Review | The Creeper Man by Dawn Kurtagich

Silla and Nori lives with their Aunt Cath after leaving London and escaping an abusive situation. What at first felt like sanctuary soons turns bleak. Their Aunt Cath barely speaks to them while they prowl the grounds of the house, lonely and isolated. When a boy her age appears, Silla finds a friend. But their situation seems precarious. Nori says the forest moves closer and they may not be alone.

Tell me pleasant lies, and I will believe them before I throw them away.

The Creeper Man gives me mixed feelings. Instead of a straightforward ghost story, the book flows in a lyrical, half-poetic structure. The epistolary format of this book is pretty effective and conveys a sense of displacement for the characters. If you get the chance, read the book in a physical format as the usage of different size of fonts and arrangements of words makes the story even creepier. But for some readers, the format could be distracting and takes away from the content.

I thought the middle of the book is too slow. Perhaps it isn’t conveyed strongly enough but I was not convinced by the fear that made Silla want to stay. I wanted the sisters to try to leave or find out what was happening to them. That said, the book tries to show reasons why they wanted to stay. I just wanted to see them be less passive about their situation.

The romance is almost insta-love which is borderline cheesy but I ended up warming up to it. It leads to an effective ending, which is surprising and heartbreaking. It isn’t the terrifying supernatural story I was looking for but I appreciate the way it turned out. The book shows that there are many things that can be scary and sometimes trying to move on could be the scariest of all.

About the author: Dawn Kurtagich

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