A Review of These Fleeting Shadows by Kate Alice Marshall

This part of the post does not contain spoilers. The thing that keeps me coming back to horror is that good horror brings the audience down to a level of safe vulnerability. And my favorite monsters are an allegory for the systemic predation of society. The Fleeting Shadows by Kate Alice Marshall is a challenge to that predation. The story follows Helen Vaughn, an awkward young woman who has been summoned back to her family's ancestral home, Harrowstone Hall. But, like any good gothic horror, there are old, bloodsoaked secrets staining the roots of Harrow. Helen's family is stuffy, rich, patriarchal, and imperialistic. There's also a rumor of girls going missing... The ambience is strong. The unease starts high, is outright horrific within a few chapters and manages to keep one upping itself. It's YA, but there's a lot of maturity here. The atmosphere is suffocating like any good gothic horror should be. It is helpful when a character is likable, and I was rooting for Helen. I liked…

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