Strange Loop by Amanda Prantera. (Cape £6.95)
A haunting tale stylishly written by a writer of craft. The central figures of this ghostly story are an uninspiring professor who returns to a convent last seen in his youth, the setting for unpleasant memories, and a red haired girl locked away in a tower. Violent happenings, we are urged to believe, leave an impression on their surroundings which can be
replayed like a film and the atmosphere of the classic ghost story is skilfully and effectively created.
The strange girl becomes the doctor's lover, despite having to be bound when the moon is full, and the climax is suitably terrifying. Amanda Prantera's Strange Loop (riot quite the same as Hofstedter's) is a tale for a cold evening in front of the fire.
Damien Lochrane