In Darkness, Shadows Breathe

Cavendish (The Malan Witch) breathes new life into familiar horror tropes in this spine-tingling tale of past and present colliding. Carol is admitted to the Royal and Waverley hospital with acute appendicitis. While there, she has disturbing visions of an otherworldly presence and learns that the hospital is on the site of a former asylum. She starts to fall in and out of her present time, possessed by the spirit of a 19th-century asylum patient, Lydia Warren Carmody, and pulled by her into the past. Meanwhile, Nessa, an older cancer patient, finds herself inextricably linked to both Carol and Lydia after she reads a poem that Lydia wrote. With characteristic verve, Cavendish explores the connection between the three women, offering few moments of reprieve as the suspense builds and time threatens to collapse in on itself. The story of female resilience at the heart of this well-constructed gothic tale is sure to please fans of women-driven horror.(Jan.)