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april_does_feral_sometimes 's review for:
Craven Manor
by Darcy Coates
‘Craven Manor’ is a terrific ghost story! I know many will enjoy the spooky atmosphere of the haunted mansion where the main character, twenty-ish Daniel Kane, meets the peculiar, um, people, who change his life.
Daniel is broke. He lived on the streets for a short time after his grandmother died. Six months ago, his cousin Kyle offered him a room in his apartment if Daniel pays rent. It isn’t much - the neighborhood is poor and the six-story apartment building is a little more than ‘gently used’, but it is better than the street.
Kyle is obviously a douche bag, but Daniel is not very bright, in my opinion. In my reading of him, Daniel seems to me an innocent, someone who cannot imagine people do bad things unless they were forced to it. Plus, he loves cats and shares his lunch with the homeless. Kyle holds no respect for Daniel, but Daniel does not seem to know this. Kyle also is a petty criminal and a bully, but Daniel is unaware of this for a long time. Readers will certainly see it, though.
Daniel takes work wherever he can - cleaning bathroom floors, or any janitor work, if even for a day only. He is out every day asking local business owners if they need someone. Finally, a mysterious envelope with Daniel’s name on it is shoved under Kyle’s apartment door. It is a job offer!
Long story short, Daniel takes the job despite his misgivings. He might be a simple and honest person, gentle reader, but there are all kinds of weird stuff going on with this job! The wealthy owner, Bran, of a local mansion, Craven Manor, hires him to be a groundskeeper and gives him a cottage on the property to live in. But there is nothing normal about the Manor - the Manor's interior looks like no one has been there for two hundred years, yet it is full of antiques. The house is in the middle of a huge country estate with an overgrown forest all around it. Wild bushes, trees and undergrowth are all about the broken-down manor, covering all of the paths, gardens and outbuildings. Daniel never sees Bran - never has met him - is Bran living in the tower? - but he always sees a skinny ragged cat following him when he explores the dirty Manor or when he picks up his envelope of instructions or pay on a foyer mantelpiece. Daniel gets his work instructions only from handwritten notes. There is no electricity, but Daniel is too poor to own anything except the clothes on his back, so no problem there.
His first project is to clean up a crypt on the grounds. A crypt! A young girl is buried there - Annalise, perhaps a tragic death, since she died so young.
Bran’s rules:
No strangers are allowed onto the property.
Do not enter the tower.
Do not leave the groundskeeper’s cottage between midnight and dawn.
Draw your curtains.
Keep the door locked.
If you hear knocking, do not answer it.
Daniel is curious and more than a little spooked - the notes, the seemingly abandoned property, the dark forest - but he is overwhelmingly grateful for the little cottage!
Until one night:
"The happy glow lasted until shortly after midnight, when something started tapping at his door." pg. 52
Oh oh.
O _ O
Daniel eventually learns more about Annalise, Bran and the history of the Manor. It isn’t a nice story, gentle reader, but you probably figured that out. The novel is very atmospheric, with some brief graphic violence. The scary mystery builds slowly toward a frightening grande finale, and all the while poor Daniel doesn't know who the good guys are for a long time. Not knowing who to trust leads Daniel to a decision with terrible consequences....and not just for him!
🙁😮😫🥺👻
Daniel is broke. He lived on the streets for a short time after his grandmother died. Six months ago, his cousin Kyle offered him a room in his apartment if Daniel pays rent. It isn’t much - the neighborhood is poor and the six-story apartment building is a little more than ‘gently used’, but it is better than the street.
Kyle is obviously a douche bag, but Daniel is not very bright, in my opinion. In my reading of him, Daniel seems to me an innocent, someone who cannot imagine people do bad things unless they were forced to it. Plus, he loves cats and shares his lunch with the homeless. Kyle holds no respect for Daniel, but Daniel does not seem to know this. Kyle also is a petty criminal and a bully, but Daniel is unaware of this for a long time. Readers will certainly see it, though.
Daniel takes work wherever he can - cleaning bathroom floors, or any janitor work, if even for a day only. He is out every day asking local business owners if they need someone. Finally, a mysterious envelope with Daniel’s name on it is shoved under Kyle’s apartment door. It is a job offer!
Long story short, Daniel takes the job despite his misgivings. He might be a simple and honest person, gentle reader, but there are all kinds of weird stuff going on with this job! The wealthy owner, Bran, of a local mansion, Craven Manor, hires him to be a groundskeeper and gives him a cottage on the property to live in. But there is nothing normal about the Manor - the Manor's interior looks like no one has been there for two hundred years, yet it is full of antiques. The house is in the middle of a huge country estate with an overgrown forest all around it. Wild bushes, trees and undergrowth are all about the broken-down manor, covering all of the paths, gardens and outbuildings. Daniel never sees Bran - never has met him - is Bran living in the tower? - but he always sees a skinny ragged cat following him when he explores the dirty Manor or when he picks up his envelope of instructions or pay on a foyer mantelpiece. Daniel gets his work instructions only from handwritten notes. There is no electricity, but Daniel is too poor to own anything except the clothes on his back, so no problem there.
His first project is to clean up a crypt on the grounds. A crypt! A young girl is buried there - Annalise, perhaps a tragic death, since she died so young.
Bran’s rules:
No strangers are allowed onto the property.
Do not enter the tower.
Do not leave the groundskeeper’s cottage between midnight and dawn.
Draw your curtains.
Keep the door locked.
If you hear knocking, do not answer it.
Daniel is curious and more than a little spooked - the notes, the seemingly abandoned property, the dark forest - but he is overwhelmingly grateful for the little cottage!
Until one night:
"The happy glow lasted until shortly after midnight, when something started tapping at his door." pg. 52
Oh oh.
O _ O
Daniel eventually learns more about Annalise, Bran and the history of the Manor. It isn’t a nice story, gentle reader, but you probably figured that out. The novel is very atmospheric, with some brief graphic violence. The scary mystery builds slowly toward a frightening grande finale, and all the while poor Daniel doesn't know who the good guys are for a long time. Not knowing who to trust leads Daniel to a decision with terrible consequences....and not just for him!
🙁😮😫🥺👻