Horror Book Review: The House on Hanging Hill Lane (Philip Alexander Baker)

Written by Philip Alexander Baker, The House on Hanging Hill Lane is a dark and twisted tale of supernatural horror, demonic entities, and witchcraft. Kept short and tight, the story plays out in heart racing fashion and leaves the reader feeling breathless.

The story surrounds 18-year-old Daphne Locke who has returned to her childhood home on Hanging Hill Lane following the sudden death of her mother. A traumatic reason to return for anyone, but the street she grew up on is different now. People she knew behave strangely, and the house she once loved feels ominous and oppressive.

If all of that wasn’t bad enough for Daphne, a slew of brutal murders occurs on the street and the police seem powerless to stop the perpetrators as they move from house to house. Daphne can only watch in horror and despair as the murders get closer and closer to home. Just what is happening on Hanging Hill Lane and how does it connect to Daphne and her deceased mother?

If there’s one thing that The House on Hanging Hill Lane does extremely well, it is building the mystery and creating a ton of tension. Tension that refuses to unwind, even when the truth behind the horror is revealed. Philip Alexander Baker does an exceptional job of making the reader feel on edge.

A major component of that is that Daphne, while only given light development, she is easy to like and her confusion is mirrored in the reader’s own. The story puts you alongside her, forced to watch helplessly. Her building fear, leading to anger and annoyance, and her sense of vulnerability is written extremely well. So well, in fact, that there are even moments where the reader might find themselves questioning her reality. Especially when her history with night terrors is revealed.

All of this just makes the final pages all the more thrilling, and while spoilers will be avoided here, it can be said that it’s action-packed, horror-laden, and very satisfying.

Hopefully, there’s more stories to be told about The House on Hanging Hill Lane as Philip Alexander Baker proves himself to be deft writer. Not too bad for a debut book!

Links

Amazon – UK | Amazon – US | Goodreads