This had just the right amount of creepy horror! This one definitely gave me chills.
Rating: 5/5
There's something wrong with Ashburn House...
The ancient building has been the subject of rumours for close to a century. Its owner, Edith, refused to let guests inside and rarely visited the nearby town.
Following Edith's death, her sole surviving relative, Adrienne, inherits the property. Adrienne's only possessions are a suitcase of luggage, twenty dollars, and her pet cat. Ashburn House is a lifeline she can't afford to refuse.
Adrienne doesn't believe in ghosts, but it's hard to ignore the unease that grows as she explores her new home. Strange messages have been etched into the wallpaper, an old grave is hidden in the forest behind the house, and eerie portraits in the upstairs hall seem to watch her every movement.
As she uncovers more of the house's secrets, Adrienne begins to believe the whispered rumours about Ashburn may hold more truth than she ever suspected. The building has a bleak and grisly past, and as she chases the threads of a decades-old mystery, Adrienne realises she's become the prey to something deeply unnatural and intensely resentful.
Only one thing is certain: Ashburn's dead are not at rest.
I picked this up for a fun Halloween readathon, Spoopathon. And I’m so happy it finally got me to read one of Coates’ books! This was my first read from her and it did not disappoint! I have so many of her books on my list that I want to read. And now that I’ve read one of her books, I can’t wait to read them all.
So many have raved about Coates’ books and I definitely had high hopes for this when I started this. And let me just say… Oh! My! Gawd! This was amazing!
Oh! My! Gawd! This was amazing!
This had just the right amount of creepy horror! This one definitely gave me chills. The descriptions were so detailed it was easy to picture the horrors in Ashburn House. There was one scene in particular that I got to right when I was planning on stopping and going to bed. I ended up having to read like another 4 chapters because I didn’t want to stop at a cliffhanger and after that, I was not able to go to sleep right after. I just found the descriptions of what I had just read so creepy and a bit disturbing! I ended up staying up for like another hour and made sure to keep a light on when I finally did go to sleep.
This had just the right amount of creepy horror! This one definitely gave me chills.
This vaguely reminded me of The Haunting of Hill House. Well, it was more of the descriptions of the house that really reminded me of it. Though there were a few scenes that felt very similar to Hill House. So to me, this felt like a retelling of The Haunting of Hill House in a way. Last year, I read Hill House and found it to be a very disappointing read. And Ashburn House has kind of made up for it! This is an amazing haunted house read!
And although paranormal events such as haunted houses are subjective in regards to what is considered “scary” or “creepy” and if it “makes sense.” I genuinely think Ashburn House checks all the boxes! I found this creepy and scary - unfortunately not enough to give me nightmares, or at least not yet. And the premise of the haunted house didn’t feel like a stretch, there weren’t any holes in the story. By the end, everything was explained. And it ended in such a great way. Not quite a happily ever after, but it was definitely close enough!
I highly recommend picking this up if you enjoy creepy horror books, especially with haunted houses. I can’t wait to read my next Darcy Coates book!
Warning! Light Spoiler :)
For those who have read this, I don’t know how you envisioned Eleanor, but I saw her as a mix of the woman in Room 237 and the grudge!