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What research on felt presence has to offer is a comparative perspective on how feelings of agency and accompaniment could come about in similar ways, albeit in very different scenarios. For example, the involvement of the TPJ in presence experiences overlaps with evidence from voice-hearing: the posterior section of the superior temporal gyrus, extending up into the TPJ area, is often implicated in fMRI studies of hallucination occurrence (Jardri et al., 2011); the TPJ is a target for neurostimulation in the treatment of problematic voices (Moseley et al., 2015); and there is evidence of resting connectivity differences in the same area in voice-hearers (Diederen et al., 2013). While it might come from a place far removed from the upper-class world of Downton Abbey English, it’s very much one of the best modern books like Downton Abbey you’re likely to read. One thing that a body-mapping account misses out is the role of affect in presence experiences. In particular, presences during sleep paralysis are experienced as strongly negative phenomena, prompting fear and distress in the sleeper and involving the perception that the entity in the room has untoward intent. Based on this, Cheyne and colleagues (e.g. Cheyne & Girard, 2007) have argued that sleep paralysis presences in particular may result from the mistaken detection of threat in the environment. Specifically, they suggest that the experience of waking while paralysed, and the continuation of REM-state brain activity related to dreaming, prompts a threat-activated vigilance system that provides the feeling of malevolent presence.
Dummy boards relate to the tradition of trompe l’oeil, a French phrase meaning deceives the eye, where three-dimensional visual illusions are created on a flat surface. THE SILENT COMPANIONS by LAURA PURCELL is a spooky, eerie, haunting, creepy, and absolutely fantastic gothic ghost story. I absolutely loved the creepy feel to it and I was immediately drawn into this story right from the very start. There is an underlying sense of foreboding throughout this whole story that had me questioning whether the events that were happening were supernatural, menacing or manipulation. This book was very good and quite enjoyable! I love books which are atmospheric and evoke feelings of dread and unease. This book, like the silent companions, will creep up on you and have you worrying about things that go bump in the night (or shall I say hiss?). Purcell builds the suspense as her story unfolds. I really enjoyed how all the story-lines/plot timelines came together and brought about the end of the book! Plus, the ending? Was anyone else scratching their head at the end, thinking "what just happened? “I have my theories and think I have it figured out but like that I was left with questions. I feel like I was in the same boat as Elise at the end. Wondering what the hell just happened!?!
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A big thank you to Edelweiss, Frontlist and Laura Purcell for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review!! Forget any ideas of a country idyll though. The Bridge huddles miserably in the muddy countryside, neglected and forlorn; surrounded by a straggle of cottages, whose inhabitants seem to view the big house with suspicion. As locals refuse to work there, Elsie finds housekeeper Edna Holt and two maids, plus she is accompanied by Sarah, a poor relation of her husband, who is acting Many thanks to Penguin Books for sending a copy of Laura Purcell’s The Silent Companions. This was a novel that I was eager to read, as I’m an enormous fan of all things creepy and mysterious. Quite frankly, the scarier the better for this Hoarder.
Discussion: A little under half way through this book I almost noped out of it. We were in the 1600s timeline, watching Anne be terrible to this poor Romani child (only this book used the slur) and I thought we were headed to a place where the Romani child cursed the home because the mistress wouldn’t let him take care of her horses.I am also not much of a horror person, and not a gothic novel person, so I am not the intended audience of this one. I agree that it was very effectively creepy, but the story also gave me the creeps in a bad way. Not just the misuse of the Romani characters, but the overall plot. It seemed like the author was aiming for a feminist slant, but it didn’t feel feminist to me. Were you always a fan of ghost stories when you were growing up? And who are your favourite spooky writers? The book takes enough time to fully explore class divides and the dramas of the gentry while also being a successful gothic horror. The Court Dancer by Kyung-sook Shin Alderson-Day, B. & Fernyhough, C. (in press). Auditory verbal hallucinations: Social but how? Journal of Consciousness Studies.
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