This was a great ghost story. LGBTQIA themes. I loved the formatting of this book and it was written in a way that I was never confused. Would be great for teens learning about genre conventions.

The Haunting of William Thorn sees our protagonist, William Thorn, take up residence in a mysterious manor he inherited from his late (cheating) partner. It's got all the right gothic tale elements: while at Hanbury, William nurses his pain, discovers a historical journal about a doomed loved story, and meets the handsome Edward, a gardener with family ties to the manor. I discovered my mother's Victoria Holt novels as a tween, and so I'm a bit of sucker for gothic novels.

There's certainly an evocative atmosphere that Alderson conjures up and I like the frame narrative and interplay between the past and present. Two things kept this from being a higher-rated read: 1) I found William and Edward's connection a bit flat and 2) there are also a number of grammar errors and typos, to the point where I found myself pulled out of the narrative at multiple points.

3.5 stars

Add me to the list😭

It was so good, I cried 3x I had to take a break at one point to stare at a blank wall with my jaw to the floor & gather my thoughts before finishing it

I really thought I could guess what was going to happen. Like everything I predicted was almost right, but adjacent. You think you know what’s going on and then BAM you’re wrong. Not in a confusing way. It definitely kept me engaged 100% of the time

I love when books read like a movie, I can see it all happening🖤

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Thank you to Angry Robot Books for this advanced copy and granting my wish. I absolutely flew through this book, it had me hooked from the beginning. The suspense and horror was super spooky to read in the evenings and the plot was suspenseful enough to keep me guessing whilst still moving at a pretty fast pace to keep me interested. Even though I had kind of guessed the twist the details around it still had me surprised and I really warmed to both of the dysfunctional main characters. I'm so excited to read more by this author.

4,5 thinking about rounding up.

After losing his fiancé William is grieving. He decides to spend time in the house that was left for him in the Will. The house is old and run down, its history unclear. No one has lived there for at least a decade. He doesn’t know why but neither the house or the people in the neighboring town seem to want him there. All but a man visiting, claiming he is a gardener. A thunderstorm keeps them both stuck in the house and the mysteries start to unravel.

This story absolutely broke my heart. It blends the story of the people who used to live there with Willams life, and in ways they intertwine. Sometimes it gives you hope, and then you will find your heart crushed again. It’s a mix of horror story, mystery and love story. Filled with drama, passion and heartbreaking fates. The twists and turns in the end of the book created more questions and I don’t think all were answered, that’s like the only thing that I got hung up on. I realise that my description makes it sound more of a drama, but a warning, it is also creepy as hell. This is without a doubt Ben Aldersons best book so far.

3.5 stars rounded up.

I've read some fantasy books by Ben Alderson before and I enjoyed them, so I was intrigued in what he would do with horror. The story follows William, who inherits a haunted house from his deceased fiancé. He doesn't believe in ghosts, but when he arrives at Hanbury manor the hauntings begin. The story follows William, and Edward over the course of a week inside the manor.

I really enjoyed this book, as far is horror goes it's not particularly scary in my opinion but I did feel the tension throughout the book. While reading you start to piece together what has happend in the manor, so the "clue" about what happened to the previous inhabitants didn't come too much as a surprise to me. I do think in the final chapters there was so much going on. When looking at the storylines of Robert and Teddy and the Archie storyline. In my opinion the Archie storyline and the "clue" of that was the weakest and didn't add that much to the book I think.

I do love an author who does not shy away from a classic happy ending. So overall I really enjoyed this book, I think more than the previous fantasy books I've read from this author.

Thank you to Netgally and the author for providing me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This has been... interesting. Although I don´t think this book is for everyone.

Perhaps it´s a me thing, because I wasn´t expecting a YA novel (it really needs the tag, just because characters are in their 20s, the narration reas very juvenile). The fact this is more YA than anything else shouldn´t be a problem if you enjoy the genre. In my case, I tend to avoid it, so take my review with a grain of salt.

This story is about William, who inherits a house in the Costwolds and that, surprise, it´s haunted! Not only that, but there´s Edward, a mysterious man who apparently lives over there (not sure where exactly). AND, a diary of a man who lived in this house and died there, after... Well, there will be flashbacks of a gay love story -more pining than anything- in regards to this.

Now, though. My problem with this story is that is full of clichés. You got:

- A mysterious attic
- People related to the dead ones/ghosts
- Tragic past
- Tragic Deaths
- A diary with some of the ghost´s story
- Nightmares related to the haunting
- A character who doesn´t believe in the paranormal
- Villagers who don´t accept the MC moved to this haunted house
- Mysterious aparitions and random noises
- A ouija board (and yes, it will be used)

My point is... This was like watching a classic haunted house Hollywood movie, but a bit more gay.
I enjoyed the narration (although I have to confess I found some repetitions and I think I could have done without some of the banter related to Now I believe in ghosts/Now I don´t believe), but it was good nevertheless.
What I didn´t like that much was the plot: It was very predictable and all characters behaved as if they were 15 years old. There is a nice twist near the ending, but that´s it. The villain also seemed cartoonish to me.

Would I recommend this book? Yes, but only if you truly enjoy YA and don´t mind seeing over and over again the same haunted house clichés.

This is a hard book for me to rate. While I think the book is a 5 star in terms of writing and story, I don't personally like sad stories at all so for me and my personally preferences this is a 2 or 3 star, however giving this lower than 4 stars seems like an injustice. So, if you want a book that will have you crying but it is one of the beautifully written stories you'll read this year, this is for you. However, if you want a happy story this may not be for you.

I am not sure I am ready to talk about this yet. I finished this book at 2am and could not stop weeping.
This story will haunt my very soul for years to come.

The Haunting of William Thorn is a ghost story. A ghost story set in a Haunted house in the picturesque cotswolds. It follows William a young author who has inherited a manor house from his deceased partner, and Edward who is drawn to the house in search of answers over the death of his great uncle. But there are more than just ghosts in this house, secrets, lies and guilt are at the very foundations.

I absolutely adored both William and Edward, the way Alderson manages to weave such human emotions and depth is a skill so many authors today lack. The unknown shared guilt and trauma that brings these two together is masterful. I constantly thought I knew what was going to happen but every time I was completely wrong. There were so many twists and turns that I didn't see the last one coming until I was so invested I allowed the story to break me.
This is not a happy story, but it is a beautiful one.

5 absolutely beautiful, devastating stars for this one. No further words needed, just trust me… read this one, give it your full attention even thru the slow parts - don’t give up, feel every emotion. It will leave your heart shattered on the floor but in the best possible way. 🖤

Thank you so much for the ebook in exchange for a review. I am so thankful. Will absolutely be ordering a copy upon release.

I was highly anticipating this release, but I really struggled with the writing - there were quite a few grammatical/typographical errors that I caught, even early on into the book (one of them, as I can recall, was the usage of "society's" instead of "societies" for the pluralization of society). That aside, I loved the story itself. It delivered on exactly what it promised to, and I found the comps to be fairly accurate. But unfortunately, those errors did take me out of the storytelling.

Omg this book was fabulous! I loved all the characters. The way the storey was interwoven between each character was fantastic. The amount of plot twists and reveals had me on the edge of my seat!

Also the ending 😭😭 just tears.

This was my first intro to Ben but I will defo be reading more!

Thanks to NetGalley, the publishers and Ben Alderson for allowing me to review this book.
4.25⭐️

I DNF this book at 40%. There were a lot of grammatical errors that pulled me out of the story. I really liked the concept, but this definitely needs to undergo additional editing.

This book surprised me in the most beautiful way possible. It's everything you could wish from a book. It's heartbreaking, romantic, spooky and mysterious and it has soo many plot twists. If there's one thing I would change about this book is the ending, but at the same time, it made perfect sense to have such a beautiful and heartbreaking ending. I. LOVED. EVERY. SECOND. OF. THIS. BOOK. 100% one of the best reads of 2025 and the perfect read for pride month.

4.5 rounded 5

This book has been on my most anticipated read list since I've seen Ben Alderson promote it on social media. I'm thrilled to have received an early copy. This is one of those books where I KNOW I will need to reread it again because I might uncover new mysteries I didn't pick up on the first read.

It's a very good book. The pacing is intriguing, a mix of present and journal entries from one of the characters from 1939. This is very well done, and until the end, there is 100% no way you can solve it. This is a story of love, redemption, and forgiveness.

Pick it up if you like:
- Ghost stories
- Romance (MM close door)
- Mysteries
- Loads of tears
- and ending that will make you question your existence

An interesting haunting story, playing with a spooky-ish atmosphere, romance (not genre romance but romantic plot line) and history. The book has great gothic elements (roting manor, isolation, grief, tragic past etc.) and does quite a good job shaping the reader's attention. It works well to set some revelations throughout the book, without making us feel like it sprung out of nowhere.

I have to say that beside the atmosphere, I didn't really get the sense of tension coming from the story and the situation the characters are in. Or even their grief. Anger does get through, but for some reason emotions are quite tamed. Even the romantic element is a little dull? Not that it impeded my enjoyment, since it is not the focus of the book (it's a book about love and grief, ultimately). I would have liked a bit more sense of depth from the characters. Their taste, their ties (like family and friends, even if they can't be on page). In the end, they seemed quite alone in the world in a way that didn't heightened the tension, but just felt like there wasn't any thought about other people (besides de deceased partner).

Overall, the plot work and goes in an interesting direction. Classic, in a way, but also nice and tragic. I can't say I was revited, but it was entertaining and worked close to what it wanted to do, I think.

This was good. It had the potential to be great, but the writing is inconsistent. Sometimes I find myself loving the writing style, while other times it feels distinctly amateur. I feel that it definitely needs another edit or two, to deal with spellings as well as words used inappropriately. The characters are rather two dimensional, which is a shame as there were some really good building blocks here

Thank you NetGalley and Angry Robot for gifting me this eARC!
~
I am writing this review with tears rolling down my cheeks. This book HURT. I did NOT foresee the PAIN that I would be slapped with. I am, I think, HAUNTED by that ending.
~
Okay, so, I’ll start with the horror. I personally do not get scared reading horror, but the imagery was done really well. I could SEE every scene so VIVIDLY. The pacing and plot structure was great. I was never bored, and I had fun trying to solve the mysteries surrounding the manor. The twists ??? Every time I thought I understood what was going on or could guess what the revelation would be, I was completely SURPRISED. I had so much fun being misled. I will say there are *some* plot holes, but that’s me nitpicking.
~
As for the romance, I think I expected MORE. The little snippets we get of Robert and Teddy from the 1920s did well at establishing a really heart wrenching, passionate romance, but I definitely would have liked to see William and Edward’s relationship more. While there were several moments that tugged at my heartstrings, I felt like there was something missing. I just didn’t find their connection 100% believable with what little time they spent together.
~
Overall, though, I would definitely recommend this book if you’re looking for your next horror romance!
~
Releases September 9, 2025!

This book was so deeply sad but I really loved it. William had so much rage about his situation and my heart really broke for him once everything was revealed.

Spook wise this is a four out of five
👻👻👻👻 this book was creepy right from the start but the picture frame part had me fully cringing! It has very heavy gothic horror feels which I really loved.

I can't say much more about the plot because I feel like it's best to go into this one knowing very little about it but I will say if you enjoyed The haunting of hill house series then you will definitely like this because it has similar vibes.

It's a really beautiful story about loss and about how some love never really dies. If you like MM love stories then this one is definitely worth checking out!

Rating: 3.75/5 stars.

Overall, I enjoyed my time with this story. The eery vibes in the first half were so fun. That took a bit more of a backseat at the plot changed direction, which was a bit of a bummer. But it was still well done while it lasted. I found the haunting scenes to be vivid enough to picture, like seeing it in movie format, which I loved.

For the plot itself, I would say it was engaging throughout the story. It did start to progress in a way that had me losing a bit of interest. But I think that's more a personal desire thing. I was in this for eery vibes, a spooky haunting, and a sweet, encompassing love story. But that's not quite what I got.

Speaking of the romance, I don't think I'd go into this one in the mood for a romance. Neither of them were fully fleshed out. They weren't bad! They just left you wanting more.

I think the multiple points of grief were well done and a good thing to be explored. I liked the different examples of grief as well as showing how people deal with grief in different ways. Same with guilt and shame and fear. But I didn't get personally emotional throughout the story.

I will say, I guessed every one of the plot twists. ✌️😜 But I think that's because I have an overactive imagination and they might truly surprise some other readers. Especially the ending. I smiled when my theory was confirmed, I was so proud. 😂 But it was a good twist on the author's part.