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The House of Footsteps
If you loved The Haunting of Hill House, welcome to Thistlecrook…
It’s 1923 and at Thistlecrook House, a forbidding home on the Scottish border, the roaring twenties seem not to have arrived. But Simon Christie has – a young man who can’t believe his luck when he gets a job cataloguing the infamous art collection of the Mordrake family. Yet from the moment he gets off the train at the deserted village station he can’t shift a headache and a sense that there’s more to the House and its gruesome selection of pictures.
Simon’s host is glad of his company, but he gets the feeling the house is not so welcoming. As his questions about the Mordrakes grow, he finds answers in surprising places. But someone is not pleased that old secrets are stirring.
As night falls each evening, and a growing sense of unease roils in the shifting shadows around him, Simon must decide what he can trust and ask if he can believe what he sees in the dusk or if his mind is poisoned by what has happened before in this place between lands, between light and dark.
It’s 1923 and at Thistlecrook House, a forbidding home on the Scottish border, the roaring twenties seem not to have arrived. But Simon Christie has – a young man who can’t believe his luck when he gets a job cataloguing the infamous art collection of the Mordrake family. Yet from the moment he gets off the train at the deserted village station he can’t shift a headache and a sense that there’s more to the House and its gruesome selection of pictures.
Simon’s host is glad of his company, but he gets the feeling the house is not so welcoming. As his questions about the Mordrakes grow, he finds answers in surprising places. But someone is not pleased that old secrets are stirring.
As night falls each evening, and a growing sense of unease roils in the shifting shadows around him, Simon must decide what he can trust and ask if he can believe what he sees in the dusk or if his mind is poisoned by what has happened before in this place between lands, between light and dark.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published February 3, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 223 reviews
February 5, 2022
I thoroughly enjoyed this one - completely atmospheric, really intriguing and just the right level of spooky. A great ghost story.
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June 19, 2023Gothic novel aiming at an MR James vibe. Great set up: MC is art valuer, goes to spooky isolated house, discovers all the art is of horrific medieval torture and also there's a scary butler, brooding master of the house, and mysterious woman in the library. Weirdness ensues.
Sadly it doesn't really live up to itself. Partly this is because the MC is far too passive. He doesn't confront the strange footsteps, he takes forever to ask questions, he stays static. I know the Gothic is very much about being trapped in a house, and the dream/halluciantion/shifting reality feelings he has are well done. But nevertheless, we needed forward motion, and every time it looks like he's going to discover something or do something, or even *have the entire plot explained to him* he pulls back and does nothing.
This is, in fairness, the effect the book is going for with the overall story, where the house is in a weird timeless place, but for me, tbh, it ended up feeling like a lot of pages of something being about to happen and then not.
Basically if you're going for MR James style terrifying allusiveness you need to be really good at it, otherwise it's just 'not explaining'. I would have been totally on for delving into the dark horrific experiments or evil sex games or any of the things this promised but didn't really deliver. Maybe I'm just melodramatic.
Moreover, and this is entirely on the publisher not the author, but the blurb compares it to The Haunting of Hill House, a book so purely terrifying that, having read it in my flat on my own, I literally had to go and stay the night with my mum, at the age of 25. Senator, you're no Haunting of Hill House.
Sadly it doesn't really live up to itself. Partly this is because the MC is far too passive. He doesn't confront the strange footsteps, he takes forever to ask questions, he stays static. I know the Gothic is very much about being trapped in a house, and the dream/halluciantion/shifting reality feelings he has are well done. But nevertheless, we needed forward motion, and every time it looks like he's going to discover something or do something, or even *have the entire plot explained to him* he pulls back and does nothing.
This is, in fairness, the effect the book is going for with the overall story, where the house is in a weird timeless place, but for me, tbh, it ended up feeling like a lot of pages of something being about to happen and then not.
Basically if you're going for MR James style terrifying allusiveness you need to be really good at it, otherwise it's just 'not explaining'. I would have been totally on for delving into the dark horrific experiments or evil sex games or any of the things this promised but didn't really deliver. Maybe I'm just melodramatic.
Moreover, and this is entirely on the publisher not the author, but the blurb compares it to The Haunting of Hill House, a book so purely terrifying that, having read it in my flat on my own, I literally had to go and stay the night with my mum, at the age of 25. Senator, you're no Haunting of Hill House.
December 18, 2022
When I first read this, a year ago, I liked it, but I didn’t anticipate how much it would stick with me. I find myself thinking of The House of Footsteps quite often, wishing I could find more books that capture the same mood and atmosphere. So much that I’ve ended up buying a physical copy, and while it’s not a winter book per se (much of the story takes place in summer) it was a no-brainer to reread it this December. It’s pacy and engaging and it all flows so smoothly; I’m still not a big fan of the ending, but I enjoy the rest so much it scarcely matters.
(Reread December 2022; review below written December 2021)
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Yes, I did say I wasn’t going to read any more of these (historical gothic novels by modern authors), and here I am again reading another. In my defence, I read it partly while travelling, and it happened to fit my needs: something absorbing enough to distract without demanding all my attention. The protagonist (a man, which makes a refreshing change for this kind of story) is a novice art valuer who travels to a remote manor house (of course) in the Scottish Borders, where he’s tasked with assessing the macabre collection of the reclusive Mordrake family. When he meets a woman there – a woman whose presence nobody else seems aware of, and who only ever appears in one room – the explanation seems obvious. After all, this is a ghost story... right?
I don’t think it’s too spoilery to say that the way it pans out reminded me of The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle – there’s nothing similar about the specifics of the plot, it’s more the way it made me feel. Loved the climax, hated the ending, but the story is much more inventive than I initially gave it credit for, and I admired West’s ability to conjure a setting and an atmosphere that have stayed with me.
I received an advance review copy of The House of Footsteps from the publisher through NetGalley.
TinyLetter | Linktree
(Reread December 2022; review below written December 2021)
---
Yes, I did say I wasn’t going to read any more of these (historical gothic novels by modern authors), and here I am again reading another. In my defence, I read it partly while travelling, and it happened to fit my needs: something absorbing enough to distract without demanding all my attention. The protagonist (a man, which makes a refreshing change for this kind of story) is a novice art valuer who travels to a remote manor house (of course) in the Scottish Borders, where he’s tasked with assessing the macabre collection of the reclusive Mordrake family. When he meets a woman there – a woman whose presence nobody else seems aware of, and who only ever appears in one room – the explanation seems obvious. After all, this is a ghost story... right?
I don’t think it’s too spoilery to say that the way it pans out reminded me of The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle – there’s nothing similar about the specifics of the plot, it’s more the way it made me feel. Loved the climax, hated the ending, but the story is much more inventive than I initially gave it credit for, and I admired West’s ability to conjure a setting and an atmosphere that have stayed with me.
I received an advance review copy of The House of Footsteps from the publisher through NetGalley.
TinyLetter | Linktree
July 27, 2022
4 ominous stars
Come for the gothic—stay for the atmosphere and classic ominous vibe. The House of Footsteps knows what it's about, and it does its job well.
Gothic overtones: ★★★★★
Writing: ★★★★★
Pacing: ★★
Creeping unease: ★★★★
Please read the official description for a summary of the who, where, and what of this story—this is a reaction review!
This slim volume is unassuming and easy to overlook. The description sounds like other blurbs for similar titles, the title itself sounds like other stories, and its cover artwork is intriguing without being arresting to the random passerby.
But for the right type of reader, this book is a hidden gem.
If you like atmosphere, get ready to choke on this one. If you like the gothic genre's method of the absolutely mundane inner monologue drifting into the macabre and the ominous, look no further. If you love isolated settings, unreliable characters, the feeling of the inevitable... this is perfect.
I thought The House of Footsteps was a rousing success for what it was—a gothic and heavily atmospheric micro-story from a historic, first-person POV lens. It's not pretending to be subversive, or high-action, or even overly horrific. It's about the tone and the journey. And it was a wonderful ride even with its occasional bouts of pacing issues.
I loved it, clearly. In the past few years, I've come to really appreciate the gothic niche and the new voices teasing out micro spaces within a well-established canon. The House of Footsteps sits happily on my shelf alongside The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters—arguably its closest companion—and Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and The Death of Jane Lawrence by Caitlin Starling, two other tonally similar reads.
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Come for the gothic—stay for the atmosphere and classic ominous vibe. The House of Footsteps knows what it's about, and it does its job well.
Gothic overtones: ★★★★★
Writing: ★★★★★
Pacing: ★★
Creeping unease: ★★★★
Please read the official description for a summary of the who, where, and what of this story—this is a reaction review!
This slim volume is unassuming and easy to overlook. The description sounds like other blurbs for similar titles, the title itself sounds like other stories, and its cover artwork is intriguing without being arresting to the random passerby.
But for the right type of reader, this book is a hidden gem.
If you like atmosphere, get ready to choke on this one. If you like the gothic genre's method of the absolutely mundane inner monologue drifting into the macabre and the ominous, look no further. If you love isolated settings, unreliable characters, the feeling of the inevitable... this is perfect.
I thought The House of Footsteps was a rousing success for what it was—a gothic and heavily atmospheric micro-story from a historic, first-person POV lens. It's not pretending to be subversive, or high-action, or even overly horrific. It's about the tone and the journey. And it was a wonderful ride even with its occasional bouts of pacing issues.
I loved it, clearly. In the past few years, I've come to really appreciate the gothic niche and the new voices teasing out micro spaces within a well-established canon. The House of Footsteps sits happily on my shelf alongside The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters—arguably its closest companion—and Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and The Death of Jane Lawrence by Caitlin Starling, two other tonally similar reads.
Blog | Instagram
June 20, 2022
It started out great, got slow in the middle, and became a mess near the end. Too many questions left unanswered. Places of mystery and characters not fully explored. Magic and time/space travel not fully explained.
September 22, 2022
Here is my retelling of the entire book with no spoilers, because there honestly isn't a lot to spoil.
Simon Christie arrives at in a small town during a time of great mourning before heading off to Thistlecrook House where he is very impressed by it's owner, Victor. Simon putters around examining paintings and being very delicate until he meets a young woman, Amy, who he is very much more impressed by than the Victor. There is much stumbling around and confusion which is followed with a moment of interest and excitement where we may finally be about to learn something! But Simon faints.
Things seem to meander on again for a long time where Simon makes discoveries which he seems to think are very intriguing and exciting although they aren't really, it's all very mild. A couple of things which seem as though they could be exciting happen but they usually end with Simon doing nothing or going back to sleep.
We are at the point where revelations are to be made now. Although it turns out most things were pretty obvious and it's all a bit mild. Simon realises he still knows nothing but surely something will happen soon. The story (and Simon) meander on.
Finally we're at the last (sort of) and exciting things are happening. We are finally going to discover some truth. But Simon as we know is a bit delicate and he blacks out so we don't get to see anything. BUT THEN the climax is upon us surely, things are indeed finally happening. Nobody will actually say anything about why they are happening to Simon, or to you dear reader, but things are indeed finally happening. Alas poor Simon blacks out and can't seem to remember exactly what happened afterwards and everything is back to being mundane again for some time until Simon just accepts things (we still don't know exactly what those things are of course) as they are.
I do realise that the book presents information which you are supposed to use with some foreknowledge to build your own understanding . I don't personally need things to be spoon fed to me, and feel I understand in essence what was going on. But to read a book where resolutions are just completely handwaved because any truth is supposed be just too difficult or mysterious for the protagonist to comprehend just feel lazy. It's as though the author feels that if he shows too much he couldn't feel clever about it, but it doesn't feel clever it feels frustrating.
Simon Christie arrives at in a small town during a time of great mourning before heading off to Thistlecrook House where he is very impressed by it's owner, Victor. Simon putters around examining paintings and being very delicate until he meets a young woman, Amy, who he is very much more impressed by than the Victor. There is much stumbling around and confusion which is followed with a moment of interest and excitement where we may finally be about to learn something! But Simon faints.
Things seem to meander on again for a long time where Simon makes discoveries which he seems to think are very intriguing and exciting although they aren't really, it's all very mild. A couple of things which seem as though they could be exciting happen but they usually end with Simon doing nothing or going back to sleep.
We are at the point where revelations are to be made now. Although it turns out most things were pretty obvious and it's all a bit mild. Simon realises he still knows nothing but surely something will happen soon. The story (and Simon) meander on.
Finally we're at the last (sort of) and exciting things are happening. We are finally going to discover some truth. But Simon as we know is a bit delicate and he blacks out so we don't get to see anything. BUT THEN the climax is upon us surely, things are indeed finally happening. Nobody will actually say anything about why they are happening to Simon, or to you dear reader, but things are indeed finally happening. Alas poor Simon blacks out and can't seem to remember exactly what happened afterwards and everything is back to being mundane again for some time until Simon just accepts things (we still don't know exactly what those things are of course) as they are.
I do realise that the book presents information which you are supposed to use with some foreknowledge to build your own understanding . I don't personally need things to be spoon fed to me, and feel I understand in essence what was going on. But to read a book where resolutions are just completely handwaved because any truth is supposed be just too difficult or mysterious for the protagonist to comprehend just feel lazy. It's as though the author feels that if he shows too much he couldn't feel clever about it, but it doesn't feel clever it feels frustrating.
January 15, 2022
This novel begins in 1923, when Simon Christie has just finished an art history degree at the University of Edinburgh. Casting around for a job, he finds work at an auction house and is asked to catalogue the art collection at Thistlecrook House. Thistlecrook House is owned by the Mordrake family, and their art collection is rumoured to have many treasures, so Simon is pleased to get the assignment, even if the house is deep in the countryside, on the border of England and Scotland.
Arriving at the rural station of Cobsfoot, Simon finds it is eerily deserted and soon, to ramp up the atmosphere, the funeral of a child weaves through the village. Indeed, this book does have a great setting and atmosphere. Locals full of tales of the Big House and those who live there, a creepy butler named Bannatyne, a beautiful young woman who appears at night in the library, footsteps walking, unseen, through the corridors, secrets and an art collection which seems to have savagery and brutality at its heart.
Although I enjoyed the unfolding story, I did feel that the novel lost its way and I felt somewhat like the unseen walker, traversing the corridors, opening doors and not quite glimpsing what lay beyond me. This was well written and atmospheric but lacked a sense of pace (I don’t mind the journey but it’s nice to feel you are going somewhere) and I found this something of a muddling read. Still, Mathew West has the ability to set a scene and descriptively this is a beautiful book. I received a copy of the book from the publisher, via NetGalley, to review. Rated 3.5.
Arriving at the rural station of Cobsfoot, Simon finds it is eerily deserted and soon, to ramp up the atmosphere, the funeral of a child weaves through the village. Indeed, this book does have a great setting and atmosphere. Locals full of tales of the Big House and those who live there, a creepy butler named Bannatyne, a beautiful young woman who appears at night in the library, footsteps walking, unseen, through the corridors, secrets and an art collection which seems to have savagery and brutality at its heart.
Although I enjoyed the unfolding story, I did feel that the novel lost its way and I felt somewhat like the unseen walker, traversing the corridors, opening doors and not quite glimpsing what lay beyond me. This was well written and atmospheric but lacked a sense of pace (I don’t mind the journey but it’s nice to feel you are going somewhere) and I found this something of a muddling read. Still, Mathew West has the ability to set a scene and descriptively this is a beautiful book. I received a copy of the book from the publisher, via NetGalley, to review. Rated 3.5.
March 1, 2023
What a strange and unnerving book. Even as I turned the last page I couldn’t quite understand it. That is my fault I am sure, and not the books’. But I really enjoyed the writing and the gradual sense of dread that became overwhelming once I got deep into the story. You can’t go wrong with a creepy old house with strange paintings, bizarre rumours of witchcraft and lots of abandoned and dusty rooms!
May 10, 2023
ODD……. Decidedly Odd…..
That’s the only way to describe this book which stumbles through a very vacuous plot that leads to nowhere special and, by the end page, you are just say there thinking “that was odd and completely meaningless”
A few hours of your life that you’ll never get back…..
The whole point of this book is……. That there IS no point!
A man goes to an old house to value some art which is gruesome, depicting beheadings and the like.
The owner of the house is a weird man of many moods and he has a rude butler.
There are footsteps at night and a pretty girl in the library.
The art valuer, Simon, gets drunk and has sex with the owner, Victor, yet he falls in love with the lonely, pretty ghost in the library.
Simon eventually kills the rude butler and the master, Victor, then gets cosy with Amy who is now the owner of Thistlecrook Mansion……..The End.
This is it. The story is THAT simple and very disappointing.
That’s the only way to describe this book which stumbles through a very vacuous plot that leads to nowhere special and, by the end page, you are just say there thinking “that was odd and completely meaningless”
A few hours of your life that you’ll never get back…..
The whole point of this book is……. That there IS no point!
A man goes to an old house to value some art which is gruesome, depicting beheadings and the like.
The owner of the house is a weird man of many moods and he has a rude butler.
There are footsteps at night and a pretty girl in the library.
The art valuer, Simon, gets drunk and has sex with the owner, Victor, yet he falls in love with the lonely, pretty ghost in the library.
Simon eventually kills the rude butler and the master, Victor, then gets cosy with Amy who is now the owner of Thistlecrook Mansion……..The End.
This is it. The story is THAT simple and very disappointing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 15, 2022
A weird, staid and somewhat gothic historical fiction with a sprinkling of the paranormal about it. While I didn't think the ending was as strong or as clear as I'd have liked, it's a good slow suspense story where not much happens but each mundane aspect of the narrating character's life is given a nervy edge.
While I enjoyed the book for the most part and could follow the plot, I wasn't so struck by the ending. It's one of those books that gives politician answers; technically it answers the question, but keeps things vague and skirts around the edges, leaving things for us to infer. I guess I wanted some hard and fast answers after all that sickeningly tense weirdness!
I liked the narration style, very much set in the slightly affected tone of the time period. Our narrator, Simon, isn't the easiest character to relate to, but being from his point of view means that we share his insights, even when he himself questions his reliability. Other characters are only as clear as his fevered imagination paints them.
Overall I don't regret reading it as it was an interesting gothic not-quite-but-almost horror tale that's good for a darkened evening, but I do wish there had been more to the ending.
While I enjoyed the book for the most part and could follow the plot, I wasn't so struck by the ending. It's one of those books that gives politician answers; technically it answers the question, but keeps things vague and skirts around the edges, leaving things for us to infer. I guess I wanted some hard and fast answers after all that sickeningly tense weirdness!
I liked the narration style, very much set in the slightly affected tone of the time period. Our narrator, Simon, isn't the easiest character to relate to, but being from his point of view means that we share his insights, even when he himself questions his reliability. Other characters are only as clear as his fevered imagination paints them.
Overall I don't regret reading it as it was an interesting gothic not-quite-but-almost horror tale that's good for a darkened evening, but I do wish there had been more to the ending.
February 24, 2022
Visit the locations in the novel
This novel has a good premise that immediately captured my attention. Were in 1923 for a start so all those historical vibes immediately got my interest going. A man called Simon Christie is studying at Edinburgh university is asked to catalogue the art collection at Thistlecrook House. A gothic, ramshackle kind of house tucked away in the countryside on the ScottishEngland Border.
The atmosphere drew me in from the start. The sky is black and the landscape remote coated with a keen sense of foreboding. There’s a rural station, the funeral of a child. Blimey, could this be any more gothic? The build up to our visit is good too with whispers from the villagers telling you what you fear to see.
Once inside, the story veers off into dark corridors and a pandora’s box of mysteries. There were some confusing moments and the ending was one of them for me, but overall, the novel is a great one for art lovers and fans of gothic fiction.
footsteps walking, unseen, through the corridors, secrets and an art collection which seems to have savagery and brutality at its heart. Extra points for the strange butler. Shadows of strangers floating past doors and walls. There’s a lot to love here and I was very chillingly pleased to have read a novel that made me feel spooked out afterwards.
Can you hear the footsteps?
August 22, 2022
Where the sun meets the moon, they dance a dangerous routine which culminates in giving shadows life….
The year is 1923 and the forbidding and grand Thistlecrook House stands surrounded by ancient woods on the Scottish Border, where it seems the decadent and flamboyant roaring twenties has failed to make itself known to such a remote location as the house sits alone, in shadow, biding it’s time. Waiting.
Simon Christie needs a job, and when he has the chance to catalogue the rather infamous art collection of the Mordrake family, he cannot quite believe his luck, for if this goes in his favour he will have an illustrious career ahead of him. That is, if he can survive not only the house itself, but the many occupants who all seem like ghosts of a time long past.
Upon his arrival to the house, Simon sets to work but realises the art collection isn’t the usual works he was expecting: depictions of slaughter most heinous, degradation which would turn any man’s head the other way, and savagery that taints your very soul just to look upon it. Why is this collection even in existence when there is nothing here but pain and suffering captured forever on canvas?
With each passing evening, a growing sense of dread starts to claw at Simon and when he befriends someone who appears to be trapped within these haunted walls he will do everything to set them free, but this will not be easy as the head of the household is in equal measures endearing and terrifying. But Simon cannot help but wonder about the history of the house and it’s very few remaining residents and starts to make conclusions of his own.
Even the night can’t hide some secrets.
With a creeping sense of classic gothic storytelling, the author will have you checking every shadow and reflection long after you have turned the final page.
The year is 1923 and the forbidding and grand Thistlecrook House stands surrounded by ancient woods on the Scottish Border, where it seems the decadent and flamboyant roaring twenties has failed to make itself known to such a remote location as the house sits alone, in shadow, biding it’s time. Waiting.
Simon Christie needs a job, and when he has the chance to catalogue the rather infamous art collection of the Mordrake family, he cannot quite believe his luck, for if this goes in his favour he will have an illustrious career ahead of him. That is, if he can survive not only the house itself, but the many occupants who all seem like ghosts of a time long past.
Upon his arrival to the house, Simon sets to work but realises the art collection isn’t the usual works he was expecting: depictions of slaughter most heinous, degradation which would turn any man’s head the other way, and savagery that taints your very soul just to look upon it. Why is this collection even in existence when there is nothing here but pain and suffering captured forever on canvas?
With each passing evening, a growing sense of dread starts to claw at Simon and when he befriends someone who appears to be trapped within these haunted walls he will do everything to set them free, but this will not be easy as the head of the household is in equal measures endearing and terrifying. But Simon cannot help but wonder about the history of the house and it’s very few remaining residents and starts to make conclusions of his own.
Even the night can’t hide some secrets.
With a creeping sense of classic gothic storytelling, the author will have you checking every shadow and reflection long after you have turned the final page.
May 30, 2022
I'm always in the mood for historical gothic horror so I was excited to dive into this. The setup is familiar - a man is tasked with a job at a secluded mansion owned by an enigmatic man with a dark past. Sure enough, the book starts out intriguingly with a memorable scene of an entire village attending a funeral. The meeting between the main character and his new boss is also wrought with tension and hints of the macabre.
But when the book leans into romance and the supernatural, it veers off track. While I appreciate the queer representation, I thought it could have been explored much more especially with regard to the societal and cultural expectations of those times. Most of the problems in this book are due to miscommunication and the main character's refusal to just ask questions or other characters keeping secrets for no reason. So it was frustrating to read. I thought the ending is predictable and made the main character look pathetic. Maybe that was the intention. In any case, I wish I had enjoyed this story more.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for a review copy.
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But when the book leans into romance and the supernatural, it veers off track. While I appreciate the queer representation, I thought it could have been explored much more especially with regard to the societal and cultural expectations of those times. Most of the problems in this book are due to miscommunication and the main character's refusal to just ask questions or other characters keeping secrets for no reason. So it was frustrating to read. I thought the ending is predictable and made the main character look pathetic. Maybe that was the intention. In any case, I wish I had enjoyed this story more.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for a review copy.
book blog | twitter | instagram
July 1, 2022
This is a hard one to rate. I had fun reading it but I'm not satisfied at all with the story.
February 28, 2022
2/5 stars
January 18, 2023
Started out well, newly graduated art historian goes to a spooky isolated house to appraise a legendary art collection for a reclusive gentleman. He arrives at the nearby village in time to find a child's funeral winding it's way through the streets, speaks to the locals who tell him how the house can't hold onto staff and there's a tragic death associated with it's recent past then he finally arrives at the house to find a taciturn butler and a welcoming host - so far a great set up for a proper gothic novel. There's footsteps in the night, the art collection is macabre and there's a mysterious young woman in the library who no one else seems to acknowledge.....but then it all sort of falls apart. It seems that our narrator starts to lose his mind a bit as he falls for the ghostly woman and tries to uncover the true character of the master of the house. But the book doesn't fully commit to any thread from about the midway point. It feels like we never really get much sense of what's going on with Mordrake. And then it just...stops and flips straight to 1931 at what seems like a crucial point. Instead of completing the story we've been following suddenly it's focused on our narrators successful career in the years after. He still thinks of Amy - the ghost of Thistlecrook who he fell in love with - but we still never really find out for certain who she was or what her story was. He killed two people but there's no legal repercussions - and that's never explained. Every question you have about the days after he escapes the house is just handwaved by him not remembering any of it. The ending itself where he returns and speaks to Amy is convoluted and confusing and I still don't really understand what kind of ghost or being she's supposed to be or what she wants from Simon. Or what was in the lake. Without any of that explanation the pages of Amy and Simon talking when he returns just seem a bit pointless. Why have the conversation if it's not going to add anything to the story?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 13, 2022
so this is my very first book review i’m doing and hopefully will continue to do a few throughout the year, House of the Footsteps was probably the worst book to start reading again because it’s not too good.
First the characters are extremely bland and not very interesting the most interesting character “Victor” the man who lives in the huge house that the book 90% takes place we hardly find out anything about his character. Even the main character of the book “Simon” we hardly no much about him other then the famous stereotypes of suspense/romance novels.
Secondly the storyline to this book... well there isn’t really a storyline because it just kind of ends in an abrupt way that you could see coming right when they introduce the “Amy” character. Every time you thought the story was gonna go somewhere it went to a completely different part like chunks of the story were left out. There were even storylines brought up in the book they just completely forget to bring back up that got me just annoyed.
Lastly, this was meant to be a suspense novel right? I didn’t find any of.this book to be scary, thrilling or even have much horror in it until maybe the third last chapter and it wasn’t even creepy more just like the author felt like this had to be in the book for some reason.
Overall not a really good book I don’t really have any positives things to say except i’m glad to get back into reading just sad this was the first book i’ve read in a long time.
First the characters are extremely bland and not very interesting the most interesting character “Victor” the man who lives in the huge house that the book 90% takes place we hardly find out anything about his character. Even the main character of the book “Simon” we hardly no much about him other then the famous stereotypes of suspense/romance novels.
Secondly the storyline to this book... well there isn’t really a storyline because it just kind of ends in an abrupt way that you could see coming right when they introduce the “Amy” character. Every time you thought the story was gonna go somewhere it went to a completely different part like chunks of the story were left out. There were even storylines brought up in the book they just completely forget to bring back up that got me just annoyed.
Lastly, this was meant to be a suspense novel right? I didn’t find any of.this book to be scary, thrilling or even have much horror in it until maybe the third last chapter and it wasn’t even creepy more just like the author felt like this had to be in the book for some reason.
Overall not a really good book I don’t really have any positives things to say except i’m glad to get back into reading just sad this was the first book i’ve read in a long time.
December 16, 2023
What this novel could have been and almost was until about page 170: disaffected young dandy grows bored of being vain and lazy, takes a job at a mysterious country house with a Dark Past TM which is owned by a Dark And Brooding master of the house who somehow hasn't aged a day in several hundred years, finds his deepest desires drawn to the surface by some kind of malevolent hedonistic spirit which dwells in the bones of the house, becomes increasingly incapable of resisting them, gets railed over the back of a velvet sofa by a sexy DILF vampire, then gets pegged in the library by a sexy young vampire woman, ultimately decides to give himself over fully to what the house wants from him - namely for him to do exactly what he wants whenever he wants it - and ends up getting simultaneously railed and pegged by both vampires, the end
What this book actually was: the house is made of witches??? Maybe??
What this book actually was: the house is made of witches??? Maybe??
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 24, 2022
Unfortunately for me this was the exact type of Gothic book i can't abide. Old fashioned, slow & with no real story. It didn't have an iota of creepiness or suspense either.
I managed to force myself halfway through, by that point the tedium had overcome any interest i might have had in the mystery.
If you like books written a hundred or more years ago, with virtually no suspense that creeps along at snails pace this might appeal to you.
Personally I'm glad i got it from the library and didn't waste any money
I managed to force myself halfway through, by that point the tedium had overcome any interest i might have had in the mystery.
If you like books written a hundred or more years ago, with virtually no suspense that creeps along at snails pace this might appeal to you.
Personally I'm glad i got it from the library and didn't waste any money
April 29, 2022
I loved it but precious, stupid Simon made a long list of incorrect choices
October 2, 2025
4.25/5
A delicious gothic slow burn that’s similar to Sarah Water’s The Little Stranger but less rambling and verbose. The story’s a haunting psychological thriller that feels nuanced and pleasingly ambiguous.
Matthew West’s The House of Footsteps combines some of my favorite things: art history, ghosts, witchy cults, mysterious murders, homoerotic longing, creeping dread, and chilling suspense. It kinda has all the ingredients for a satisfying supernatural story!
The cherry on top is the name of the ominous rambling mansion where the story takes place, Thistlecrook Manor. Is that great or what? Oh, and it’s nestled near a remote English lake that borders Scotland because, of course it is! That’s essentially a prerequisite for a superb haunted house story!
A delicious gothic slow burn that’s similar to Sarah Water’s The Little Stranger but less rambling and verbose. The story’s a haunting psychological thriller that feels nuanced and pleasingly ambiguous.
Matthew West’s The House of Footsteps combines some of my favorite things: art history, ghosts, witchy cults, mysterious murders, homoerotic longing, creeping dread, and chilling suspense. It kinda has all the ingredients for a satisfying supernatural story!
The cherry on top is the name of the ominous rambling mansion where the story takes place, Thistlecrook Manor. Is that great or what? Oh, and it’s nestled near a remote English lake that borders Scotland because, of course it is! That’s essentially a prerequisite for a superb haunted house story!
April 13, 2023
3⭐️
So much sweating, ick.
So much sweating, ick.
March 29, 2022
It's 'alright'. An easy read, if somewhat formulaic.
I read to the end to find out what was going on, and found myself not lingering much over the pages getting there. The ending when it happens is competent, but lacks immediacy or resonance somehow. Some good ideas here that aren't really made the most of. As another reviewer has noted, the art collection proves to be a bit of a dead end in itself. They are a vehicle to get the narrator to the house and keep him there- that's all. And I really wanted to find out more about the folly by the lakeside- why was it locked? Why is the butler so anxious to deny anyone entry? Obviously some 'bad stuff' happened there, but it remains unexplored.
And why doesn't the lord of the manor simply dismiss him? Evidently for perverse reasons of his own, but these are left hanging in the air. It would have been interesting if he too had a story to tell- some twisted and semi-tragic tale- but again, it's a lead that isn't followed up.
So yes, entertaining but it could have been more!
I read to the end to find out what was going on, and found myself not lingering much over the pages getting there. The ending when it happens is competent, but lacks immediacy or resonance somehow. Some good ideas here that aren't really made the most of. As another reviewer has noted, the art collection proves to be a bit of a dead end in itself. They are a vehicle to get the narrator to the house and keep him there- that's all. And I really wanted to find out more about the folly by the lakeside- why was it locked? Why is the butler so anxious to deny anyone entry? Obviously some 'bad stuff' happened there, but it remains unexplored.
And why doesn't the lord of the manor simply dismiss him? Evidently for perverse reasons of his own, but these are left hanging in the air. It would have been interesting if he too had a story to tell- some twisted and semi-tragic tale- but again, it's a lead that isn't followed up.
So yes, entertaining but it could have been more!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 15, 2022
An easy read, good little ghost story.
August 26, 2023
I thought this was going to be a haunted house story but it turned out to be more mysterious and interesting. It was the kind of supernatural with just enough explanation to feel like I knew what was happening without over-explaining and losing that sense of the unknowable. I was also pleasantly surprised by the main character being bisexual!
I was disappointed by the audiobook I listened to though. The narrator was great but short sections of the book were missing so that sometimes it would cut straight to the middle of a scene and I'd have to figure out what was going on. Not sure if that was some glitch on Libby or if the audiobook is just badly edited, but it was annoying.
I was disappointed by the audiobook I listened to though. The narrator was great but short sections of the book were missing so that sometimes it would cut straight to the middle of a scene and I'd have to figure out what was going on. Not sure if that was some glitch on Libby or if the audiobook is just badly edited, but it was annoying.
October 18, 2022
What a joy, to find a gothic story with a happy ending! Just a man and
Just a happy vibe.
And nobody got hurt.
Well, maybe someone got hurt, but nobody wecared about knew!
We get a glorious setting of the spooky old house with a mystery to unveil, that mystery being an art collection many would die to see (WINK.)
Would you be willing to give up your chance at normalcy in life to stand for your what you believe in? Fight an unspeakable horror for those you care about?
If that's the case and you don't mind a little insomnia, then this book is right up your gothic little alley.
Just a happy vibe.
And nobody got hurt.
Well, maybe someone got hurt, but nobody we
We get a glorious setting of the spooky old house with a mystery to unveil, that mystery being an art collection many would die to see (WINK.)
Would you be willing to give up your chance at normalcy in life to stand for your what you believe in? Fight an unspeakable horror for those you care about?
If that's the case and you don't mind a little insomnia, then this book is right up your gothic little alley.
July 9, 2022
{3.5 stars}
"It is not so remarkable. Go anywhere in the world and you will find the same sorts of stories. There is a single scarlet thread of brutality that runs through the history of every culture, every nation - through all of human experience."
---------------------------
Simon is an art appraiser just beginning his career in 1920s Edinburgh. He receives the opportunity to travel to an old manor home in the borderlands to investigate the collection of Victor Mordrake. When he arrives in the isolated town, it's a bit as if he's stepped back in history. The manor house is even more isolated and the art is a collection of graphically morbid scenes throughout history. Mordrake is a bit of an eccentric, emotionally volatile fellow and his staff is unusually standoffish. Enter a mysterious woman who is scintillating and wants to spend time with him without the rest of the household knowing. Simon slowly descends into a bit of madness unsettled by the creepy home and its inhabitants. When you learn just what is going on, you will be as surprised as Simon is.
I love gothic mysteries and this one brought the atmosphere for sure. But what didn't work for me was the pacing, there was a lot of quiet unsettling moments but I often felt that there wasn't anything moving the story forward. I liked the crux of what was happening but wanted more action and a quicker highway to get there and a little more in the end. The tone, atmosphere and pacing reminded me a lot of Schwab's Gallant but the content is definitely on the adult side of things.
It's a quick spooky read that would be perfect for Halloween reading.
"It is not so remarkable. Go anywhere in the world and you will find the same sorts of stories. There is a single scarlet thread of brutality that runs through the history of every culture, every nation - through all of human experience."
---------------------------
Simon is an art appraiser just beginning his career in 1920s Edinburgh. He receives the opportunity to travel to an old manor home in the borderlands to investigate the collection of Victor Mordrake. When he arrives in the isolated town, it's a bit as if he's stepped back in history. The manor house is even more isolated and the art is a collection of graphically morbid scenes throughout history. Mordrake is a bit of an eccentric, emotionally volatile fellow and his staff is unusually standoffish. Enter a mysterious woman who is scintillating and wants to spend time with him without the rest of the household knowing. Simon slowly descends into a bit of madness unsettled by the creepy home and its inhabitants. When you learn just what is going on, you will be as surprised as Simon is.
I love gothic mysteries and this one brought the atmosphere for sure. But what didn't work for me was the pacing, there was a lot of quiet unsettling moments but I often felt that there wasn't anything moving the story forward. I liked the crux of what was happening but wanted more action and a quicker highway to get there and a little more in the end. The tone, atmosphere and pacing reminded me a lot of Schwab's Gallant but the content is definitely on the adult side of things.
It's a quick spooky read that would be perfect for Halloween reading.
August 27, 2022
This is a gothic ghost story, and there's an enjoyable satisfaction in how well it fulfills some of the expected components: a village that steers clear of the mysterious manor house, a manor house with a dark past and sinister master, an ominous butler. Simon, the main character, is pretty slow on the uptake and has no common sense even for a horror protagonist, but I still liked him.
The atmosphere is great - I loved the setting of Thistlecrook House (and what a great name!). And the disorienting effect of every conversation Simon had with the villagers, where reality didn't seem to match up with what he was seeing, was very effective. Nice and spooky!
That said, I feel like the book didn't effectively use all the great components it set up. Victor was such an intriguing character who was ultimately wasted completely. Not nearly enough was revealed to really convey the horror of what was going on. For the ending - I'm not someone who usually wants a twist, but here it really could have benefited from a twist. I think there was a cat-and-mouse game going on around Simon, but his perspective was so limited and we never learned enough to really appreciate it.
Overall, an interesting book with an enjoyably spooky atmosphere, but the story itself doesn't quite hold up.
The atmosphere is great - I loved the setting of Thistlecrook House (and what a great name!). And the disorienting effect of every conversation Simon had with the villagers, where reality didn't seem to match up with what he was seeing, was very effective. Nice and spooky!
That said, I feel like the book didn't effectively use all the great components it set up. Victor was such an intriguing character who was ultimately wasted completely. Not nearly enough was revealed to really convey the horror of what was going on. For the ending - I'm not someone who usually wants a twist, but here it really could have benefited from a twist. I think there was a cat-and-mouse game going on around Simon, but his perspective was so limited and we never learned enough to really appreciate it.
Overall, an interesting book with an enjoyably spooky atmosphere, but the story itself doesn't quite hold up.
February 4, 2022
Simon Christie leaves more than his carefree student days behind him when he travels to Thistlecrook House to start his job cataloguing a highly unusual art collection.
Under the influence of love, obsession, madness, magic - or is it the Devil himself? - he seems to lose his sense of what is real and what is his imagination or something more sinister. Has the house and its strange lake really been the site of violence and tragedy?
Entranced by the mysterious young lady in the library and perturbed by his mercurial host, Simon sets out to find the truth.
A brilliantly unsettling book, full of atmosphere, which takes some unexpected turns. I would have liked more answers (can't say any more without spoilers), but the more open ending does fit the general feeling of the story.
Thanks to the author and Pigeonhole for the opportunity to read this book.
Under the influence of love, obsession, madness, magic - or is it the Devil himself? - he seems to lose his sense of what is real and what is his imagination or something more sinister. Has the house and its strange lake really been the site of violence and tragedy?
Entranced by the mysterious young lady in the library and perturbed by his mercurial host, Simon sets out to find the truth.
A brilliantly unsettling book, full of atmosphere, which takes some unexpected turns. I would have liked more answers (can't say any more without spoilers), but the more open ending does fit the general feeling of the story.
Thanks to the author and Pigeonhole for the opportunity to read this book.
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