Caught Up In "The Grip Of It"

Moving into a new house can be a daunting task, but its usually an exciting and positive event. In Jac Jemc's extraordinary and eerie novel, The Grip Of It, James and Julie, a young married couple, purchase a house in the country, in order to escape the big city, and put the problems caused by Jame's gambling addiction behind them. What they don't know is that the house contains a supernatural presence that will threaten their already tenuous relationship.

The chapters of the novel alternate between the points of view of Julie and James, who tell the story of the frightening events they experience from their own perspectives. Much like the locations in classic tales of terror like Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House, Richard Matheson's Hell House, and Stephen King's The Shining, their new home is alive, and the effect it has on the couple will shatter them both mentally and physically, particularly in Julie's case. She suffers from the appearance of mysterious bruises on her body that change in size and location, and has some severe hallucinations.

The house seems to have a mind of its own, with strange writing appearing on the walls, previously unseen rooms and pathways opening up, and there are odd noises which occur on a regular basis. Julie and James also both experience instances of lost time. When James begins to dig into the history of their new home, he finds out that its past is plagued with troubling incidents. As the strange and otherworldly occurrences begin to multiply in number and intensity, the couple begins to suspect one other of being behind them.

The Grip Of It is an unsettling thriller that builds up to a powerful climax. This isn't just a tale about a haunted house, it's a story of a haunted relationship. Jemc's superb prose effectively conveys the fractures between Julie and James. You can feel the severity of the stresses caused not only by the supernatural forces beset them, but from the cracks that already exist in their relationship. Could it be that the problems between them are the cause of this haunting, or is the house using the issues in their relationship against them? There are no easy answers in The Grip Of It, but if you're a fan of literate chillers and exceptionally told tales of the darkness lurking within, check out Jac Jem's terrifying novel.