Julia Ash's Reviews > The Haunting of Ashburn House

THE HAUNTING OF ASHBURN HOUSE by Darcy Coates is a 4-star mix of brilliance and implausibility.

MY TEASE…

At 22 years old, Adrienne is one heartbeat from destitute. She has no money. No car. No cellphone. No surviving relatives. No longstanding friends. And sporadic freelance employment.

Her possessions are meager. Just three changes of clothing, a dying laptop, and her beloved tabby cat, Wolfgang.

Turns out, all is not hopeless. A deceased great aunt, whom Adrienne never knew existed, bequeaths Ashburn House to her: a dilapidated mansion sitting on top of a steep hill overlooking the tiny, rural town of Ipson.

After Adrienne moves in, she quickly learns that Ashburn House isn’t the refuge she had hoped for. Strange carvings on the furniture and walls hint that the mansion harbors a horrifying past. One that wasn’t put to rest with Great Aunt Edith’s passing.

Quite the opposite, in fact. Without the proper rituals, the past is reawakening. And Adrienne is now its quarry.

THOUGHTS…

Hauntingly Brilliant…

There is a scene in this book when Adrienne is being chased through the woods by a terrifying entity. I kid you not: I actually screamed out loud! My heart was racing along with the main character’s. I was running beside her, stumbling, fighting to survive, and completely immersed in the action as if I was the one being chased.

I’ve been known to scream at the movie theatre…lol. Yeah, I’m that person! But I can’t remember ever screaming out loud when reading a book! I think Darcy Coates deserves a lot of kudos for bringing me into the story like that. WOW!

Hauntingly Implausible…

If only this book hadn’t veered into unbelievable territory. Granted, my preferences aren’t just to be shocked and scared. I want/need a story to be credible within its context. (That might just be me.)

Let me give you an example of the implausibility that I found frustrating.

One of the former house rituals was to light a candle in the attic every Friday (I have no clue why this wasn’t required every night). Consequently, there are boxes and boxes of candles and matches in the attic. Turns out, the light from one lit wick can keep the evil entity at bay.

Adrienne becomes trapped in the house with one oil lamp, a flashlight with weak batteries, and a diminishing supply of firewood for the fireplace. Darkness is the entity’s friend. You get the picture.

I kept urging Adrienne (lol) to bring down all those candles from the attic to the first floor. To light those suckers and be safe at night! Duh, right?

Not to mention… (view spoiler)[if the entity can be kept at bay by a smidgen of light from one candle, why oh why can the entity survive the daylight on the roof? (The sun is nothing more than a round wick engulfed with burning flames!) That was a head-scratcher for me. (hide spoiler)]

Nevertheless, there were bright spots in this book, and I never considered putting it down. In fact, overall, I gave it 4 stars. My screaming in that near perfect scene had to significantly count!

QUICKFIRE RATINGS from 1 (ugh) to 5 (woo-hoo)…

Plot (the story): 4
Main character’s likability: 4
Development of supporting character(s): 3
Settings/Atmosphere: 5
Pacing (how fast did I turn the pages): 4
Believability (in the context of the story): 2.0 - 2.5
Satisfying ending: 4
Tension of the story: 4.5
Stirs the heart (romantic elements): N/A
Did I solve the mystery/guess the ending before the reveal? Yes, but I didn’t find that disappointing.

OVERALL:

THE HAUNTING OF ASHBURN HOUSE was a nicely paced read that included some brilliant moments, as well as some unbelievable ones.