The Haunting of Gillespie House

“You may rule the world by day, but the creatures of the night demand their privacy.”

The description of this book leads one to believe that “The Haunting of Gillespie House” is the sole story being told, when in fact it is not. The ARC I received had four short stories: The Haunting of Gillespie House, Bed and Breakfast, Crawlspace, and Lights Out.

The Haunting of Gillespie House is the longest. In that story a woman named Elle who accepts a month-long job housesitting job at the Gillespie House which is remote, hidden near the woods and an hour drive from town. She is excited about her job until she hears scratching at night, coupled with a creepy cemetery with all the deaths occurring between March 1884 and November 1884. As the scratching continues, she begins to see into the life of Genevieve Gillespie who lived in the home, and like her relatives, was tormented by Jonathan Gillespie, her father and cult leader. For someone who is frightened, she likes to explore the home at night with a candle to light the way – I would have had all the lights on in the house, but that is me. I would prefer to see what lurked in the dark. As she attempts to help Genevieve, we learn more about the house’s history and it does become a fight between good and evil.

In Bed and Breakfast, Rory runs a ghost research blog, and stays in creepy hotels often recommended to her by her followers. Her aim is dispelling the belief that ghosts exist, while most of her followers believe in them. Armed with her camera, she is prepared to film paranormal activity if in fact it does exist. The Inn is hard to find and the woman who checks her in is odd and tells her not to leave her room after bedtime. Hmm…why is that? Will Rory do as she is told? What do you think?

Crawlspace tells the story of a family who move into a home that was once an orphanage. Her mother introduces them to their neighbors and one neighbor remembers a child who went missing. The daughter discovers a crawlspace and hears noises at night. A tree perhaps, the wind, who knows? But curiosity gets the best of her and she decides to go exploring. Apparently, no one told her that curiosity killed the cat, lucky for her she is young girl…. or maybe she will not be so lucky……

In Lights Out takes place in a retail store that has creepy mannequins. Suddenly store clerks begin to go missing, did they forget to show up for their shifts? Are they sick? Did they quit without telling their supervisor? And what is up with the Mannequins? Have they moved? Could one have blinked?

I enjoyed this collection of short stories, but crawlspace was my least favorite. I enjoyed The Haunting of Gillespie House but found myself shaking my head at Elle and her bad judgement of searching the house at night with truly little light. I did enjoy the parts with Genevieve when we got a glimpse into the past. I also enjoyed Bed and Breakfast. I enjoyed the creepy vibe and setting of this book. Crawlspace failed to wow me for some reason. Lights Out was a nice way to end the book. I enjoyed that I-fell-like-I-am-being-watched feel of the story. Its creepy and felt like it would be a great Twilight Zone episode. When it all comes together, it was short story magic. Now, as a result of reading that book, you will not finding me standing too close to a mannequin.

This was an enjoyable book, and I was surprised to find it contained other short stories. This was also my first book by Darcy Coates, and I look forward to reading more of her books in the future.

I received a copy of this book from Candlebreak and Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.