The Elementals was such a peculiar story and I loved it. McDowell does a great job of setting the eerie scene and crafting an original story that you want to keep reading. Unfortunately, there are some strange, uncomfortable things you have to overlook..... 

For example, the relationship between Luker (Dad) and 13 year old India (daughter) is strange and unsettling. They call each other by their first names and act more like old friends than father and daughter. India is allowed to drink alcohol, is called an asshole and such by her father, and they swim naked together in the gulf? It’s very weird, very gross, and honestly it took everything in me to overlook this which is why I feel it needs to be mentioned. If you can get beyond this and also beyond the way McDowell constantly refers to the maid Odessa as “the black woman”  then there is a great horror story there. I kept reminding myself this was published in 1981, so some leeway needs to be considered but I know not everyone would want to overlook these things! 

If you can, the elementals is truly eerie. I found myself unable to sleep reading some of the scenes that occur inside the infamous third house at Beldame and I can’t wait to read more by this author. 

It starts off with a funeral and slows down a bit as the family is introduced but once they reach Beldame this novel becomes impossible to put down!