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Ford and Neuland are paranormal mercenaries—one living (Ford), one undead (Neuland); one of them kills the undead, the other kills the living.
When a job goes wrong in New York City, they decide to take a break and travel west to LA. Whilst there they are made an offer of a job by young Tilda Rosenbloom, who works for her rich family and in particular her very bad-tempered Grandpa, Shepherd Mansfield.
The three travel to The Pale House, an abandoned house on Mansfield’s estate, where a supernatural being has not only caused the house to be abandoned but may also have led to the death of Tilda’s parents…
Richard is a veteran horror writer whose skills are eminent here. The writing is sharp, and the characters almost effortless in their portrayal.
The setup to the plot is perhaps most interesting, and in particular Neuland as a member of the undead, whose presence in the world, as well as others of his kind, appears to be a secret. Each of them has skills that benefits the other and their relationship works well. There’s a nice sense of humour running through this one, which reminded me a little of some of Robert Bloch’s writing.
Considering that this is less than 150 pages, there’s enough here to make you feel that you know them. With young Tilda, a wide-eyed innocent drawn into their work, the trio are a likable group who I engaged with quickly and soon wanted to do well.
Interestingly, Richard also gives us some scenes from the point-of-view of the thing in the house, scenes so good that I almost – almost – felt sorry for it, unlike the person who we find is the real villain of the piece.
The ending sets things up for a continuation of the story, which I will now go and find in a second novella, The Flesh King.
All in all, this is a good take on a haunted house story. Think of it as a rather gruesome version of The X-Files, with a nicely paced plot, engaging characters, humour and icky bits, just right for Halloween.
© 2025 Mark Yon
Paperback | Titan Books
THE PALE HOUSE DEVIL by Richard Kadrey
October 2023 | 128 pages
ISBN: 978-180 3363 899
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English (US) ·