I will admit, I felt the "connection" between the characters was forced somehow, and many of their conversations/actions just didn't feel . . . authentic. . . to me. Nechci tím říct, že bych měla tendence klepat se při čtení takových knih hrůzou, to skutečně ne. A když se nad tím zamyslím, dokonce bych řekla, že knihy, které na k tomu přivedly, bych za celý dosavadní život, dokázala dokonce spočítat na prstech jedné ruky. Mnohem důležitější však pro mě je, moct si hlavně vychutnat, onu tíživě hutnou atmosféru a napětí, které taková kniha s sebou přináší. V tomto směru je, Sídlo hrůzy, jednou z těch hodně dobrých ukázek, jak má takové dílo, vlastně vypadat.

In many ways this is an excellent book. The characters of Chloe & Sarah, and the house itself are developed well over the course of the story, and for the majority of the story, the pacing is exactly on point for this story's subject matter. Perron Manor located in Northern England has been around for centuries and ever since it has been built the manor has taken the lives of people that have lived in it. The manor has been other things besides just "a manor" but that doesn't make it all that less scary as when people move in or even stay the night, things happen that will make the people either run screaming into the night or they might just disappear altogether and may never be heard from again. I have to say I found Sarah’s POV OK, but as things got more heated. Ghosts started showing themselves more and more, but of course only to Chloe. Sarah changed into a caring sister into a big bitch. I am sorry, but that is the truth. She totally changed and I am still not sure if that is her being herself or if the house had some influence on it. I actually kind of hope the latter, because the third book is apparently fully Sarah… And after the shit she spewed over Chloe? I am not a fan. She totally went overboard on Sarah. She is your freaking sister, hello, a bit more care and compassion would have been nice. This book was one scary ride and author, Lee Mountford slowly builds up the haunting and spooky atmosphere all the way through the book then lowers the boom as things escalate in the manor to the point that I would stay up to the early morning hours reading it! The house itself is a major character. I wish Mountford had included some floor plans, as I’d have loved to see the layout. His descriptions are fantastic, but as a fan of stories that involve mansions like this, I often enjoy having a visual reminder.

Customer reviews

Why drop a star - the ending, but not the denouement - the denouement left me with more chills... however the ending left me cold - in the worst possible way I stopped caring about the characters because they started making completely bone-headed out-of-character decisions, and then there is Sarah, heavily foreshadowed as falling under the malign influence of the house, just isn't during the ending when I expected that foreshadowing to be revealed, and for no special reason I could see... geez this was anti-climatic. This book is a prelude to a book series that the author has coming out soon as this book sets up the rest of the series. I will be looking forward to reading the other books in this series to continue on with the hauntings of Perron Manor and what is in store for its next victims. Giving this book five This description (delivered by one of Ritter’s interviewees) is understated, yet extremely vivid. The fact it sounds like dialogue lends further potency to it. The detail I think is most unique here is actually the “no lips”. I can totally see those ape-like gums. But, in terms of scare factor, he saves the best until last: “No eyes” . It’s an iconic, almost archetypal image, that is made more powerful by what went before. We can’t help but picture Sam Neil in Event Horizon. Chilling. I listened to the audio book version of this story. Narrated by Hannibal Hills, the audio is just over 8 hours long. Hills does a great job of voice acting. I enjoyed his reading of the prequel, Inside: Perron Manor, and his performance was just as scary this time! As for the story, I enjoyed it from start to finish. The characters were a bit annoying at times and their decisions were total crap....but I don't think I would make great choices in a similar situation either!

These are all really good signs and why I'm happy to recommend this book to other readers, however I haven't given the book 5 stars, instead I have given it a worthy 4 stars. I’ve read a lot of Splatterpunk and Extreme Horror in my time. I’m certainly not against the spilling of guts. But I admire an author who can turn the camera away and give me a different kind of fear even more than one who can twist my insides in disgust. Lee Mountford has taken to heart the age-old lesson that what you don’t see is far scarier than what you do. He never oversteps the mark, which many horror authors do, where the plot then descends into parody, and even at the tense conclusion of the novella what is waiting for Ritter never quite steps into the light… Coupled with this intuitive sense of when not to show us something, or when to let the silence speak, is a concise descriptive power. Many of the “scares” in this book are classic horror fare: faces in windows, shadows at the end of the bed, and yet Mountford will often offer up just one subtle little detail that sets his image apart from the generic. For example,I am still very much in the mood for haunted houses and ghosts and so when I bumped into this book I just knew I had to try it out! It sounded positivity haunting! As the story continues we learn some bits and bobs, but just not enough to keep me satisfied. I am guessing this is so that Book 2 and 3 have some story, but I just wanted it now. I want to know what happened. That is why I rated this one a bit lower. The fun in haunted house books is for me not just the ghosts but also the research. The finding out what went wrong. The trying to understand it or just run away. One of the most common plot points or tropes for haunted house stories, especially those involving sprawling mansions, is the one where a family inherits it from a relative who has passed away. Typically the relative is one who has been a recluse or distanced themselves from the rest of the family over the years, so that not much, if anything, is known about them. Having no recollection of anything during that time, Chloe doesn't hesitate to urge her husband to move there, along with their young child, and co-heir sister. Inside: Perron Manor is the prequel novella to Lee Mountford’s six-book Haunted series. I’m not normally a fan of the classic horror ghost-story, unless I’m reading the Gothic masters, but Lee Mountford’s novella blew me away.

Chloe and Sarah go through a great transformative arc, both individually, as well as siblings and the added dependent (Emma), makes for some fantastically tense moments. Little do they know that the manor is known to be haunted as none of them believe in such things as ghosts and hauntings. Paranormal investigator, David Ritter shows up on their doorstep letting them know the manor is haunted and that he would like to know if they would let him do an investigation. They do not let him in the manor and they tell him to leave as they do not believe in those kind of things. What I didn’t like: I think the toughest thing going in for me personally, was that this is part of a series. Knowing that I didn’t expect to get all the answers, but I found I didn’t get ANY answers. We got hints and bits of what had happened and maybe why the things were occurring, but I think, personally, too much was left unanswered as a draw for readers to dive into book two. As an example (spoiler-free) a discovery is made. A book. Not once do we hear about any attempt at research being done on the book. We do get an antiquities dealer, who may or may not return to the fold in the future, but otherwise nothing. Chloe, was an interesting character and while I felt sad that she had to experience all the spookiness, it was interesting to see how that affected her. How it was first fear and disbelief, into fear and NOPE, trying to run away. I would have liked to see her remember things from the past though, even little glimpses would have been fine. Inside: Perron Manor is a prequel to Lee Mountford's book Haunted: Perron Manor. I absolutely love, love, love haunted house stories. I came across the Haunted series online and jumped right in. Glad I did!Why you should buy this: I enjoyed this read. I’d peg it at a middle of the road haunted house story for me. I wanted to know what was happening, but it took a bit to get the ball rolling and ultimately, the pay off at the end works but was more of a set up for the next release. Mountford does deliver some really eerie scenes, so rest assured you’ll be creeped out, but for me personally, I wanted more finality of certain things and a less open ending. We also get some characters brought in along the way that I felt we learned too much about with not enough pay off from them. Again, they may very well return down the road, but otherwise, it came off as a lot of space taken up for other characters, instead of moving the story along.