The Other Side

For centuries, Clavering Grange has been a focus for evil. Whether curse manor house, blasted heath, or modern housing development, the Grange is stalked by ghosts and demons, by an evil that never dies, merely sleeps...and soon rises to strike again!Kepple thinks he can master the spirit of the Grange, tame its evil to his will. An innocent child will be his sacrafice, will bind the demon to him forever.And so it is...but it is Kepple, not the demon, who is bound. Kepple who will serve forever in horrible darkness.Only the blood of another child can close the occult circle and set Kepple free.

I am a huge fan of R. Chetwynd-Hayes ever since I read his short story "The Vampire and the Werewolf." Mr. Chetwynd-Hayes writes so fluidly, you barely notice that you're at the end of the story and find yourself hungering for more. Unfortunately, this I cannot apply entirely to this book. It was well written but the concept of haunted lands and homes is not new, obviously. I would highly recommend anyone read this book, regardless of their preferences of genre because Mr. Chetwynd-Hayes' writing is superlative and unparalleled, in my opinion. This story spans 100 years or more (It has been a time since I've read it so I'm winging it here) and centers upon a section of land in England that holds the spirit of a demon. Houses are built and torn down, but the entity remains, ultimately destroying the residents of each building. It ends, interestingly enough, after the 3rd millenium, (I believe around the year 2057 or so) and Mr. Chetwynd-Hayes exhibits a capable handling of futuristic scenarios. I particularly enjoyed the wall screen television (or telly as the English refer to it) that Mr. Chetwynd-Hayes describes, long before I had ever seen such an item in movies such as Total Recall and the Back to the Future series. It seems to me that Mr. Chetwynd-Hayes is not only incredibly talented, but a visionary as well.