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The Seance: A Gothic Tale of Horror & Misfortune by [Jack Rollins]

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Jack Rollins

The Seance: A Gothic Tale of Horror & Misfortune Kindle Edition

by Jack Rollins (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

28 ratings

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Will they contact they dead, or join them?

A gothic Victorian chiller from the author of The Victorian Vampire Chronicles. Albert Kench is summoned back to London from his travels in Australia, and is shocked to find that his sister has suffered horrific mental and physical damage. A man of science and progress, when Albert is told that Sally attended a séance prior to her collapse and has been touched by otherworldly forces, he believes there must be another, more rational explanation. Albert learns of a man who claims mastery of the dark arts, who may hold the key to Sally’s salvation. Albert sets off in search of answers, but can he emerge victorious without faith, or will he be forced to accept the existence of a realm beyond the world around him?

The perfect horror book for fans of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Robert Louis Stevenson’s Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde, the works of Edgar Allan Poe, H.P. Lovecraft, Algernon Blackwood, William Hope Hodgson and Hammer Horror movies. Readers of dark fantasy and Steampunk have also found much to enjoy in Jack Rollins’ gothic visions of 19th Century London.

"The Séance is a fantastic tale... This will creep you out big style." - Nev Murray, The Ginger Nuts of Horror.

Print length

56 pages
Language

English
Publication date

October 31, 2014
File size

1799 KB
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"The Séance is a fantastic tale... This will creep you out big style." - Nev Murray, The Ginger Nuts of Horror.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00NCD08ZY
Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 31, 2014
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 1799 KB
Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 56 pages
Lending ‏ : ‎ Enabled

Best Sellers Rank: #2,051,496 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #1,983 in Horror Fiction Classics
- #10,880 in 90-Minute Literature & Fiction Short Reads
- #12,611 in Occult Horror

Customer Reviews:
28 ratings

About the author

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Jack Rollins

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Jack Rollins was born and raised among the twisting cobbled streets and lanes, ruined forts and rolling moors of rural Northumberland, England in 1980. He is the author of the horror novel The Cabinet of Doctor Blessing, the novella The Séance and a range of short, dark fiction tales.

Jack lives in Newcastle, England.

Jack can be found online at:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/jackrollinshorror

Website: https://www.jackrollinsfiction.com

Customer reviews

5 star		50%
4 star		18%
3 star		20%
2 star 0% (0%)		0%
1 star		12%

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Top reviews from the United States

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That’s what she read...

Excellent Read!

Reviewed in the United States on August 8, 2015

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Albert comes back to his home town to visit his sister Sally. But he's in for more than one surprise! Sally is in an asylum, Albert thinks he can cure Sally with the help of their friend Rachel, who just may be the only one who knows and can speak the truth, even though the truth is beyond hard to believe! Albert's journey to save his sister is hardcore, action packed and full of shocks and crazy twists. Look out for Myrezyn and Levi-Black! Highly recommend this to any fan of modern horror!

2 people found this helpful

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Reviewer

Dark Supernatural Gothic Fiction

Reviewed in the United States on January 13, 2016

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An amazing story filled with magic and darkness. The writing style is intriguing, the pacing got me hooked as details were revealed through the story line. Dark and creepy, with insanity and supernatural goodness. I love it. Jack Rollins is a good writer and knows how to develop scenes, descriptive while not getting lost in his language. He can progress a story well, and he's good at developing characters as well.

2 people found this helpful

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Natalie Meagan

Fun, spooky short read!

Reviewed in the United States on April 6, 2022

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I love a good short story; this was definitely a great one.

The imagery, the language, there was so much that drew me in and the twists! Highly recommend.

Helpful

Jacqueline Jones

The Seance by Jack Rollins.

Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2015

Verified Purchase

Very boring predictable and just wasnt for me.Sorry Mr Rollins your writing is usually of a much higher quality.Maybe the subject matter but even that was poor and just not scary loike most of your books are.Thank Goodness we are all different I will keep tha sage out just in case.

One person found this helpful

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Sarah Collum

Good Quick Read

Reviewed in the United States on March 9, 2016

Verified Purchase

It was good, kept you hanging on to the surprise ending. It definitely is a tale of misfortune, however I do love a good Gothic tale.

One person found this helpful

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Melissa Bryan

This chap book was a fun and scary journey into the evil depth of Hell and I loved it.

Reviewed in the United States on November 25, 2014

This is a gothic tale of horror and misfortune per the cover...I would call it a gothic tale of insanity and dark sinister manipulation. I enjoyed this story and I had to look around a few times to ensure I was the only one in the house, maybe I should read with more or brighter lights. It is well written and I love the Old English Sherlock Holmes' feel it has. When I am reading this type of story I think that the Old English time frame will either be a victorian romantic type story or a Jack The Ripper type...cut you open and see your insides slide out type story. This is the latter.

I like the way Mr Rollins starts the story and builds on it so the charters back ground is given and moves forward at a good pace. He doesn't impede their story with unnecessary information that can make a story move slow and the reader gets unintested. There is plenty of action and globs of blood and terror.

The only thing I disliked about the story is that I want more, hopefully he will write a sequel to this book.

I recommend this book to anyone who wants a fresh story line and likes to be freaked out. It is a short read that gives you a big novel story. I mean what can you lose, a little time and perhaps your mind!!!

This is the first book I have read of Mr. Rollins' and it was so stupendous I am going to start on his "The Cabinet of Dr Blessing", I think the title alone is intriging. I'll let you know how I like it. His books are on ebooks and in print.

2 people found this helpful

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Kindle Customer

Dark, disturbing and very original.

Reviewed in the United States on October 31, 2014

Dark Chapter Press, the publisher behind this novella, run a Flash Fiction competition on their website. I was the lucky, and honoured, winner of their inaugural competition in August. The Seance was my prize for winning said competition. You can enter every month here http://www.darkchapterpress.com/octob....

I discovered Jack Rollins, quite by accident, several months ago. After I read his debut effort, Dr. Blessing's Rapture, or, The Beast in the Bell Jar, I became an instant fan. His knack for twisting the tongue of old England and blending it with a more modern, yet timeless, style of horror was second to none. It was a unique take on the genre, one that reminds me of my youth; when Hammer Horror was thriving. This style of horror is ageless...and it seems Rollins' writing is too.

Albert Kench, having resided abroad for some time, returns to London to visit his sister. She's holed up in Oakbridge, an unorthodox mental institution that practices in the unique. His sister, Sally, is mute and unresponsive. Driven by loyalty and guilt, he seeks to discover the real reason behind her mental illness, one that takes him on a dark journey into his past, not to mention the Magic Arts and illusions.

From sentence one, I was immersed in this story. The author's writing style is so comfortable, it really proves hard to pull away. His description is so vivid, you can hear the cart pulling along the street, the wheels clacking on stone, the smell of the old style perfumes and clothing. You can almost imagine being there. When I walked up to the asylum of Oakbridge, I shivered. Writing like this can change a novella from a reading experience to a reading joy...and it did just that.

The story is simplistic in its pacing - he gets it just right. The characters are phenomenal, multi-layered, diverse and realistic - not an easy feat for a 56 page novella. The dialogue, where old fashioned, is a sight to behold. Rollins has a knack of nailing the dialogue and The Seance is no different, sweeping you along on the tongue of yesteryear with a flourish. What really sets this novella apart from the crowd, though, is the plot. Part The Illusionist, part any exorcism and Ouija Board film you've seen in recent years, the story uses suspense and thrills above blood and gore. It plays the dark chills to perfection and proves that, if you leave the blood and guts at the door, you can still craft an intelligent, creepy and thoroughly disturbing story without them.

The horror is sublime. One particularly creepy scene involves the seance of the title, one that brings our characters together and casts some light on Sally's mental state. As Kench reminisces about his past, it becomes clear that everything is...well, not all that clear. He has a dark past and his involvement with fraudsters, old flames and family members may hold the vital key to Sally's condition. The menace is underlying throughout and can never be underestimated. It elevates the novella a touch or two, making you grow fond of the characters and start to care how it ends when the darkness rises and the smoke clears. Overall, it's a short but sweet novella that packs a punch.

5*? Totally. Rollins has come into his own as an author and has started to mark his niche in Victorian Horror. True, Hammer did it with panache and flair, years and years ago. If anything, they proved that an audience exists for this sort of horror and Rollins is definitely taking the sub-genre by storm. Dark, disturbing and very original, The Seance will give you nightmares. Just don't look in the mirror...

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

M. Brookes

Delightful horror

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 17, 2015

Verified Purchase

I should say in advance that I had the pleasure of being a test reader for this story before it's release last year. I left it a few months to read the final version to see if I enjoyed it as much as I did the first time and I'm pleased to say that I did. I'd previously read the author's Dr Blessing stories and he invokes the Victorian era feeling well. This is repeated in The Seance providing a classic horror story feel.

I'm a big fan of the time period for horror stories and the blend of the rational and supernatural works for me. The author nails it in this story with some good references to bed the story into the era. This is a relatively short story with a quick pace but with some twists and turns along the way to keep things interesting.

The basic plot is a familiar one with a cursed item at the heart of it and the central character is a man of his age and provides some similarity to heroes of stories from that era. I enjoy a story that doesn't shy away from the concept of supernatural evil and this does that while also layering on the evil that men do to themselves.

If you're a fan of classic horror then you should give this a try and check out the author's other work while you're at it.

One person found this helpful

Amazon reader

Gothic Creepiness & Plenty of Terror

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 8, 2014

Verified Purchase

Gothic Creepiness and Plenty of Terror
I have never been a lover of historical books however in The Séance Jack Rollins gives such effortless atmosphere that I found myself drawn in from page one. At 56 pages this in not a long read but it is full of gothic creepiness and plenty of terror, with twists and turns that will keep you looking over your shoulder and a surprise ending that does not disappoint.

Albert Kench arrives back from Australia to find his sister in the rather strange and creepy Oakbridge Asylum. The staff are all smiles and everything seems too perfect so Albert sets out to discover why his sister is catatonic. He visits an old flame who tells him that she attended a séance and there begins his desire to investigate the supernatural.

This book is beautifully written and the author is able to immerse you in both the period and the characters. You are there with them all the way and it makes the twists and turns of this story all the more terrifying. 5 Creepy Stars for The Séance.

3 people found this helpful

David B

Fantastic horror short

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 31, 2014

Verified Purchase

Albert Kench, fresh from Australia, arrives at the gates of Oakbridge Asylum to visit his sister. He is guided through a seemingly perfect place by the smiling, trumpet playing warden. Is there something sinister lying behind smiles and gardens and cricket matches? Or has something far more malevolent happened to Kench's seemingly mute sister?

Once again Rollins guides us through his twisted vision of Victorian England with style and more than a little terror. This is a great story to read with the lights off on Halloween or whenever you feel like being spooked.

If this is your first taste of Rollins, I'd suggest picking up the Dr Blessing short-stories after this as they seem to take place in the same horrific mirror image of Victorian England and possess much of the same style and horror as the Seance.

J R Park

Brand new old world horror

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 24, 2016

Verified Purchase

The Seance is a brief but exciting tale, set in a hammer-style Victorian england.
I loved the language throughout the book, instantly steeping us into this old world, without ever sounding forced or contrived.
The story is creepy, and the description of the seance was very effective, conjuring crystal clear images of ghostly apparitions and demonic mirrors. Paced well, the book builds into a crescendo of violence and a great ending.
Modern horror with a vintage feel, this is well executed escapism, and comes highly recommended.

Phil

A brilliant read! The Seance is a really haunting tale

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 4, 2014

Verified Purchase

A brilliant read! The Seance is a really haunting tale, compellingly written and culminating in a chilling climax. Jack Rollins is clearly a very gifted storyteller and an excellent writer of horror stories. His work expresses a true passion for the genre and it really shows in this exciting and creepy tale.

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The Seance: A Gothic Tale of Horror & Misfortune Kindle Edition

Will they contact they dead, or join them?

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Jack Rollins

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