Literature Review: Elsewhere by William Peter Blatty

Posted by pete in General, Literature, News, Reviews on November 19th, 2008

Author: William Peter Blatty
Artist: Bruce Haley (cover) and Alex McVey (interiors)
Page Count: 220
Pub. Date: 2008
ISBN: 978-1-58767-083-1

Publisher: Cemetery Dance

Available in three editions:
Trade Edition bound in full-cloth with full-color dust jacket artwork ($25)
Slipcased Limited Edition of 350 signed and numbered copies ($75)
Traycased Lettered Edition of 52 signed and lettered copies bound in leather with satin ribbon page marker ($250)

William Peter Blatty is synonymous with Horror, he gave us the scariest book ever written with The Excorcist in 1971, and he adapted it for the screen two years later. I read the book once and saw the movie once, and that was enough for me. I was just thirteen when I read the book and then saw the movie, gave me nightmares for months.

Now Blatty has turned his sights on the haunted house with his soon to be published novel Elsewhere.

This book is frightening. His writing paints vivid pictures of the house called Elsewhere. He proves that he still has the power to frighten the reader. The books twist and turns lead you on a grand journey into the macabre, with an ending that is both brilliant and thought provoking.

Blatty proves  that a good haunted house story can still be written. Elsewhere is haunting and genuinely eerie. Though the book is short it still packs quite a wallop. Blatty’s crisp writing and characterizations will keep you turning the pages. He once again proves that there are things beyond our understanding that are truly terrifying whether it be a possessed girl or a possessed house.

If you like being scared, if you sleep with your closet door shut tight and a light on you will enjoy this book. I emphatically recommend it.

If you don’t like being scared my advice would be not to read it, you might not like what it does to you.