The Unusual Possession of Alastair Stubb

The turn of the last century and Theodore Stubb’s manor house resides in the quirky village of Muchmarsh. A renowned entomologist, he is often within the attic adding another exotic specimen to his extensive collection of insects. But Theodore is also a master hypnotist, holding the household in thrall to his every whim.

Theodore’s daughter-in-law Eleanor is a haunted figure, believing that her stillborn child Alastair lives and hides in the shadows. Then she falls pregnant again, but this time by the hypnotic coercion and wicked ravishment of Theodore.

A dreadful act begets terrible secrets, and thirteen years later the boy Alastair Stubb begins to lose his identity, and it is not long before mystery, intrigue and murder follow gleefully in his wake.

This is gothic terror of the highest order, a dream-like and hallucinatory reading experience that promises to reveal secrets both disturbing and astonishing.

"Described as 'gothic terror', however I would describe this more of a surreal gothic tale. This is the story of the Stubb family who live in a world populated with strange yet wonderful characters. We meet Eleanor in an asylum, she's convinced she's the queen and wonders where her son Alastair is. William is Eleanor's husband and son to Theodore, William has some money issues and his father is not sympathetic. William and Eleanor hatch a plan to get their hands on Theodore's money. Fast forward thirty years and we see the consequences of their actions.This novel is weird, wonderfully weird, filled with characters with names like Mr Nuckle and Reverend Musty and villages with names like Muchmarsh. It's definitely set in England but the time period is hazy, new fangled cars are mentioned so I'm assuming it's Victorian. The tone is bordering on fantastical, it reminds me of dark comedy shows like 'The League of Gentlemen', I imagine a film with sepia tones punched with bright red. OK, I may be getting slightly carried away.I loved the gothic themes, the huge mansion with strange servants, William falling on hard times which pre-empts his terrible plan and in true gothic tradition nothing goes right. I found the writing well suited to the genre, the descriptions meant I could easily see the scenes and understand the characters. The plot was well thought out with plenty of mystery and cliff hangers to keep me reading more. All in all a very pleasant novel to read."The Bookish Reader