“Hekla:
In Icelandic lore, a mountain where witches held their meetings. “
There’s a fine tradition here in the UK (and I’m sure some other places as well!) for horror based on ancient myths and folklore. From King Arthur to The Wicker Man, the idea of something unknowable and ancient wanting to do evil and unspeakable things has waxed and waned as the market has fluctuated. Whilst I’ve always enjoyed such stories (for example, see also Alan Garner’s Weirdstone of Brisingamen, Robert Holdstock’s highly regarded Mythago Wood books and Mark Chadbourn’s brilliant Age of Misrule series, amongst others) it’s a place I’ve not visited much lately. James’ Hekla’s Children has reminded me that perhaps I should revisit more often.
Nathan Brookes is an outdoor education teacher, who ten years ago on an expedition to Sutton Park in England has four students disappear. Only Olivia reappears the next day and she is unable, or unwilling, to explain what happened. The remaining three children are never found. When in the present day a body is discovered in the park, it is thought to be one of the missing students.
Osteoarchaeologist Tara Doumani is given the responsibility of determining the body’s age. Through Tara we discover that the body is connected to local legend Bark Foot, dubbed the Rowton Man, although he also seems to be assembled of many body parts. This includes a limb from one of the missing children.
If this wasn’t creepy enough, we also discover that the body has a much more sinister reason for being buried there – that he is the warrior guardian of the gateway between our world and the Land of Un, a place beyond our time and space. With his uncovering from the ground, the barrier between the two places is weakened. Nathan, and others such as his ex-girlfriend Sue Vickers, begin to have frightening visions of the lost children and an unnamed evil presence. Nathan realises he must travel to Un and not only try and find the remaining three children but also stop an evil, the afaugh, that is now strengthened by the un-burying of Bark Foot, from escaping to our world.
Much of the middle part of the novel is spent with Nathan trapped in Un, where a Bronze Age world seems to exist on the landscape now covered by Sutton Park in the present day. At the same time the afaugh has escaped to our modern world, where it runs rampage. Being able to possess bodies, it is determined to make the most of its return from exile and ensure it never has to return to the untamed landscape of Un.
Towards the latter part of the novel the focus of the story shifts a little to the children, now grown up, who were transported to Un a decade ago. We meet again Brandon/Bran, the nerdy one determined to make the most of his new situation, and in particular Catharine ‘Scattie’ Powell whose role in the story becomes increasingly significant.
One of the key themes of these sorts of portal fantasy, from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe to Mythago Wood, is the disparity between the mundane world we know and the mythical world we don’t. Much of the enjoyment in such tales is of reading what happens when these two mis-matched worlds intertwine and overlap.
James’s observations of the present day are surprisingly astute and remarkably realistic, which makes what happens when the fantastic elements are added work so much more. The world-building is impressive and so makes the ability of the reader to disbelieve that little bit stronger. The ancient rituals have value and meaning even when exhibited in the modern world, as do the modern customs and James is careful to use these effectively. (Without giving anything away, the heart-breaking ending even involves tea!)
It also helps that the main characters of Hekla’s Children are recognisable and identifiable. As a teacher who has run a few fieldtrips in my time, I can identify with some of the more mundane things Nathan writes of in this book. Even the mystical ones are nuanced and have a depth to them that is more than the often simple nature of such elemental forces. There’s quite a few twists and turns in the story and nothing can be entirely taken at face value.
In summary, evoking the spirit of Alan Garner’s novels or the creepiness of Phil Rickman’s The Man in the Moss and Crybbe, Hekla’s Children is a tale that’s comfortable in reminding us of and respecting ancient history whilst at the same time impacting on the modern world. It creates a story that’s entirely appropriate for the modern age. Horror lives and breathes, not just in the past and in old movies but also now. And Hekla’s Children is proof of that.
Impressive novel.
Hekla’s Children by James Brogden
Published by Titan Books, March 2017
ISBN: 978 1 785654381
400 pages
Review by Mark Yon
