Horror Month - Alison Littlewood

Hey guys!

Sorry for the late horror post but it's a good one. 
Today, I have a review of The Hidden People by Alison Littlewood. 

Pretty Lizzie Higgs is gone, burned to death on her own hearth - but was she really a changeling, as her husband insists? Albie Mirralls met his cousin only once, in 1851, within the grand glass arches of the Crystal Palace, but unable to countenance the rumours that surround her murder, he leaves his young wife in London and travels to Halfoak, a village steeped in superstition. Albie begins to look into Lizzie's death, but in this place where the old tales hold sway and the 'Hidden People' supposedly roam, answers are slippery and further tragedy is just a step away ...

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My review

 ~ I was sent a proof from the publishers-all opinions are my own~

I give it - 4/5

My review - I haven't read many stories that are very dark and gothic but this one was all that and so much more. A lot different from some of the creepy books I've read this month but a lot more spookier. The Hidden People is very gripping and a story you just want to read until the end, even if it does give you the chills.

Set in the 1800s - Albie has only met his cousin, Lizzie, once when he was younger. But, the news of her death saddens him and makes him question what happened to the wonderful girl he met all those years ago. He travels to her home town of Halfoak where most people believe there are fairies around, The Hidden People. 

He moves into her home and suddenly can't separate fact from fiction as the locals tell him of the tales of The Hidden People, how they take people and replace them with changelings. His wife arrives but things don't seem to be going well between them. She starts to act a little strange and before he knows it he is all caught up in the superstition surrounding this town and his cousins death.

Alison does a really great job of writing this book. She really brings the whole story to life and the dark moments. 

It was great reading about this mystery and reading about it all unraveling, it really added to the tense atmosphere of the book. It makes you question certain things and you never know what to believe until the end and that's what kept me gripped from the beginning. Wanting to figure out what happens and figure out what was real and not. A fantastic book from Alison, a dark, gothic, story that any reader will love at this time of year!

About Alison

Alison Littlewood was raised in Penistone, South Yorkshire, and went on to attend the University of Northumbria at Newcastle (now Northumbria University). Originally she planned to study graphic design, but “missed the words too much” and switched to a joint English and History degree. She followed a career in marketing before developing her love of writing fiction.
A Cold Season, from Jo Fletcher Books, was Alison’s first novel. It was selected for the Richard and Judy Book Club, where it was described as “perfect reading for a dark winter’s night.” Her second novel, Path of Needles – a dark blend of fairy tales and crime fiction – has recently been shortlisted for a British Fantasy Award. Her third, The Unquiet House, is a ghost story set in the Yorkshire countryside and has been shortlisted for a Shirley Jackson Award. A sequel to A Cold Season, named A Cold Silence, has recently been published, along with a Zombie Apocalypse! world novel, Acapulcalypse Now.
Alison’s short stories have been picked for Best British Horror, The Best Horror of the Year and The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror anthologies, as well as The Best British Fantasy 2013 and The Mammoth Book of Best British Crime 10. Other publication credits include the anthologies Terror Tales of the Cotswolds, Where Are We Going? and the charity anthology Never Again. She won the 2014 Shirley Jackson Award for Short Fiction.
Alison now lives in a house of crooked walls and creaking doors in deepest Yorkshire, with her partner Fergus and Dalmatians called Dexter and Vesper.
She is on Twitter as @Ali__L, or find her on Facebook.

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