A group of archaeology students and their professor begin a dig into a mysterious mound on a Hebridean island of Scotland's West Coast. All initially goes well, with unexpectedly friendly relations between the students and the islanders.

But as the mist begins to envelope the island livestock are found mutilated, and one of the students reaches the island lighthouse telling of horrific events in the mound during the excavation.

This book starts with gentle chapters introducing the characters and bringing you into the life on the island. You get a good understanding of the people and a feeling for their environment.

The supernatural elements of the story are the introduced in a gradual way as the characters discover what is happening on their island. The gory details are handled in a very minimal fashion, more effective than thorough description could ever be. And the reactions to the events the people exhibit seem highly appropriate, they are not supermen, these are people like you and I, and react accordingly.

This story reads like Stephen King writing a Lovecraft story, bringing King's level of descriptive prose to the supernatural creature from underground storyline.

I am not a frequent reader of horror stories, but Willie Meikle's brand of horror is one I would gladly read in future.