The Elementals

I really liked The Elementals and although not quite a five-star read, ticks all the right boxes.

✔ A slow-burn horror with a lot of restraint that builds up gradually.

✔ Oddball characters, including alcoholics, voyeurs, egocentric politicians and unnaturally mature teenage girls, endlessly bantering and bickering with each other.

✔ Exceptionally well written as a classic in its own right, unlike the usual horror fare.

But I also had to hold back on the instinct to come down heavy.

❌ The buildup is often too languid and many, if not all, of the characters are dislikeable and detached through aloofness. You may not care who lives or dies.

❌ The conversation between Luker and India, father and daughter, is barely believable at times. Luker talks to her like a reprobate, constantly swearing and sometimes being abusive, while 13-year-old India talks back like she's an adult. You later realize that India, as the youngest female, acts this way as the next Savage family matriarch who will rule and divide.

❌ There's mild concern about racism because of the excessive referral to Odessa as "the black woman" instead of using pronouns such as 'she' and 'her', like the author's trying to make an unnecessary point. This isn't a racist book, but others may disagree.

Although there's an initial lack of scares and punch, this is an exquisitely written, cynical, humorous and well-crafted book that's capable of switching to horror in a smooth and believable way. One of my pet hates are authors who don't know how to transition between implied or cosmic horror into scary action and who therefore feel forced and sometimes silly.

Fortunately, the formal and sometimes hostile writing style turns into a horror bonanza, perhaps in the vein of a Shirley Jackson novel? Maybe like 20 episodes of the Forsyte Saga or a serialized Gone With The Wind with a southern gothic feel? The Great Gatsby springs to mind with its upper class, frosty and often disconnected internal dialogue set in upper class American society, while carefully choosing its words and avoiding unnecessary descriptions or ill-advised jump scares.

By lowering your expectations you appreciate the writing craft and slow-burn horror above all else, which is done to perfection as it builds and builds to deliver successfully at the end.

This is a wonderful novel in its own right, not just a really good horror story, with captivating spiritual elements that affect the dynamics of the formal but also strangely libertine family, who get what they want but also deserve what they get.