Built at the turn of the twentieth century by one of the richest and most powerful men in the world tucked away in the pristine Pocono Mountains, Summer Place, a retreat for the rich and famous, seems the very essence of charm and beauty, “a scene borrowed from a wondrous fairytale of gingerbread houses, bright forests, and glowing, sunny meadows.”
But behind the yellow and white trimmed exterior lurks an evil, waiting to devour the unwary…
Seven years ago, Professor Gabriel Kennedy’s investigation into paranormal activity at Summer Place ended in tragedy and destroyed his career. Now, Kelly Delaphoy, the ambitious producer of a top-rated ghost-hunting television series, is determined to make Summer Place the centerpiece of an epic live broadcast on Halloween night. To ensure success, she needs help from the one man who has come face-to-face with the evil that dwells in Summer Place, a man still haunted by the ghosts of his own failure. Disgraced and alienated from the academic community, Kennedy wants nothing to do with the event. But Summer Place has other plans…
Horror Books Review Blog: The Supernaturals
There are The Expendables, The Incredibles, The Avengers, and now, The Supernaturals!? The Supernaturals is a 2011 novel by David L. Goleman about a group of paranormal researchers who seek redemption after their lives are turned upside down after an investigation at The Summer House went south, and Professor Gabriel Kennedy’s reputation is ruined as he is blamed for a tragedy that occurred in Summer House under his supervision. Seven years later, the house is, once again, alive and has captured the interest of Hunters of the Paranormal, a television show that is the property of a media conglomerate, CBC, hell-bent on obtaining record-setting ratings and making themselves, and their shareholders, rich (er).
The idea of televising a live show on Halloween by the fiery producer, Kelly, is rejected, even laughed at initially. That is until minds are changed when the proof is presented to the CEO of CBC. Thus begins the journey to what would eventually lead to the Halloween special of all Halloween specials.
The book starts off with a bang with the investigation of Professor Kennedy and his team consisting of mostly college students. It is here where we get our first bit of supernatural happenings and pave the way for what is to come. This supernatural “bit” was far from scary, in my opinion as it was a little too “out there” and far-fetched. Let me explain. Any other-worldly, inexplicable event would be construed as far-fetched for anyone not there to witness such an event, and I get that. But, Goleman’s descriptions are very, well, descriptive, and can be a bit wordy with a little too much ‘action’ happening. The picture that Goleman was painting was, in my opinion, more than I needed and it did not allow me to use my imagination. Sometimes, it went on and on to the point where I actually shouted, “Alright, I get it already!”
Everything was conveniently spelled out for me with regard to what I was supposed to be seeing. I love a good ghost story but, for the most part, I enjoy letting my brain fill in most of the blanks. The picture of The Summer House was not a particularly frightening one. But, this does not matter because I would say that 85-90% (maybe 95%) of the narrative takes place outside of said haunted house.
Most of the narrative consisted of the detailed shenanigans of the ins and outs of what goes on behind the scenes in order to produce such a hugely anticipated television production. Sure, Goleman has to keep in line with the namesake of the book and made sure to add enough paranormal happenings to keep the intended audience at bay to remind us that there is “spookiness” on the horizon, for the most part. The problem, for me, is that the paranormal occurrences were far from being anything but scary and played out like a 1990s made-for-TV movie that was short on production value. To be blunt, it felt cheap.
At 400 pages, The Supernaturals was about 200 pages too long, and I was cheering with each turn of the page because it brought me closer to its conclusion. There are so many characters in this book that I found myself either forgetting about a few or neglecting to acknowledge who some of them even were. I would say that the majority of the major players were not very likable and they were very one-dimensional characters that felt into some form of stereotype; there was the token black guy, the quiet, mysterious, and spiritual Native American, John Lonetree, and the cynical, alcoholic Latino whose childhood history consisted of exploitation and abuse at the hands of his father – all of which made me cringe.
It was evident that The Supernaturals drew heavy inspiration from Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House, but it is also evident that it fell extremely short of capturing the tone and the writing of the said classic novel. To say that Goleman didn’t try to deliver the scares and to provide a haunted house tale like that of Jackon’s ‘Hill House’ or even Richard Matheson’s The Legend of Hell House is not true because he did, he really did. However, try as he may, he fell short… way short.
I finished the book but it really was a struggle that felt more like a chore, a big one at that. I would not, nor could I recommend this book to anyone. There was absolutely nothing that could have been done to redeem this one, and I eventually came to the conclusion that it was time wasted and unretrievable. Hard pass.