The Man in the Picture - Review

Author: Susan Hill

Genre: Ghost Story

Series: Stand Alone

Format: Paperback

Pages: 145

A mysterious depiction of masked revelers at the Venice carnival hangs in the college rooms of Oliver's old professor in Cambridge. On this cold winter's night, its eerie secret is revealed by the ageing don. The dark art of the Venetian scene, instead of imitating life, has the power to entrap it. To stare into the painting is to play dangerously with the unseen demons it hides, and become the victim of its macabre beauty...

Last year I read Women in Black and absolutely loved it. It was the perfect creepy read to start of off my October. So when I snagged a bunch of Susan Hill's other work at one of my favorite little bookstores I was pretty excited for Fall when I real most of the horror collection. Of those books, The Man in the Picture, was the one I was the most excited to crack open. The plot alone sounded like the perfect thing to curl with under a mound of blankets.

Sadly this one let me down.

I spent the whole book waiting for the part that had tightening the blanket, or decided to sleep with my desk lamp on. For something terrifying to happen to either of the narrators. Only despite some moments of build up, none of that really ever came. There were a handful of moments where I was waiting for something bit to happen. Then that moment sort of passed and I was left wanting a bit more.

After a while I started to see where the story was headed. So parts that were meant to shock me, really felt predicted.

Though, I kept reading. I felt maybe the story would get better the more into the history of the painting we got. Maybe there would be something about why it was painted, how it was able to do what it does. Only there wasn't.

Honestly I wished there was more to this book. I wished the plot dove further into the painting and answered the questions I had burning throughout the story. Who painted the original scene? Who was the women? Why was she doing this? What happened to those in the painting? Instead the book sort of just ended with another person being trapped with the Venetian painting. Which left me with more questions. Like why not dispose of it?

Still, Susan Hill is a very talented writer. The characters we do meet are well flushed out, and the setting is easy to fall into. I didn't have a hard time seeing the places she described and easily putting myself there. I enjoyed all the characters I met. But, I wished there just been a bit more the story. More reasons to sleep with the lights on.

Buy, Borrow, or Skip: Borrow this one from you local library, or snag it from a local book shop. It's a quick read with a solid story, and who knows. Maybe you'll see someone in it I didn't..

HAPPY READING!