The Hollow Places

This was an amazingly, delightfully creepy book! The older I get, the less I seem to enjoy horror books, especially the gore and guts kind of horror. I still enjoy the atmospheric, psychological horror, but I find it hard to find good book that don't repeat the same tired clichés or manage to completely botch the ending. I'm glad I picked up The Hollow Places, because this book delivered.I think the best part about it is how slowly it develops the creep factor. We start in this wonderful little museum of improbable and impossible things that might look scary and unusual, but are, most of them fake. And our protagonist is someone who grew up in that museum. Who knows every nook and cranny of that building, who played among the display cases and hugged the stuffed animals as if they were her childhood friends. To Kara, or "Carrot" how her family and friends call her, the museum is the safest place on earth. This is a refuge when her family life is shattered by a divorce. A chance to regroup and start over.And the author takes time to set the stage and introduce us to Kara and her uncle, as well as the museum itself. It's done in such a way that as a reader, I was in love with the little building as well. I was feeling warm and safe there.So when creepy and unexplained things start happen in this safe place, it completely knocks the ground from under your feet along with the protagonist. The horror of what's happening has an even bigger impact because it is intruding into this safe zone.The author also introduces the horrors of the Willows very progressively. At first, it just looks like a slightly creepy, but ultimately benign world. Yes, it's flooded. Yes, there are bunkers everywhere, but no people. Yes, the willows are strange, but they are just trees, right? As more an more bizarre things happen to our protagonists, as the level of horror slowly ramps up, so did my blood pressure. I felt for them. I felt with them, especially after the school bus and their realization that they lost their bunker, and that they are possibly stuck in this weird no-man's land forever.I loved Kara. She is funny, she is a mess, but she is so relatable. Maybe because I've been in her shoes, with a messy divorce and a husband that acted exactly the same way. Yes, Carrot was slightly too stupid to live when it came to one particular object, but I can let it slide, because I liked everything else about her.And Simon! If I had to get lost in a weird in-between place of existence with somebody, he would be my first choice. He is cool under pressure, and funny, and also relatable. And special shoutout to Beau, the bestest, most adorable cranky cat in literature. As I mentioned, the horror in this slowly builds up and finds its culmination when the safe place suddenly becomes unsafe. Unlike other horror books I've read recently, the author didn't drop the ball here. The resolution is satisfying and the ending is everything I wanted it to be. And even though our protagonist win in the end, they are left with physical and emotional scars, which is also very logical and realistic. All in all, this was a very enjoyable book. I will definitely recommend it to my friends and I will check out other books by this author. Heck, I already told my husband he absolutely needs to read it.

So I wasn't sure about this book at first. I think I was scarred from reading Neil Gaiman and was apprehensive about diving back into anything remotely related to horror. Especially when an author introduces animals. (I love Neil Gaiman's writing but secretly despise him at the same time)This book made it easy to transition into something creepy and the little splash of gore was just enough. It felt a little slow in spots. But it didn't keep me from reading. The main character was a lot of fun and Simon was a small nod to the Mad Hatter. (In the way he dressed). The opening of the book was hilarious. I enjoyed Uncle Earl. Beau is now my favorite cat in literature. Give it a read. You won't be disappointed!SPOILERS BELOW THIS LINESo Carrot has a wonderful sense of humor. Simon reminded me of the Mad Hatter if he was a fan of Emo music.The only critiques I would leave is I felt as though the chapters where they are in the willows didn't have enough detail to give me a true sense of the surroundings. The bunkers were well described but the actual willows land felt fuzzy. Singer was also a bit fuzzy. She was supposed to be from another dimension yet seemed very human. None of the soldiers raised an eye brow it seemed. Then Martin's accent had me a bit lost. Not the way in which I heard it in my head, but the way it was described. (Probably just a me thing). Just those small nit picking critiques.I will say I enjoyed the way the humor was laced into the story. It gave you a periodic sense of relief at just the right times without jarring you away from the creep factor. Simon was connected with Carrot just enough that it made total sense he would save her from the willows. They shared a bond. I loved the insertion of the soldiers Bible journal. That was really creative. You got to read a second perspective without diving deep into another character. It didn't take away from Carrot or Simon.The taxidermy coming to life and defending Carrot made sense. The souls of the animals may be long gone but the idea that their flesh remembered who their care taker is was a great twist. The otter carving moving around and Carrot not seeing that for what it was didn't make sense. I explained it away because she was in an anxious state focused on the doorway and dismissed everything else. Which I am glad I did because it was a great ending. All in all, definately would read more of this authors books.

This book wasn’t scary, per se, but it was absorbing and entertaining. The main character is extremely like-able, and I found myself not wanting to put the book down. Highly recommend as a work of southern gothic lit!

The story wasn't too good, but a book is always a nice gift.

Genauer gesagt hatte ich erste Anzeichen leichten Unbehagens bei der Erwähnung von Flüssen, Booten auf Flüssen, Inseln in besagten Flüssen, Weiden auf besagten Inseln in besagten Flüssen, und eben Ottern - den großen Exemplaren, die an die zwei Meter lang werden und schon mal mit einem im Wasser treibenden Menschen verwechselt werden können, schon bevor ich "The Hollow Places" gelesen habe. Denn einige Wochen, bevor ich endlich T. Kingfisher für mich entdeckte, las ich Algernon Blackwoods "The Willows" (Die Weiden), und musste hinterher feststellen, dass mir das Buch ein nicht näher zu definierendes, jedoch umso nachhaltigeres Unbehagen beschert hatte. Wundervoll.Als ich dann einen Blick darauf warf, warum es in "The Hollow Places" geht, fiel dieser Blick eigentlich nur auf das Wort "willows", was sofort eine Trigger-Wirkung hatte. Hatte die Autorin etwa...Ja, sie hat. T. Kingfisher hat sich Algernon Blackwoods Geschichte genommen, bzw. sich Grundzüge daraus beherzt geliehen, und in einen ebenso atemberaubenden wie atmosphärischen Roman eingewoben, der deutlich die Handschrift einer Autorin trägt, von der ich in Zukunft bitte jedes Buch für das erwachsene Lesepublikum haben möchte (T. Kingfisher schreibt unter einem anderen, ihrem eigentlichen Namen, auch Kinderbücher) und gleichzeitig für diejenigen Leser, die Blackwoods Geschichte kennen, jede Menge Aha-Momente bereithält.Man muss das Original, also "The Willows", nicht kennen, um trotzdem ein riesiges Vergnügen an "The Hollow Places" zu haben, aber schaden kann es nicht. Es handelt sich dabei, das ist vielleicht wichtig für Leser, die auf Gemetzel und jede Menge Blut stehen, nicht um eine Horrorgeschichte, jedenfalls nicht, wenn man Horror mit den vorgenannten Zutaten verbindet, sondern um "speculative fiction", in der das Grauen subtiler aufgebaut wird. Und auch "The Hollow Places" ist kein Horror-Schocker, wenn auch T. Kingfisher die ein oder andere Szene zu bieten hat, die man besser nicht vor dem Essen zu sich nimmt (und auch nicht unmittelbar danach). Es ist aber auch, zum Glück, auch sonst völig anders als Blackwood. Denn anders als der genannte Herr hat T. Kingfisher nämlich hat etwas, was dem zumindest in seinen Geschichten völlig fehlte: sie hat Humor und ein Herz für ihre Protagonisten, und das macht den ganz, ganz großen Charme von "The Hollow Places" aus. Die Protagonistin "Carrot" und ihr schwuler Freund Simon sind zwei, die man unbedingt kennnenlernen möchte - vorzugsweise im Kuriositätenmuseum von Carrots Onkel und lieber nicht auf der anderen Seite von dessen Außenwänden. Immer wieder bricht man während des Lesens ganz unvermittelt in hysterisches Gekicher aus, genau wie die Protagonisten, denen als Reaktion auf den Irrsinn, der sie ebenso unvermittelt heimsucht, gar nichts anderes übrigbleibt, wenn sie nicht den Verstand verlieren wollen. Und es ist wie gesagt, trotz allem und jedem ein einziges Vergnügen, mit den beiden die "Hollow Places" zu erkunden, auch wenn einem, sollte man nicht gerade nervös kichern, schon mal die Kinnlade in die Knie fällt. Spätestens beim Otter, um das mal abzurunden, war das bei mir der Fall.Jetzt warte ich sehnsüchtig auf "A House with Good Bones", T. Kingfishers neuen Roman, in einer Ausgabe, die ich mir leisten kann.Und darauf, dass irgendein Verlag mal bitte auf die Idee kommt, nicht nur die YA-Bücher dieser Autorin (jaja, die gibt es auch noch) ins Deutsche zu übersetzen, sondern eben auch ihre, nennen wir es dann doch eben so, subtil-humanen Horror-Romane.

Not too much blood and core but still a cracking horror story - more tales of the unexpected than Texas chainsaw massacre. Strong female lead and a host of interesting and memorable characters with the horror interlaced with comedy and adventures.

I follow T Kingfisher finding her writing on a whole other level than most of the many books I read. The Hollow Places seems a departure for her but it seems she is going to be a star in the horror genre as well as the others she has conquered. Written in her own wry style and including characters who are fully formed and whom you care about it is a success at drawing you into a creepy, evil situation. There is a scene the like of which I have never encountered before and it really creeped me out. I was a little disappointed at the end. It felt abrupt. However with such a wonderful story, I'll give it a 5 star rating anyway. Read it and enjoy.

Omg, this book! I loved every moment of it - I wanted to read it so I could finish, but I didn't want to finish it. When I was little I was fascinated by the Wood Between Worlds in The Magician's Nephew, and this dark, creepy, terrifying version of it was just perfect!The characters, the world through the tunnel, the willow light and the beings on the edge of the world, everything kept me gripped with every page. Simon and Kara are fantastic protagonists, realistic and flawed, and using dark humour at the worst of times.This is the third book I've read by T Kingfisher, and I've loved every one. If you want weird, quirky characters, stories written with incredible imagination, characters that are so relatable, then read her books. Highly recommend!