Arthur Kipps, a young man of only twnety-three years, is sent by his boss to Crythin Gifford on a mission to reprsent their firm at a dead client's funeral and to basically come back with the deseased Mrs.Drablow's documents. It seems like a simple affair, no complicated matters or anything at first, however, little does Arthur know that his encounters there will haunt him forever. At the old lady's funeral, Arthur spots a woman with a pallid and wasted face and when he mentions it to his companion, Mr.Jerome, he becomes very agitated as are all the other villagers when the topic turns to that mysterious woman in black. He sees her again, at Eel Marsh House, and Arthur becomes very unsettled but curious by this phenomenon. Who is the woman? Why are people so afraid of her? Is she even real, even alive? And why does she wear that expression of twisted malice and hatred? What is her story?
I enjoyed this novel immensly though at first when I just started reading it, I was wondering what type of novel it was going to be like and the answer is that it is probably the most horror-like horror novel I've ever read. OK, I've never really read a lot of horror novels anyway but there are some books which say "Seriously Scary" but are "SERIOUSLY as far from scary as possible". Susan Hill is brilliant at creating this eery and tense atmosphere and clear, vivid description that makes you dread what might happen next. This may be partly due to the fact that you can accurately imagine yourself, what it would be like to be trapped in darkness in this isolated house in the middle of nowwhere with fog outside and spooky noises. It's true that the plot is quite simple but the writer's fantastic use of other techniques make up for this.
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