‘Eventually, we become part of our surroundings, and they become part of us...’
I don’t know much about the writing of Virginia Andrews other than she is responsible for the sexual awakening of a bunch of weird, little freak girls. I mention her here because Pin author Andrew Neiderman is perhaps best known as Andrews’ ghostwriter in her later years and following her death. He also wrote the novel The Devil’s Advocate so he has some decent pedigree. Now, reading Pin is a weird experience for anyone I would imagine considering the subject matter but it was extraordinary for me as I read it all in one sitting over a dark night of the soul in which one of my bouts of insomnia had taken hold. The book already has an ethereal, otherworldly quality to it but the fact that I read it during the witching hour only added to the sense of the uncanny…
Following the sudden death of their parents in a car accident, siblings Leon and Ursula live a semi-reclusive life in the huge estate they inherited from their father. They share this gothic-style mansion with Pin, ostensibly their father’s medical anatomy doll, but in reality, something much more sinister.
I should begin by saying that if you’re not into incest (prude) then this is not the book for you. Written from Leon’s point of view, despite being a relatively short novel, there are many passages devoted to his sister’s ‘pearly white skin’ or her ‘small but shapely breasts’. I found all of this a bit much, but apparently, it’s par for the course in both Neiderman and Andrews’ writing so who am I to complain? If you can get past the icky stuff, however, there is a taut, deeply odd, psychological thriller here that is both a wild ride and a page-turner. Not for nothing did I read it all in one go.
Pin is the equivalent of an ’80s horror slasher but in book form. It’s cheap, nasty but incredibly satisfying.