Book Review | The Demon & The Dark Wish by Anuj Kumar
In The Demon & The Dark Wish, Anuj Kumar crafts a haunting and psychologically layered narrative that blurs the line between trauma and the supernatural, faith and forbidden knowledge, innocence and corruption. Set against the mist-laden backdrop of an old village near Shimla in the late 1970s, the novel is as much a story of inner darkness as it is of external forces that prey on the vulnerable mind.
At the centre of the story is an eleven-year-old boy living with his 58-year-old grandfather after a life-altering tragedy. Born into a Catholic family and known for his brilliance at school, the boy’s childhood is brutally shattered when he witnesses the murder of his parents in the city of Shimla. The horror of seeing them butchered before his eyes leaves deep psychological scars, panic attacks and epileptic episodes plague him for years, rendering him fragile and withdrawn.
As time passes, however, the boy appears to recover. To the outside world, he becomes social, composed, and seemingly normal. Yet author skillfully reveals that this recovery is only superficial. Beneath the calm exterior, a darker consciousness begins to take root. At times, this inner force manifests as anxiety and disturbing thoughts; at others, it emerges as an unsettling confidence; strong, fearless, and dangerous. The author is careful not to reduce this transformation to mere trauma. The novel repeatedly challenges the reader’s assumptions, insisting that the true cause lies elsewhere.
That “elsewhere” is the grandfather’s library, a space that becomes both sanctuary and curse. In an era before digital distractions, books and radio were lifelines, especially for the educated. The grandfather, himself grieving yet emotionally restrained, encourages the boy’s love for reading as a way to heal. But the boy’s voracious appetite leads him not just to stories, but to dark mythology and forbidden lore. These texts, steeped in ancient beliefs and ominous philosophies, quietly seed the boy’s transformation.
One of the novel’s strongest achievements is its atmosphere. Anuj Kumar evokes the isolation of hill villages, the silence of old houses, and the eerie intimacy of libraries filled with forgotten knowledge. The late-1970s setting is used effectively, reinforcing a time when imagination was fed by books, and myths carried more weight than rational explanations.
Thematically, The Demon & The Dark Wish explores the dangerous allure of power, the fragility of a traumatised mind, and the moral consequences of unfulfilled desires. The “dark wish” of the title is not merely supernatural; it is deeply human, a yearning to escape pain, to feel powerful again, to make sense of loss. The demon, too, is ambiguous: is it an external entity born of myth, or an internal force awakened by grief and curiosity?
Anuj Kumar’s prose is direct yet evocative, balancing psychological depth with suspense. While the story delves into darkness, it never loses its emotional core, the bond between a grieving grandfather and a broken child anchors the narrative, lending it quiet poignancy.
The Demon & The Dark Wish is not just a tale of horror or fantasy; it is a chilling meditation on how knowledge, when encountered at the wrong time and by the wrong mind, can become a catalyst for transformation. For readers who enjoy psychologically rich dark fiction with mythological undertones, this novel offers an unsettling and memorable experience, one that lingers long after the final page.