Darcy Coates

"Originally self-published in 2016 by Black Owl Books."

The Haunting of Ashburn House

Lola

This book was such a thrill to read, the perfect amount of spookiness kept me on the edge of seat in survival mode. There were some moments of classic horror/thriller frustration, hoping the characters would stop explaining/ logic-ing everything away and awake to their senses but the ending definitely made up for all of that.

This is definitely a book I will be adding to my physical collection, and hope to re-read someday.

Taous Merakchi

Il est 2h du matin, j’ai fini, et j’ai rallumé la lumière tellement j’ai flippé ma race. C’est pas le roman le mieux écrit au monde et j’ai deviné le twist bien trop tôt (alors que vraiment je suis pas très très bonne pour deviner les twists en temps normal) mais ça m’a fait vraiment peur plein de fois et c’est ce que je venais chercher donc je vais pas faire la fine bouche.

Lara Engle

I expected this book to be spooky, not too complex, and entertaining. It delivered. I enjoyed it way more than I expected. It got REALLY ridiculous by the end, but it was satisfying. I wouldn't rule out reading more of these.

Samantha Chavez 

3.5 ⭐️ 
This was a good and fun horror novel but dragged in so many places that I got a bit bored while reading. Still creepy and had lots of imagery that kept me up at night.

Heather shane

This book scared the crap out of me and I loved it! This was my first spooky read (where have I been?!) and I am going to order more Darcy Coates books as soon as I’m done with this review. I couldn’t put this book down! Such an incredible book.

Idk how to rate this book. I love a good haunted house book. I love the cozy atmosphere, the lurking undead and eerie noises.

Nothing happens plot-wise till about 65%. All Adrienne does is ration her food, talk to her cat who hides in random corners, go grocery shopping, roam the house like she's haunting it and she over-explains EVERY THING she does. So much that I had to skim through a whole page while she recites the process of making tea. Also, HOW DID THIS WOMAN NOT FAINT when she didn't eat for 2 days and didn't drink water?!

The twist was sOoooOoo obvious and the plot ended in a very convenient way.

But I did love the part where the ghost was chasing Adrienne around the house, it was creepy in the best ghost story way.

<spoiler> What's the deal with Marion in the end?? Felt like a red herring but also nothing happens?? </spoiler>

Idk how to rate this book. I love a good haunted house book. I love the cozy atmosphere, the lurking undead and eerie noises.

BUT!!!!

Nothing happens plot-wise till about 65%. All Adrienne does is ration her food, talk to her cat who hides in random corners, go grocery shopping, roam the house like she's haunting it and she over-explains EVERY THING she does. So much that I had to skim through a whole page while she recites the process of making tea. Also, HOW DID THIS WOMAN NOT FAINT when she didn't eat for 2 days and didn't drink water?!

The twist was sOoooOoo obvious and the plot ended in a very convenient way.

But I did love the part where the ghost was chasing Adrienne around the house, it was creepy in the best ghost story way.

Also, spoiler -

<spoiler> What's the deal with Marion in the end?? Felt like a red herring but also nothing happens?? </spoiler>

Katie B.

The Haunting of Ashburn House has been described as a "Cozy Horror" haunted house book. We follow a young twenty something female with a cat who has inherited a mansion in a small town out of the blue. The main character is kind of an unreliable narrator as she has never been able to get a leg up on life; she's down on her luck financially, personally, professionally, etc. As an egocentric American, I thought this book was based in the US, so it took me a minute to unwrap my mind from American colloquialisms to foreign ones. I loved her dedication as a pet parent, and identified with her willingness to go above and beyond for her fur baby. There is a point when shit hits the fan that I had such a visceral reaction that I could see it in my mind so vividly that I could see Margot Robbie in the role as Adrienne <spoiler>it was when the pictures started changing in the hallway</spoiler>! Darcy Coates does an excellent job in describing the house and the town, that I was easily able to place myself there (after getting over the fact it wasn't based in the US lol). I think this would be a great introduction to horror for people like me who haven't spent a lot of time in the genre.

Joshua S. Rayner

A great quick read. Darcy Coates plays the haunted house tropes well. They feel familiar while never being boring or eyeroll inducing. I will say that two of the "twists", while serving the story well, felt a little predictable in one case and contrived in another. 

Reading it for a few hours in the middle of the night made me slightly uneasy walking to the bathroom. I can't give it higher praise than that.

stephanie archer 

** spoiler alert **
           3.5 stars 


i just....wtf was that plot twist? i’ll definitely pick up more from this author (as a horror fanatic) but i just?

Maribel González

Me ha gustado! Es el segundo libro que leo de la autora y, aunque no me ha dado tanto miedo con el otro (The Carrow Haunt) me ha puesto en tensión más de una vez. Es cierto que el final no me ha sorprendido totalmente, pero lo he disfrutado mucho. Su lectura es fácil y adictiva. Muy recomendable.

Tatyana

Sorry but it's a no for me. I'm not about to stay and inherit some big house from a family member I don't even know and be by myself in said house.
Story had me somewhat interested in the beginning but as I kept reading it got better and more scary. Not too scary though. Very good descriptions as well. I could see the images in my head as I continued to read

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.

Jessica Williamson

4.25

This book was SUPER creepy! It moved through at a leisurely pace and thing just got creepier and creepier as it went on. The feeling of dread, of knowing something was coming. The suspense was ON POINT!

There's this part where you're expecting to see one of those "And then they woke up." moments because there's NO WAY this thing is actually happening. But then it just keeps going on and on and you're like, "Oh my damns, it's really happening!" I was just THRILLED with this book.

All of the spooky, perfectly creepy, disturbing, haunting ALL OF THOSE things. I loved it. I will definitely be picking up more from this author in the future. 

Cover 4; characters 4; plot 4; pace 5; writing 4; enjoyment 5.

celeste

will i ever find a horror book that i love? sighs.
this was okay, it was a well-written book, but as a horror novel it didn't live up to my expectations. the horror and creepy stuff was pretty below average, and the plot-twist wasn't that great either. i really liked the cat tho.

Rachel Schommer

** spoiler alert **
           I thoroughly enjoyed this story. The imagery painted made it easy for me to picture the house in my mind, which is crucial to buying into a ghost story, if you can't visualize it, it's just not as scary as it could be. 

I must admit, I didn't see the twist coming, but once it was revealed, I couldn't put the book down! The last 1/3 is very action packed. I was definitely rooting for meek little Addy, who turns out is a closet badass! There were also a number of 'side stories' that tied in nicely with the larger story, and even in a ghost story, I'm a sucker for a happy ending!

The Haunting of Ashburn House

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