Slade House

Slade House is a mystery-horror novel published in 2015 by the British novelist David Mitchell. His seventh book, Slade House is an expanded version of a story Mitchell originally wrote on Twitter. The book tells the story of various mysterious events occurring over a thirty-five year period at an estate known as Slade House. The book is divided into five parts which each take place during a different decade: "The Right Sort" in 1979, "Shining Armor" in 1988, "Oink Oink" in 1997, "You Dark Horse You" in 2006, and "Astronauts" in 2015.

In "The Right Sort," young Nathan Bishop and his mother visit Slade House, an estate belonging to the esteemed noblewoman Lady Norah Grayer. Nathan--after popping a Valium he stole from his mother's purse--promptly pairs off with Grayer's son, Jonah. While Mrs. Bishop and Lady Grayer remain in the house, the two boys entertain themselves in the garden. Nathan begins to suffer intense hallucinations which he initially attributes to the Valium. But as the hallucinations become more real and all-encompassing, Nathan realizes that something else is afoot. The hallucinations only become more vivid after the boys enter the house until all vestiges of the "reality" of Slade House are replaced by visions of Nathan's father's lodge in Rhodesia. Suddenly, Nathan's consciousness is ripped away from the Rhodesia lodge, and he finds himself face to face with Lady Grayer and another woman. It turns out Norah and Jonah are not mother and son but twin sisters. More troubling, they also reveal themselves to be ancient, cannibalistic recluses known as Anchorites who feast on human souls in order to stay young. After trapping Nathan and conducting an eerie religious ceremony, Nathan's soul is devoured by the Grayer sisters.

In "Shining Armor," it is nine years later, and a private detective named Gordon Edmonds is investigating the disappearance of Mrs. Bishop and her son. Although Edmonds was hired by debt collectors who suspect that the Bishops fled into hiding to avoid paying money they owed, Edmonds begins to doubt this explanation as he learns more about their final day before disappearing. His investigation leads him to Slade House where he encounters a widow named Chloe Chetwynd. As they talk, Edmonds swears he can hear children playing, even though the two of them appear to be alone. Chloe says she hears the voices too, calmly asserting that they belong to ghosts. As Edmonds and Chloe begin to engage in intimate contact, it becomes clear that Edmonds has fallen under some sort of spell. He is led into the attic where the Grayers await, eager to conduct their nine-year ceremony and feast on Edmonds' soul in order to preserve their youth. But before Edmonds expires, he learns two things. First, the Grayers say they are not Anchorites because they act alone and do not belong to any kind of religious order. Second, Edmonds hears the floating voice of young Nathan who claims to have discovered a vague weapon he suggests may be used to fight the Grayers.



In "Oink Oink," another nine years have passed. A group of amateur paranormal detectives decide that Slade House should be their next ghostly destination, owing to its connection to the disappearances of Edmonds and the Bishops. When they arrive at Slade Alley, the group discovers little more than an empty lot. Before long, however, the house materializes. Inside, the atmosphere is like that of a Halloween fraternity party. One of the students, Sally Timms, talks aimlessly with the partygoers until she suddenly finds herself lying on the floor next to Edmonds. Edmonds hands Sally a hairpin with a fox head, referring to it as a "weapon." They are interrupted by the Grayers who successfully lure Sally to the attic where another nine-year soul-feast commences. This time, however, there appears to be some debate between Norah and Jonah about whether their methods are sustainable. It makes no difference, however, for Sally whose soul is devoured as quickly and easily as the other victim's.

Nine years later, Sally's sister Freya goes into a pub and meets a man named Fred Pink. Pink is a window cleaner and one of the last people to see the Bishops alive. He is also the uncle of one of the boys in Sally's paranormal club. Pink explains that the Grayers are mystics born in the late 1800s who preserved Slade House in a pocket in space-time, allowing it to exist long after it was destroyed by World War II bombardments. Freya believes the claims to be bogus, but just as she is about to leave, she realizes the whole conversation has been a hallucination and she is in the attic of Slade House. Norah chastises Jonah for sharing so much about the twins' secret ways, but she dismisses these complaints. The soul-feast ceremony is interrupted, however, when Sally materializes and pierces Jonah's neck with the fox pin weapon. Because the ceremony could not be completed, Freya's soul migrates to the hereafter, undevoured.

Nine more years pass, and the Grayers are struggling to maintain their secret reality. Meanwhile, Jonah has spent the last nine years languishing in an injured state, unable to heal without a fresh soul to eat. Nevertheless, Norah is successful in luring Pink's therapist, Dr. Iris Marinus-Fenby, to the crumbling dimensional remains of Slade House. Although Norah's hallucinatory mind-trickery is much less smooth than in decades past, she still appears to be successful in luring Dr. Iris to the attic. That is, until Dr. Iris reveals her true identity as an immortal being herself. Unlike the soul-feasting Grayers, Dr. Iris maintains her immortality through the much more ethical and less unseemly practice of reincarnation.



Dr. Iris easily kills the injured Jonah and leaves Norah to rot away and starve from lack of soul-sustenance. But before truly expired, Norah manages to transplant her soul into an unborn child, leaving her future and the future of soul-eating in question.