A manuscript stolen from a monastery, the ancient stone house of a sea-trading dinasty, which may be haunted. These are familiar ingredients for a Gothic novel, but something far more strange and disconcerting is taking place within the walls of Malpertuis as the relatives gather for the impending death of Uncle Cassave. The techniques of H. P. Lovecraft, whentransplanted into the suffocating Catholic context of a Belgium scarred by the inquisition, produce in Jean Ray's masterpiece a story of monumental intensity from which events of startling ferocity break the surface - without ever lessening the suspense of the tale's approaching apocalyptic dénouement. Terrifying, all-absorbing, this novel is one of the most celebrated examples of the modern gothic genre in Europe and should have been available in English years ago.