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Spiral Books The Ones Who Never Left.
The Ones Who Never Left ABISBOOK Spiral Books.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
February 1, 2026
3.5 stars
The Ones Who Never Left is a haunted house thriller set in Yorkshire.
Newly weds Hugh and Lucy leave London hoping for a fresh start in rural Yorkshire. Hugh is a part-time writer, struggling for inspiration for his next book, while Lucy wants to pursue her painting.
It is impulsive Hugh who is keen to rent their new home while making light of local rumours that the place is haunted. The house is typically creepy with large echoey rooms, harsh lighting, wind rattling windows and cold spots. It even includes a daunting portrait of the past owner which hangs in the living room.
On the first night Lucy is woken by a scream or was it just the old fashioned telephone ringing? Eerie incidents continue to occur to both Hugh and Lucy over the next few weeks. Events are interspersed by introducing other characters, mainly Mrs Bird the part-time housekeeper, her son and the wealthy but bored neighbours. Additionally, some of the backstory about the past residents of the house is told through episodes which mainly involve Lucy.
What works well:
The haunted house scenes with spooky wallpaper and hidden secrets are good, as is the mysterious surrounding grounds and woodland. The story has some good secondary characters too, like Mrs Bird and her son Pinky. I also thought that the sinister episodes at the house were suitably spine-chilling.
What I didn’t like so much:
Hugh and Lucy’s relationship is filled with petty arguments, while this functions to isolate them it stifles their character development within the story. The favoured short snappiness of interaction between them continues in others too, particularly Hugh’s parents, which becomes repetitive.
I found the name dropping of books, films, television series and cliched quotes throughout the narrative overwhelmed the potential unique author voice. Just one or two uses would be enough.
Overall, the story has plenty of expected characteristics of a haunted house tale with several ‘don’t go there’ moments, when the reader knows that a chilling episode is about to happen. There are enough clues and distracting points to keep the tale building towards the final denouement which is topped with a suitably chilling conclusion.
The Ones Who Never Left is a haunted house thriller set in Yorkshire.
Newly weds Hugh and Lucy leave London hoping for a fresh start in rural Yorkshire. Hugh is a part-time writer, struggling for inspiration for his next book, while Lucy wants to pursue her painting.
It is impulsive Hugh who is keen to rent their new home while making light of local rumours that the place is haunted. The house is typically creepy with large echoey rooms, harsh lighting, wind rattling windows and cold spots. It even includes a daunting portrait of the past owner which hangs in the living room.
On the first night Lucy is woken by a scream or was it just the old fashioned telephone ringing? Eerie incidents continue to occur to both Hugh and Lucy over the next few weeks. Events are interspersed by introducing other characters, mainly Mrs Bird the part-time housekeeper, her son and the wealthy but bored neighbours. Additionally, some of the backstory about the past residents of the house is told through episodes which mainly involve Lucy.
What works well:
The haunted house scenes with spooky wallpaper and hidden secrets are good, as is the mysterious surrounding grounds and woodland. The story has some good secondary characters too, like Mrs Bird and her son Pinky. I also thought that the sinister episodes at the house were suitably spine-chilling.
What I didn’t like so much:
Hugh and Lucy’s relationship is filled with petty arguments, while this functions to isolate them it stifles their character development within the story. The favoured short snappiness of interaction between them continues in others too, particularly Hugh’s parents, which becomes repetitive.
I found the name dropping of books, films, television series and cliched quotes throughout the narrative overwhelmed the potential unique author voice. Just one or two uses would be enough.
Overall, the story has plenty of expected characteristics of a haunted house tale with several ‘don’t go there’ moments, when the reader knows that a chilling episode is about to happen. There are enough clues and distracting points to keep the tale building towards the final denouement which is topped with a suitably chilling conclusion.
October 15, 2025
Good god what a book.
It starts off slow but after a chapter it takes off like a freight train. I felt as though the first chapter reflected the author getting used to her characters and it could probably do with some further editing, but please please bear with it because the story gets so good!
Fans of Barbara Erskine's ability to time travel will love this book. It also has thrills (I almost fell out of bed when I read about the attic!) and characters you can't help but hate.
What a thrill!
It starts off slow but after a chapter it takes off like a freight train. I felt as though the first chapter reflected the author getting used to her characters and it could probably do with some further editing, but please please bear with it because the story gets so good!
Fans of Barbara Erskine's ability to time travel will love this book. It also has thrills (I almost fell out of bed when I read about the attic!) and characters you can't help but hate.
What a thrill!
October 20, 2025
Lovely spooky read. Full of suspense and a creepy old house.
November 15, 2025
This story drew me in right from the start. With a cleverly-interwoven plot linking characters past and present with the history of Rook House, I was kept in a pleasing state of suspense throughout. The dialogue is witty and engaging and the characters' relationships are both realistic and revealing. The spookiness builds up gradually and had me entirely convinced. This is a great yarn, with plenty of surprises and twists along the way. Unputdownable!
March 31, 2026
I loved this book in spite of some truly horrible characters. Shows how well written it is that I hated them so much.
Firstly – Jude. What a truly dreadful woman! Conning her way into being Lucy’s friend just to get at her husband. Someone slap her please.
Secondly – Hugh. Just a weak idiot of a man if you ask me.
Finally – Elena. Lucy’s stepmother, but then I probably have stepmummy issues. I found the part when she comes to stay quite funny though.
I’m not even going to include Ezra as he’s the actual villain in the story.
Good characters – Lucy naturally, Snowy Bird and Pinky, even if the names sound like pet bunnies.
Newly married couple Lucy and Hugh are staying in the haunted Rook House as ‘property guardians.’ They are paying a peppercorn rent, though I thought they should be paid to stay there. It’s in rural Yorkshire and they are not exactly country types, having always lived in the city.
Almost immediately Lucy hears things go ‘scratch scratch scratch‘ in the night behind the walls and then voices. The house is said to be haunted by the spirit of the evil Ezra Napier whose picture ‘watches’ them from the living room wall, his wife Belle, and various family members. Others have stayed there but it’s Lucy that is more open to sensing things than Hugh or previous tenants.
I adored this book. It’s really chilling and creepy, though I was never really scared as such. I only have a couple of issues and that is the constant use of short versions of words (mainly by Jude) like mani-pedi or pretty ‘rad’ really irritating. And who text-speaks nowadays unless you’re twelve, such as ‘shops in Swsby… might b back… if u can… etc.’ But it doesn’t matter. It was brilliant.
Firstly – Jude. What a truly dreadful woman! Conning her way into being Lucy’s friend just to get at her husband. Someone slap her please.
Secondly – Hugh. Just a weak idiot of a man if you ask me.
Finally – Elena. Lucy’s stepmother, but then I probably have stepmummy issues. I found the part when she comes to stay quite funny though.
I’m not even going to include Ezra as he’s the actual villain in the story.
Good characters – Lucy naturally, Snowy Bird and Pinky, even if the names sound like pet bunnies.
Newly married couple Lucy and Hugh are staying in the haunted Rook House as ‘property guardians.’ They are paying a peppercorn rent, though I thought they should be paid to stay there. It’s in rural Yorkshire and they are not exactly country types, having always lived in the city.
Almost immediately Lucy hears things go ‘scratch scratch scratch‘ in the night behind the walls and then voices. The house is said to be haunted by the spirit of the evil Ezra Napier whose picture ‘watches’ them from the living room wall, his wife Belle, and various family members. Others have stayed there but it’s Lucy that is more open to sensing things than Hugh or previous tenants.
I adored this book. It’s really chilling and creepy, though I was never really scared as such. I only have a couple of issues and that is the constant use of short versions of words (mainly by Jude) like mani-pedi or pretty ‘rad’ really irritating. And who text-speaks nowadays unless you’re twelve, such as ‘shops in Swsby… might b back… if u can… etc.’ But it doesn’t matter. It was brilliant.
February 9, 2026
I received this book to review for Rosie's Book Review Team. Thank you to the author for the copy.
Creepy house, young couple, small town in Yorkshire, mystery man who roams the woods, housekeeper with an odd name, and a lot of weirdness in the history of the house make for a great premise for a story.
And for a great majority of the book, I enjoyed it. There was enough mystery and intrigue to satisfy me as a reader. I liked the protagonist and felt bad for her in the way she was treated by a number of characters in the story. I like a story where I have someone to root for as the action progresses.
Without any spoilers, though, I have to say that the last few chapters changed my whole opinion of the book. The ending was especially disappointing to me and it tainted the whole reading experience. To go from enjoying the book to dissatisfaction was jarring to say the least.
I can’t say much more as I don’t want to go into too much detail of what changed it for me, but I am going to give it four stars for being well-written, satisfyingly macabre, and mostly well-drawn characters. Had those last chapters been different, this one would’ve easily have been five stars for me. I’m not quite sure if that was a cliffhanger at the end, but I hate them and that is also part of my dissatisfaction with the book.
Creepy house, young couple, small town in Yorkshire, mystery man who roams the woods, housekeeper with an odd name, and a lot of weirdness in the history of the house make for a great premise for a story.
And for a great majority of the book, I enjoyed it. There was enough mystery and intrigue to satisfy me as a reader. I liked the protagonist and felt bad for her in the way she was treated by a number of characters in the story. I like a story where I have someone to root for as the action progresses.
Without any spoilers, though, I have to say that the last few chapters changed my whole opinion of the book. The ending was especially disappointing to me and it tainted the whole reading experience. To go from enjoying the book to dissatisfaction was jarring to say the least.
I can’t say much more as I don’t want to go into too much detail of what changed it for me, but I am going to give it four stars for being well-written, satisfyingly macabre, and mostly well-drawn characters. Had those last chapters been different, this one would’ve easily have been five stars for me. I’m not quite sure if that was a cliffhanger at the end, but I hate them and that is also part of my dissatisfaction with the book.
November 1, 2025
I read this through without stopping! Intriguing, thrilling and deftly plotted from start to finish, this brings many well-loved aspects of spooky gothic literature bang up-to-date. I particularly loved the fact that the reader isn’t left wondering what it all adds up to, like too many books in this genre, which tend to taper off as the writer fails to bring the story over the line. But Mullarkey, in contrast, is confidently in control of her narrative. I wish I was about to read this book for the first time!
March 6, 2026
I was disappointed! I did not enjoy this book at all, after seeing it featured in a weekly magazine and being unable to wait to start reading it. I disliked all the characters and I disliked the use of dialogue. It seemed to take me forever to finish reading the book but I did not connect with the characters or feel interested in the outcome of the novel. Really disappointed!
Currently Reading
November 13, 2025I really enjoyed this wonderful pageturner.The author has deftly married the humdrum of everyday life with a tense and foreboding supernatural atmosphere.I simply couldn’t put it down and read way past my usual bedtime ‘lights out ‘.Highly recommended- a great read !
May 13, 2026
Enjoyable mild horror, some of the writing was a bit clumsy but overall a great read.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews