Shrine: Now a Major Film Called The Unholy – the Novel Is Even More Terrifying

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Was that not just a further development on an idea pulled directly from Ambrose Bierce’s short ‘An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge’ (1890)? I also thought that, while The Fog was a bit OTT in its grand guignol, The Shrine could possibly have done with a bit more, or at least a few more scares – much more could have been made of the dead rising from their graves at the end rather than it almost being alluded to in passing, the Ghostly nun is woefully under used and the central cherubic yet possessed child could have provided some more genuine chills. However, when the finale plays out (don’t worry, I won’t give it away) Finn is left very much a bystander in the final proceedings.

You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. True enough we’re ultimately talking about a plot pretty much involving demonic possession and a mass misguided belief and far little else.In this book a young deaf/mute girl has a vision of the virgin Mary in a field next to a church and she is miraculously healed. His novels have sold more than forty-two million copies worldwide and have been translated into thirty-three languages, including Russian and Chinese.

Since it is a widespread phenomenon that the worst movies are usually based on good books, I decided to take an early shot with this one. I really enjoyed how the story slowly unfolded and there are plenty of great moments throughout but unfortunately the story does get bogged down at times with unnecessarily lengthy sections which did hinder my overall enjoyment. The local parish priest, Father Hagan, begins to feel that his own church is no longer such altogether good and holy place. A film is being made of the book - entitled 'The Unholy' - but it is boringly being set in contemporary Massachusetts (oh dear, Salem again! I never actually read this one when I was going through my young teenage horror story reading phase, which lasted into my young adulthood, and, over the past couple of years, has been taken up again.Then there is the horror which is not laid on with a trowel but builds up on a premise of ancient supernatural evil working its way into the world through innocent faith even if the ending becomes something that just has to end a little absurdly because there is nowhere else for it to go.

The female characters are your typical 'women who appear in horror novels written by men' meaning they are objectified, naive 'damsels in distress' who have absolutely no agency.At this point I want to jump in and point out however that along with many other authors, James Herbert's books developed and changed through the years - his early books where very visceral and tactile - sometimes at the expense of characterisation, but as the years went on he would mature and start to take on a more subtle and restrained approach and in some ways even more terrifying style. Overall, I would recommend picking Shrine up but just be prepared for some slow points within an otherwise compelling story.