Craven Manor

An enjoyable novel with a creepy atmosphere and believable characters. Only critique is the implausibility of the historical timeline - the author is Australian and I get the overall impression that the story is supposed to be set there, yet the family’s and manor house’s history don’t sync with the fact that NSW only saw European immigrants arrive in 1788, and life was very much frontier-like for the next few decades. There was never any explanation as to how a grande British manor house and estate managed to arise during a time when (European) Australians just were struggling to get established.

Mentally lazy and slipshod. I believe an author ought to do her best, even when the work is a piece of fluff meant to while away a few hours with mindless escapism. Ms Coates apparently does not feel the same way. The work is filled with easily avoided anachronisms. Her main character’s behavior is unbelievable, even for a good-hearted simpleton. The writing is trite, hackneyed, and without direction. If you care about literature at all, even if it’s the just the horror genre, avoid this mess and go reread “Dracula.”

An enjoyable novel with a creepy atmosphere and believable characters. Only critique is the implausibility of the historical timeline - the author is Australian and I get the overall impression that the story is supposed to be set there, yet the family’s and manor house’s history don’t sync with the fact that NSW only saw European immigrants arrive in 1788, and life was very much frontier-like for the next few decades. There was never any explanation as to how a grande British manor house and estate managed to arise during a time when (European) Australians just were struggling to get established.

Mentally lazy and slipshod. I believe an author ought to do her best, even when the work is a piece of fluff meant to while away a few hours with mindless escapism. Ms Coates apparently does not feel the same way. The work is filled with easily avoided anachronisms. Her main character’s behavior is unbelievable, even for a good-hearted simpleton. The writing is trite, hackneyed, and without direction. If you care about literature at all, even if it’s the just the horror genre, avoid this mess and go reread “Dracula.”

This is the most original ghost story that I have read in a long while. It was fast paced and hard to put down. It was both terrifying and fantastic. If you are bored by most ghost stories you should try this one.

Darcy Coates keeps outdoing herself! I didn't think anything could be creepier than The Haunting of Ashburn House (my personal favorite before Craven Manor), but boy!! I couldn't put this down and Darcy has a way of writing that puts you straight into the story. She's not wordy, but her descriptions do the trick. Can't wait to get this on audio!

I must admit, I love a good haunted house story. Ever since I was a little girl, and I would rush home from school to watch "Dark Shadows," a horror story soap opera set in an old mansion in Maine, I've always had a weakness for that type of stuff, and Craven Manor was a fun, satisfying haunted mansion story.
The premise of the story, - young, single man, desperate for a job, takes a job as a groundskeeper at a crumbling, abandoned mansion hidden far away from anything in the English countryside.
There are a few holes in the story, like when Kyle was thrown from a third-floor window and Daniel helps take him to an emergency room. Daniel had cuts on his hands from the window, and God knows how he explained his cousin Kyle's life-threatening injuries to the people at the hospital. I had a hard time believing he wouldn't have been taken into custody and quizzed for quite a bit by the local police agency. And how is it even possible that he didn't bother to purchase a cell phone, even after getting those gold coins from Bran? He lives and works in a remote and abandoned mansion. No safety concerns that would make you want to have a cell phone at hand? Plus, you've been desperately trying to find a job, and people have no way of contacting you with job offers because you don't have a cell phone? Well, okay then. (Eyeroll.) I have an easier time believing in the ghosts and the undead people than believing that one about no cell phone.
And why-oh-why would he still have any sympathy whatsoever for that total jackass Kyle, even after every rotten thing that Kyle did to Daniel? But even with those questions issues and a few others, I still enjoyed it a lot, and I'd recommend it to others who enjoy this genre.

Several weeks ago the author sent an email out to the readers signed onto her website with a survey on what you would like to see her write about for a short story. Once the surveys were in she began writing this story, only the idea changed from a short to a full book, and thank goodness it did. It's a little outside the box for your normal ghost story, but 31 or 32 chapters is very believable. As I read I try to visualize the story in my head and find myself trying mentally to direct Daniel to do things as I see correct (which he doesn't). However, chapter 30 is beyond all reason to me, as it breaks from the chemistry of the previous story, but after the chapter it returns to the chemistry for the final two chapters. Darcy Coates has become one of my favorite authors and the anticipation of this book has been well worth the wait.

This book was just fantastic. I've read Darcy Coates work before and enjoyed it, but this is on a whole new level. Most of her books include the same basic ingredients, so I'm really not sure what the extra oomph to this one is. Perhaps it is the likability of the characters. In Daniel and the others, she has created characters that you genuinely can't help caring about. Daniel is such an incredibly sweet guy, and you feel so happy for him to finally find a home and family of sorts. Whether or not he will be able to keep his new friends keeps you holding your breath until the very last page. In Coates other stories, survival is generally the outcome you hope for. This is also the case in this book, but the aforementioned emotional investment in this set of characters adds so much to what is normally a rather formulaic genre.

The details in the book are wonderful, and you really get a picture in your mind of this mansion that time has alternately ravaged and abandoned. I will confess that about halfway through I became very frustrated with Daniel, as his choices were so transparently flawed. The 'too stupid to live' characterization is a trap that so many authors of this type of novel fall into, and I always bemoan the fact that they make it so hard to root for their main characters. In addition, the Kyle character is just so inherently untrustworthy and enraging that you are left a little angry with Daniel for his reluctance to stand up for himself. There is a thin line between naivete and stupidity, and so many authors seem to have a difficult time walking it. A little extra effort should have been made to add to the logic of Daniel's choices and perhaps some additional depth to Kyle, but in the end the whole picture outweighs these rather glaring negatives... even to the point that I am willing to give it 5 Stars, which I rarely do.

I also have to comment on the epilogue, which has a simple but rather unique and wonderful format. The slowly expanding end results revealed in these snippets give us a fuller and more satisfying picture of the future of Craven Manor and its occupants. One particularly nice touch was the cat. Nobody panic about spoilers - - I may or may not be referring to the one you expect. The final snippet seems to change tone and allude to a potentially more dreary future, and I'm not sure that was the wisest choice in this case. I'm sure that the author was trying to keep with the generally pessimistic tone of most horror novels, but in this case it felt tacked on and a little out of place.

Assuming that Ms Coates continues to craft such incredibly likeable characters she has gained a loyal reader. I am cautiously optimistic of this, as one of her main criticisms in the past has been a general tendency to write about rather unpleasant people. I hope that this book indicates a trend for the future, though, and I will definitely be adding her to my watchlist going forward. Thank you, Ms Coates, for a thoroughly enjoyable reading experience!

This was another awesome ghost story by author Darcy Coates and I have added it to my favorites shelf.

The mystery begins when Daniel receives a note under his door to become a groundskeeper of an old mansion called "Craven Manor". He is wary of who sent him the note and why they would want him to take care the mansion. But as mysterious as it sounds he sets off to find out if the note is for real or if someone is playing a trick on him.

But it is not a trick as when he arrives at the mansion, he finds there is an envelope inside with strange kind of money. He becomes more intrigued as he also has instructions not to enter certain rooms in the house and to never enter the tower.

The only living creature in the house is a cat which looks kind of poorly, so Daniel decides that he will take up the offer and do what he can around the mansion. He also moves into the groundskeeper's cottage so that he can keep an eye on the estate.

There are loads of twists and turns throughout the book along with plenty of ghostly mystery. Darcy Coates has done it again with pulling haunting stories out of her imagination and taking the reader into her ghostly world. Five stars for this one.

Daniel was a well manered young man. He had only one friend. He looked out for the well being of a elderly lady, Mrs. Kirshner, who lived in the apartment complex his Cousin lived in. He stopped by daily to chat and make sure she was doing fine. Even though Daniel may have had a small amount of money he had made in a day, he would always make sure she had food on her table and if he could he would put money in her hand. Mrs. Kirshner was like a Grandma to him and he loved her biscuits. Daniel knew hardships, for he had been homeless more than once and now he had not had a steady job for quiet sometime. His Cousin, Kyle had aloud him to share his apartment until he got back on his feet. It was a old shabby six story apartment building, in dire need of painting, wasn't in a nice neighborhood, had grafettie on almost every wall, occupied with shady attendants, but he was off the street and out of the elements. It seem like nothing was coming his way. It wasn't like he wasn't trying, for he had applications out for almost any place he past, but no one had called him yet. When he had been interviewed on the spot, he was at a disadvantage, because Daniel had no car, only a bike. Employers didn't accept a bike as a proper mode of transportation, especially the further from town he went looking for work. He would be told they needed people they could depend on to show up. They didn't think he would be able to meet the challenge. One evening as he returned home, he found a letter that had been pushed under the door of his cousin's apartment. Kyle hadn't returned home yet. Daniel noticed the letter had his name on it, so he opened it. Inside he found a letter with a offer as a Gardner at a place called Craven Manor and instructions on how to get there. Even though it was late in the evening he figured what did he have to lose? He followed the directions as stated in the letter and set out to find this place. Daniel found Craven Manor far off the main way far back in the woods. He had fought his way through the brush, trees and a worn away path to find it, but when he did, he was amazed at the condition. It was a old three dtory dilapidated house, looked like it was at least a 100 years old or more, surrounded by a old rusted out wrought iron fence, overgrown with weeds, trees, a wrap around porch, many windows that were either broken or missing and the front door was standing open. It looked like something out of a horror movie. Daniel carefully entered, calling out, hello!, into the creeping darkness with no response. The Manson appeared to have been vacant for years. He saw rotten furniture, decayed curtains covered in dust. Looking around the foyer, Daniel saw a envelope on the floor amongst the scattered leaves. On the paper was his name. He opened it and read specific instructions as to what was to be done at Craven Manor and two gold coins, advanced payment. The employer identified himself only as Bran. Daniel noticed darkness coming on, not wanting to be rude, or a thief, he placed the gold and letter back into the envelope and returned back to the apartment. When he arrived, to his supprise his cousin had given his room to another new tenant. He had removed all Daniel's belongings and moved into his room. His cousin told Daniel he could stay, but the paying roommate had the room and he would have to sleep on the couch. The next day Daniel went out job seeking again. He hated the way people looked and spoke to him, so after a couple of hours he returned to the apartment. He sat around for awhile thinking about the offer as a Gardner. He remembered how he had worked along side his Grandmother helping her in her flower garden as he grew up. She cherished it and Daniel working with her and had learned a lot. He thought how hard could it be to take care of a garden and grounds? Frustrated and not wanting to live like this, or be homeless again and on the streets, he left and returned back to the Manor. The closer he got to Craven Manor, the more fear returned to him. Even though frightened, he was determined to check it out. Maybe it was someone playing a joke on him, a insane person, someone that might kill him, or the possibility that it was a legitimate job offer. Just the same, Daniel was going back to the Manson to check it out. He couldn't stand the thought of staying at the apartment any longer now. Upon his arrival, Daniel decided to survey the grounds out of curiosity. He found a storage shed with gardening tools, a tomb and the Gardner's house. He checked it out and other than dusty, it appeared to have been vacant for quiet sometime also,but it wasn't that bad. The letter had said he could live their as long as her remained at Craven Manor, was the Gardner and performed his work. The letter had stated it would be restocked weekly and if he needed anything special, such as food, drink or tools to complete his work, just place a note on the fireplace mantle. He would have to deal with no electricity, but he had water, candles and a fireplace stocked with wood on the side. He thought to himself, this might not be that bad. What could go wrong? Again Daniel carefully entered the Manor calling out, hello!. Hearing no response, Daniel retrieved the envelope from the night before and walked outside. He had solved the problem of not living anymore with his Cousin, sleeping on a couch not being homeless and getting paid up front as well. He Decided to accept the job and went to work. Did Daniel in fact solve his problems or had he just walked into a hornets nest! Was he alone or were their other occupants, or were there more to Craven Manor than he thought? Either way, Daniel thought he would give it a try. Darcy Coates is noted for writing mostly excellent short stories, but she went all out with this story, for it was indeed a Novel well worth reading. I enjoyed every last part, from start to finish. In the end Daniel's friend, Mrs. Kirshner played an very important roll in Daniel's survival. Darcy Coates is one of my favorite authors and I enjoy reading her books. I have read several of her stories, but I must admit this is one of her best. I recommend this book highly for teens and above. Note: I was given this book free from Miss Coates in return for a honest review, which in my opinion I have done, with out spoiling any of the story.. I look forward to the next book by her.

I absolutely loved this book! The characters of Daniel, Bran and Annalise jump right off the page. This is one of those books that you can't put down but when you finish, you feel so sad. I'm so going to miss all of them! Finally, a protagonist a person can actually care about! Not anything like Mara from Blackwood House...thank goodness! I'm really hoping the author considers doing future sequels involving this trio. I was thinking while reading this book that both Bran and Annalise remind me of characters from Ray Bradbury's From the Dust Returned. This is one of my favorite Bradbury books! It's a book of short stories based on Charles Addams characters and I read it around Halloween every year. Well, I have to say I plan on purchasing Craven Manor and adding it to the Halloween must read collection. That's how good this is and it fits right in there with one of my favorite books. As a matter of fact, this has become one of my favorite books!

Gripping.. sorrow and hatred bound tightly together. It began again when a mysterious envelope appeared.200 years a dark secret unfolds. Kind & compassionate Daniel helping others less fortunate. Blindsided by Kyle his heartless & greedy cousin. Brother and sister from so long ago.. eternally bound to Craven Manor. Twisting of time unravels the beast.. Very good & intense adventure.. The emotions feel real and the horror lurks around every turned page. Keep a light on for you will not put the book down .

Daniel is a kindly boy who misses his grandmother and wishes for a better situation. He works odd jobs and lives with his cousin, whom, from the start, I had a dislike of.

He finds an envelope with his name on it under his door one evening. The letter says very little, but gives directions to a home set back in the woods. It also offers him a job as groundskeeper with lodgings on site. There are some stipulations that seem strange, but Daniel accepts and begins work.

Except everything isn't as it seems, rumors and his cousin's unwarranted appearance get in the way.

I definitely recommend this book. Darcy Coates is a fabulous writer who weaves tales brilliantly.

Darcy Coates is my favorite author and Craven Manor is the best of all.Taking the job as grounds keeper is only the start of a marvelous tale for our hero.A very strange and mysterious gentlemen lives there and you will love all the characters and the wonderful ending. 5 stars!

This is absolutely, bar none, the best ghost story *ever* ...... and Stephen King is my god. The ending was great and completely unexpected. I'm over sixty, been reading since I was three, so I think I'm a pretty good judge of "best *ever*".
Bravo, Darcy!

This book simply just had too many parts that made no sense, even for a fiction story. For example, how does a town loaded with bodies of people who died of a plague two hundred years ago and within apparently walking distance of a modern day city still exist and no one has ever thought about cleaning it up and burying the dead?

This starts out beautifully. The writing his gripping and it has a creepy Gothic feel. The ghost story turns into something else,a bit far-fetched, and that is where things fall apart for me. It was my first book by this author but since the writing style was so lovely, I will try another.

I usually read SciFi or horror, but a good haunting or ghost story is always a fun side track. This fit the bill perfectly.
As another unknown, to me, author, I find that Darcy Coates can build a suspenseful story with the best of them.
Found a little continuity issue part way through the story, but nothing to distract too much from this well written tale.
I'll be adding this author to my list of favorites.

KU Review