The Spook's Curse

The Spook's Curse is the second book in the Wardstone Chronicles series by Joseph Delaney, a series that is slowly gaining popularity via word-of-mouth and has recently been connected to film rumours. The first book, The Spook's Apprentice, was a creepy and more than slightly disturbing 'childrens' book that made imaginative and extensive use of English folklore. The Spook's Curse continues to bring the chills and spills, building substantially on Delaney's portrayal of an 18-19th century English countryside landscape at the mercy of ancient dark powers.

The Spook's Curse picks up the story a few months after the previous book's events. Young Tom Ward, apprentice to the Spook (a kind of excorciser/evil forces-pest controller, a trade that can only be filled by seventh sons of seventh sons), is fitting into his newfound trade rather nicely. The book launches straight into the action, with Tom dealing with a rather nasty boggart in the place of his ill master. A chain of events spiral out from here, and the Spook and Tom are forced to head to Priestown. Priestown is the stronghold of the clergy and a favourite spot for the Quisitors, a sadistic witchhunters who kills many innocents in place of actual witches and would like nothing more than to get his hands on the Spook.

As if that isn't enough, Tom and the Spook are also up against the Bane - a unique spirit of the dark who dwells in the catacombs beneath Priestown, influencing and corrupting the priests and delighting in pressing it's victims flat across the ground. It looks like they're going to have their work cut out for them - especially as Tom learns more about his matser's background, in particular the rumours of a curse that has been placed on the Spook since he first entered the trade.

Like it's predecessor, The Spook's Curse is suprisingly gory and gruesome for a book that's meant to be primarily aimed at kids. It had me reeling in abject horror at one or two moments when I first read it, and I was at the tender age of 26! With this second book in his series, Delaney sets up more background for the overall series and plays out some hints dropped in the first book. He also raises about half a dozen more questions, which bodes well for the rest of the books - no doubt ensuring that avid fans (like myself) will keep reading. This is fast becoming one of my favourite series of books, I'd reccomend it to anyone not afraid of things that lurk in the dark.