S. A. Harris

Seahurst opens with a sinister prologue set in 1286 which gives an insight into what is in store for the reader. Then the modern day storyline begins in which Evie and her son leave Canada and Evie's controlling partner behind and head to the Suffolk coast to spend New Year with her half-brother Luke at Seahurst, the house their father built around ancient ruins. Bizarrely, there's no sign of Luke when they arrive and his absence soon sets the scene for more sinister happenings. Something ancient is out to get them!

Seahurst is an eerie and chilling story. There were quite a few times that I shuddered and I'm surprised I didn't have weird dreams whilst I was reading it. Evie and Alfie stay at the house and the fact that Luke is missing is not the only strange thing to happen to them there. The whole place gave me the creeps and the stormy weather outside added another layer of anticipation and tension.

I found this to be an extremely atmospheric and creepy read with an unfolding sense of mystery and apprehension throughout. SA Harris does an excellent job with her books (I can recommend Haverscroft also), conveying so well the sense of a place you really wouldn't want to visit. The plotting is tight and the writing is taut. I found this to be a book that required concentration as Harris sometimes feeds information into the story and then explains it later, but I was rewarded with an unsettling story that gripped me and a setting that felt as much a character as any of the others. Seahurst is an excellent gothic read.… (mais)

Kate and Mark Keeling, along with their two children, move to Haverscroft House in a small village in East Anglia to try to resolve their difficulties. However, as in most ghost stories of this type, things are definitely not as they seem, in fact things start ‘going bump in the night’.

This story has all the elements of an old fashioned tale of the supernatural - a creepy old house, doors which open on their own, a haunted room, a locked room in the attic, mysterious voices and a ghostly presence. Personally, I’m not sure I wouldn’t have run for the hills at the first sign of anything out of the ordinary! 👀👀

Whilst I liked the writing style (although I sometimes found it slightly disjointed) and the spooky atmosphere, I felt there were a few loopholes and gaps which weren’t explained fully enough. I don’t mind a little ambiguity in my reading matter, I’m quite happy to fill in the gaps myself, but this one had gaping canyons! Having said all that, I quite enjoyed it and loved some of the descriptions. The setting was easy to visualise and I could picture the house vividly in my mind’s eye. 👻👻. I read this book via Pigeonhole and looked forward to receiving each stave every day to find out what was going to happen next and how it was all going to end. It was a good premise but, ultimately, the lack of explanation and the inconclusive ending let it down somewhat for me.… (mais)

I sometimes find myself shying away from ghost stories, not because I'm scared of them but because I often find them just too implausible, but I'd heard so many good things about Haverscroft that I was very keen to give it a go. I thought it was a brilliant read, one that I thought was very well executed, and whilst I don't believe in ghosts, I found this story as plausible as any ghost story could be in my eyes.

Kate and her family have moved from London to live at Haverscroft House. Kate isn't that keen but Mark, her husband, and their twins, Tom and Sophie, like the place and Kate has been ill and so isn't strong enough to put up a fight. From the off something is amiss. Strange noises, odd smells, rooms that are locked one minute and not the next, and an all round sinister feeling makes Kate very ill at ease. The twins feel something too but Mark is away working all week and he thinks Kate is just overreacting.

I must admit that I also, at times, wondered if Kate was either overthinking things that could be explained somehow, or if maybe it was all in her mind, but at the same time I knew that this couldn't really be so. Not only do the twins also feel that something isn't right in the house but the cleaner, Mrs Cooper, does too, not to mention the previous owner, Mrs Havers herself, who summons Kate to see her in her care home. Incidentally, Mrs Havers was probably one of my favourite characters, a woman with secrets galore.

I found Haverscroft such an interesting story. That makes it sound like I couldn't think of a better word, but it really is so absorbing. I was fascinated by not only the house and all that was occurring there, but also the background that Kate was discovering and the people she was meeting from the village. One thing I struggled with slightly was the way that once or twice information was dropped into the story from nowhere and so I felt a little confused, but this is a very minor issue and one which soon resolved itself with further explanation.

I'm not usually scared by ghost stories and this was no exception, but I did find it chilling and the malevolence in the house quite disturbing. I also really enjoyed S.A. Harris's writing style and her way of weaving a story. I'm not sure who the main character is in this book, Kate or the house, but I most definitely wouldn't want to stay in that place. There's an underlying tension all the way through and I was just waiting to see how it would all turn out.

Haverscroft is a deliciously taut story of a woman on the edge, pushed even further by events in her new home. I enjoyed it very much. I'm pleased to note Harris is writing a second dark tale. Count me in!… (mais)

Haverscroft is a horror with a great atmospheric story that will truly hold you and spook you until the end.

From the start, it already gives me this dark vibes that I know would hunt me until the end of the book. The story will provide you with a chilly and scary tale of how Kate and her family stay at their newly bought house. But, there is another problem aside from the unknown that might exist in that house. This haunting experience of her will drive her to question her sanity. If it is true or it is just on her mind.

The author has written this novel wonderfully. She knows how to capture the audience’s attention with her storytelling and interesting plot. She also wrote a story that carries themes of family, relationship, love, loss, death, survival, darkness, sanity, and fear. As I read this book, I can visibly imagine the scene, which I really like because it shows how effective her writing is in telling a chilling and spine-tingling story like this.

The story is told from the perspective of Kate. As the main character, she is a loving mom to her twins, and she is also courageous to find and solve the mysteries that surround the house. She might not be a good narrator because of her unstable mental health, but her determination to keep her family safe from the unknown is inspiring.

I like how the mysteries were slowly exposed. The twists and turns are unexpected, and you won’t see it coming. This is a fast-paced novel even though it took me some time to finish this because of some personal matters. The development of the story and the characters are also great.

Overall, this novel was intensely terrifying and frightening from beginning to end. I recommend this book to all horror lovers.… (mais)