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Darcy Coates
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The Haunting of Blackwood House Kindle Edition

by Darcy Coates (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 4,909 ratings
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As the daughter of spiritualists, Mara's childhood was filled with séances and scam mediums. Now she's ready to start over with her fiancé, Neil, far away from the superstitions she's learned to loathe...but her past isn't willing to let her go so easily.

And neither is Blackwood House.

When Mara and Neil purchased the derelict property, they were warned that ever since the murder of its original owner, things have changed. Strange shadows stalk the halls. Doors creak open by themselves. Voices whisper in the night. And watchful eyes follow her every move. But Mara's convinced she can't possibly be in danger. She doesn't believe in ghost stories, and she didn't buy a haunted house―it's just not possible.

Because ghosts aren't real... are they?
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  1. Print length
    358 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publication date
    December 20, 2015
  5. File size
    3121 KB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
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  8. Enhanced typesetting
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Darcy Coates is the USA Today bestselling author of Hunted, The Haunting of Ashburn House, Craven Manor, and more than a dozen horror and suspense titles. She lives on the Central Coast of Australia with her family, cats, and a garden full of herbs and vegetables. Darcy loves forests, especially old-growth forests where the trees dwarf anyone who steps between them. Wherever she lives, she tries to have a mountain range close by.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B015MB10KA
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Black Owl Books (December 20, 2015)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ December 20, 2015
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 3121 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 358 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 4,909 ratings

About the author

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Darcy Coates

Darcy Coates

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Darcy Coates is the USA Today bestselling author of more than a dozen horror and suspense novels.

She lives in the Central Coast of Australia with her family, cat, and a collection of chickens. Her home is surrounded by rolling wilderness on all sides, and she wouldn't have it any other way.

You can hear about her next book by joining her newsletter: www.darcycoates.com/updates

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
4,909 global ratings
True ghost story, and very well written!
4 Stars
True ghost story, and very well written!
The Haunting of Blackwood House by Darcy Coats. I want to say start with saying I finished this around 11pm and proceeded to not sleep the entire night 😂. I dreamed of this book, it creeped me out in an entertaining way and obviously stuck with me.This book follows Mara, our protagonist, who is so steadfast in her belief ghosts and the paranormal aren't real that she almost loses her and her partner's life. This was a true ghost story. I thought for sure there would be a twist with a regular ol' person haunting the house. But in fact, it was ghosts. There are family ties, conflict, and - of course - the paranormal that y'all know I love. The cover caught my attention and the writing gave me the same vibes as D.M. Pulley, one of my favorite "safe" authors.Solid 4/5 rating. This was a true ghost story and I really appreciated that fact. Some paranormal stories play a gotcha game where its the old groundskeeper who wants the house for themself like an old ScoobyDoo episode. The chapters were short, which allowed me to easily get right back into the story after putting it down - kids equal distraction. The character development, haunting storyline (pun intended) and writing style made it a quick read for me. I'm going to throw this out there, too. I would have loved to hear more about the ghost's origin so a prequel novel would be highly anticipated. I so enjoyed the story told by Darcy Coats, I couldn't sleep that night!
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Top reviews from the United States

HEATHER
5.0 out of 5 stars Creepy Haunted House
Reviewed in the United States on February 29, 2024
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This was one my first Darcy Coates books. I have now read all of her books and she just gets better every time. I enjoyed reading Haunting of Blackwood House. The book will suck you in just as the house sucked in Mara. This definitely gives you creepy look over your shoulder vibes. I had such a good time reading this book and was hooked from the first page until the end. I can't recommend this book enough! Enjoy this creepy haunted house. Also this cover was amazing!
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Nightwriter
4.0 out of 5 stars Good read
Reviewed in the United States on February 21, 2024
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I enjoyed this book. It has a haunted house, mediums, and serial killers. What more can we ask for? Very good!
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome paranormal read
Reviewed in the United States on April 16, 2023
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I enjoyed once again a book from Darcy Coates. My sixth. I am 65 and for the longest time haven’t read anything that keeps my interest going but so far, Darcy Coates Coates writing has. Character and character building is great. I can picture the Words vividly in my mind - better than TV. Off to read more of her works. Glad I found her and thank you for keeping my aging brain active with reading desire. I read for enjoyment but her books can be a little creepy when reading them late at night. I close the book like covering my eyes from fright. So awesome.
3 people found this helpful
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Stephanie R. Kennerley
3.0 out of 5 stars An Average Haunted House Story
Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2021
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The One Sentence Summary: Mara, having been raised by spiritualists, knows for a fact there is no such thing as ghosts—until she moves into a haunted house.

The Details:
Mara spent her childhood surrounded by spiritualists and occultists, and learned intimately their ways of trickery, deceit, and self-delusion. She left as soon as she was old enough, and spent four years in a decrepit apartment, saving her money. When finally able to buy a place of her own, she has trouble finding something decent within her price range. Then the realtor mentions offhand an available property—not just an apartment, but a full house, with multiple bedrooms, on a sizable parcel of land. Of course, Mara wants to know what’s the catch. The realtor tells her the truth: it was briefly the home of a serial killer who murdered children on the premises before killing himself, and that the property has a reputation for being haunted. Since Mara knows for a fact that there is no such thing as ghosts, she decides to purchase the property.

The house is a bit of a fixer-upper; it has some damage, no electricity, and is filled with decaying furniture left by the previous owners. Luckily Mara’s boyfriend Neil is the handy type, and agrees to help her restore the house. But from the first night there—sleeping on the floor in a vacant bedroom—strange things begin to occur. Drafts that sound like children crying and make a rocking chair move, graffiti on the walls in red paint declaring “this is our house,” and a transient in the attic who paces at night. At least, these are the rationalizations that Mara tells herself. Everything has a rational explanation, and she’s determined to find one for everything she experiences. But Neil isn’t so sure. Although he tries to keep his worries from Mara, he finds the house unsettling, especially when a little research into the property reveals that there was more death there than the realtor let on. Despite its quirks, Mara loves Blackwood House and is determined to solve the mystery so she can live there in peace.

The Haunting of Blackwood House is a traditional haunted house story, written in the third person limited point of view, with the whole story being told from Mara’s perspective. The narration gives us access to Mara’s thoughts and memories, immersing us in her world and giving background to her unwillingness to believe the things that are happening in her house. The novel is set in an unspecified city, with the house located in a rural area on the outskirts, and is intentionally left vague to allow the readers to imagine the story taking place in their own locale. Mara doesn’t have her own car and relies on Neil for transportation, which introduces the element of isolation. Mara also lets her cell phone die almost immediately upon moving in, so she’s left without transportation and without a way to contact the outside world.

Author Darcy Coates creates in Mara a character who is rebelling against her upbringing, causing her to disdain all things spiritual, including religion. This creates the potential for a rift between Mara and her Christian boyfriend Neil. Neil is open-minded about the disturbances and the history of Blackwood House, but is utterly respectful of Mara’s strictly scientific perspective. The Haunting of Blackwood House is an exploration of the dangers of certainty of belief.

The Praiseworthy: Honestly, there is very little that sets The Haunting of Blackwood House apart from other haunted house stories. I enjoyed the story, which I found creative and engaging. I was entertained and I plan to read more of Darcy Coates’s novels, but there really wasn’t anything about the story or writing that would elevate it beyond others of a similar type.

The Shortcomings: The characters in The Haunting of Blackwood House strain credibility. Mara is zealous in her denial of anything supernatural, to the point of ignoring and rationalizing away even strong evidence of the paranormal. Few people in reality are that single-minded. Almost everyone has moments where they doubt their belief system, but Mara doesn’t. She remains one-hundred-percent sure she is right that there are no such things as ghosts until the weight of the evidence smacks her in the face. There is no evolution from skeptic to believer, only a sudden shift from one polar opposite to the other. Also, some of Mara’s actions are unrealistic. While living in the rundown house with no electricity, no transportation, and nothing within walking distance, she lets her phone die. She could have asked Neil to bring her a full power bank so that she could charge her phone, or just to keep on hand in case she had to make an emergency call. She could have asked Neil to take her phone home with him to charge. And even once they rig up a small generator at the house, she doesn’t bother to use it to charge her phone battery. Mara is a strong woman who doesn’t want to appear worried about being on her own at Blackwood House, but afraid or not, any rational real-life person would take these minimal steps to ensure they had a lifeline in case of emergency. These actions seem unbelievable and more likely were just a plot device to ensure that when the climax came Mara would be alone, isolated, and unable to call for help. As for Neil, he is close to perfect—he is sweet, strong, caring, patient, generous, and forgiving. Although there are certainly great people in the world, nobody is without flaws. Omitting from Neil’s character any sort of negative aspects leaves him very one-dimensional. Darcy Coates’s characters feel more like caricatures than like real people.

The Verdict: I would recommend The Haunting of Blackwood House to people who enjoy traditional haunted house stories and are looking for a quick and easy read.
4 people found this helpful
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Leslee Wilson
5.0 out of 5 stars Another good one!
Reviewed in the United States on March 31, 2024
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This book kept me on my toes! Darcy Coates is becoming a frequent flyer on my bookshelf. Would definitely reccomend!
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Keith Chartier
4.0 out of 5 stars Not the author's best, but a good haunted house tale.
Reviewed in the United States on January 9, 2016
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First, let me start by saying that Darcy Coates is an excellent author. Her writing is always crisp and refreshing, and at least two of her novels (The HAUNTING OF GILLESPIE HOUSE and DEAD LAKE) actually creeped me out, a very rare emotion for me regarding horror fiction (unless your name is Adam Nevill). And though THE HAUNTING OF BLACKWOOD MANOR contains her usual smooth, trademark writing style, BLACKWOOD MANOR ultimately fails to deliver on many levels for me.

First, I had an issue with the two main characters of Mara and Neil. With Mara, she was very annoying and unlikeable. Have you ever watched horror movies and screamed at the screen: "Hey! You idiot! Stay away from that door!" Well, with Mara, I was constantly scratching my head at her obvious refusal to open her eyes and see the reality of her situation. Now, I am fully aware that the author meant to write the character of Mara like this, a stubborn women set in her ways, and yes, she does change by the story's end, but who wants to read a story where you don't like the character? Not me. And then there's Neil. A very, very sweet guy, but that's all he is. He is one dimensional. Again, I understand why the author wrote him like this: to be the stability, the calm, the strength for Mara when she truly needs him. But he is a cardboard cutout at best. In fact, the character of Damien (near the end of the story) has more depth in his short appearance then Neil throughout the entire novel.

Secondly, I became tired of the story about three-quarters of the way through and almost gave it up. The same haunted house stuff happens over and over again: the same creaky, unseen noises, the same ghostly footsteps in the attic, the same empty rocking chair moving, the same snuggle-snuggle, kissy-kiss between Mara and Neil. Combine this with my dislike of the main character and the author almost lost me. The story, for me, became mundane and uninteresting. But then the ghost hunting couple arrives, and saves the book. By the final act, things finally crank up and lead to an (almost) satisfactory conclusion. You find out why the author wrote Mara and Neil like she did, and the story's mystery is wrapped up with a nice pretty bow. But...

...that (almost) satisfactory conclusion. In short, it had WAY too many similarities to THE HAUNTING OF GILLESPIE HOUSE conclusion for my taste. I won't get into detail about it here (for spoiler factor), but hopefully you will see what I mean, with the main protagonist battling the baddie.

In summary, though Darcy Coates delivers another well-written piece,THE HAUNTING OF BLACKWOOD MANOR is far inferior to her earlier works. It is a good supernatural, haunted house story, but not great one. And though for me it was a misstep for the author, I will no doubt continue supporting the author, anxiously awaiting her next story.

Note: I reread the review I originally posted and realized that I shouldn't judge a book based on the dislike of the character (s). For me to dislike a character so much, well, that shows the author's true talent in breathing life into her characters. And the personslities of Mara and Neil did transform a lot by the books end.
6 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Lisa coxon
5.0 out of 5 stars slow burn, but a very good book.
Reviewed in Canada on November 19, 2022
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The books description drew me in, the writing it’s very good. It’s a slow burn, but a very good book in my opinion.
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Anna
5.0 out of 5 stars Good
Reviewed in Sweden on December 12, 2023
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Liked it
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Daniela Diaz Medina
2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing for a paranormal story
Reviewed in Spain on December 12, 2023
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If you really like thrillers and paranormal stories you will found yourself to be very bored. However, If you are not regular to this genre in general (movies, series, books etc.) you might find it entertaining? I was on the verge of dnf it many times and I just finished it because I was 300 pages in already.
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SL
4.0 out of 5 stars Terrifying if reading alone. Brilliant!
Reviewed in India on February 23, 2021
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A good read for horror fans! A typical supernatural and horror storyline! The protagonist is a very interesting character - kind of with whom you will have love and hate relationship. Author did manage to built and rebuilt her character graph! I found that more interesting than the other events! But overall a good read! Im giving it four star because firstly, I loved the character, Mara, and her character graph with self acceptance in the end. Secondly, the author succeeds in creating a perfect eerie atmosphere of the house. I cut the one star because I felt it bit draggy and repetitive at times and also cliche, but hey! Cliches are somehow part of horror novels, can’t escape wholly from them!
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GRP
5.0 out of 5 stars The Haunting of Blackwood House
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 10, 2019
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This is the first book I've read by Darcy Coates, I thought, on the whole, it was very good, it has all the elements of a good haunted house story, it's a creepy, sinister, page-turner. An isolated old house, with a dark history, no electricity, no phone, no transport, our heroine lives there alone, in lots of darkness, all great elements for suspense. It's light on characters, but that worked for me, if I had to make a criticism, I did find it unbelievable given everything that happens at the house that it takes so long into the story for Mara to accept the house is haunted, even given her upbringing and background, for me at least, that let the story down. 4.5.
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