The Rundown
Sunny hill is a student house with a proud history of partying, and the earthen floored basement behind a secret door has always been just another room to store junk in. But when Drew- overweight, romantically challenged and addicted to video games- finds an old polaroid camera that allows him to spy on the subjects, he begins a dangerous obsession. Able to watch his friends without them knowing, Drew’s self-loathing and paranoia begin to twist him in frightening ways.
Worse still, Drew is not the only thing lurking in the basement, and a force beyond his understanding wants him to join a terrible union.
With his friends threatened by mysterious stalkers and a creepy neighbour, Drew must do his best to protect them, but the secrets of Sunny Hill run deep, and Drew must discover where the true evil lies before it’s too late.
The Recommendation
Lurk is a fresh and clever horror with a well-written cast of memorable characters. With a measured balance of mystery, suspense and reality bending horror, fans of the genre will find themselves breezing through this book in one or two sittings. It’s a real page turner, relying as much on the psychologically disturbing as its moments of grotesque imagery and supernatural creep.
Certain parts recall a young Stephen King, and the use of an unreliable narrator being influenced by the restless dead may ring familiar to fans of The Shining. However, good horror is often in the telling, and Adam Vine tells a fine tale. His depiction of Drew, from whose perspective the events unfurl, is particularly note worthy. Struggling to find his place, Drew is a study on the social outsider in the millennial age, a young man who tries to find solace in youthful crutches as his friends grow up around him, trapping him in a cycle of bitterness and frustration.
Lurk is at its surface a good horror with some genuinely disturbing scenes. But it is the depth of characterisation that sets it apart from its peers. While the cast at first appear to be typical teenage horror fodder, they each reveal wisdom, cynicism and an almost tragic self-awareness of how little, and how much, their formative years actually matter. Lurk is an exploration of youth, friendship and coming of age, wrapped in an eerie, sometimes brutal, horror story.
