Book Review: ‘DEATHWATCH’ by Lisa Mannetti

Lisa Mannetti’s superb writing talents have garnered her one Bram Stoker Award already for her first novel The Gentling Box (DarkHart Press 2008) and she may have two more to add to her credit. One nomination is for the opening story Dissolution in her latest effort Deathwatch (Shadowfall Publications 2010). Dissolution is a spine-tingling supernatural haunt followed by the equally chilling Sheila Na Gig. Mannetti’s supernatural spirits are sadistic and cruel rivaling the ghosts of Richard Matheson’s Hell House or Stephen King’s Overlook Hotel. These companion novellas will raise the hairs on the back of your neck and haunt your imagination long after the last page is finished.

The first tale, Dissolution, takes us back to 1893 and opens with Stuart Granville, a young medical student, arriving in Hyde Park, New York where he has landed a job after being expelled from school for drinking. He is assigned to the home of Doctor Andrew Saunders under the assumption that he will tutor Saunders’ twin daughters, Abby and Ellie, but soon finds he is there for another purpose. Abby and Ellie aren’t regular twins, they are Siamese twins and Saunders has recruited the young talent to do what no sane doctor would attempt; separate the girls through risky surgery. To complicate the situation, the Saunders house is haunted by the angry spirit of his deceased wife Regina.

Granville senses the supernatural force upon his arrival at the Saunders’ estate. The looming and cold structure, which Granville likens to an iceberg, causes an adverse physical reaction in him. The Saunders house is an essential character as much as the hotel in Stephen King’s The Shining, but it acts more as a trap than a psychic lens. The reader, like Granville, becomes tied “by some invisible cord” to the house. Like Jack Torrance in King’s masterpiece, Granville is an easy target for Regina because of his alcoholism and is drawn to the house due to past transgressions. One other similarity is the image of the twin girls Abby and Ellie. It is difficult not to be reminded of the spooky twin girls in Stanley Kubrick’s film adaptation of King’s novel when the Saunders girls grip each other about the waist. Although not a long format novel and thus not quite as complex, Mannetti’s haunted house tale is nonetheless just as disturbing and lasting in its impression.

The real horror in Dissolution is the adults’ exploitation of the vulnerable Siamese twins and the hopelessness of their situation. Strip away the supernatural aspect of the story and it still remains a tragic tale of two innocent youths inadvertently punished by their parents’ emotional traumas. Through the characters’ vulnerabilities the ghost of Regina is able to possess and manipulate her victims, but as the Saunders’ housekeeper cautioned, “There is no such thing as haunting without the consent of the human who participates.” This leads the reader to question whether the twins are really victims of their mother’s malicious plan or willing participants, but either interpretation is equally frightening.

The follow up story, Sheila Na Gig, is quite a different tale, but shares the same thread of tragedy especially as it pertains to children and their vulnerability to adult corruption. This story opens with the 15 year old Tom fleeing from his home in Ireland to America. As he recounts the events leading up to his departure it is revealed that his family has been psychologically tortured by his living grandmother Rose. Although not a ghostly spirit, Rose feeds off the weakness of each family member like Regina in Dissolution. Rose conjures power from a mysterious object, the titular Sheila Na Gig, which is a small female statue with a wildly distorted female organ.

While she drains the family of their own power she becomes stronger and our protagonist Tom suffers greatly as Rose exploits his love for his cousin Ellen to manipulate him to her will. Tom attempts to protect his family and end the wrath of Rose, but as we have learned from the first story there will be no retribution for the victims of a supernatural predator in a Mannetti story. Mannetti ties this tale back into Dissolution in a surprising and clever way, but it won’t be until the very end of Sheila Na Gig that the reader fully understands why these are referred to as companion pieces.

Dissolution and Sheila Na Gig are both strong and highly literate tales that prove Mannetti has the writing chops to produce classics among the likes of Stephen King or Shirley Jackson. The haunting atmosphere, disturbing imagery, and attention to detail will keep the reader engaged, but it is the intimacy of the psychological terror the characters suffer and the personal connection the reader will experience that guarantee its endurance.

Check out the haunting trailer for Deathwatch below.

 Deathwatch trailer

You can pick up Deathwatch in paperback format or Kindle from Amazon.com or for your Nook from Barnes & Noble.

 Follow Lisa Mannetti on Facebook and Twitter and visit her website and blog to keep up on all her projects past present, and future.