The Greatcoat - Helen Dunmore

Helen Dunmore wrote a horror? Surely not! I am pleased to say that this is true! Hammer horror has been recruiting well known authors to pen horror stories as part of a new novella series.

This was the first adult book that I have read by Helen so I didn't know what to expect when I started to read but I was pleasantly surprised.

This story is set in the 1950s and Isabel and her husband Philip have just moved into a small flat. They are newly weds and Isabel is finding it hard to adjust to the realities of married life. On a cold night she finds a greatcoat the belonged to a RAF pilot. She spreads it on the bed and falls asleep with its heavy presence on her. Soon a young man wearing the coat begins to knock on the window wanting entrance.


This novella is spooky but it kind of creeps up on you so when you finish the last page you realise only then the chill that has settled in your core. I liked that about this story. The writing was absolutely gorgeous! Loved it! This is a mixture of a love story and a ghost story so I think that readers should read the novel knowing that. You won't find any rot or gore in this novella.






I am hovering between four and five stars so I will give it a solid 4.5/5 purely because of the ending and the gorgeous writing.