This is the first book by John Updike which I've read so I wasn't sure what to expect.

The story takes place in America in the early sixties and the book was written forty years ago. It can seem dated in parts particularly when the characters are discussing race or homosexuality.

Initially I found the book quite difficult to get into as a lot of the descriptive language used was over my head and I felt that I was missing out on a lot by not being able to grasp the author's meaning properly. On the other hand, some of the language which I could appreciate was delightful and some of the phrases used are pure gems.

I also found it difficult at first to like any of the characters although they do start to grow on you. I don't think that they're meant to be particularly likeable, more complex and interesting, but it doesn't help you care about what actually happens to them.

This wasn't a simple, easy to read book but, in the end, I was glad I stuck with it and I wouldn't rule out reading another by John Updike.

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It's written in 1959 and Harry ‘Rabbit' Angstrom, a now faded high school sports superstar (‘jock’) , feels his life is meaningless and is not progressing. Twenty-six, trapped with a fragile, alcoholic wife, with the associated overflowing ashtrays and discarded glasses, a young son, a futile job, and a second rate meaningless existence is really no picnic!

He can see no way to fix things, and decides to flee from his family and his home in Pennsylvania, beginning a journey that he hopes will free him from his run of the mill life.

He comes across as entirely self-centred, self-obsessed and uncaring with no understanding of what love actually means, and I have to confess I did not like the book or any of it’s characters and I could not finish it, let alone get into any part of it, I gave it my best shot and tried several times.

I felt it was quite a Male book - being female myself thus did not help! So although it is a classic sadly it did not grab me and I have released the copy into my local bookswap where I hope someone will be able to enjoy it!

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When I saw that I’d been allocated this book it almost felt like fate had jumped up and smacked me on the head. As a fan of all things supernatural, I had been told by several people that I must, absolutely must, read Lovecraft. So now I have, and he ain’t easy.

Having said that, I believe these stories will grow on me with each successive reading. And I will read them many times. The richness and the density of the prose needs to be sampled in small measures, so I've been dipping in slowly but steadily and letting each one digest before going on to the next. These are short stories of extremely varying length so there’s always one that fits in to whatever time you have available – just don’t rush them!

I confess I haven’t read them all yet. I have an inbuilt aversion to names such as Sarnath and Ngranek, and many of them seem to be interlinked, using the same characters or settings, so it’s well worth spending some time on the introduction in order to tackle the stories in the right order.

My favourites? The title story, The Dreams In The Witch House, is definitely not for bedtime reading, nor is The Moon-Bog or The Strange High House In The Mist, but they were never intended to be. They’re creepy and scary and brilliantly written and they’ll give you nightmares.

Lovecraft takes some time getting to know, but the rewards make it worthwhile. Turn down the lights, lose yourself in the prose, and drift away into a strange and different place.

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