gilda_elise

In the twelfth-century ruins of the Abbey, it is said every stone was cemented in blood. On December 8, 1980, that blood will run again...

In the ruins of a haunted medieval abbey, four musicians hope to tap into the site's dark history. The experience almost destroys them. Years later, the original group is forced to return to the abbey, to confront the old evil they discovered.

Thirteen years ago on a cold December night, a rock band called The Philosophers Stone gathered in the ancient ruins of an abbey to record their new album.The evening ended in bloodshed and death. Now, the tapes from that fateful recording session have been released as The Black Album, and the scattered members of the band know it's time for a reunion. Time to return to that dark December night—for one final performance.

Rickman has since gone on to writing mysteries, his Merrily Watkins books, on the whole.But he started out in horror, and I wished he’d stayed. December is a prime example as to why.

It’s now 1994, and the members of the rock band, all scarred by what happened in 1980, return to the Abbey. They all know it might not be a good idea, yet, at the same time, they’re hoping that it will lift the shroud of bad luck which has followed them all ever since that fateful night.

The characters are all intriguing, yet an air of tragedy surrounds them all. The reader can’t help but be drawn into the lives they’ve led, who they are now: Tom Storey, the drummer, a recluse who’s afraid of what he might see. Classically trained Simon St John, now a priest who fights his desires. Songwriter and singer Dave Reilly, who sees the coming deaths of those around him. And singer Moira Cairns, whose magic, passed down through her family, seems to have deserted her.

There are also some interesting extras, such as Vanessa, Tom’s daughter, born on the December night in 1980. She has Down’s Syndrome, yet there is so much more to Vanessa. And Eddie Edwards, the town’s busybody, who may have stuck his nose into someone else’s business one too many times.

As the horror builds, we relive the events of 1980, and how they’ve influenced the lives of the band members through the years. The Abbey is not a good place, as these four musicians will once again discover.