In This City, Where It Rains (Luna Novella #25), by Lyndsey Croal
The Book
Synopsis:
In This City, Where it Rains is a gothic horror novella set in an alternative version of Edinburgh.
Maggie is haunted by ghosts that only appear in the rain - and it always rains in this city.At the edge of town, stands Tair House - a house that remembers, in a city that forgets. The mansion is so damned, it scares the clouds themselves from breaking, and the man of the house, Xavier Logan, and his wife Lucia, are harbouring a dark secret there - something that connects to Maggie and her ghosts.
Soon all roads lead to Tair House, where Maggie hopes only to uncover more about her family's past and her muddled memories.
But the house is hungry, and something is waking deep within its roots...something that has been waiting a long time for Maggie.
My Review
In This City, Where It Rains is a gothic horror novella written by Lyndsey Croal, published by Luna Press Publishing. A dark and atmospheric proposal set in an alternative Edinburgh, going over the concept of haunted houses and family curses, paired with evocative prose that draws the reader from the very first sentence.
Maggie is haunted by ghosts that only appear when it rains, in a city where always rains; while working, she meets a young man called Jack. Somebody she has never met, but that she feels like she recognises him; they start sharing things in common, until Jack's father interrupts them abruptly, expressing his disapproval, but extending Maggie an invitation to Tair House. A place that she feels that she knows, and that is the key to the mystery behind everything happening.
Croal manages to wrap all in an atmosphere of mystery and uncanniness, as something seems to not be right, but nothing that we can directly point at it; it's the task of Maggie to help us tie together all the pieces, how all fits in this puzzle board. Making Tair House its own character, alternating its voice with Maggie's chapters, was a brilliant decision, reinforcing the gothic elements, and pointing the reader towards how the House is an integral part of the novella.
While this novella definitely is closer to being a slow burn in terms of how the tension is built, Croal's prose invites you to fly through the pages.
In This City, Where It Rains is an excellent novella, a perfect example of a modern Gothic proposal that combines a heavy atmosphere with an ability to convey feelings to the reader. Another remarkable piece by Lyndsey Croal.
The Author/s
Lyndsey Croal
Lyndsey is an Edinburgh-based author of strange and speculative fiction. She is a Scottish Book Trust New Writers Awardee, British Fantasy Award Finalist, Ladies of Horror Fiction Writers Grant Recipient, and former Hawthornden Fellow. Her short fiction and essays have been published in over eighty magazines and anthologies, and have placed or been shortlisted in several competitions including with Mslexia, British Fantasy Society, Apex Magazine, the Cymera Fest Prize for Speculative Fiction, Escape Pod, and Fractured Lit. Her debut two-part audio drama ‘Daughter of Fire and Water’ was released in 2021 with the Alternative Stories and Fake Realities podcast and was a BFA-finalist for Best Audio in 2022. Her novelette ‘Have You Decided on Your Question’ was published by Shortwave Publishing in 2023 and she has two short story collections forthcoming – LIMELIGHT from Shortwave Publishing in 2024 and DARK Crescent from Luna Press Publishing in 2025. She has also edited a number of projects including ‘Ghostlore: An Audio Fiction Anthology’ and Shoreline of Infinity Magazine’s Climate Change Special.
In 2019, she co-founded Edinburgh Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers and feels fortunate to have such an active literary scene on her doorstep. She is also a full member of SFWA.
Her writing is influenced by her professional background in climate and nature policy as well as her experience growing up in remote places.