A Southern Gothic horror story about two families, Beldame and its spirits that are waking up to consume them. 

• Entertainment factor: ★★★★★
• Scare factor: ★★★★☆
• Originality factor: ★★★★★
• Southern Gothic factor: ★★★★★
• Psychological factor: ★★★★★
• Supernatural factor: ★★★★★
• Haunted house factor: ★★★★★

The Elementals is a Southern Gothic horror with psychological elements and ancient spirits in a haunted house that has an ominous atmosphere and very likable and interesting characters with evenly interesting interactions and dynamics. It’s an intelligent and very scary story with original haunts and creepy imagery. 

It consists of 292 pages. 

Plot

After Marian Savage’s funeral her son Dauphin, his wife Leigh and Leigh’s mother Big Barbara McCray decide to spend the summer at Beldame. Away from Mobile at the coast. Luker, Big Barbara’s son and his 11-year-old daughter India from New York also come along as does Odessa, a black woman, who worked for the Savage’s for a long time. 

At Beldame there are three houses. One house belongs to the Savage family, the second house belongs to the McCray’s and the third house is owned by Dauphin, but it belongs to the sand. A dune has covered a big part of the house and it seems like the house is consumed by it. 

Beldame is a special place where the families have spend their vacations since Dauphin, Luker and Leigh were kids. It’s a nice place, very Spartan with nothing much to do but lying in the sun, reading, sitting in a rocking chair and have dinner. 

But it’s also haunted. They all have seen strange things, but they don’t speak about it. India is new to the place and she is curious. When she finally decides to become friends with Odessa she learns a lot about Beldame and the third house and what inhabits it. It’s not ghosts or spirits. They are called Elementals. 

While India wants to find out more about the third house that is half buried in the sand dune, she climbs up the dune and peeks into the widow of the second story and is stunned and frightened by what she sees. When she takes photos of the third house with directions from Odessa very strange and scary things are caught on film after it’s developed. The Elementals are waking up and pose a threat, which they realize once its too late. 

Continue reading below this announcement.

Short Review

While the story is about two families whose lives are intertwined, and it’s told from a writers point of view, it’s evident that we learn the costumes of the Savage family, of the South, the segregation that is still palpable, and of course Beldame and its spirits through India’s eyes. She experiences everything for the first time, while the others are used to it, even Luker, who starts to speak with a southern accent, which he doesn’t have in New York. 

All the characters are very likable people, but their interactions are very special. Luker doesn’t treat India like a child, gives her alcohol and even drugs. India is a very wise and cheeky girl who isn’t afraid to speak up, is curious and brave, strong and smart. Dauphin is the third richest man in Mobile, who attracts money but is very friendly, considerate and loving. Leigh is the least pronounced character. Big Barbara is married to Lawton, a very unlikable man who treats his wife and his children badly. Big Barbara is an alcoholic and the reason why Luker and India came along. They want to make her stop drinking at Beldame where there is no alcohol. 

Finally Odessa is a woman who is superstitious and knows a lot more about the Elementals than she led on, but reveals a lot to India. While she is not treated like a maid, it is explained that Odessa doesn’t sit with them at the table because she is not comfortable with that. It’s a typical stereotype that the black woman is treated nicely by the family but she doesn’t sit with them “on her own account”. Although their conversations are as equals. It’s also a stereotype that the black woman has all the knowledge which is needed to handle the supernatural. 

The dynamics between all these characters are interesting and add a lot to the atmosphere of the story and it feels like you get to know them in a short time. The sweltering heat, the boring place which they embrace like its the best thing in the world, and the constant lure of the third house set the mood of a Southern summer. It feels like a pleasant laziness but which very dynamic characters. It has wonderful prose written in a beautiful intriguing style that slowly becomes more threatening and scary. 

The Elementals are very creepy. The descriptions are creepy and they are constantly at the backgrounds waiting, watching. Until they come into action which is cause for some very scary and disturbing scenes and deaths. Those scenes are original, imaginative and creepy and very vivid. They are scary and while they don’t have a shape of their own, their appearances are constantly changing in terrifying forms.

But there’s also some human danger in the form of Lawton, who is the bad guy in this story. The man who wants to disturb their perfect home in Beldame, who wants money and power and represents everything that is bad.

The Elementals is a story about a family, a history, Beldame and its spirits written in a beautiful style that intrigues and brings you right to the South.