Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt

It starts off fairly innocently, funny even. The town seems to treat their very own personal witch a bit like the oddball auntie you want to hide when the new in-laws in spe come to visit.

Then Heuvelt slowly takes the atmosphere from funny to peculiar and then it starts to get creepy. From that point onwards everything is just downhill from a 'I was expecting a more pleasant experience' perspective.

The horror aspect takes over in such an insidious way that it seems to slither from the pages into your fingers. I felt like having a shower afterwards to wash off the scent and the touch of the witch.

For me it was the whispering, I swear it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Then on top of that the imagery of the sewn up eyes and mouth. Yeh, that's one way to keep people awake at night.

I liked the parallels between the hysteria of the witch trials and the reactions of the modern day townspeople. All in the name of the Good Lord and everything goes to hell in handbasket in a matter of days. Educated, sensible and lenient people turn into scavengers braying for blood.

They want their fair share of the supposed justice. Forget about the fact none of them are living in medieval times, and they seem to have become a small country unto themselves. Governed by myths, hearsay, fear and a council full of backwards thinking individuals.

At the very beginning the Delarosa's make a valid point. The cursed town could try a little harder to keep new people out. Nobody wants to be stuck in the same place forever, subject to the whims of an ancient witch and always on the cusp of death.

Hex seems like your standard horror/supernatural, but Heuvelt doesn't believe in standard or in happy endings for that matter.

Buy Hex at Amazon UK or go to Goodreads for any other retailer.