“I wanted to write a horror story, in the vein of Dr Jekyll but it ended up being more about destructive family relationships for some reason,” says The Possession of Mr. Cave author Matt Haig. “It’s still a horror story, just a different kind.”

     In The Possession of Mr. Cave, Terence Cave is a father pushed over the edge. Was it the brutal murder of his wife years ago or the equally unexpected violent death of his son? Racked with guilt for ignoring his son when he was alive, Cave vows to protect his daughter Byrony from anything bad happening to her.

     Byrony’s not only loses her twin brother, but her father as he sinks further into his mind. Cave’s obsession to protect his daughter goes too far. He loses all reason. Byrony is horrified by her father’s madness stance and tries to escape. When is love too much?

     “I wrote the novel very quickly in intense bursts,” says Haig. “I totally put my life on hold so nothing funny happened while I was writing it. But, shortly after my wife fell pregnant, which was good timing because I think it would have been much harder to write this story of this over-protective father now I’m a dad myself.”

     “I have a great editor, Dan Franklin, who lets me off the leash and allows me to go to some dark corners,” says Haig. “A lot of people I know looked at me a bit strangely after they read it…worried that I had this rather dark character inside me. It’s fiction. I’m nice, really.”

     Will there be a film version of The Possessions of Mr. Cave? “The film rights have been sold by Parallel Film,” says Haig,. “So, there’s a possibility.”

     Matt Haig was born in Sheffield, England. He currently lives in Leeds. Haig writes books for children and adults. His children’s books are Shadow Forest and The Runaway Troll. He’s currently working on a screenplay, an adult novel and a children’s novel.

     The Possessions of Mr. Cave is very visual. You see the father falling into his madness. The story is told in the form a letter to Byrony from her father Terence Cave. It’s a disturbing tale of a father going over the edge, of his obsession to keep his daughter safe and becoming her biggest danger.

     Haig writes compellingly, even if you’re not into dark drama. You’re pulled into the story out of a macabre fascination to find out what happens. Don’t expect a happy ending. The story would make a great Hitchcock-like film, using suspense to drive the plot and characters.

The Possession of Mr. Cave by Matt Haig

Hardcover, 256 pages, Publisher: Viking Adult, March 19, 2009, Language: English, ISBN: 9780670020560 $24.95