The Man in the Picture – A Ghost Story by Susan Hill – Review

The Man in the Picture by Susan Hill

On a dark and frosty night in Cambridge, an elderly scholar sits by the fire telling his ex-student the ‘strange and somewhat disturbing’ story of a painting that hangs in the room. It depicts a Venetian carnival; in the foreground, a figure seems to be in distress. Apparently restrained by two revellers, he looks ‘astonished and afraid. He was looking away from the scene because he did not want to be part of it and into my room…’ Anyone who has ever heard a ghost story before can probably guess where this is going. But Hill gets there by the most compelling route, weaving classically creepy tropes – mysterious accidents, terrible nightmares, spooky widows and bumps in the night – into a tale distinguished by its descriptive elegance and careful timing.

Review: The Man in the Picture – A Ghost Story by Susan Hill | Books | The Observer.