This is the story of the disintegration of a relationship between father and daughter, and its descent into insanity and horror, with supernatural elements woven in. I found it rather a disappointment after some of Campbell's other novels, especially since the setting - a block of flats created from the derelict remains of an old building which had a past as offices and before that a lunatic asylum - and the cast of newly arrived flat owners did have potential. However, the involvement of the other characters is perfunctory and they hardly figure at all in the story.

The behaviour of the sixteen year old daughter who is aware of the psychic disturbances in the building is characterised well, with the allowance that this was written well before the use of internet, mobile phones etc, so her attempt to research the history of Nazarill, as the building is known, has to rely on secondhand bookstalls and the willingness or otherwise of a history teacher. But the father's disintegration as he becomes increasingly like an abusive former governor of the asylum comes across as so over the top at times, it cannot be taken seriously. Even at the time this book was written it is also unlikely that every adult - with the exception of someone who runs an "alternative" shop and is soon encouraged to leave - demonises the girl for using the odd rude word and approves of her being beaten.

The ending is truly horrific, but inevitable given what has gone before, although there is a slight ray of hopefulness in her ultimate fate. But if the ghosts of former inmates were looking to her for release from their imprisonment, it seems unlikely that they would terrorise her in the way they do. That, and the attempt to shoehorn too much into the story - the former inmates were also descendants of witches who used to worship on the hill where the house is built - rather muddles the story, so for me this only merits 2 stars. ( )

This one took a while for me to get into, I almost stopped at fifty pages where nothing had happened yet but a truly boring tenants meeting However, the setting of modern Northern England as written by a British writer had an inherent fascination for me.

Nazareth Hill is where witches once danced and where an insane asylum once housed them after witch hunts went out of fashion--and there are strange happenings going on there--ones witnessed by several people, particularly a fifteen year old girl, Amy Priestly. She's a typical teenager, in ways I could imagine being maddening if I were her parent: body piercings, shaved head, plays loud music, smokes marijuana, pigsty of a room, sullen and uncommunicative; her father has good reason for concern.

Yet the core of the horror of this book is how easily isolated and vulnerable Amy is, to his authority as a parent since she's not yet of age, as he becomes increasingly controlling and prey to a zealous religious mindset that may be influenced by the dark forces surrounding them. The tension between them and suspense becomes more and more unbearable to take as a reader, especially in those last hundred pages. Particularly, as with the reviewer below, I do find frustrating the kind of story where no one believes the protagonist.

This was well-written, literate, with characters that felt all too real--although be warned, it's also brutal and heartbreaking. ( )