as he was in ‘Haunted’. His very human characteristics add such a solid weight to the story’s realism. The storyline itself is eerie throughout, with imaginative and purposely confusing hauntings that initially start putting down the pieces to this elaborate and intricate tale.The usual multiple sub-plots and inclusion of a love interest for Nash thickens out the novel, making the tale very engaging for the reader. With a well written and careful description to the village of Sleath, it’s easy for the reader to become submerged in Herbert’s spooky location.As the tale continues, the pace keeps picking up pace, building up the number, scale and seriousness of the hauntings, until the imaginative and rather spectacular truth is revealed behind the hauntings. Herbert doesn’t tackle these things by half, delivering a truly epic conclusion to the novel.For pace and sheer enjoyment alone, Herbert’s ‘The Ghosts Of Sleath’ is up there with the best of his work. Combined with ‘Haunted’ the two novels are a masterpiece of contemporary horror literature and a must read for all fans of Herbert’s early work.The novel runs for a total of 409 pages and includes a beautiful illustration of the fictional village of Sleath.
The Ghosts of Sleath is what I would call a true horror novel. It covers everything that most horror fans could wish for including (but in no way limited to), violence, the unknown, zombies, murder, a very descriptive sex scene, rape, you name it. Oh, and it also contains ghosts, obviously. To me, the most enjoyable thing about this novel was the way it did not let the reader know what was going on too soon. I love the unknown factor in horror novels when they use it but usually you find out that the book is about zombies, vampires, some monster, a restless spirit, or just some guy who hates barking dogs right in the beginning. If you like these kinds of books where half the plot is given away on the back of the book and most of the rest by the cover, you may not enjoy this horror masterpiece by James Herbert. I can easily say that this is my favorite Herbert novel so far, some how managing to beat out The Fog and Domain. Some details from other Herbert novels make an appearance here as well. David Ash returns in this far superior sequel to Haunted to smoke a lot and drink Vodka, and to attempt to do his job. Thick impenetrable fog is in the book, rats, and even the word portent. Maybe I am reading into this a bit much but I like when authors mention their other works because of Stephen King’s habit of doing so. Over all, a viciously terrifying book, one that I actually stopped reading one night because it got to me so much. I have read hundreds of horror novels and maybe one out of every hundred scares me now. The Ghosts of Sleath has that great honor and I can’t thank it and its author enough for it. I will end this with a visual. If you know what a jack plane is, imagine a crazed carpenter using it on a helpless nineteen-year-old boy’s face, after beating him horribly with a heavy wooden mallet. If you don’t know what a jack plane is, several tool purchasing sites should assist you and ultimately convince you to read this horror gem
What do You think about The Ghosts Of Sleath (1996)?
In memoriam of James Herbert.I've only discovered how much I like James Herbert fairly recently and began reading and collecting his books. Now it makes it all the sadder since his passing only leaves the readers with a finite number of books. Ghosts of Sleath is a very worthy sequel of the excellent Haunted, with David Ash as the haunted(in every sense)paranormal investigator yet again getting involved in a case that's larger and darker than it originally seems. It's also a very well executed spin on a traditional theme...dark past comes home to roost in the quiet quaint sleepy english village. Herbert writes...wrote...so incredibly well, never relying on cheap thrills, taking the time to develop the characters and really build up the dread and never insulting the intelligence of his readers or contributing to the mass produced crap of the uber prolific and utterly unimaginative best sellers sell outs out there. His writing and his books really stand out with their sheer quality, imagination and horrific awesomeness. He will be deeply missed. We, the readers, are left with his literary legacy, 23 excellent novels to cherish and enjoy.
—Bandit
I liked this, I'll start with that. It's starts out w/ a bang! We are introduced to the village of Sleath, which is an idyllic country village that seems to have forgotten that time has gone by. At first glance, it could easily have been the 1800's. Paranormal Investigator, David Ash, is surprised by the fact that tourists haven't discovered this beautiful little village! But he isn't here on holiday, he's sent to investigate it's claims of a possible haunting....not just in a house, but in the entire town. How can a whole town be haunted??? This book is creepy and James Herbert does horror well! I look forwarded to reading more by him!But that having been said, I have to be a little critical. There were many times when I feel he was a tad melodramatic in character's reactions to what is going on. Maybe that's unfair, after all, who knows how I would react if I were...god forbid...faced with a similar situation. All, and all, I enjoyed this book very much!
—Kathy
I thought this book was really good, not excellent though. The story was fascinating as were some of the characters. The reason why it gets four stars and not five is because I felt it was quite long winded for what it was and therefore took quite a long time to read, although that's partly due to me being a slow reader. Possibly a little too much description and parts that weren't necessary to the story and plot, maybe even some of the characters were unnecessary. I guess it could be possible to read this without reading "Haunted" (the first in this series) but would recommend reading that first, just so you get a better understanding of the main character.Despite the problems mentioned above, overall I enjoyed it, the tension and creepiness was built up very well and I was excited by the last 10-15% or so in a way that doesn't happen often to me from reading. I thought this was also better than "Haunted". Having seen that the 3rd installment in the series is a lot longer than this, and with some very unfavourable reviews and an overall low rating, I don't think I will be giving it a go, at least not yet. Might investigate some of Herbert's other work though.
—Toby Rogers
