The Hallow: A review

​James is kind of a loser. He’s a college dropout, works a dead-end menial job, and more or less spends free time getting drunk or high. Things begin to take on a sinister feel when he notices a young woman at a bus stop while driving home after work. His brief glimpse suggests she is behaving strangely and the image of her behavior is unsettling. He hasn’t seen anything yet, though, until he and his roommate come home one evening and find the young woman sitting silently in their living room. Upon their arrival, she gets up and goes into James’ room. Much to the young men’s dismay, the woman dies shortly afterwards. Things then get even crazier with mysterious objects and writings appearing on the street, James’ girlfriend vanishing during the week only to reappear on weekends, pieces of a dog showing up in a garden, and crowds were disappearing from public areas. None of these odd events are helped by James’ regular indulgence of narcotics. Soon the entire episode takes on the trappings of a drug-fueled hallucination. But is it all a hallucination? Is something supernatural occurring or are the events the disturbed ramblings of a drug dependent individual.
The Hallow by Keith Deininger is a short novella with a riveting story line. There are no neat conclusions, and the reader is left with trying to make sense of the plot and the outcome. There are multiple interpretations and I spent a fair amount of time over the next few days trying to tie things up depending on the theory I was entertaining. I enjoyed this process, for it kept the book alive. For those of you who cannot stand ambiguity in your books, this may not be the best selection for you. However, if a complex—and unnerving—plot is your thing, then The Hallow is a good bet.