The Silent Companions: The perfect spooky tale to curl up with this autumn

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In a dark time: Development, validation, and correlates of the Durham Hypnagogic and Hypnopompic Hallucinations Questionnaire.

Welcome to my blog about reading, recipes, writing, and whatever else happens to pop up while I have your rapt attention. We loved the spooky house, intriguing journals from the past, the hidden secrets and the creepy Silent Companions that had us shuttering with their creepiness.

Ghost stories are having a revival at present, and Laura Purcell’s The Silent Companions, set in the 19 th century, is a worthy newcomer to the genre. The show encapsulated not only the day-to-day lives, relationships, and dramas of the English gentry of the time, but also the lives of their servants, cooks, and drivers.

There is an underlying sense of foreboding throughout this whole story that had me questioning whether the events that were happening were supernatural, menacing or manipulation. The success of The Silent Companions established Laura Purcell as a standout voice in the historical fiction scene. The last story actually propels the reader back to the time of Elsie’s ancestors, who had interesting and dark problems of their own. It’s a shame, because I feel like with so many of the same characters, and the same level of creepiness, the book could have taken that and turned it on its head effectively.The residents of the estate are terrified of the figure, but Elsie tries to shrug this off as simple superstition—that is, until she notices the figure’s eyes following her. It was originally one of a pair and was almost certainly painted by Elizabeth Creed (1642–1728), cousin of the poet John Dryden, who was commissioned to decorate various parts of the house and church at Canons Ashby.