Scarecrows by Christine Hayton

Description from Goodreads:

"They do more than frighten birds. Much more.

Early one morning in the fall of 1964, Robert searched for his missing six-year-old daughter, Cathy. He found her asleep in a nearby cornfield, covered in blood and holding a small axe. A few feet away lay the mutilated body of her classmate Emily.

Assumed guilty of murder, Cathy lived in a hospital for insane children. She always gave the same account of what happened. She talked of murderous scarecrows that roamed the cornfield on moonlit nights. Her doctors considered her delusional. The police, her neighbors and the press thought she was dangerous. And so she remained incarcerated. No one believed her. That was a mistake."

**************************************************

I am a sucker for horror books ever since I picked up The Rats by James Herbert when I was a teenager and I have been hooked ever since so when I saw this title offered for review by the publisher, Samhain Publishing, on Netgalley, I requested a copy in the hope that I would be chosen to provide an unbiased review. I was. Unfortunately, what I read wasn’t horror for me which was a bit of a disappointment to be honest; it was more like a murder/mystery.

Despite my disappointment, the story itself kept my interest and I liked the way the author alternated between the past and the present and she made it easier to keep track of which time period you were in by using italics for the past. The main characters were interesting but I did feel that Cathy, who was supposed to be 6 years old during the “past” and 8 in the “present”, came across as much older at times especially when she was with Jimmy which confused me a little. I also found the psychiatrists a little odd and I couldn’t quite work out why one of them went to live on the farm with Cathy’s father, yes I know he wanted to find out what happened but going to live with the father seemed a little unprofessional and unbelievable to me. Some of the dialogue also felt a little unnatural and awkward at times which interrupted the flow of my reading experience. Having said that though, there were a few twists and I always enjoy trying to guess “whodunit” and although we find out some of the “who”, you are kept guessing as to all of the “who” as well as the “how”.

If I am judging this as a horror, I can’t give it top marks - I didn’t find it in the least bit scary or particularly creepy at all however, I don’t think I will look at scarecrows quite the same way again! As a murder/mystery it stacks up quite well and for a fairly quick read, I would give it a go and judge for yourself.