fv_angela 's review for:

Gallows Hill by Darcy Coates
4.0

Review originally posted at https://smexybooks.com/2022/09/angelas-minis-house-of-hunger-by-alexis-henderson-and-gallows-hill-by-darcy-coates.html

Before we get any further I want to let everyone know that this book scared the shit out of me. I’ve read A LOT of horror lately and I think this is one of the most atmospheric, edge-of-your-seat, don’t read at night books I’ve picked up in quite a while. It took me longer to finish because I was simply like “NOPE, not reading after dark, right before I go to bed.”. For real.

Gallows Hill introduces Margot Hull, who inherits Gallows Hill Winery after her parents die of heart attacks unexpectedly on the same night. Margot hasn’t been back to the area since she was a small child of eight and doesn’t remember anything about what used to be her home. There was no contact with her parents after they sent her away and she is only back for the answers to her questions about why they cut her out of their lives. But as soon as she arrives in the small town she knows something is off about how the residents act toward her, her parent’s death, and the land where the winery stands.

This book creeped me out. Almost from the moment Margot entered the house on Gallows Hill and slowly started discovering its secrets I had this intense feeling of dread. As with any haunted house/horror novel, there is a backstory of past traumas suffered on the land and in the house Margot has inherited and now she is caught up in its curse and can’t leave. The scenes at night are fraught with terror and suspense, the setting dark and sinister, and even the secondary characters tense in a way that spiked my anxiety. I was so happy to get to the end.

If you are a true fan of the horror genre this is one read you won’t want to miss.

CW- Death, ghosts, violence, scary ass haunted house