Weekly Reader: 7 Days in Hell: A Halloween Adventure to Wake The Dead by Iseult Murphy; The Literal Vacation from Hell

 

Weekly Reader: 7 Days in Hell: A Halloween Adventure to Wake The Dead by Iseult Murphy; The Literal Vacation from Hell

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Iseult Murphy's horror novel, 7 Days in Hell: A Halloween Adventure to Wake The Dead delivers on its title. It is indeed a vacation from Hell and a very terrifying reading experience.

Dublin twin sisters, Vicki and Irene Murtaugh are on vacation in the country with Irene's dog, Ronnie. They stop at Boss Cottage in the rural isolated village of Basard. They don't question the strange family that owns the cottage and pop in and out of the fog. They don't question the oddly chirpy American family also staying there. It's at night that things start to get….weird.

First the sky seems to become a strange luminous color even at night. Then  there are those strange sounds at night that sound like cheering. Whenever, the twins ask the locals about the nocturnal weirdness, their nonanswer amounts to "none of your business." When they tell a priest where they are staying, his "God be with you," is less polite chatter and more "Get out while you still can." Not to mention their car breaks down and the local mechanic is in no hurry to fix it like they want them to stick around for awhile. 

Then on Halloween night, their curiosity gets the better of them and they observe hundreds of robed and masked figures engage in a terrifying ritual.

This is an unforgettable horror novel because it is nightmarish at times. The ritual that the twins find themselves in includes many horrifying images of cannibalism, infanticide, dismemberment, and feasting on human blood. This is a chapter that is not for the strong of stomach.

Afterwards,paranoia filters in as Irene and Vicki don't know who to trust, believing that anyone in the village could have taken part in the ritual and could be sizing up the sisters for their next sacrifice. There is even a point when the twins are separated and reunited that the Reader's suspicions turn towards one of the twins.

7 Days in Hell is quite strong in character as well as terror. Irene and Vicki are the typical good twin/bad twin dichotomy but the two are excellent protagonists in their differences. Vicki is the more action oriented of the two, preferring to run or at least fight. She is quick to guess ulterior motives and is able to use her suspicions to try to get away or stand up to her antagonists.

Irene is the quieter, more spiritual minded of the two. When Sunday comes, she makes sure that she and Vicki attend mass even though they are on vacation. She is more fearful of the ritual and when she and Vicki are separated, she heads for the priest's house to request his help. She has a strong sense of faith and is a deep thinker and these qualities get her through this terrifying week.

7 Days in Hell is a terrific horror adventure akin to Rosemary's Baby, the original Wicker Man, or The Exorcist. It is definitely one hell of a book.