Darkness Demands

Darkness Demands is one of the few horror novels that I've read that actually scared me and made me not want to turn off the lights at night once I was done reading. Clark does a great job of developing the setting and the characters. We really do get to care and feel for John and his family, and old man Stan Price. The evils in this novel are not seen or described, only felt. They are open to the reader's imagination.Just a warning before reading: Don't expect another Blood Crazy. With Blood Crazy, Clark served up an epic, over-the-top, roller-coaster ride of horror violence that was unlike anything I'd ever read before. Darkness Demands is very different. It uses subtleness and old folklore to create an old-fashioned ghost story. No matter your tastes in horror, I highly recommend this book. I will remember Darkness Demands for many years to come.

"Darkness Demands" by British thriller novelist, Simon Clark definitely has "staying power". It's this "staying power" that is one of the criterion that I use to judge an outstanding horror novel. Long after you have read it, "Darkness Demands" will remain in your memory. It's that good!Life begins to look good for novelist John Newton as he finally starts to make it good as a novelist. Good, that is, until he (along with other members of his town) begin to receive cryptic, almost comical, messages left on their doorsteps asking that candy bars and pints of beer be left in the creepy old cemetary just outside of town. No one seems to know who or why these messages are being left until they begin to talk to some of the town's older residents who let them is on the town's dirty little secret. A secret so perverse that John Newton can't believe it!Clark does his usual great job creating memorable characters that the reader actually cares about. This book is just as impressive in that area as his earlier works, especially "Nailed By the Heart". This is a book that has a great "hook" - "creepy local legend that the townsfolk try to survive from generation to generation". Newton and his family are caught in the middle of the legend and he does what he can to try and put an end to it. When the life of his daughter becomes part of the "game" then the book really takes off. "Darkness Demands" is a great novel that will certainly keep you turning the pages. The suspense builds throughout the book and Clark really turns up the heat on the Newton family as the book progresses. The ending is unexpected, but totally believeable. If you enjoy a good yarn and are a fan of novelists such as, Owl Goingback, Stephen King or Richard Laymon, then I think you'll enjoy this book. Clark is a very promising talent that should be around for a long, long, time. Maybe long enough to create his own legends!HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Clark has done it again. Another dark novel, guaranteed to delight and frighten, to shock and rock. Here he delivers another 5-star classic to frighten parents around the world. Like Nailed through the Heart, a parent's worst nightmare. Clark has an uncanny knack for getting in our heads and scaring the ... out of us! He also has the knack for taking a cliched premise and turning it into something brand-spanking new. He is a new breed of horror writer and I hope he stays around for a long, long time. Each new novel he writes is an experience in terror, suspense, and good old fashioned creepy thrills. This guy has a nolds-barred attitude when he writes and his love of writing shows on each and every page. The story revolves around a mystery writer who has letters left near his house that demand things, not asks, but demands. There is a hint if he doesn't comply something bad will happen. And boy is that the understatement of the century. I don't want to give away too much, but this book rocks and deserves some type of award, possibly a Stoker. Keep 'em coming, Mr Clark!!!

Darkness Demands is the kind of horror novel that comes along once in a rare while because its a rather new concept and a very horrifying story. I love horror but most books don't really scare me. This one did. The whole idea of living next to a gigantic cemetery is creepy but mysterious notes popping up on your doorstep telling you to bring candy or beer to the cemetery is odd yet frightening in some weird way. This was good storytelling at its finest. The characters are real and you actually feel involved while reading this. You care about them. Darkness Demands is not a simple book in the end. It doesn't end the way you want it to and there is no easy answers or solutions but its one heck of a ride.

It has taken John Newton a long time to make it as a true crime writer but he finally done it when his last book attained the hardcover bestseller lists. Now, he and his family have moved to the bucolic village of Skelbrooke in the heart of England. John, his wife Val, their teenage son Paul, and their preadolescent daughter Elizabeth have found their dream home and have become a part of the village. Paradise ends when the first letter arrives demanding that John deliver a candy bar to a particular grave in the nearby cemetery commonly called the Necropolis. John ignores the letter and his daughter is seriously injured. When the second letter arrives, John follows the instructions of the note and realizes other people have received the same memo as well. When the entity that is sending the letters makes his final horrific request, John decides to take his family and flee town if they can. This is definitely a very scary horror novel that preys on our most primal emotions and fears. While the reader never actually gets to see the entity inspiring terror in Skelbrooke, the author cleverly entices the audience into imagining what it is and what it looks like. That is more terrifying than any description could be. Simon Clark understands the horror genre by terrifying his fans to the point that the electric companies will treat him as a VIP because of all the profits made from adults sleeping with the lights on.Harriet Klausner