In a sleepy, little town called Vollmer's Hollow, all is not as it seems. At first glance this isolated, little community seems like the perfect place to raise a family or retire in. However, as Vollmer's Hollow's disturbing past, and dark present are revealed in these intertwining short stories, would be visitors may decide that it is better to avoid this area at all costs.

This volume presents the results of archaeological investigations on the Newquay Strategic Road and goes on to discuss the complexity of the archaeology, review the evidence for ‘special’ deposits and explore evidence for the deliberate closure of buildings especially in later prehistoric and Roman period Cornwall.

The Great God Pan and 'The White People' are classics of the horror genre, while The Inmost Light is more conventional, but still a damn good piece. A Fragment of Life, the only non-horror tale in the collection, has its tedious sections, but this proves to be intentional as a rendering of the ephemera of life drowning out the beauty. Machen's career, though rarely less than entertaining, eventually descended into lesser material going over the same ideas, but The House of Souls is one of his essential books along with The Hill of Dreams, Ornaments in Jade and The Three Impostors. Uniquely powerful literature from a veritable visionary. (Jim Smith)