SCRAVIR III - Possession

SCRAVIR III - Possession follows the by now familiar pattern with still no settled view as to whether C.M.Vassie’s first Scravir book - While Whitby Sleeps - was an elaborate fiction, a hoax or a grim account of the appearance of skeletally thin cadavers in the town during Goth Weekend in the autumn of 2016. 

The second book SCRAVIR II - Lacklight followed Daniel Murray's journey as he (and others) tried to make sense of the 'gift' given him by Thor Lupei. Could the ability to manipulate, add and remove bits of other people's bodies using nothing more than touch be considered a gift? Certainly Europol, the European law enforcement agency, had concerns ... It turned out that Gothic isn't just a style of arch, literature or costume; it is a real language. How far back do the scravir go?

This third book, irresponsibly prolongs the uncertainy. More bodies and autopsies. More unpleasantness  Fact or fiction? With hapless ‘heroes’ staggering from one poor decision to the next, and a lacklit labyrinth festering and infesting the mountain beneath a castle ... On the plus side, this third book explores the historical origins of the Scravir, peeling back the centuries to reveal ... As Daniel descends into darkness he imagines he is the master of all he sees. A castle has other ideas.

"Intelligent, thought-provoking, original, fast-paced and dark as Whitby jet."

"The Scravir books effortlessly combine gothic horror and adventure thriller. Menacing, intriguing, claustrophobic, gripping, skin-crawling ... Perfect!"

" The plot twists and stabs like a knife, delivering fresh torments. I want more!"

There is frustratingly little information about the author of the SCRAVIR books, 

We do at least have the illuminating interview published as an introduction in the new edition of Scravir - While Whitby Sleeps. Brian Suet's curmudgeonly interview reveals in C M Vassie a personality disorder similar to that of another penny dreadful scribbler, Bram Stoker. Both individuals appear content to parade their darker urges in public, presumably to satiate their desire to manipulate readers’ hopes and fears, for the sole purpose of ‘entertainment’.

The author we are told still hangs around in Whitby and, since Scravir was first published in 2021, they have produced a sequel called SCRAVIR - Lacklight, a time-traveling adventure The Whitby Trap, and The Whale Bone Archers, all frankly improbable tales set in that long-suffering and innocent town that edges the North Sea.

It is believed that the author has served time and a film & television music composer, creating the scores for dozens of productions including various dark tales that might have fed his interest in the macabre. Those productions are believed to include: The Great Plague and Invitation to a Hanging, both of which won Royal Television Society awards, but good luck trying to persuade C M Vassie to confirm or deny this. 

It is already too late to dissuade readers from venturing further between the pages of C M Vassies' books. Readers are, however, urged to avoid venturing into Whitby’s lacklit streets and yards, and all castles, caves and subterranean passages, wherever located, after the hours of darkness. And Booksellers are urged to invite would-be readers (while they have them at the till) to consider their loved ones ... and their immortal soul.