Help the Witch

Humorist Cox makes his fiction debut (after 21st-Century Yokel) with this collection of 10 eerie and darkly comical tales set in the North of England. The classic horror trope of the haunted house takes center stage in many of these pieces; the title story sees a man move into an old house at the top of a hill where he begins hearing voices; in “Listings,” a series of newspaper and real estate listings tell the history of a house destroyed in a fire and the supernatural occurrences that happened on the land afterward; and nine vignettes each offer a peek at houses of various styles and the lives of their inhabitants in “Nine Tiny Stories About Houses.” The most accomplished piece is “Just Good Friends,” in which 35-year-old Helen, single and burnt out from online dating, decides to take a meditation class and befriends a quiet man named Peter, who reminds her of her childhood imaginary friend. Cox leavens his creepy, intricately detailed landscapes and unsettling atmosphere with bouts of humor that, while amusing, tend to undermine the macabre tone. Readers looking for straight horror won’t find it, but Cox’s fans are sure to be pleased. (Oct.)