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The Midnight Lodge: The gripping new gothic thriller from the author of The Toll House, perfect for Halloween 2026
'Masterfully executed... This will stay with me for a long time. I couldn't put it down - I HAD to know how it ended.' ***** Reader Review
'I was gripped' ***** Reader Review
'Deliciously spooky and chilling' C.J. Cooke
'Carly Reagon has penned a first-rate atmospheric supernatural drama' - BUZZ Magazine
'Haunting and atmospheric' - Heather Davey
Their story lies at the edge of a cliff.. .
Tom Wade arrives at a remote coastal lodge desperate to salvage his PhD and his fragile marriage to Julia. But as the couple settles into the windswept house, old secrets begin to surface - echoes of betrayals and a haunting presence that refuses to rest.
Locals say this part of Dorset is a 'thin place', where the boundary between worlds is perilous, and strange things can happen - from unnerving figures seen in the cemetery, to the unexplained crash of a young Spitfire pilot decades ago.
In their new home, they are confronted with night-terrors, glimpses of a shadow in the mirror, and the calling of a bird that sounds eerily human. And as the past threatens their present, they must confront the dark truth that lives in the lodge, and at the heart of their marriage...
Praise for Carly Reagon
_________
'Powerful, haunting and truly terrifying' CHRIS WHITAKER, author of We Begin at the End
'Beautifully written and epically scary' ROSIE ANDREWS, author of The Leviathan
'Carly Reagon is one to watch' C. J. COOKE, author of A Haunting in the Arctic
'I was gripped' ***** Reader Review
'Deliciously spooky and chilling' C.J. Cooke
'Carly Reagon has penned a first-rate atmospheric supernatural drama' - BUZZ Magazine
'Haunting and atmospheric' - Heather Davey
Their story lies at the edge of a cliff.. .
Tom Wade arrives at a remote coastal lodge desperate to salvage his PhD and his fragile marriage to Julia. But as the couple settles into the windswept house, old secrets begin to surface - echoes of betrayals and a haunting presence that refuses to rest.
Locals say this part of Dorset is a 'thin place', where the boundary between worlds is perilous, and strange things can happen - from unnerving figures seen in the cemetery, to the unexplained crash of a young Spitfire pilot decades ago.
In their new home, they are confronted with night-terrors, glimpses of a shadow in the mirror, and the calling of a bird that sounds eerily human. And as the past threatens their present, they must confront the dark truth that lives in the lodge, and at the heart of their marriage...
Praise for Carly Reagon
_________
'Powerful, haunting and truly terrifying' CHRIS WHITAKER, author of We Begin at the End
'Beautifully written and epically scary' ROSIE ANDREWS, author of The Leviathan
'Carly Reagon is one to watch' C. J. COOKE, author of A Haunting in the Arctic
315 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 8, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
October 21, 2026
Tom has been struggling to complete his PhD about suffers of PTSD after the war. It's coincided with a difficult time in his marriage to Julia. Julia, a therapist, has also been struggling after the suicide of one of her clients. Tom, keen to get down to some writing has been given the chance of staying at a writing retreat. The couple's daughter Polly can stay with Tom's mum, it's not the kind of holiday for a nine year old. The lodge is in an isolated spot on a cliff top in rural Dorset. It's very basic with no bathroom, just an outside toilet. Hopefully with few distractions Tom will finally get down to writing.
Folklore says this remote area of Dorset is a "Thin Place", a location where the boundary between the material world and the spiritual becomes exceptionally porous. Locals have witnessed seeing unnerving figures in the cemetery and during the war there was an unexplained crash of a young Spitfire pilot.
At the lodge Tom takes to alcohol to fuel his writing and is plagued by night terrors. He hears and sees things that cannot be explained. But Julia seems oblivious, she's relaxed and happier than she's been in a long time...
I've read and enjoyed all of Carly Reagon's books. The Midnight Lodge although I enjoyed it was a very different offering and not what I expected. It's a haunting tale of tragedy and grief, beautifully written with quite complex characters. The story is told between 2023 in Oxfordshire where Tom and Julia live with their daughter Polly and then a year later at the lodge in Dorset. There is also snippets from Frank, a young man during the war. His story really touched me. I didn't find the book spooky or scary, but perhaps that's just me. It's certainly one that will linger on my mind and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.
Folklore says this remote area of Dorset is a "Thin Place", a location where the boundary between the material world and the spiritual becomes exceptionally porous. Locals have witnessed seeing unnerving figures in the cemetery and during the war there was an unexplained crash of a young Spitfire pilot.
At the lodge Tom takes to alcohol to fuel his writing and is plagued by night terrors. He hears and sees things that cannot be explained. But Julia seems oblivious, she's relaxed and happier than she's been in a long time...
I've read and enjoyed all of Carly Reagon's books. The Midnight Lodge although I enjoyed it was a very different offering and not what I expected. It's a haunting tale of tragedy and grief, beautifully written with quite complex characters. The story is told between 2023 in Oxfordshire where Tom and Julia live with their daughter Polly and then a year later at the lodge in Dorset. There is also snippets from Frank, a young man during the war. His story really touched me. I didn't find the book spooky or scary, but perhaps that's just me. It's certainly one that will linger on my mind and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
This was less a ghost story and more an exploration of grief and how it affects people in different ways. Yes, there were some spooky elements and the location was very atmospheric but I was struck by how poignant and emotional the story was with little side shoots of stories and how the past ripples through to the present.
The different examples of PTSD and how worry and stress can affect a person was handled well and, I think, quite believably. This was shown through both Tom and Sarah’s careers and how events during those times affected them. Tom is working on his PhD about PTSD in the war time and Sarah works as a therapist with ex-military people.
There were some chaotic moments where I was unsure if the scene was a dream or reality but that clearly showed the characters mental state and stress and added to the tension of the story.
It’s quite a tragic story, both the past and present storylines, so be prepared for that and for the ongoing thread of suicide, suicidal thoughts and the effects of suicide on others.
This was definitely a surprising novel as I was expecting a bit of spookiness but I was given so much more, with a story I will reflect on and that will stay with me for a while.
The different examples of PTSD and how worry and stress can affect a person was handled well and, I think, quite believably. This was shown through both Tom and Sarah’s careers and how events during those times affected them. Tom is working on his PhD about PTSD in the war time and Sarah works as a therapist with ex-military people.
There were some chaotic moments where I was unsure if the scene was a dream or reality but that clearly showed the characters mental state and stress and added to the tension of the story.
It’s quite a tragic story, both the past and present storylines, so be prepared for that and for the ongoing thread of suicide, suicidal thoughts and the effects of suicide on others.
This was definitely a surprising novel as I was expecting a bit of spookiness but I was given so much more, with a story I will reflect on and that will stay with me for a while.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Thanks to NetGalley and Sphere for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
I am a big wuss and hate scary books, yet I always manage to read Carly's books - including The Toll House and The Infirmary. That's not to say she doesn't write scary books she does, but the way she tells the story, the characters, and everything is just so well done that the fear is manageable because you're so lost in everyone's story.
I'm probably not meant to see it this way given the fact this is sort of a horror/ghosty type story and the house is part of that, but the idea of an isolated house on a cliff, overlooking the sea near a small village, oh it just sounds so wonderful. And maybe if I shut myself somewhere with no WiFi, I might actually get one of my 100 part-written novels finished.
It flits between the current period (2024 in this case), flashbacks to 2023, and then flashbacks from other past periods that I don't want to specify due to spoilers. I am a fan of multiple POVs and timelines so I thought this was a good way of telling the story. I thought it was interesting to see the 2024 scenes from the POV of Tom and the 2023 ones from the POV of Julia.
This one was more eerie than scary (and I don't mean that in a negative way at all). It's all about that quiet fear, the voices you hear, that moment you think you see something out the corner of your eye but then suddenly it's gone and you start questioning yourself. It's unsettling rather than in-your-face fear and for me, I actually think that can be more frightening.
We have our main couple - Tom and Julia. I wasn't sure what to make of them. Tom was clearly struggling with something but he's keen and I liked him. His wife Julia is a complex character - I won't spoil her history - and I think I liked her more than Tom. There was something mysterious about her that I wanted to draw out. Tom's characteristics are more obvious and loud, but hers are quieter and more intriguing.
Something happens around 85% of the way through - again, I'm not going to spoil it - that gave me a full 180 that I didn't see coming. Maybe I should have but it's so masterfully executed that it was a proper sit up and read it again kind of thing.
This will stay with me for a long time. It's definitely my favourite of her books. It's still frightening and unsettling but in a smarter, less in-your-face kind of way. I found it mysterious and tense, looking over my shoulder. The characters are so well written with such depth. The linking of the three time periods was a clever way of telling the story. It's so easy to read that I flew through it and couldn't put it down - I HAD to know how it ended. Definitely her best one yet.
I am a big wuss and hate scary books, yet I always manage to read Carly's books - including The Toll House and The Infirmary. That's not to say she doesn't write scary books she does, but the way she tells the story, the characters, and everything is just so well done that the fear is manageable because you're so lost in everyone's story.
I'm probably not meant to see it this way given the fact this is sort of a horror/ghosty type story and the house is part of that, but the idea of an isolated house on a cliff, overlooking the sea near a small village, oh it just sounds so wonderful. And maybe if I shut myself somewhere with no WiFi, I might actually get one of my 100 part-written novels finished.
It flits between the current period (2024 in this case), flashbacks to 2023, and then flashbacks from other past periods that I don't want to specify due to spoilers. I am a fan of multiple POVs and timelines so I thought this was a good way of telling the story. I thought it was interesting to see the 2024 scenes from the POV of Tom and the 2023 ones from the POV of Julia.
This one was more eerie than scary (and I don't mean that in a negative way at all). It's all about that quiet fear, the voices you hear, that moment you think you see something out the corner of your eye but then suddenly it's gone and you start questioning yourself. It's unsettling rather than in-your-face fear and for me, I actually think that can be more frightening.
We have our main couple - Tom and Julia. I wasn't sure what to make of them. Tom was clearly struggling with something but he's keen and I liked him. His wife Julia is a complex character - I won't spoil her history - and I think I liked her more than Tom. There was something mysterious about her that I wanted to draw out. Tom's characteristics are more obvious and loud, but hers are quieter and more intriguing.
Something happens around 85% of the way through - again, I'm not going to spoil it - that gave me a full 180 that I didn't see coming. Maybe I should have but it's so masterfully executed that it was a proper sit up and read it again kind of thing.
This will stay with me for a long time. It's definitely my favourite of her books. It's still frightening and unsettling but in a smarter, less in-your-face kind of way. I found it mysterious and tense, looking over my shoulder. The characters are so well written with such depth. The linking of the three time periods was a clever way of telling the story. It's so easy to read that I flew through it and couldn't put it down - I HAD to know how it ended. Definitely her best one yet.
October 29, 2026
This dark and atmospheric novel is set a remote coastal peninsula called Kestrel Point, in Dorset. A man, Tom, struggling to finish his PhD thesis, is offered the chance to stay in an isolated windswept house on the edge of a cliff where he can focus on his work. He takes his wife with him as she has some issues of her own and could do with a break, he thinks.
He often visits a cafe on the bracing beach and speaks to a couple of the scant locals. They describe this part of Dorset as a 'thin place', where the boundary between worlds is fragile and strange phenomena occur with regard to the past. The area is tied to the unexplained crash of a young Spitfire pilot decades earlier, which becomes part of the story’s supernatural thread. Tom becomes very interested in this case and weaves his research into his thesis.
The story is about the trauma of the married couple and the pilot who fought in the Second World War. The timelines include the present from Tom's perspective and a couple of years earlier from his wife's, as well as the the pilot in the war, which is written in the first person. All three characters worry about their families and relationships and they have experienced loss. There are marital secrets, betrayal, concealments and revelations, and emotional frailty. The structure highlights how memory and time overlap, illustrating how the past intrudes on the present in unexpected ways. The story shows how the characters attempt to cope with these issues.
The wonderful setting and the concept of the 'thin place' reinforces themes of liminality, unsettling fear, and the idea that the supernatural is a manifestation of unresolved human suffering. Night terrors, shadowy figures, and eerie sounds embody the characters’ internal conflicts and the house’s buried history. Tom’s desperation to salvage his PhD and sense of self adds a theme of identity under pressure, and his emotional struggles mirror the instability of the lodge itself, suggesting that personal crises can make people more vulnerable to external and supernatural forces.
This is an eerie and unnerving story, with a revealing, poignant twist in the conclusion. A sad tale about unresolved torment and anguish, perception and a house that symbolises all of it. A gothic and haunting tale.
He often visits a cafe on the bracing beach and speaks to a couple of the scant locals. They describe this part of Dorset as a 'thin place', where the boundary between worlds is fragile and strange phenomena occur with regard to the past. The area is tied to the unexplained crash of a young Spitfire pilot decades earlier, which becomes part of the story’s supernatural thread. Tom becomes very interested in this case and weaves his research into his thesis.
The story is about the trauma of the married couple and the pilot who fought in the Second World War. The timelines include the present from Tom's perspective and a couple of years earlier from his wife's, as well as the the pilot in the war, which is written in the first person. All three characters worry about their families and relationships and they have experienced loss. There are marital secrets, betrayal, concealments and revelations, and emotional frailty. The structure highlights how memory and time overlap, illustrating how the past intrudes on the present in unexpected ways. The story shows how the characters attempt to cope with these issues.
The wonderful setting and the concept of the 'thin place' reinforces themes of liminality, unsettling fear, and the idea that the supernatural is a manifestation of unresolved human suffering. Night terrors, shadowy figures, and eerie sounds embody the characters’ internal conflicts and the house’s buried history. Tom’s desperation to salvage his PhD and sense of self adds a theme of identity under pressure, and his emotional struggles mirror the instability of the lodge itself, suggesting that personal crises can make people more vulnerable to external and supernatural forces.
This is an eerie and unnerving story, with a revealing, poignant twist in the conclusion. A sad tale about unresolved torment and anguish, perception and a house that symbolises all of it. A gothic and haunting tale.
October 31, 2026
There are spooky elements to this, a timeslip almost but more than anything, this is a story about grief and guilt.
We move between Dorset in the present with Tom's PoV. And then the previous year, with Julia, Tom's wife. There are also some brief moments with Frank, in the 1940s.
I have to admit, there were moments when I really wondered why Julia's PoV was included. It's not a bad tale, but her descent into deceit and grief doesn't fit the spooky vibes that you get from the scenes at the cottage or the horror of War. It also isn't what I expected from the book and I could see almost everything in her PoV coming. It was predictable and painful, and really not what I wanted to read and the further along her storyline got, the more I struggled to stay invested. I didn't particularly like her by the end of it.
Tom's story was the stronger of the two, as well as being creepier. From melting people that weren't there, to night terrors, there was plenty going on in the echoes of that place to keep the pages turning.
I did suspect the twist before it was revealed but I have to admit, it was masterfully done.
And then the final chapter with Frank, the way in which time blends and the horrors converge, the echoes up and down the timeline, that was poetic, tragic and beautiful, all at once.
It's well written, and enjoyable enough but not nearly gothic horror for my liking, at least if I sit down to a spooky read on Halloween and end up with this instead.
As a delve into a man's mind, and the hints of a thin place, this is worth a read, but there are creeper books about.
~Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in return for an honest review~
We move between Dorset in the present with Tom's PoV. And then the previous year, with Julia, Tom's wife. There are also some brief moments with Frank, in the 1940s.
I have to admit, there were moments when I really wondered why Julia's PoV was included. It's not a bad tale, but her descent into deceit and grief doesn't fit the spooky vibes that you get from the scenes at the cottage or the horror of War. It also isn't what I expected from the book and I could see almost everything in her PoV coming. It was predictable and painful, and really not what I wanted to read and the further along her storyline got, the more I struggled to stay invested. I didn't particularly like her by the end of it.
Tom's story was the stronger of the two, as well as being creepier. From melting people that weren't there, to night terrors, there was plenty going on in the echoes of that place to keep the pages turning.
I did suspect the twist before it was revealed but I have to admit, it was masterfully done.
And then the final chapter with Frank, the way in which time blends and the horrors converge, the echoes up and down the timeline, that was poetic, tragic and beautiful, all at once.
It's well written, and enjoyable enough but not nearly gothic horror for my liking, at least if I sit down to a spooky read on Halloween and end up with this instead.
As a delve into a man's mind, and the hints of a thin place, this is worth a read, but there are creeper books about.
~Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in return for an honest review~
October 31, 2026
The Midnight Lodge is multiple-timeline drama/ghost story. Tom is struggling to finish his Ph.D. and heads to an isolated cabin on historic Kestral Point Promontory. The timelines are modern (2024), recent past (2023), and the POV/ timeline of a Spitfire pilot in 1940.
Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy this book. I disliked all of the characters, especially Tom, and I saw two of the major twists coming from miles away. I thought the chapters by Frank, the WW2 pilot, were kind of pointless. While it is a ghost story, it's more of a depressing reflection on how a marriage slowly and quietly decays.
Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy this book. I disliked all of the characters, especially Tom, and I saw two of the major twists coming from miles away. I thought the chapters by Frank, the WW2 pilot, were kind of pointless. While it is a ghost story, it's more of a depressing reflection on how a marriage slowly and quietly decays.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Tom is doing his PhD, struggling a bit, it is taking longer than expected. His wife, Julia is a therapist working with ex soldiers, she has to take time off work after one of her clients kills himself.
To try and save his work and Julia, Tom agrees to go away to a university property in Dorset, but the Lodge is a strange place, haunted.
I was gripped by this book with the different timelines telling their stories and the ending was totally not what I expected.
My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the arc
To try and save his work and Julia, Tom agrees to go away to a university property in Dorset, but the Lodge is a strange place, haunted.
I was gripped by this book with the different timelines telling their stories and the ending was totally not what I expected.
My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the arc
October 21, 2026
2.5-3 stars.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews