Book Review: "The House Beyond the Woods" by Natasha Vale

Nearly everyone who's into true crime has heard of the infamous and mysterious Hinterkaifeck Murders and Natasha Vale has definitely done her research when it comes to being inspired by them. The weaving of what might have been with facts and evidence into a fictional, or semi-fictional, novel is different to just reading a true crime novel of course. I found this book completely by accident and as soon as I saw the Amazon Blurb I was completely and utterly sold. Sometimes, when it comes to reading you just have to go with your gut when there's something there, I just wish I could say that the members of the Hinterkaifeck household went with their gut when they thought something was there too. They did not. And there was definitely something there. Waiting.

The story starts with Viktoria who receives news that her husband Karl has died at war, quite early on too. She's sad but she still has to look after the farm. Her father is a controlling brute who doesn't seem to care that his own wife is lying on her deathbed and Viktoria clutches her hand as she dies. Her father just tells her to get on with it and organise the body to be washed and buried. Viktoria swallows her emotions and continues. Natasha Vale writes her as a character we hold on to, the reader adores her as an almost 'Jane Eyre' kind of character. She's quiet, she's plain and yet, she does have a spirit and a soul. Ultimately, it is this spirit and soul that gets her in trouble later on. In trouble with...someone.

Ultimately, the town begins talking about Viktoria's father possibly having improper relations with his daughter. They are bought in for questioning and then a hearing when they are then jailed for a short amount of time. This causes a barrier between the two because these accusations are obviously not true. In fact, I don't think that Viktoria's father even likes his daughter very much at all. Natasha Vale writes the speech as even more terse and tight than it was before, the shortness and simplicity of the dialogue is something that sets this novel apart from others of its kind. Reliance on the folk tale of the Hinterkaifeck Murders and the harshness of the atmosphere is definitely the right way to go in this book. She's written something very special here that far more people need to read.

But once they come back, things begin to change. There's another side to this story in which there's a man walking to Hinterkaifeck. There's a set of footprints leading into the house but not out again. There's footsteps and noises coming from the attic though nobody ever goes up there. A woman runs away from the house in fear. The house is cursed. A child belonging to Viktoria enters the picture. There's so much more to learn about the horrors that go on in Hinterkaifeck and so, each time we turn the page we learn something new. The terse speech, the child who's talked about in the town, who's the father? But the main concern within are the 'rats' that are in the attic and eventually, the dead bodies that will pile up within.

I loved how this was written. It was written like a cool cross between an urban thriller and a folk horror novel and the author clearly has a talent for tension and atmosphere, it really did have me holding my breath for a long time. It is even worse when you already know how this ends. You're just left falling through mid-air with Natasha Vale telling you a creeping story that has these short chapters that feel like something is slowly moving towards you. It is absolutely brilliant.

All in all, this is definitely a massively underrated book. It's all atmosphere and terror, it feels so good to read. There's so much tension, there's so much story and yet, barely anything is just explained to us. If I could give you one reason to read this, even if you haven't heard of the Hinterkaifeck Murders is this: you won't be able to put it down. It is a novel filled with dread and nightmares.