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The Haunting of Blackwood House #1
Geister in Blackwood House
Blackwood House begrüßt seine neuen Besitzer. 100 Jahre des Wartens werden endlich belohnt.
Mara ist die Tochter von betrügerischen Spiritualisten. Ihre Kindheit war geprägt von Séancen und vorgetäuschten Geistererscheinungen.
Als Mara ihre Familie verließ, schwor sie sich, dass solch dummer Aberglaube nie wieder Platz in ihrem Leben finden wird. Nun lebt sie mit ihrem Freund Neil in einer Welt, die auf Rationalität beruht.
Dann kaufen sie das Blackwood House.
Sie wurden gewarnt, dass in dem verfallenen Gebäude seltsame Dinge geschehen, und tatsä Türen öffnen sich von allein, in der Nacht hören sie Kinder schreien, ein Schaukelstuhl wippt pausenlos vor sich hin. Doch das ist erst der Beginn des Unheils.
Wohnen sie in einem Spukhaus? Mara will davon nichts hören. Das ist nur ausgeklügelter Schwindel … Aber wenn Geister nicht real sind, wer oder was haust dann in ihrem Haus?
Ihr liebt Geistergeschichten? Dann lest die Romane von Darcy Coates. Ihre Fans lieben es, wenn beim Lesen die kalten Finger der Angst die Wirbelsäule hinaufkrabbeln.
Mara ist die Tochter von betrügerischen Spiritualisten. Ihre Kindheit war geprägt von Séancen und vorgetäuschten Geistererscheinungen.
Als Mara ihre Familie verließ, schwor sie sich, dass solch dummer Aberglaube nie wieder Platz in ihrem Leben finden wird. Nun lebt sie mit ihrem Freund Neil in einer Welt, die auf Rationalität beruht.
Dann kaufen sie das Blackwood House.
Sie wurden gewarnt, dass in dem verfallenen Gebäude seltsame Dinge geschehen, und tatsä Türen öffnen sich von allein, in der Nacht hören sie Kinder schreien, ein Schaukelstuhl wippt pausenlos vor sich hin. Doch das ist erst der Beginn des Unheils.
Wohnen sie in einem Spukhaus? Mara will davon nichts hören. Das ist nur ausgeklügelter Schwindel … Aber wenn Geister nicht real sind, wer oder was haust dann in ihrem Haus?
Ihr liebt Geistergeschichten? Dann lest die Romane von Darcy Coates. Ihre Fans lieben es, wenn beim Lesen die kalten Finger der Angst die Wirbelsäule hinaufkrabbeln.
318 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 20, 2015
1688 people are currently reading
17186 people want to read
About the author
Darcy Coates
69 books14.2k followersDarcy Coates is the USA Today bestselling author of more than a dozen horror and suspense novels.
She lives in the Central Coast of Australia with her family, cat, and a collection of chickens. Her home is surrounded by rolling wilderness on all sides, and she wouldn't have it any other way.
You can hear about her next book by joining her newsletter: www.darcycoates.com/updates
She lives in the Central Coast of Australia with her family, cat, and a collection of chickens. Her home is surrounded by rolling wilderness on all sides, and she wouldn't have it any other way.
You can hear about her next book by joining her newsletter: www.darcycoates.com/updates
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,931 reviews
September 10, 2017
Actual rating: 1.5 stars
This wouldn't have been as bad a book, but the main character Mara was one of the most insufferable characters I've encountered in a book in a long time. She was, to put it succinctly, a brat. I think she was supposed to be portrayed as a strong, independent woman, but instead she came off as a rigid, stubborn, and rude woman who treated her boyfriend (and others) like crap, and absolutely would not entertain any idea or opinion if it even slight hinted at anything supernatural going on. Even when she was directly confronted with paranormal activity, she would not budge. Yes, she had her reasons due to her past, but still.
She made many choices, that had I not been reading on my kindle, the book would have met with the wall multiple times. For example: She has no electricity in her new house, and her phone battery goes dead. Instead of asking her boyfriend, Neil, to charge it in his car, or maybe take it to work or to his house to charge it, she just doesn't tell him about it. She doesn't want to worry him, and she doesn't want to rely on him for anything. I mean anything. The slightest little thing he tries to buy her or help her with, and she flies off the handle at him. She became a tiny, tiny bit more likeable in the last 20% or so, but by then it was too little, far too late.
Also, literally any choice a rational person would make after being placed in the same situations as Mara was, Mara would make the exact opposite. It was so frustrating.
Not that Neil's much better. He's literally Too Perfect. Handsome and muscular, he loves Mara to distraction, and I could never quite figure out why. He was also pretty bland and boring.
Needless to say, I didn't buy into their relationship at all.
And if I can find the main characters likeable in any way, I'm not going to care too much about the story.
This wouldn't have been as bad a book, but the main character Mara was one of the most insufferable characters I've encountered in a book in a long time. She was, to put it succinctly, a brat. I think she was supposed to be portrayed as a strong, independent woman, but instead she came off as a rigid, stubborn, and rude woman who treated her boyfriend (and others) like crap, and absolutely would not entertain any idea or opinion if it even slight hinted at anything supernatural going on. Even when she was directly confronted with paranormal activity, she would not budge. Yes, she had her reasons due to her past, but still.
She made many choices, that had I not been reading on my kindle, the book would have met with the wall multiple times. For example: She has no electricity in her new house, and her phone battery goes dead. Instead of asking her boyfriend, Neil, to charge it in his car, or maybe take it to work or to his house to charge it, she just doesn't tell him about it. She doesn't want to worry him, and she doesn't want to rely on him for anything. I mean anything. The slightest little thing he tries to buy her or help her with, and she flies off the handle at him. She became a tiny, tiny bit more likeable in the last 20% or so, but by then it was too little, far too late.
Also, literally any choice a rational person would make after being placed in the same situations as Mara was, Mara would make the exact opposite. It was so frustrating.
Not that Neil's much better. He's literally Too Perfect. Handsome and muscular, he loves Mara to distraction, and I could never quite figure out why. He was also pretty bland and boring.
Needless to say, I didn't buy into their relationship at all.
And if I can find the main characters likeable in any way, I'm not going to care too much about the story.
May 9, 2016
Is it mind-blowing? No.
Is it ground-breaking? No.
Is it everything I want whenever I look for a good old ghost story? Hell. Freaking. Yes.
It is well written, the pace is good, the build-up is perfect and the scary moments actually managed to scare me (well, almost, I'm big girl with a life-long obsession with horror and the occult, so... kudos for making me uncomfortable)
No, I'm not reading Edgar Allan Poe here, I am well aware of that, but damn... I absolutely loved this novel and would recommend it to any die-hard horror fans, as tales such as this one are hard to come by, these days.
A classic haunting story to keep you up at night: no weird monsters or deformed nazi experiment victims turned into killers, just a perfect little ghost story. Thank you, Darcy Coates, you made my week!
Is it ground-breaking? No.
Is it everything I want whenever I look for a good old ghost story? Hell. Freaking. Yes.
It is well written, the pace is good, the build-up is perfect and the scary moments actually managed to scare me (well, almost, I'm big girl with a life-long obsession with horror and the occult, so... kudos for making me uncomfortable)
No, I'm not reading Edgar Allan Poe here, I am well aware of that, but damn... I absolutely loved this novel and would recommend it to any die-hard horror fans, as tales such as this one are hard to come by, these days.
A classic haunting story to keep you up at night: no weird monsters or deformed nazi experiment victims turned into killers, just a perfect little ghost story. Thank you, Darcy Coates, you made my week!
August 22, 2016
Pretty typical haunted house story: girl loses job; girl decides best thing to do with money is buy haunted house; realtor is all, "People DIE here!"; girl is all, "Shut up and take my money!"; girl sees dead people; girl calls realtor and is all, "WTF! People DIED here!"; realtor is all, "Que? No hablo ingles! Donde es el bano?"; girl meets spiritualists at Hot Topic; spiritualists are all, "WTF, people DIED here! Donde Es la biblioteca and the front door?"; girl discovers latent ability to vanquish the dead after nearly being asphyxiated (some more pessimistic readers might attribute this to the moderate to severe effects of oxygen deprivation).
October 18, 2020
The Haunting of Blackwood House by Darcy Coates is an excellent haunted house story. Great plot, characters and a good scare. Gal of the story grows up with nutty spiritualist family and finally gets to leave and for four years has lived on her own away from the scam artists. She gets a chance to buy a house no one wants because it is "haunted" but she knows from her childhood that all of those hauntings are fake. She buys the house and things get strange. Hard to find a good haunted house story that has all of these things. This one was great. Touch of romance in there too for those that like that. Great book.
December 31, 2017
Very rarely do I ever come across a character that annoys me so much. Mara is probably the most stubborn (especially when she’s wrong and the entire world as well as her loved one tells her so) easy to hate woman. A fleeting thought in my mind was, could the effects of the house (evoking hate) be passed onto the reader through this pig-headed woman?
It’s one thing being proud, honorable, independent and self reliant. It’s another to reject care and concern by being stupidly stubborn. The only person Mara EVER cared about was herself. HER feelings, HER pride, HER house, and HER past. Yes, the story was about her but not once did she show any concern for her partner Neal. The only thing she did for Neal was to be respectful of his time. Not his wishes, his beliefs or the care he showered her with.
I'm fine with being skeptical or unbelieving. But despite multiple proofs thrown in Mara's face about the house, she constantly chose to ignore them all. I mean, she saw someone get murdered and just brushed it off and made everything about herself again. God, she is SO frustrating! She had a tendency to insult those who helped her, the Mediums, her partner, Neal - BTW he wanted to take her away to safety and what did she do? She hurled insults at him and blamed bad joujou for everything!
The ‘horror’ bits were quite clichéd, and Mara gave some flimsy half brained excuses for what was going on in the CLEARLY haunted house. Her logic and reasoning were beyond flawed. Multiple MURDERS took place every few years/decades in that haunted house and her mind blowing logic was ‘people die all the time.’ Gah! I was constantly rolling my eyes, cringing and sighing all the while waiting for a very predictable end. So, yeah, safe to say I didn’t enjoy this read.
It’s one thing being proud, honorable, independent and self reliant. It’s another to reject care and concern by being stupidly stubborn. The only person Mara EVER cared about was herself. HER feelings, HER pride, HER house, and HER past. Yes, the story was about her but not once did she show any concern for her partner Neal. The only thing she did for Neal was to be respectful of his time. Not his wishes, his beliefs or the care he showered her with.
I'm fine with being skeptical or unbelieving. But despite multiple proofs thrown in Mara's face about the house, she constantly chose to ignore them all. I mean, she saw someone get murdered and just brushed it off and made everything about herself again. God, she is SO frustrating! She had a tendency to insult those who helped her, the Mediums, her partner, Neal - BTW he wanted to take her away to safety and what did she do? She hurled insults at him and blamed bad joujou for everything!
The ‘horror’ bits were quite clichéd, and Mara gave some flimsy half brained excuses for what was going on in the CLEARLY haunted house. Her logic and reasoning were beyond flawed. Multiple MURDERS took place every few years/decades in that haunted house and her mind blowing logic was ‘people die all the time.’ Gah! I was constantly rolling my eyes, cringing and sighing all the while waiting for a very predictable end. So, yeah, safe to say I didn’t enjoy this read.
August 30, 2017
Think about the most spoiled, unruly, and brattiest (Google says that's not a word, but I say it is) child you have ever come into contact with. Can you see them? Do you feel that intense rage just starting to bubble up thinking about being in their company? Now imagine if that child had a baby with Golem... you now have a clear picture of the main character's personalty. That's right, and that's only the beginning.
Mara is probably the most miserable, immature, abusive, sociopath who - more often than not -dissolves into an imbecility that would drive even a Buddhist insane that I have ever read. And you keep thinking with each turn of the page that she's going to shut up, grow up, and grow a heart that's at least 1 size bigger, if for no other reason than to redeem this hateful character, but no. It never happens. She stays the same wretched shrew she was from page one.
Then you think, well, surely her boyfriend, Neil, will offset the balance of her haughtiness, but no...hes almost as pathetic as she is bitchy. No matter how many times Mara verbally and emotionally abuses the man, who - by the way - is described as looking similar to the Rock and is as equally "manly", is more often than not playing the role of an abused victim. He spends most of his time apologizing to Mara, backing down from Mara, and calming Mara down before she can lay into him again. Edward Cullen and Bella Swan had a healthier relationship than this couple.
And to top it all off, the above characters and the remaining cast (of 2) are one-dimensional cardboard cutouts that essentially have no backstory other than 3 sweeping generalizations: spiritualist, religious, stereotypically "new-agey".
So, naturally you would think, "...but surely the writing style was adequate, if not downright captivating". NOPE. The nicest description I can give the style of writing is sophomoric and juvenile. The pace? The speed balanced between molasses and so fast you're pretty sure the author skipped some integral steps that the story required. The atmosphere? Non-existent. Description? With the exception of the 3 areas/furniture pieces in Blackwood House, the details are repetitively anemic. The movement of the story and the logical steps taken? Forget logic; logic doesn't exist in this book. In fact, should you want to punish yourself and decide to read this book, I guarantee you will find yourself screaming at least once at every chapter, "NO ONE WOULD DO THAT!".
And finally, the plot...that was the only aspect I didn't absolutely hate. Was it original? No. Was it breaking new ground on familiar territory? No. Did it achieve what it set out to do? Meh. But the bare bones of the story did have promise to at least be mildly amusing. Instead, I found myself regretting the siren song that plot played in my having had this experience.
So, with all that said, I give you the perfect storm of abysmal: bad writing, bad characters, bad story.
Mara is probably the most miserable, immature, abusive, sociopath who - more often than not -dissolves into an imbecility that would drive even a Buddhist insane that I have ever read. And you keep thinking with each turn of the page that she's going to shut up, grow up, and grow a heart that's at least 1 size bigger, if for no other reason than to redeem this hateful character, but no. It never happens. She stays the same wretched shrew she was from page one.
Then you think, well, surely her boyfriend, Neil, will offset the balance of her haughtiness, but no...hes almost as pathetic as she is bitchy. No matter how many times Mara verbally and emotionally abuses the man, who - by the way - is described as looking similar to the Rock and is as equally "manly", is more often than not playing the role of an abused victim. He spends most of his time apologizing to Mara, backing down from Mara, and calming Mara down before she can lay into him again. Edward Cullen and Bella Swan had a healthier relationship than this couple.
And to top it all off, the above characters and the remaining cast (of 2) are one-dimensional cardboard cutouts that essentially have no backstory other than 3 sweeping generalizations: spiritualist, religious, stereotypically "new-agey".
So, naturally you would think, "...but surely the writing style was adequate, if not downright captivating". NOPE. The nicest description I can give the style of writing is sophomoric and juvenile. The pace? The speed balanced between molasses and so fast you're pretty sure the author skipped some integral steps that the story required. The atmosphere? Non-existent. Description? With the exception of the 3 areas/furniture pieces in Blackwood House, the details are repetitively anemic. The movement of the story and the logical steps taken? Forget logic; logic doesn't exist in this book. In fact, should you want to punish yourself and decide to read this book, I guarantee you will find yourself screaming at least once at every chapter, "NO ONE WOULD DO THAT!".
And finally, the plot...that was the only aspect I didn't absolutely hate. Was it original? No. Was it breaking new ground on familiar territory? No. Did it achieve what it set out to do? Meh. But the bare bones of the story did have promise to at least be mildly amusing. Instead, I found myself regretting the siren song that plot played in my having had this experience.
So, with all that said, I give you the perfect storm of abysmal: bad writing, bad characters, bad story.
May 21, 2024
This was the most perfect haunted house story in the world!
The main character was traumatized by her psychic medium parents and now refuses to believe in ghosts. Years later she ends up buying a large, historical house for a steal because a serial killer used to live in it and murdered people there. The house also has a reputation for being haunted.
Mara doesn’t believe in any of that shit and wants to prove everyone wrong. So she buys the house and obviously it ends up being super haunted.
LOVED IT. It was the perfect haunted house & ghost story. Exactly what I wanted.
I didn’t want to put it down whenever I picked it up!
The main character was traumatized by her psychic medium parents and now refuses to believe in ghosts. Years later she ends up buying a large, historical house for a steal because a serial killer used to live in it and murdered people there. The house also has a reputation for being haunted.
Mara doesn’t believe in any of that shit and wants to prove everyone wrong. So she buys the house and obviously it ends up being super haunted.
LOVED IT. It was the perfect haunted house & ghost story. Exactly what I wanted.
I didn’t want to put it down whenever I picked it up!
February 2, 2021
I liked The Haunting of Gillespie House better than this one. I feel like Coates had too many pages to fill so she created more drama than it needed. The pacing felt off in places like it dragged or sections were repetitive. Mara grates on my nerves a bit. She was too emotional and quick to anger. Huge chip on her shoulders. Loved her boyfriend Neil - he’s a keeper. Sometimes the characters’ actions or dialogue felt awkward. The plot itself was interesting. The imagery was engaging and definitely creepy, which is Coates’ strength. It was a fine read. Nothing ground breaking but passably entertaining.
January 22, 2021
Chills and Thrills!
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A small backstory:
Mara grew up with a home that believed in hauntings, but now that she is an adult she wants to leave all that behind her and start her own life with her boyfriend Neil.
When Mara and Neil find an abandoned home to buy outside of town they decide it would be nice to have something to fix up and something to call their own. What they both don't realize is that sometimes houses are abandoned for a reason and when they both start to settle into the house things start happening that are beyond their control as the house has awoken and it is ready to let its presence be known!
Thoughts:
I love haunted house settings and this book did not disappoint! Very gripping and thrilling! Chilling fingers of fear as they creep along your spine as you will feel the reverberations of the doors that open and close in this story. Whispers on the wind will enter your mind as you walk the halls of the Blackwood House with these characters.
I loved the characters and I became attached to their plight as things start to escalate in the house as when the house wakes up you will feel what the characters feel as they endure what the house has in store for them! Five "spooky" stars!
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A small backstory:
Mara grew up with a home that believed in hauntings, but now that she is an adult she wants to leave all that behind her and start her own life with her boyfriend Neil.
When Mara and Neil find an abandoned home to buy outside of town they decide it would be nice to have something to fix up and something to call their own. What they both don't realize is that sometimes houses are abandoned for a reason and when they both start to settle into the house things start happening that are beyond their control as the house has awoken and it is ready to let its presence be known!
Thoughts:
I love haunted house settings and this book did not disappoint! Very gripping and thrilling! Chilling fingers of fear as they creep along your spine as you will feel the reverberations of the doors that open and close in this story. Whispers on the wind will enter your mind as you walk the halls of the Blackwood House with these characters.
I loved the characters and I became attached to their plight as things start to escalate in the house as when the house wakes up you will feel what the characters feel as they endure what the house has in store for them! Five "spooky" stars!
November 6, 2022
2.5/5
This was an infuriating book. I despised the main character. The main character was completely unlikable and and a terrible person to just about every single person in the book. The love interest wasn’t even a really character they just existed to worship and provide validation to the main character with no interests or motivations outside of adoring and wanting to make the main character happy. The saving grace of this book was a great last quarter of the book which was fun and intense.
This was an infuriating book. I despised the main character. The main character was completely unlikable and and a terrible person to just about every single person in the book. The love interest wasn’t even a really character they just existed to worship and provide validation to the main character with no interests or motivations outside of adoring and wanting to make the main character happy. The saving grace of this book was a great last quarter of the book which was fun and intense.
March 19, 2021
I really enjoyed this book. I'm also a huge sucker for anything ghost related though, so this book really sucked me in instantly. I have to admit through most of this book I was really indifferent about the main character Mara, she grew up in a very spiritual household and really wasn't into it and decided she didn't want anything to do with ghost in her adult life. But she finds this really awesome house that she loves and weird things start happening in it. She hears a rocking chair rocking on its own, doors slamming, and footsteps in the attic and Mara starts to wonder if maybe the life she made for herself with her very sweet fiancé Neil and no spirituality might be short lived.
I enjoyed Mara as a character most of the time but I also feel she had an attitude that I feel was kind of ridiculous and it made her come across as rude. But the more I read the more I started to like her and by the end I felt she really grew as a person.
As for the house itself, the history was really shocking and gruesome and it really set the atmosphere to make this a great haunted house/ghost story. I love Darcy Coates and her writing style and how she made this story so intriguing and even a bit suspenseful.
I enjoyed Mara as a character most of the time but I also feel she had an attitude that I feel was kind of ridiculous and it made her come across as rude. But the more I read the more I started to like her and by the end I felt she really grew as a person.
As for the house itself, the history was really shocking and gruesome and it really set the atmosphere to make this a great haunted house/ghost story. I love Darcy Coates and her writing style and how she made this story so intriguing and even a bit suspenseful.
June 5, 2019
“I was wrong. Ghosts are real.”
2.5 Stars.
The Haunting Of Blackwood House is the second book iv'e read by Darcy Coats and unfortunatley i didn't enjoy this one as much as i enjoyed The Haunting of Ashburn House which is one of the most creepy and enjoyable books iv'e read.
The Haunting of Blackwood House follows the story of Mara, who decides to purchase Blackwood House and move in even though many people have died mainly through murder who's spirits still haunt the house and is incredibly run down after being abandoned 20 years ago by it's previous owners.
Mara however is uninterested in listening to any talk for hauntings, or ghosts as she doesn't believe in anything to do with the spiritual and hates anything to do with the paranormal or religion after being raised by her parents who were mediums. This fact about Mara drove me to put the book on hold for a few months as this seemed to be the only factor to Mara's personality and continuously hammers the fact in that she doesn't believe and hates anything to do with it and won't hear any mention of ghosts or religion or anything even going to the point of his boyfriends mum having to put her bible away for Mara. I didn't like Mara at all to be honest or any of the other characters in this book except for Erica, all the characters were really rather flat and monotone. Neil Mara's boyfriend was just a big of a wet blanket if i'm honest, Mara continuously spoke to him like shit and he took it time and time again and it just grated on me. Mara had no sense of humor nothing to endear her to the reader what so ever, Which is the main reason this book get such a low rating.
However, the main reason i wanted to read this is for the creep factor which Darcy does write really well, she has become my go to when wanting to read a scary story! I won't give anything away for the plot or facts of the house, this is a good haunted house story but The Haunting Of Ashbun House is much better in my opinion. I will continue to read Darcy's stories like i said i loved Ashburn House and wont let pig headed Mara put me off !
It hadn’t been immediately noticeable behind the thick hair and dress, but the woman was severely decayed. Clumps of translucent flesh had sunk around her eye sockets and sloughed free of her cheeks. She seemed to be grinning, but it was hard to tell without any lips to frame the teeth.
April 7, 2019
This was a pretty good read. It made me look over my shoulder on more than one occasion. Very creepy and satisfied that itch to read something scary. It was a bit predictable and I didn't find the Main Character to be very likeable but all in all a good read.
December 1, 2016
Surprisingly clean books. They are just good ghost stories where the characters have back stories and personalities and quirks. I like how this author writes spooky without garbaging it up. Mara's personality cracked me up. I think Neil was the perfect balance. Can't wait for the next one.
October 20, 2022
So I’m sure those who read my updates as I read this are probably surprised to find out I ended up loving it enough to be a 4 star lol. Basically let’s just say, the MC just had some growing to do and once she does that growing I can appreciate her unpleasant moments more. She grew up in a traumatizing spiritual household and has to cope with living in a haunted house after convincing herself ghosts aren’t real. So she ends up being really mean to her super sweet and dreamy bf, who only wants her safe, and that rubbed me wrong sometimes. But like I said… there is lots of growth and development which helped me put things in place.
Now I love all the characters! I loved the storyline the entire time, as I found it to be kinda unique and fun. Especially once the mediums come in in the second half! The haunting in general was super interesting too and it had lots of genuinely creepy moments to where I’ve been side eyeing the rocking chair in my living room more than usual lol. The ghost of a serial killer, a madman spiritualist… and a bunch of unfortunate victims all haunting one house? Sounds like a lot. But I promise you it’s such a fun ride.
As usual with miss Coates here, you may have to suspend your disbelief a bit. But it’s pretty easy in this one. I think it might be my favorite that she’s written. She’s the queen of atmosphere and cozy spooky story telling.
Will def continue reading her forever!
Now I love all the characters! I loved the storyline the entire time, as I found it to be kinda unique and fun. Especially once the mediums come in in the second half! The haunting in general was super interesting too and it had lots of genuinely creepy moments to where I’ve been side eyeing the rocking chair in my living room more than usual lol. The ghost of a serial killer, a madman spiritualist… and a bunch of unfortunate victims all haunting one house? Sounds like a lot. But I promise you it’s such a fun ride.
As usual with miss Coates here, you may have to suspend your disbelief a bit. But it’s pretty easy in this one. I think it might be my favorite that she’s written. She’s the queen of atmosphere and cozy spooky story telling.
Will def continue reading her forever!
October 15, 2017
5/2/17 $2.99 for Kindle, $1.99 to add Audible.
Not really that scary (notice I'm *not* classifying this one as "horror"), but a decent read. Has some creepy parts, but nothing that'd make me want to sleep with the lights on.
Not really that scary (notice I'm *not* classifying this one as "horror"), but a decent read. Has some creepy parts, but nothing that'd make me want to sleep with the lights on.
October 13, 2021
Darcy Coates does it again, if your a fan creepy, unsettling and atmospheric horror then this one is for you. I flew through this book. I gave it 4 stars and not 5 stars because of the main characters almost sociopathic need to be independent started to get on my nerves after awhile, but didn't take away from my enjoyment of the story it turned out to be necessary in the third act . I read this mostly in the middle of the night, and that adds to the atmosphere. a very satisfying ghost story for the Fall and Halloween.
May 5, 2025
3.75⭐️
April 8, 2017
This is seriously the scariest book I've ever read.
If you're into everything horror, everything ghostly, everything haunted.....this is your next read.
Mara buys an unwanted haunted house. This house had a haunted history in its 100+ years in existence.
Violent deaths and murders have occurred. Not to mention, the slamming doors and footsteps.
Mara wanted it anyway.
She buys the house, but the ghosts are free!
Not a book to read at night before bed! Or perhaps, it is the perfect book to read at night before bed!
Read
July 6, 2022DNF at 32% Ghosts I can buy. A house never wired for electricity or a generator that has a TV and a washing machine and dryer? Yeah, that's a bridge too far.
October 8, 2024
Pretty good!!
Thoughts: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTFPYbNYy/
Thoughts: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTFPYbNYy/
August 22, 2022
Oh my goodness, this was such a disappointing book.
It turns out that the creep factor of a haunted house is severely lessened when the main character simply doesn’t believe that the noises are ghosts. When she is literally shrieking that it’s just easily explainable noises and that anyone who disagrees is a stupid idiot, then the scariness pretty much vanishes.
Instead, I simply focused on what a genuinely awful person the main character was. She spends most of the book being as nasty as possible to everyone she meets, most of whom are perfect strangers, and many of whom she cruelly mocks after having met them. Upon meeting a person who she had formerly, and with zero provocation, screamed at, attacked, and thrown things at, THEN begged to help her - did she apologise? No, her first words were “you’ve got the stupidest name I’ve ever heard of.” WTAF??
Her boyfriend is a two dimensional cardboard cut out of someone’s bored fantasy - good looking carpenter, huge muscles, loves his mother, Christian, sweet to the point of being irritatingly subservient - you know the drill. And my goodness, the main character, Mara, treats him like dirt. She constantly abuses him, criticizes him for having beliefs, calls him stupid, screams at him for no reason, and is just plain nasty to him in general. His response is to repeat how much he loves her, for no reason that I can see. He is a pathetic doormat of a character, with no reason for being there other than to irritate Mara, seemingly.
Mara’s excuse for being both crazy and mean is that she was raised in a spiritualist household with parents who abused her. Except that at the end she admits that it was all a lie and her parents actually loved her and were really good to her, despite the fact that none of the kids in her neighborhood liked her (gee, I wonder why). So there was never any reason for her to be so awful to everyone.
The house is haunted, Mara clears it with her amazing powers, and everyone she’s been a bitch to decides they want to live with her. Wow.
The first Darcy Coates book I ever read was The Carrow Haunt, and I loved it. I keep reading her books hoping for a similar experience, as I love ghost stories and am always looking for good spooky stories that aren’t just gore-fest horrors, but I keep being disappointed. True, her ghost stories are definitely always ghost stories and never horror, which I appreciate, but they are also usually full of rubbish characters like Mara, who frankly leaves me on the side of the ghosts, hoping that they’ll finish her off.
It turns out that the creep factor of a haunted house is severely lessened when the main character simply doesn’t believe that the noises are ghosts. When she is literally shrieking that it’s just easily explainable noises and that anyone who disagrees is a stupid idiot, then the scariness pretty much vanishes.
Instead, I simply focused on what a genuinely awful person the main character was. She spends most of the book being as nasty as possible to everyone she meets, most of whom are perfect strangers, and many of whom she cruelly mocks after having met them. Upon meeting a person who she had formerly, and with zero provocation, screamed at, attacked, and thrown things at, THEN begged to help her - did she apologise? No, her first words were “you’ve got the stupidest name I’ve ever heard of.” WTAF??
Her boyfriend is a two dimensional cardboard cut out of someone’s bored fantasy - good looking carpenter, huge muscles, loves his mother, Christian, sweet to the point of being irritatingly subservient - you know the drill. And my goodness, the main character, Mara, treats him like dirt. She constantly abuses him, criticizes him for having beliefs, calls him stupid, screams at him for no reason, and is just plain nasty to him in general. His response is to repeat how much he loves her, for no reason that I can see. He is a pathetic doormat of a character, with no reason for being there other than to irritate Mara, seemingly.
Mara’s excuse for being both crazy and mean is that she was raised in a spiritualist household with parents who abused her. Except that at the end she admits that it was all a lie and her parents actually loved her and were really good to her, despite the fact that none of the kids in her neighborhood liked her (gee, I wonder why). So there was never any reason for her to be so awful to everyone.
The house is haunted, Mara clears it with her amazing powers, and everyone she’s been a bitch to decides they want to live with her. Wow.
The first Darcy Coates book I ever read was The Carrow Haunt, and I loved it. I keep reading her books hoping for a similar experience, as I love ghost stories and am always looking for good spooky stories that aren’t just gore-fest horrors, but I keep being disappointed. True, her ghost stories are definitely always ghost stories and never horror, which I appreciate, but they are also usually full of rubbish characters like Mara, who frankly leaves me on the side of the ghosts, hoping that they’ll finish her off.
September 6, 2022
One thing you can say for Darcy Coates, her covers are consistently gorgeous. I mean, just look at the cover art for this. So gorgeous, in fact, one might wonder if the cover is the literary version of a Potemkin village.
I really wanted to like this because I'm in the mood for horror, but I had to hit the eject button. The writing is kind of basic, the characters are thin, and their actions don't really make sense.
For example:
Mara's realtor tells her the only thing available in her price range is the titular Blackwood House. When they arrive at the house, it's in disrepair and has no electrical wiring (but the realtor tells her it's ok because the Internet works, which is great because I guess Mara's phone is powered by good vibes.) Despite all this, Mara inexplicably wants the house. Suddenly, the realtor changes her mind and—amazing download speeds be damned—tells Mara she shouldn’t buy it as it's haunted and has a traaaagic hisssstory. Lady, if you didn't want to sell it why even mention it?
It probably doesn't help that I just finished a whizbanger of a Stephen King novel, so this one comes across even worse in comparison. Still, meh. Not for me, I'm afraid.
(Afraid. Get it? Cuz it's a horror novel?)
I really wanted to like this because I'm in the mood for horror, but I had to hit the eject button. The writing is kind of basic, the characters are thin, and their actions don't really make sense.
For example:
Mara's realtor tells her the only thing available in her price range is the titular Blackwood House. When they arrive at the house, it's in disrepair and has no electrical wiring (but the realtor tells her it's ok because the Internet works, which is great because I guess Mara's phone is powered by good vibes.) Despite all this, Mara inexplicably wants the house. Suddenly, the realtor changes her mind and—amazing download speeds be damned—tells Mara she shouldn’t buy it as it's haunted and has a traaaagic hisssstory. Lady, if you didn't want to sell it why even mention it?
It probably doesn't help that I just finished a whizbanger of a Stephen King novel, so this one comes across even worse in comparison. Still, meh. Not for me, I'm afraid.
(Afraid. Get it? Cuz it's a horror novel?)
March 8, 2018
The premise of the book was really cool but I couldn’t get over how unbearable the main character was throughout the whole book. It’s your typical creepy house in the woods story but Mara, the main character, is annoying and just horrible to the people around her. I think the author was trying to portray her more as an independent woman but it just struck me the wrong way and ruined the book for me.
January 20, 2016
while the concept of this book was interesting, typical haunted house story with an antagonist who does not believe in ghosts. I found myself hating the main character with a passion. Shes stubborn, arrogant, spoiled and all around a generally unlikeable person. To be perfectly honest I can tell the author was trying to make Mara super independent but only managed to make her seem like the most unreasonable woman in the world. Her treatment of others, especially her boyfriend borders on emotionally abusive. The only reason this gets more than one star is because I actually liked the reason and concept behind the haunting, it was different. But I did find myself rooting for the ghost a bit when it can to Mara.
January 12, 2021
Mara is an extremely unlikeable main character - rigid, closed-minded, and down-right rude, at times. There is nothing in her personality that could account for the utter and complete love and devotion that her boyfriend, Neil, has for her. 'Don't date crazy' is very sound advice and Neil should have taken it to heart (what is the term for a male Mary-Sue character?).
July 19, 2017
It was a pretty good storyline, however the overly repetitive nature of the interactions between the two characters was distracting. Then there were the small details that were overlooked (example, her cell phone dies and she has a generator that allows her to watch a move on the VCR). Those little details bothered me an pulled me away from the story. I enjoyed the audible version as I drive a great deal and will try another of her books since I enjoy is type of novel. Give it a shot and see what you think!
March 30, 2023
3 stars because it was spooky and a haunted house read was just what I wanted. But the quality of the writing leaves a lot to be desired and I had got a bit fed up of the amateurish and repetitive text by the end.
July 4, 2021
This book was just what I needed. I went and added some of the other books to my list.
I will admit Mara was a tad bit annoying, like if I knew her in real life we just wouldn't get along. Neil on the other hand is a perfect person and nobody could ever be cooler.
I do suggest reading this one if you are look for a good ole fashioned haunted house. It has ghost, creepy house, creepy back stories, and dumb characters who go into the creepy house.
This was the first of her books I have read and it definitely won't be the last!
I will admit Mara was a tad bit annoying, like if I knew her in real life we just wouldn't get along. Neil on the other hand is a perfect person and nobody could ever be cooler.
I do suggest reading this one if you are look for a good ole fashioned haunted house. It has ghost, creepy house, creepy back stories, and dumb characters who go into the creepy house.
This was the first of her books I have read and it definitely won't be the last!
September 29, 2021
Great Ghost Story
Coates conjures up another classic haunted house horror. What sets this one aside from others is the main character Mara and her interesting past which collides so intriguingly with the ghosts haunting her new house: Blackwood House. The house itself has quite the gory past and it's clear Mara isn't quite prepared for the things that await her because of it.
Coates is a fabulous storyteller and I enjoyed this spooky supernatural tale. A great guy st story for Halloween.
Coates conjures up another classic haunted house horror. What sets this one aside from others is the main character Mara and her interesting past which collides so intriguingly with the ghosts haunting her new house: Blackwood House. The house itself has quite the gory past and it's clear Mara isn't quite prepared for the things that await her because of it.
Coates is a fabulous storyteller and I enjoyed this spooky supernatural tale. A great guy st story for Halloween.
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