EXPLORING THE UNKNOWN OF INDIAN ENGLISH HORROR NOVELS:
A STUDY EXAMINING THE UNTAPPED GENRE OF INDIAN ENGLISH HORROR FICTION
OUTLINING THE INDISPENSABLE CULTURAL AND THEOLOGICAL UNDERPINNINGS TO THE
GOTHIC THEMES
Dr. AFREEN FAIYAZ
Assistant Professor, College of Science and Arts, Al Badaya, Al Qassim
Qassim University, Saudi Arabia
“…as many Indian writers of English horror fiction have kept the ball rolling. Some of the fairly new horror collections that can be found on the bookshelves across Indian book stores are Arnab Ray’s The Mine, K. Hari Kumar’s That Frequent Visitor, Jessica Faleiro’s After Life, KiranManral’s The Face at the Window, Neil D’Silva’s Maya’s New Husband, Athul Demarco’s AN. AL The Origins, and Sriramana Muliya’s collection of short stories Frankly Spooking.”
“Kiran Manral’s new novel, The Face at the Window is yet another Indian novel close to the theme of Karma which is a ghost story set in a hill station, that has some unnerving moments. The protagonist Mrs. McNally, a retired Anglo-Indian school teacher, shifts to a small cottage adjoining a tea estate on a picturesque hill station. She is looked after by an old couple and is visited by her granddaughter during vacation. The story is narrated
from the perspective of idle Mrs. McNally, who is preoccupied with past and often we have flashbacks amidst her present. Her life seems to be going at a steady and expected pace with solitary treads up and down the hill. However, like most of the appearances, this one too is deceptive. Mrs McNally bosoms some dark secrets gripping her conscience
like her tragic parentage and a reckless youth.
Events take a sharp chilling turn for the worse when she spots an unhappy, murderous specter on the premises. This specter is a real ghost of her sins and, it becomes crucial for Mrs. McNally to discover how to do it.
Creating a frightful experience for any writer is as daunting as amusing them by the virtue of words alone unlike the more vibrant world of digital imagery. It either succeeds or fails miserably reducing the text to flat descriptions devoid of life. In The Face At The Window, the author is triumphant in creating some real disturbing moments by mere use of words through the book.”
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