A tale from the early 1970s with a supernatural element. Lucy who is about 12 years old goes to stay with her aunt for the summer in a country village. She hasn't been back for seven years so her expectations that childhood friends would have remained the same are overturned when the two girls she played with have become horse-mad and are uninterested in anything else, and the boy Kester is initially standoffish. However, she and Kester do eventually reinvent their friendship but by then a subtle thread of disquiet has crept into village life with the discovery by the vicar of an old ritual involving a 'dance' by men and boys dressed in stag antlers and masks. Despite the grumbles by older residents who oppose its return, and hint at dire consequences - the Wild Hunt of folklore is alluded to early on - rehearsals begin for the forthcoming village fete, and the boys begin to turn on Kester who is an outsider now that he goes to a grammar school and doesn't want to continue the family tradition of working as a blacksmith, his uncle being the last of a dying breed in the whole district.

Despite the statement on the back cover that this is suitable for children of ages 11 - 14, it reads as being for a younger age group, possibly because the character relationships belong to a more 'innocent' age when girls and boys of that age could be friends without any sexual overtones. Also, although the countryside is well evoked and there is the odd moment of supernatural tension, the potential of what could be a dangerous and murderous intent by the boys in the vein of William Golding's Lord of the Flies, is never allowed to become really threatening and even the supernatural element is defused in the finale so it isn't really disturbing and compared to modern day YA fiction such as 'The Hunger Games' series or the 'Noughts and Crosses' books or even 'His Dark Materials' comes across as more suitable for the 8 -10 year age range. ( )

Atmospheric tale of an old pagan practice revived for a summer fete, summoning dangerous old forces that focus on a young outsider in a rural village. Marvelous writing evokes the rich summer countryside as well as loneliness, alienation, friendship and strange dark undercurrents. Visitor Lucy watches her one friend, square peg Kester, almost willfully become the prey and tries to save him from himself and from the hunt. The writing is of a particularly high standard and the whole thing is a chilling little read. ( )