The Haunting of Toby Jugg

Rating:
Summary: A good book, but the worst ending I have ever read.
Review: I'm a big fan of Dennis Wheatley; the atmosphere in his books are superb, and his characterisation is masterful. Unfortunately, although he sometimes creates amazing plots, many of his books end with an unsatisfying "deus ex machina". This is one of those books. The ending is not only illogical, but impossible, as far as I can tell. Not to mention the other thing that happens, which I can't tell you without spoiling the book.

The rest of the book is fairly exciting and scary. Toby Jugg ("ahaha") is confined to a wheelchair. He is staying in a remote mansion in Wales (DW seems to be very anti-Welsh, by the way) and gets imprisoned. Then he gets visited by demons, falls in love, etc etc.

Not Dennis Wheatley's best book.

Rating:
Summary: before there was Stephen King there was Dennis Wheatley..
Review: Many folks regard Dennis Wheatley as the author of 'The Devil Rides Out' and other occult fiction which can perhaps be described as "over the top". Nearly all his books are out of print, so one might assume that the works of Dennis Wheatley are best forgotten. This is unfortunate because, at least with 'The Haunting of Toby Jugg', Dennis Wheatley has produced some very innovative works of horror.

'The Haunting of Toby Jugg' is the story of a young man, crippled during the war, being held captive by his guardian. Poor Toby suffers from extremely emotional distress because of his nightly visits by some shadowy creatures. Is Toby going insane or is his guardian behind all this? For much of the novel we don't know. The story has the feel of 'Misery' by Stephen King. It is taut, well-paced ... without excessive mini-lectures on satanism usually found in Wheatley novels.

In addition, 'The Haunting of Toby Jugg' is written as series of diary entries. So it has a personal, psychological feel to it much along the lines of 'Dracula' (Bram Stoker) and 'The Woman in White' (Wilkie Collins).

Bottom line: works well as a psychological "captive vs captor" novel. Of course there is the sprinkling of Wheatley's absurd satanist nonsense to contend with, but overall the book is a real page-turner. Recommended.

Rating:
Summary: before there was Stephen King there was Dennis Wheatley..
Review: Many folks regard Dennis Wheatley as the author of 'The Devil Rides Out' and other occult fiction which can perhaps be described as "over the top". Nearly all his books are out of print, so one might assume that the works of Dennis Wheatley are best forgotten. This is unfortunate because, at least with 'The Haunting of Toby Jugg', Dennis Wheatley has produced some very innovative works of horror.

'The Haunting of Toby Jugg' is the story of a young man, crippled during the war, being held captive by his guardian. Poor Toby suffers from extremely emotional distress because of his nightly visits by some shadowy creatures. Is Toby going insane or is his guardian behind all this? For much of the novel we don't know. The story has the feel of 'Misery' by Stephen King. It is taut, well-paced ... without excessive mini-lectures on satanism usually found in Wheatley novels.

In addition, 'The Haunting of Toby Jugg' is written as series of diary entries. So it has a personal, psychological feel to it much along the lines of 'Dracula' (Bram Stoker) and 'The Woman in White' (Wilkie Collins).

Bottom line: works well as a psychological "captive vs captor" novel. Of course there is the sprinkling of Wheatley's absurd satanist nonsense to contend with, but overall the book is a real page-turner. Recommended.