Nocturnes

How it reads

Nocturnes is horror (supernatural horror short stories, specifically), and its dominant mood is eerie. It's atmospheric and uncanny, with a sense that something is wrong. The pace is moderate — neither a page-turner nor a slow burn — so it holds up whether you read it in long sittings or short ones.

It's set in several locations, in no single period, told in the first person by several narrators. Its central concerns are secrets, loss and grief and redemption. In weight it sits in the middle: substantial without being heavy going.

It stands alone, so there's nothing else you need to read first or after. The ending is left open, for you to argue about. At 496 pages it's an ordinary novel's length. It's well known, the kind of book most keen readers have heard of.