Customer Reviews

Spirit

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After reading just two of his novels, I am becoming immensely impressed with Graham Masterton. It is a darn shame most of the horror novels written by this guy are out of print. Masterton's prose, his insightful characters, and his quirky plots are wonderful contributions to the horror genre. This book, "Spirit," is closely related to the other Masterton book I read recently, "The House that Jack Built." Both of these stories deal with your typical haunted house/ghost story, but the author does not rely on the standard explanations about spirits and hauntings. In "The House that Jack Built," Masterton argued that it is psychic vibrations and the nature of time and history that account for strange sightings of dead people. In "Spirit," he creates an intensely sad story around the idea that the human imagination accounts for the presence of those who have moved on beyond the world of the living.

"Spirit" is the epic story of the Buchanan family beginning in 1940's Connecticut. The real focus of the story is on Elizabeth and Laura Buchanan and their little sister Peggy. When we meet the family the three sisters are very young, spending their days lost in worlds of childish imagination. The sisters' favorite story is Hans Christian Andersen's "The Snow Queen," and the three occasionally act out parts of the tale for their own amusement, especially young Peggy. But then tragedy strikes when Peggy accidentally falls through ice and drowns in the family swimming pool. Her death causes the Buchanan family to slowly disintegrate, leading to premature aging for the father and a nervous breakdown with intermittent stays in a mental facility for the mother. Elizabeth and Laura grow up and try to do the best they can with their lives, but the death of Peggy casts a permanent shadow over everyone's life. For most people who lose a member of the family, life does go on after such a sad incident, but not for the Buchanans.

The problem comes when Elizabeth and Laura realize that Peggy hasn't gone gently into the good night. She returns as a spirit, a pale white shade dedicated to protecting her sisters from even the slightest dangers in life. When Laura has an improper relationship with the local preacher, Peggy is there to help clean up the mess in a particularly gruesome way. For over a decade, Peggy always shows up to deliver death, usually by using extreme cold as a weapon, to those who pose a threat to her sisters. It gets to the point where the two sisters feel they cannot even have a disagreement with another person without putting someone in harm's way. Then Elizabeth and Laura discover why Peggy acts in such an egregious manner. Peggy's actions in life, namely her imagination, have led to her return after death. After Elizabeth lives through an encounter with a terrifying creature invoked by Peggy, she knows she has to do something to get rid of her dead sister's influence.

"Spirit" is a deeply atmospheric story loaded with pop culture references, great character development, and a great idea about why ghosts exist. There are also extremely touchy examinations of taboo subjects and great gore sequences (imagine the consequences of a body exposed to temperatures of 200 degrees below zero). The conclusion to the story, while seemingly rushed to some extent and not all that interesting, is not a happy, "we beat the monster!" ending. The sense of profound loss Elizabeth experiences in the end is only the final loss among many throughout the story. That may be the real theme of the story: loss and how we as living beings deal with it (or don't deal with it, as the case may be).

A word to the wary: this book deals with very adult themes described in graphic detail. There is pederasty and a brutal rape scene that is sure to upset even the most jaded readers. Fortunately, these sickening scenes are not inserted into the story for mere sensationalism, but actually do add dimension to the Laura Buchanan character. At the same time, it also highlights a potential problem with the story. Elizabeth and Laura both pontificate on how they wish Peggy would leave them alone and let them take risks and decide how to live their own lives. With the descriptions of Laura's misfortunes, it is obvious that this girl does not know how to live her life. In fact, without the ultimate intervention of Peggy, Laura probably would have been in a world of hurt far beyond learning lessons about life. Despite this and a few other problems with "Spirit," this Masterton book is highly readable and absolutely worth the day or two it takes to get through it.

I read this book over the Christmas holidayperiod and somehow it seemed to fit the mood perfectly. With it's almost fairytale like images of raging blizzards, iced over landscapes and dark snowstorms.
SPIRIT is set in rural America just before, during and after World War II and I must say Masterton captures the spirit (get it) of that time perfectly. It's about these two sisters who somehow get caught up with the malevolent ghost of there past away kidsister. This 'spirit' as mentioned in the title manifests itself in the form of a fairytale queen and she murders everybody who stands in the way, or threatens the girls. There are some real nasty, graphic scenes in here, but you get the feel that the people who fall victim to the spirit really have it coming: a pedophile preacher who abuses one of the girls, a nasty female rival at a writing agency and an even nastier movieproducer. They all get killed and/ or maimed in the most hideous ways (especially the scene with the frozen pool!)

I have read most of Graham Masterton's books and this ranks up there with his best (if it isn't his best!). The man has a way of not sparing his readers the most grizzliest details and SPIRIT is no exception, it's NOT for the squeamish! But it's (luckily) not nowhere as vile as his MASTER OF LIES (gorehounds pay attention, I dare you: you won't get past the opening chapter of that book!). SPIRIT'S got a great story to back it up though and Masterton pulls of some great characterdevelopment here, especially with the middle sister, who's ambitious and not always as nice as heroes in books are supposed to be (according to literary conventions).

All and all A+!!

P.S: I still got Masterton's MIRROR and BURNING in my bookcloset. After reading SPIRIT I'll be getting them out real soon!

Mixed grab-bag of a book. Masterton's writing is superb and his story interesting, but the central premise is shaky, at best.

The Buchanan girls lose their little sister, Peggy, to the frozen lake behind their woodland house during WWII. In the years to follow, little Peg pays them several visits - and chills people they know to death. She isn't their little sister anymore, but a creature out of their collective imagination somehow freed and made real by the circumstances of Peg's drowning, and her/its continued presence in the Buchanan sister's lives is that of an unwelcome guardian angel. Until they exorcize it, it will kill those around them - friends and family, as well as enemies.

Masterton writes Americana better than most Americans - and he's a subject of the United Kingdom. His novel is epic and involving, following the Buchanan sisters from WWII to the 1960s (and beyond, in epilogue). His characters are well-drawn, complex and interesting. The texture of this novel is rich.

The central premise is hard to swallow, even from someone as gifted and experienced as Masterton admittedly is at selling the impossible. The ending of the book is too abrupt, and not all that satisfying.

But the read itself is terrific. Spirit is not Masterton's best novel, but it's overall a worthwhile foray into the supernatural.

This was such a wonderful book! I was immersed in it from beginning to end and hardly put it down. Each chapter enticed me as I sped along to find out what was going to happen next. Graham Masterton has a way with words and you never know what to expect out of his stories. The unbelievable no doubt! I loved the fairy tale aspect in this story. It is like a deathly mutated version of the Snow Queen from Hans Christian Anderson. Definately not a read for your kids! The characters were great and you felt sorry for the bad guys. I cannot wait to read more of Masterton's work! He is a genius and under-rated. Stephen King doesn't have the guts to write like this man!

A bit too long for its own good, SPIRIT does offer some unique perspectives on ghosts, but does so in a way that I found to be over-explained. The characters were well developed for the most part, but a bit too common, and the English sounded a bit too British at parts (takes place in the states).

Other than the unique perspective on ghosts, there is nothing new here.

The gory scenes were top notch, sure to please the hardcore horror freaks, and there were some creative killings which had me nodding right along.

This is the first and only Masterton novel I've read, and will not be my last. Judging from his mastery of gore scenes, I'll be sure to pick up FEAST, which I've been told is one of the sickest novels ever written.

Overall, a good, solid read.

This is one of the better horror novels of the last few years. Its the story of a family who unravels after the accidental death of the youngest daughter, Peggy. Each person is guilt and grief stricken, and after the girl comes back from the dead, they fall apart. I won't give away too much so I won't go into the plot, but this book was great. Each character is well drawn especially the older sisters, Elizabeth and Laura. The thought of anyone coming back to haunt is frightening but when you have such a frightening spirit as this, it will keep you looking over your shoulder.

The premise of the story was a little unbelievable, but in Masterton's deft hand, it takes on a life of its own. This is a ghost that is completely different than most you read about and probably more frightening. This reminds me of horror novels from the earlier part of the century being that it doesn't rely on shock value and sex to make the plot work. It takes place in the forties and fifties and the era is perfectly drawn here. There is a sense of innocence and loss as it spans before WWII and after when things began to change. Reading this book made me almost long for the days before I was born. This one is atmospheric as well as beautifully written.

If you like good horror, this book is for you. A wonderful novel!

This is a change of style for Masterton. Usually his writing offers a quick pace, more generalized characterizations, and some shock value. Spirit does little of that, instead drawing upon the rather detailed histories of two sisters in the story, who are drawn apart - then together - by their sister's death and subsequent return in another form. It took a good 100 pages really involved with the story, and there were a few elements that simply felt like filler. If this were a DVD, you'd be excused for hitting fast forward a time or two.

Having said that, the premise of the story is unique and crafted well. There is a gothic tone to the novel, and it has a fairy tale characteristic, as well. This is not a typical ghost or haunting, but something which takes more effort to explain. As with most Masterton books, there is something believable about it because he goes to such lengths to make sense of it and, ultimately, that is what makes this a good read. In the end, it all comes together quite nicely, if not just a bit hurried at the last. And there are enough disturbing images to keep the pages turning when the pace slows.

Spirit is not Graham Masterton's newest book, by any means, but it was my first experience with his work. I promise it won't be my last. A family is haunted when the youngest of 3 Sisters drowns in the family pool. A totally original twist on the ghost story. Tying the fairy-tale of "The Snow Queen" into a truly frightening and imaginative work. Little Peggy only wants to protect her big Sisters, even when they no longer want that protection or when it threatens to take away what one Sister loves the most. Available in paperback from Amazon.com. [...]

This is my fourth Masterton book that I have read, and I think of the four this is in the top two. I'm a fan of ghost novels so I was pretty excited to read this one, and with the main characters being female I was hoping to have something to identify with. My final opinion of the novel is a mixed one.

The short summary: The Buchanan family looses their youngest daughter in a drowning accident when she falls through the ice in their pool in the middle of winter. The story follows their two remaining daughters, Lizzy and Laura through the next 15 or so years of their lives. The family slowly disintegrates from the tragedy and then suddenly a small white figure begins appearing to them... and people start dropping dead from unusual circumstances involving freezing. The sisters are forced to determine if this is their baby sister, and what her intentions truly are.

The first half of the book is very eerie, engaging, frightening and hopeful. Tragedy after tragedy strikes the family and they slowly dissolve as a familial unit. The appearances of the "ghost" are both interesting and creepy. Then we hit the middle, where the tale is suddenly bogged down with theory, "why is the ghost here," "what is the ghost," "how does imagination play into it," "what are we really"... pages and pages of completely non-plausible theory on the relationship of the afterlife and literature characters. When that ends and you breath the sigh of relief as the killings begin again... Masterton decides that it would be an excellent time for sex... rape scenes are never my bag of tea, especially ones that go into this much detail and have so little to do with the movement of the story. By the time this is over, you will discover that you have very little book left to complete your tale, and the ending is both rushed and vaguely unsatisfying.

In "The House that Jack Built" there were many reviewers who claimed that many of the deaths were "needless," in this book they abound. My honest opinion is that one of the deaths occur simply because he decided that he preferred one character over another and wanted to give him a shot at the girl. By his logic, some people that should have died didn't, and others that did, I could find no reason for. Still, despite it's obvious flaws, Masterton is excellent with his prose, if you are willing to really suspend your disbelief then pick up a copy of this book, it's quite fun.

Since I just purchased two other Masterton novels (Trauma, The Doorkeepers), I thought it prudent to review the first work I'd ever read by him. Spirit, is a terrifying work from the opening scene to the end. It kept me captivated and interested throughout. This is one of those books that if you have children, your heart will begin to race from the opening bell.

In addition, Masterton's prose is of the highest quality. Few other authors can even hope to match him. I'm just glad I came across his work; better late than never.

Cody James Wolfe- www.authorsden.com/codyjameswolfe