Dark Tides

Booktrailer Review

Susan:

The Isle of Man is awash with folklore and a history like no other. Take Hop-tu-naa for example, a Celtic festival which takes place on 31st October like Halloween although this festival dates back much earlier. The name pronounced Hop two nay – translates as This is the Night…..

The phase of the year when the veil between our world and the spirit word is said to be tissue thin

This is indeed the night that spirits return to the island and spook the inhabitants who live there. This was the night Claire’s mother’s died. The house she was working in at the time of her death has always appeared as a haunted and chilling presence on the island. Owner Edward Caine is as eerie as his home –

The house frightened me. It always had. Perhaps the effect should have been worse in the dark of Hop-tu-naa but the truth is I could have been standing in front of the Caine mansion on a bright and warm summers day and I’d still have experienced the same penetrating chill…

Many years later and Claire is playing a game of dare -the dares over the years have grown ever more dangerous. What once started as a dare to drive to drive out to woodland and wait to see what happened next leads to the idea that they should go up to the Caine house and leave a footprint leading away from the house (in Manx folklore this has bad connotations) The dare does not end well.

Now the dare hangs over the entire island as those involved seem to be dying at an alarming rate….And the words of the Hop-tu-naa song continue to haunt….

‘…..Jinny the with flew over the house,

To fetch the stick ,

To lather the mouse…’

Who is behind the Hop-tu-naa? And what will come of it? Dare you risk finding out?