Another really old review of something I should have simply read a long long time ago! Back in 2014, I received a press release about an anthology horror film titled Thomas Tessier's World of Hurt. This was to feature five stories from the author's short stories he had written. Two of those stories included were to be I Remember Me, and The Infestation at Ralls Hall, which I was sent eBook copies of to check out. To be fair, the email I was sent did say to read '...whenever you can...'. So I sat down yesterday (at time of typing but at the time of publishing a long time back) and spent a quarter of an hour reading the latter of the two.
Returning to England, Van Helsing has been asked to stop of at Ralls, where a girl's school is located. One of the students; Miss Emily, has had something strange happen to her. Some days previously, she alleges to have been attacked in her bedroom one night. In the time since she has grown heavily pregnant as if she had been with child for six months or so. Van Helsing suspects something unnatural has occurred.
Originally featured in the 2013 short story collection; Remorseless: Tales of Cruelty, this 24 page story was a period piece, being set in and around the time of Bram Stoker's Dracula (I would imagine). The story covers a lot of ground in a short time, throwing the protagonist into the story as if he were someone we were already familiar with. From the initial investigation, to the later more action packed scenes, this tells the story competently and without seeming like anything has been lost for pacing issues. Throughout, formal language is used, both with how characters speak and with the descriptions used.
A neat little story that deals with an unexpected antagonist threat, blended in with elements of demonic possession and some quite graphic moments. The writing style had me fooled that The Infestation at Ralls Hall was an older story than it actually was.
SCORE:
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