Eye Of The Devil by Philip Loraine

This atmospheric thriller was first published in 1964 as "Day of the Arrow" before being filmed in 1966 and reissued under this title. Filled with menace, this fits the Daphne Du Maurier (or Hammer horror) style of gothic castles and ancient rites.

Accomplished young painter James Lindsay spies his old love Françoise in Paris. His desire is still strong despite her marrying his effete college roommate Philippe six years ago and becoming Françoise de Montfaucon, Marquise de Bellac. Her surprising call that night is full of fear, for Philippe claims he is going to die. He hasn't touched her in years; maybe he is having an affair?

James agrees to travel to the family castle in the Auvergne, Château de Bellac, complete with iron-studded doors and circular towers surrounded by a small kingdom of farmland and wine fields. He finds Philippe boisterous and welcoming; perhaps she is wrong. Staying there are Philippe's sister Tante Estelle; the Comtesse de Vignon with her virile son Christian; and his sister Odile, an ethereal girl whom everyone will tell you is a witch. Philippe's main concern is the two years of drought floundering crops, and James researches the history of this land where for centuries the Lords have all died suspiciously before forty. James soon discovers Philippe may be having an affair with Christian, Odile performs rituals with dead doves, and there is a hidden chapel watched over by Pere Dominique. The days of the local harvest fete Les Treize Jours (The Thirteen) arrive with extra guests - an Italian Prince with various other European elites - forming a party of thirteen for a big hunt.

James has been warned by Philippe to leave; he may be attacked or killed, but he cannot abandon Francoise as the ancient celebration commences, filled with pagan dances and debased rituals their god demands, the darkness overseen by Pere Dominique.

You can clearly see the road this is going down, but the subtle menace is so mesmerizing you don't mind. The chateau is filled with secrets, the guests quite odd, and anyone who has read witchcraft stories will know there is only one cure for a famine: your basic blood sacrifice. The 1966 film Eye of the Devil, starring David Niven, Deborah Kerr, and Sharon Tate in her first role, was overlooked but is now considered a cult classic. British writer Robin Estridge (using the Loraine pseudonym) wrote both this novel and the screenplay.

1964 / Paperback / 192 pages