Charlotte Markham becomes a governess to a couple of boys whose mother has recently died. As it turns out, they can all go visit her in the strange "The Ending", a place of non-human immortal creatures, one of whom, a certain Mr. Whatley, has taken the mother's soul as a sort of live-in curiousity and governess to his own daughter. Mr. Whatley has also been involved, it turns out, in killing Charlotte's parents and husband and manipulating her into this position. He goads her into agreeing to play a "game" with him, the point of which is never really clear. Finally, the children are kidnapped and held in The Ending, a "war" breaks out, notwithstanding the fact that nobody can die there, making it perhaps the most pointless war ever, and Charlotte manages to rescue the children and introduce Mr. Death into The Ending, walking away with the victory.

The plot is rather erratic and incoherent. A great deal that happens is contradictory or unjustified by any rules the author has established or just plain ridiculous. I would advise the reader to not pay overly much attention to the plot, it does not reward the attention. Rather focus on the fantastical descriptions and elements of the novel. Don't however go into this thinking they're going to be particularly ominous or creepy, as the book's cover seems to imply; it's more a goofily bizarre fantasy than anything.

Imagine Tim Burton putting together a scene that doesn't make a lot of sense but is dark in a goofy way and nice to look at for a bit, and you won't be far off. ( )

dnf @ 5% i could tell when the heroine paused to admire herself in the mirror after having a terrible dream and hearing the screams of the damned that i wasn't going to like this one. add a side of deep confusion about everything happening in the first chapter and we get another one for the DNF pile.

Filled with the gothic and the grotesque, this is an interesting tale, if somewhat old-fashioned stylistically. Unfortunately, so much attention is placed on detail that it begins fairly slowly, the characters and the plot both taking a backseat to a rather over-embellished writing style and a slow build. While I think that space was meant to allow readers to get closer to the characters and the story, I'm afraid that both always felt somewhat surface-level. The twists of the plot, and the grotesque details, made it an enjoyable-enough read, but not one I'll remember. This should have been a much more powerful read, for me at least, and instead it ended up just being a temporary enjoyable escape that I could pick up or put down at any given moment.

I'd recommend this to readers who enjoy traditionally gothic tales or the original gothic novels, and who won't mind a bit of added gruesome detail. ( )

Charlotte Markham and the House of Darkling by Michael Boccacino is a strange and wonderful gothic tale of other worlds blending with our own and the consequences that fall from it. It is a fable told in the old way, not the sanitized Disney versions we feed our children, but the dark and bloody tales we keep to ourselves and only recall when it is late and dark at night.

..."No one ever comes back," I said.
James pulled his face away from the skirts of the mystery woman, and looked her over carefully before returning my pleading gaze with a confused expression. In his eyes I could see that there was no doubt the woman he clung to was his mother.
Paul didn't bother to remove his head from the other woman's shoulder. He had awoken from his nightmare and it had all been some terrible misunderstanding. Everything he hoped for had come true.
"But she has. She's alive again."...

Charlotte Markham, the Governess to James and Paul Darrow is awoken from a dream by the screams of a woman. She goes downstairs and is related the tale of a murder and the victim being the boy's own Nanny. Charlotte, a widow herself, must take into her care the boys and their father Henry, who themselves had recently buried the Lady of the house, Lily Darrow. So soon after the loss of their mother, the boys are subjected to another terrible loss. The murder of their Nanny.
One day after lessons, they wonder into the woods surrounding their estate and come upon a path not seen before. A path that leads them to a new place. The House of Darkling. Where they find the living Lily Darrow. But is she still alive? Or something else. Charlotte knows she must unravel this and yet is grieved to tear their children away from the mother they have found again.

..."What do you make of spirits?"
He looked disappointed. "I wouldn't know. I don't touch the stuff. Man of the cloth, you know."
"Not spirits, spirits. As in apparitions of the formerly living."
He paused and rubbed his chin. "Well, I can't say that I've ever seen one." He looked at me strangely, as if I'd suddenly grown a pair of horns.
I quickly elaborated. "Neither have I, of course. But I've been reading the children ghost stories, and James asked me if all spirits were evil..."

Charlotte watches the boys as they visit their mother at the House of Darkling and comes to find that it's inhabitants are not just spirits or human at all. But are the creatures of fable and legend. Creatures much darker and deadlier than the stories that are told of them.
It is here in the House of Darkling that Charlotte must battle against these creatures and the master of the house as she tries to save the souls of the boys; James and Paul. And in doing so, perhaps even save herself.
Michael Boccacino has crafted a well written fable of loss and pain and the inevitability of death. For human and inhuman alike.
A good read. ( )

A beautiful, lyrical Gothic novel - taking cues from Gaiman, Henry James, and the Brontes in equal measure. It's a terrific exploration of death and loss as well as a fantastic spooky English autumn tale. While the ending is a little rote and rushed, it's still all beautifully written and well worth your time this fall.

More about it at RB: http://wp.me/pGVzJ-rb ( )