Ashes of August Manor

Gothic, creepy, unnerving, dark, and chilling! Blaine Daigle’s Ashes of August Manor with its eerie vibe slowly and silently sucked me and never let go! I was instantly engrossed in this book about a hospice worker who has been hired to care for a dying man in his manor home outside of Bell River, Oregon. This book delivers on the chills and thrills and kept me guessing. I was instantly intrigued by the fact that before she even arrives at his home she is warned by someone in town to go home. The dying man is a monster she is informed. When she decides to continue on to the home, she is strongly urged to never go into the woods!!!! I was all in for that! I mean seriously, what could be in the woods that has everyone in town avoiding them? Plus, are those ashes falling from the sky?

Noelle, who is no stranger to loss, grief, tragedy, and loneliness, has been hired by the Isabel August to care for her dying father. She along with her mute son, Ernest, live in the dark home with Isabel’s dying father. The home is grand yet relies on candles as there is no electricity. What? How do they cook, what about a refrigerator? If these questions pop up, just push them to the side and go with it as I did. Noelle is happy to get to work but Isabel always seems to have a reason that she needs to check on her father. Earnest, the mute child, is frightened and Noelle wants desperately to help him. Noelle can relate to his fear, his loneliness, his helplessness, and his isolation. It’s not long before strange things begin to happen. Noelle begins to hear and see things. Are they real? Is the house haunted? Plus, what is up with the ashes????Don’t even get me started on the ravens!

This book is oozing with atmosphere and unease. I loved the foreboding and sense of danger that ebbed and flowed just underneath the surface. Something isn’t right but what is it? Why is Isabel not letting her see the man she was hired to care for? Why is Earnest so frightened?

This is the 4th book which I have read by Blaine Daigle, and he continues to wow me with his wonderful writing, his well thought out plots, his characters, his settings, his vivid descriptions, and the chilling feel of his books. This book goes through a metamorphosis as it progresses. It goes from being a haunted house book to something else entirely. I had no idea where things were going to go in this book, but I happily read along as Daigle switched things up in a spooky strange manner.

This book read like an old-time horror movie/ horror book, and I loved every page of it. There is something nostalgic and creepy about the house, the atmosphere, and the characters. I felt as if this book was taking place in black and white and I mean that as a compliment. This book is spooky, chilling, dark, haunting, gothic and atmospheric.

Dark, gothic, wonderfully written, and hard to put down! I can’t wait to read what Blaine Daigle writes next!

Thank you to Wicked House Publishing and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.