Name: Miralis Davis's review of Gallows Hill by Darcy Coates
Item: Gallows Hill
Rating: 5
Author: Miralis Davis

Darcy Coates

The Hull family has owned the Gallows Hill Winery for generations, living and working on the beautiful grounds where they grow their famous grapes. Until the night Mr. and Mrs. Hull settle down for the evening...and are dead by morning.

When their daughter, Margot, inherits the family business, she wants nothing to do with it. The winery is valued for its unparalleled produce, but it's built on a field where hundreds of convicts were once hanged, and the locals whisper morbid rumors. They say the ground is cursed.

It's been more than a decade since Margot last saw her childhood home. But now that she's alone in the sprawling, dilapidated building, she begins to believe the curse is more than real―and that she may be the next victim of the house that never rests...

Gallows Hill

Alexa Raio

Miralis Davis

This book was a BOTM for my local book club and it did not disappoint! 

Extremely ominous
Spooky vibes
Dark & Scary
Edge of your seat

Margot moves into a family after learning of her parent's death, who she hasn't spoken to in decades after they sent her away to live with her grandmother. Their death is extremely mysterious, they both died from "heart attack" on the same night. Margot learns that this piece of land holds a lot of death and murder in its history. Strange things start happening to Margot and always at night. She starts to see things and hear things. She is being chased in her own home by the dead. This book gave me all the heebie jeebies and I found myself taking small breaks because I was genuinely terrified!

Jeanne L Collier

Adrian Victor

The irony of reading horror year round is that I don’t often read a lot of “spooky” books. Scary books? Sure. But not spooky books. You know, classic bump-in-the-night type creepiness. 

But Halloween is just the season to read “spooky,” and that’s why I’m glad I picked up Gallows Hill by Darcy Coates when I did. Up until now, I’ve only been passingly familiar with Coates’ work, in spite of her name appearing several times on my TBR list. Gallows Hill has ensured that I’ll be picking up more of her works in the future. 

I don’t know if I would call this book scary, but it’s certainly spooky, and there were some fantastic moments of tension that left me breathless in a way that many books don’t. I enjoyed Coates’ writing style, and in spite of falling prey to some of the pitfalls of her genre (I am BEGGING her to invest in a real flashlight), I found Margot to be an enjoyable main character to follow. 

The book has a strong message attached to it, my only complaint is that I feel like that message may have coalesced a little too quickly, making it feel a little heavy handed. Still, I loved the overall theme and the statement that it made. 

If you’ve ever wondered if “cozy horror” is a thing, check out this book. It’s a perfect spooky, cozy read that I had great fun diving into. 

Perhaps the most shining endorsement I can offer is this one: after I finished this book I went out and bought another by Coates as soon as possible.

Alexa Raio &
Gallows Hill by Darcy Coates

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Alexa Raio &Gallows Hill by Darcy Coates

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Join the club

Alexa Raio &
Gallows Hill by Darcy Coates