The Haunting of Rookward House by Darcy CoatesMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Time taken to read - 3 days
Pages - 298
Publisher - Poisoned Pen Press
Source - Bought
Blurb from Goodreads
She's always watching...
When Guy finds the deeds to a house in his mother’s attic, it seems like an incredible stroke of luck. Sure, the building hasn’t been inhabited in forty years and vines strangle the age-stained walls, but Guy is convinced he can clean it up and sell it. He’d be crazy to turn down free money. Right?
The house is hours from any other habitation, and Guy can't get phone reception in the old building. He decides to camp there while he does repairs. Surely nothing too bad can happen in the space of a week.
But there’s a reason no one lives in Rookward House, and the dilapidated rooms aren’t as empty as they seem…
A deranged woman tormented a family in Rookward forty years before. Now her ghost clings to the building like rot. She’s bitter, obsessive, and jealous… and once Guy has moved into her house, she has no intention of ever letting him leave.
My Review
Ooooh who doesn't love a haunted house and a mad obsessive ghost! So Guy is our main character, he is a bit of a whiney whoa is me type of dude. Whilst sorting stuff at his mums he finds out they have a property that has been abandoned for years, he figures he will go, do the diy it likely needs and then punt it, solving all his money worries and issues. What Guy doesn't know and isn't prepared for is Amy, the ghost that haunts the house, the spirit that did some untold evil and madness, who is obsessive and won't be letting Guy go anywhere.
It really is creepy, things slowly start to get creepy and then pulls you right in as Guy finds out that actually maybe he isn't alone and things are about to get really dodgy and scary, dun dun dun. The book is mostly set in present day with Guy but we did flip back to 1965 and with Thomas, the object of Amy's obsession and who lived in the house, the last people to live in the house before it was left empty for decades til Guy came into it.
I would have loved more of the past and heard about Amy, how the before/obsession really got going (we do get some details of it to be fair) and the aftermath of what happened to Amy. It would be good if the author decided to give them their own story because I reckon it would be popular even though we get the jist of it in this one, I think it has enough weight to carry it's own book, less spirt though cos it would have been when Amy was a human and creepy stalker.
Guy has a lot of issues, not the same level as Amy to be fair but yeah he is carrying a lot around him which makes me wonder if he is more susceptible to the haunting because of that or if Amy would have claimed anyone who lived in Rookward House. Some of the book gave me 1408 vibes (Stephen King book, John Cussack movie) and another couple of movies/books, creepy house, scary ghost well actually maybe she is a poltergeist. Creepy, scary, building up tension, perfect for an October spooky themed read, I think this was my first time reading this author, it won't be my last, 4/5.
