Elizabeth by Jessica Hamilton

 

The only reason I knew about this book was because I picked up Grady Hendrix's PAPERBACKS FROM HELL and this was one of the titles that he had offhandedly mentioned that he liked. It also didn't sound like it was going to be super gory, and even though I am the biggest wuss on the planet when it comes to horror, I do like atmospheric horror.

ELIZABETH is the story of a sinister fourteen-year-old girl who starts doing bad things to the people around her under the direction of a ghost named Frances who lives in her mirror. She also ends up adopting a cat familiar at some point who she names Mr. Scratch (and no, he doesn't die-- hooray!). It's written in first person and has the chatty, unreliable narration style that a lot of self-published horror these days has.

I don't want to say too much more because of spoilers, but one of the focal questions about this book is whether Elizabeth is a witch or just a psycho. The ending doesn't really deliver on this, either, so if you're not a fan of vague endings, this might make you made. I personally don't care either way so long as a story is good (I can live with a bit of disappointment), but the story was also... weird.

First, Jessica Hamilton is actually a penname for a dude (as was common in the '70s), so don't pick this one up thinking you're supporting women in horror, as I did. Second, this book is gross. If I had known that huge portions of this book revolve around the underage heroine sleeping with her uncle, I would not have picked it up because that is nasty. It's not, like, endorsed or even particularly fetishized, but it just felt like a cheap way to make the story feel more sensational and gross than it needed to be. Which I guess is maybe why this became a cult horror book, in a way. It definitely has '70s grindhouse vibes.

I'd recommend this book to people who like books that push boundaries and enjoy reading stories with major creep factor. I did read this book to the end, even if I was ew-ing most of the way there, so I'm not going to give it too low of a rating, but I don't think I'd read anything else by this author, either. Yuck. Bonus star because the cat survived though and because Mr. Scratch is a hilarious name.

2.5 out of 5 stars