The Pendle Curse by Catherine Cavendish
The Blurb
Four hundred years ago, ten convicted witches were hanged on Gallows Hill. Now they are back…for vengeance. Laura Phillips’s grief at her husband’s sudden death shows no sign of passing. Even sleep brings her no peace. She experiences vivid, disturbing dreams of a dark, brooding hill, and a man—somehow out of time—who seems to know her. She discovers that the place she has dreamed about exists. Pendle Hill. And she knows she must go there. But as soon as she arrives, the dream becomes a nightmare. She is caught up in a web of witchcraft and evil…and a curse that will not die.
About Catherine Cavendish
Hello, my name's Catherine Cavendish and I write horror fiction, frequently reflecting my Gothic influences. Out now from Kensington-Lyrical, the first in a trilogy - WRATH OF THE ANCIENTS - set in Egypt and Vienna and featuring the sinister Dr. Emeryk Quintillus whose obsession has stayed with him past the grave. My novels THE DEVIL'S SERENADE and SAVING GRACE DEVINE have been released in new editions by Crossroad Press, as have my novel of the Lancashire Witches - THE PENDLE CURSE - and my novellas, LINDEN MANOR and DARK AVENGING ANGEL. My other titles include: THE SECOND WIFE, MISS ABIGAIL'S ROOM, THE DEVIL INSIDE HER, THE DEMONS OF CAMBIAN STREET, COLD REVENGE, and IN MY LADY'S CHAMBER. All are available from Amazon I live with a longsuffering husband and a delightful black cat who has never forgotten that her species used to be worshipped in ancient Egypt. She sees no reason why that practice should not continue. Our home is in a rambling building dating back to the mid 18th century, haunted by a friendly ghost, who announces her presence by footsteps, switching lights on and strange phenomena involving the washing machine and the TV. When not slaving over a hot computer, I enjoy wandering around Neolithic stone circles and visiting old haunted houses. You can find me on my blog: www.catherinecavendish.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CatherineCavendishWriter?ref=hl and on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Cat_Cavendish
My Review
Catherine Cavendish has succeeded in bringing the full magnitude of fear and dread that everyday people of the early seventeenth century must have had around the threat of witchcraft into the minds of the modern day reader. I wasn't just gripped, I was spellbound, bewitched and possessed by this book. Laura Phillips, grieving over the death of her husband is haunted by vivid dreams where she is taken to a place that she does not recognise. Unable to shake free of these dreams when she is awake, she is compelled to identify the place on the internet and found it was the site of the Pendle witch trials in 1612. My reading experience was totally magical and I particularly enjoyed the transitions from present day to the past under the reign of witch-hating King James I. This was quite a departure from my usual genre, but I daresay, it won't be long before I will be reading more of this wonderfully imaginative author's works again.
