BOOK REVIEW: THE CARROW HAUNT by DARCY COATES

Not since Scott Thomas’s Kill Creek, have I had this much fun reading a haunted house novel. I could NOT put this book down! If you enjoy books like Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None or Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House, The Carrow Haunt might be your cup of tea.

A young woman named Remy is a tour guide for the notorious Carrow House, a haunted manor with a violent past by the sea. When she’s asked to be among seven other guests staying at the house to study its paranormal phenomena, she can’t resist a chance to see actual ghosts. But things take a turn for the worst when the guests start dropping off like flies and strange happenings occur as Carrow House awakens.

“...When a ghost is formed, it’s missing both the soul and the body that it needs to be a full human. It’s like an echo of what it once was.”

For starters, I will probably never get tired of the “Honored Guests” trope. Anytime a book has a plot where several strangers are invited to stay in an ominous haunted house, I’m all in. It creates a much more entertaining dialogue between characters. The fact that many of them had a specific expertise within paranormal science/ history, or even just an all encompassing love for all things spooky, had me fully engrossed in their conversations and interactions. When things started getting creepy I found myself squirming in my seat, gasping aloud, and saying things like “Nope. Don’t go in there! Don’t leave the group!” (Mind you, yelling at fictional characters is also how I watch my horror movies too).

My only complaint with this book would have to be that Coates’ writing seems to lose steam by the final chapters and the ending seams to wrap up a little TOO neatly. But it didn’t spoil my overall enjoyment for the story! It was lots of spooky haunted fun! If you’re new to Darcy Coates like I was, The Carrow Haunt is a good book to start with.

(4/5⭐)

               
                                                                         xo Nina