A story about Windhollow Faire a fictional British folk band, who in the 1970’s England, rented an ancient and super creepy country house so they could lock themselves down and record an album. And oh, the text lets us know what an album Wylding Hall (named naturally after the home they were recording in) was, it was the one that made the band capital F famous. But it came at quite the cost, as the groups lead singer vanishes into the house and is just – gone.
Told as a series of interviews with the surviving band mates, and others associated with them, the framing device is that a documentary is being made about the album and Julian’s disappearance. The interviews are for that documentary, and we read along as the band arrives at the country house and things just – generally increase in creepiness.
You can tell from the start that something bad went down with Julian, but the story doesn’t rush you to the climax. Instead, it goes along, upping the creepy factor as it goes. From starting out saying the country house always smelled of woodsmoke even though no one was using any of the fireplaces, to a room full of dead birds, and a window from which a crumbling tower could be seen, but then when outside the building the tower could not be found … like all the red flags that this place had some bad energy were right there.
The narrative just keeps building, dropping a few crumbs and teases as it goes along, with characters referencing things that would be in-universe knowledge (discussion of the album cover, and then talking about an excavation happening around the hall) before actually providing the reader with the full details. I didn’t feel frustrated by this, it leant to the sense that these were actual musicians, discussing an actual album. There is a bit written about folk ballads in the book, but the technical how an album was made is not delved into deeply. Which was fine for me, I was here for the creepy haunted manor house vibes.
I enjoyed the format of this novel. Having the story told from various points of view allowed you to hear more from the characters who bought into the supernatural aspect and those who remained more skeptical. It also is a good way for the interpersonal relationships to be showcased, because yes this was a band with a couple of guys and a female singer in the 70s all locked away together for three months. Yes, there was a fling between some band members. It’s got a creepy, creepy vibe, and some Behind The Music style shenanigans.
The book sometimes reads like a dark fairy tale, and spooky things happen. I told myself that I didn’t think it was that scary, but then when I was reading through it the other night, I found myself getting more and more unnerved. I stopped to look at the dog and asked if she had heard a noise because I was sure I had heard a noise. This is the kind of story that really got under my skin and lingered there.