Split into a dual timeline with an atmospheric, gothic setting, this is very reminiscent of classics of the genre. There is nothing cozy about this story and the language, setting, and themes reflect this. I did really enjoy the setting and how the story unfolded - I love classic gothic works and there's something about the setting and atmosphere that immediately draws me in.

Despite this, however, I had a bit of trouble connecting with the characters and, by extension, the relationships, which felt lacking in chemistry. I just wanted to feel a bit more from them, but didn't. I can't even pinpoint what it was, exactly, so this is very much a 'me' issue.

I think that, overall, this serves as a great introduction to horror and historical fiction for people less familiar with the genres. For those more familiar with the genre, this may feel a bit predictable and I doubt the horror elements will come through very strongly. But for the right audience, this book will be an enjoyable, angsty, and creepy read.

Oh wow - I think this is probably the best horror novel I have read all year.
I don’t think I have critiques on this book. I got spooked, I giggled, I cried - HARD - it was a fantastic time and beautifully written!
Queer and gothic horrors are some of my favourite genres to read and The Haunting of William Thorn was no disappointment!

5 stars is honestly not enough.

I just finished reading this book and I’m at a complete loss for words. Just… unbelievable. Everything about it was absolutely perfect from start to finish. The character development, the mystery elements, the love story, the attention to detail, the clues scattered throughout the story that allowed both the characters and us to slowly unravel the mystery of the manor. Just… ugh, amazing.

Here are some of my favorite things:

•Everything unfolded so naturally and never felt rushed. At the same time, we were given subtle hints from the very beginning that immediately put us in detective mode, so there wasn't a boring or slow moment.

•The characters. Edward was a total sweetheart, and William’s character development was great. He started out carrying a lot of trauma, and it was nice to see him grow as a person throughout the book.

•I won’t spoil anything, but the romantic element was simply stunning. And the backstory of the manor (and the souls that haunted it) added so much more depth to the plot. It wasn’t just a mystery to solve; it had heart. It made you not only curious about what happened but emotionally invested, too.

•The atmosphere was everything! I had high expectations going in. First, because it’s Ben Alderson, and I’ve heard great things about his work. And second, because it gave off major The Haunting of Hill House vibes, which I love (both the book and the show). It did not disappoint. In fact, it completely exceeded my expectations. The book created the perfect sense of mystery and tension that the story needed to really work.

•The descriptions were perfect. It genuinely felt like you were right there in the manor with them. It wasn’t overdone or underdeveloped. I kept gasping, getting chills, and even wanting to scream at William to run 😂 I felt every single emotion he was feeling.

•The attention to detail. Every single thing mattered. The author clearly thought everything through. There were moments while reading when something didn’t quite make sense, and I’d think, “Hmm? But why...?” But by the end, looking back, I was like: “Oh my God, OF COURSE. IT ALL MAKES SENSE NOW.” Everything clicked into place perfectly.

•The emotional roller coaster. I felt shock, anger, worry, happiness, heartbreak, fear, disbelief, hope, contempt... Ugh, I don’t think I’ve ever felt so many emotions so strongly in just one book.

•I’m usually pretty good at guessing plot twists or at least sensing when one is coming… but this one? I did not see it coming at all! I was so genuinely shocked. When THAT happened, I literally had to stop reading and take a moment to breathe. I was not okay, lol.

I've had some of Ben’s books on my TBR for a while, but after this one? They’re kicking every other book aside and jumping straight to the top lol He gave us everything we wanted and more.

I'm going to have to DNF this one, just couldn't get into it. I went in with the wrong expectations, so it's definitely more of a me problem than the book's.

❤️ 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗶𝗻 𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗷𝗶𝘀:
🩸🍷🏛️🛀👻💌

💭 𝗠𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀:
This was such a ride! Just when I thought I knew where it was going, it completely surprised me. I was on the edge of my seat the whole way through. There are so many layers to this story—I had to keep reading to figure out how everything was connected.

I’ll admit the first half dragged a little, but the second half more than made up for it. I could not put it down (goodbye, sleep). I absolutely loved William Thorn, he felt so real, like someone I actually know, and his dynamic with the mysterious Edward was everything.

And did I cry? Yes.

Okay, now you go read it so we can talk about it!

I AM SHOOKKKK. This was genuinely scary but I had such a good time! Perfect for spooky season and for a good scare

Oh good gosh.
This book will haunt me!

Williams’s tragic procurement of the estate and Edward hanging around and becoming his friend is a really cute story, if I didn’t like of see so much angst and sadness from the whole situation. William is doubly hurt and betrayed by the loss of his fiancé and the new home, but his new pal keeps him very very busy and distracted. The diary and story of Robert and Teddy is so sad, ugh my heart. It was emotional and a good mystery to boot.

The ending crushed me into 💯 pieces. Sent me over the edge! I did not see that coming at all. Wow.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

A richly atmospheric blend of gothic horror and queer romance, The Haunting of William Thorn is eerie, emotional, and deeply immersive. The dual timelines add depth, the haunted manor is a character in its own right, and the story balances grief and love with quiet devastation.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read The Haunting of William Thorn in exchange for my honest review.
Ben Alderson delivers a beautifully atmospheric gothic tale in The Haunting of William Thorn, blending heartbreak, love, and supernatural terror into a story that lingers long after the final page. The dual timeline adds depth and emotional weight as William confronts not only the literal ghosts in his inherited manor but also the lingering pain of betrayal and loss. The connection between the present-day narrative and the tragic 1920s love story is tender and bittersweet, creating an emotional resonance that reminds me of a haunting version of The Notebook with the chilling undercurrents of The Haunting of Hill House. Alderson’s writing captures the rawness of grief while still offering moments of hope and connection. The romance between William and Edward feels organic and vulnerable, perfectly balancing the eerie tension in the manor with genuine human emotion.
The haunted house elements are rich and atmospheric without overshadowing the story’s heart, which is about love in all its complicated forms. The manor itself feels alive with secrets, and the villagers' hostility only heightens the sense of isolation and dread. I loved how Alderson wove themes of queer history, trauma, and healing into the narrative without losing the ghostly suspense. The Haunting of William Thorn is a perfect pick for readers who enjoy slow-burning gothic mysteries with deeply emotional cores. It is moving, spooky, and beautifully written.

I have been a long time reader of Alderson's but I have to tell you...this is his best yet. The story was absolutely heart wrenchingly beautiful. I could not put this book down.

The whole story was written beautifully. Alderson has this way of writing that always sucks the reader into the story. It makes me want to bury myself into his world. I fell in love with the tragic stories of Robert & Teddy and William & Edward. I had a hard time putting the book down because I wanted to find out the solution to the mystery of what had happened with Robert & Teddy. The ending…destroyed me. I'm still getting teared up thinking about it. Typically in mystery books, I quickly put things together. This one...oh boy this one....I caught a few things...but I never expected that twist.

5⭐️

I was interested in the story from the beginning it does a great job at giving u just enough information to keep u interested without giving everything away making u want to continue reading to see the full story

I loved The relationship between the main characters they really worked well together

Some of the plot was abit confusing in places but for me that only added to the mysterious vibes of the book

The twists and turns in this book kept it entertaining throughout

I felt like the twist at the end wasn’t needed and was done abit more for shock value than actually adding to the plot but it was written well and I could see a lot of people really liking it

Thank you Netgalley and angry robot for the digital arc

First read for me from this particular order and I was transfixed on the storyline and plot thread through this amazing read of a book. Enjoyed the character detailing and scene setting descriptions throughout the read as they really kept me involved. 5 stars from me this exceeded my expectations so thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this fantastic book.

Eerie, bone-chilling and just the right amount of disquieting, Ben Alderson's "The Haunting of William Thorn" is the kind of read meant to be enjoyed during a rainy day, curled up under a blanket as the rain taps against the windows. Reminiscent of renowned terror stories such as Shirley Jackson's "The Haunting of Hill House", Alderson's novel is a tale of two timelines haunted by the ghosts of grief and regret.

Regardless of the literary subgenre, all books that feature cleverly crafted metaphors for complex topics such as grief, survivor's guilt and generational trauma are guaranteed to have my attention. In this sense, "The Haunting of William Thorn" is both a story about two men's quest to learn the truth about what happened in Hanbury Manor nearly 100 years ago, and a story about the ways in which pain and suffering are passed down from one generation to the next one in communities, be it families or entire villages, that fail to address the horrors they have either endured or perpetrated. In this sense, I thought it brilliant to feature both William's story and the diary entries from Robert, because the juxtaposition of both men's tales allowed a whole new layer of complexity to permeate the narrative.

Another thing that I quite liked was the bone-chilling atmospheric writing, which painted a vivid image of Hanbury Manor looming over me as I explored the estate alongside William. Gothic and horror stories demand that the tone be set by conveying a particular vibe that makes room for the dread and tension to build, and I was very satisfied by the way Alderson pulled it off in this book. Cutting the characters off from the rest of the world through the lack of phone signal was, in my opinion, key to shaping the odd strangeness surrounding Hanbury Manor, since isolation is mandatory in gothic literature and this particular plot would've been dead in 50 pages at most if the main character had been able to access the Internet.

Still, I wasn't fully sold on how the story unfolded. Although at first I was really intrigued and wanted to learn more, there were some so-called twists that didn't really make sense to me looking back on the information that had been provided. Not just that, though. There were some realisations that the characters only had well past the 80% mark that had been obvious from the start, and it felt awkward to see them realise certain things when it was clear from the first couple of pages that what they'd been told about X meant Y. In this sense, I wasn't too happy with the final plot-twists regarding the Stonewell locals' involvement in the story, because they had only made an appearance when William went out for groceries and hit the pub. Considering that they all but disappeared for at least 90% of the book, and were never even mentioned again by William or Edward, the final "aha!" involving the village felt cheap and unjustified.

Overall, I'd say that my biggest issue was how disjointed the plot ended up being. The pacing of the different reveals was all over the place, and stuff that would've made perfect sense if it'd happened earlier in the story ended up feeling rushed, off, and gratuitous. If the villagers are going to be a key piece of the Hanbury Manor puzzle, they shouldn't be forgotten for 90% off the book, and the same can be said about the two missing boys or everything Edward admitted to having kept from William. While it makes sense for a character to be hiding things, it shouldn't come out of nowhere. Clues or subtle tells should've been dropped along the way, because as it is, these revelations felt both far-fetched and uncalled for.

Another thing I didn't fully warm up to was William's personality, because he wasn't as fleshed out as I thought he'd be. Even though mood swings are expected when someone has survived severe trauma, in his case there seemed to be no clear triggers or glimmers, and he ended up just swinging back and forth between inexpresiveness and really angry outbursts that, for no clear reason either, Edward never acknowledged afterwards.

I would've liked the haunting to be more cohesive, because past a certain point I neither followed what was going on nor felt any urge to understand whatever the house was doing. This has a lot to do with the aforementioned pacing issues.

Overall this was a good read that kept my interest until the end, and while I do think that one more round of developmental edits should've happened, it was fun to read about mister Thorn's haunted estate.

***

SUMMARY. After being torn apart by a devastating loss, William Thorn learns that he's inherited an estate in the Cotswolds. Rumoured to be haunted by the Stonewell locals, all that William thinks of the manor at first is that it needs huge amounts of tender, love and care after so many years spent forgotten and in progressively worsening disrepair. But it doesn't take long for William to realise how wrong his first impression was, and things take a turn for the worse when the stranger wandering the garden confesses to being connected to the tragedy that befell Hanbury Manor in the 1920s.

This book hooked me from the very first pages. The plot is compelling, with that kind of narrative tension that makes you want to keep turning pages just to find out what happens next. The author does a great job of building a gothic, autumnal, and slightly eerie atmosphere that fits the story perfectly.

One of the things I enjoyed the most was the dual timeline structure: the present, narrated from William’s point of view, and the past, revealed through excerpts from Robert’s diary. This shifting perspective adds depth to the story and keeps the pacing engaging. I also really appreciated the character development—each one felt believable, with emotional depth and complex relationships.
The love story between Robert and Teddy was especially moving and beautifully written. It resonated with me much more than the one between William and Edward, which I found less emotionally compelling. Archie was another surprise—his role in the story turned out to be much more significant than I expected. While I did appreciate his character, I personally would have preferred more focus on Robert and Teddy, whose storyline I found the most captivating.

And then there's the ending: unexpected, fitting, and totally in line with the tone of the book. Still, I have to admit it wasn’t entirely satisfying for me on a personal level. I tend to prefer stories that end “well,” and while this conclusion made perfect sense and worked thematically, it left me feeling a little bittersweet.

5 stars

Creepy, mysterious, and hauntingly romantic. This new book by Ben Alderson is marketed as The Notebook meets The Haunting of Hill House, and that feels pretty spot on here. The characters are interesting and so well written, the plot is intriguing and mysterious, and the Gothic atmosphere is *chef's kiss*. I went through a myriad of emotions on this reading journey: scared, worried, happy, devastated, content. It's definitely a rollercoaster, but I was here for it. The romance is definitely not conventional, but I really enjoyed how it played out in the end. This was a different and unique reading experience for me and so worth it. If you enjoy gothic horror with a dash of romance, then definitely check this one out!

An atmospheric, haunting tale, spanning decades, and centering on the love of queer men, and how that shaped their lives. A chilling, yet somehow cozy, read.

I never would have expected that ending and it made me incredibly emotional. This book kept me engrossed from the beginning and has the perfect mix of horror, mystery and romance.
I ate this book up in only two days. I love Edward and William, and Robert and Teddy’s story was tragic.

I think to sum this book up I’d describe it as a tragic romance horror novel.
I loved piecing the mystery together and that ending!
I was hooked from this book from the start wanting to see where Williams story would lead.

The Haunting of William Thorn by Ben Alderson

*posting next week or so*
3/5 stars 🌟

Predictable but enjoyable. This is what I can say is the main focus when someone mentions this book.

We meet William thorn who has moved to an isolated Manor House that his deceased fiancé owned through inheritance, we soon find that some spooky things maybe taking over the house and some interesting plot twists and characters appear.

The main Characters are interesting but I felt that a lot of their banter and arguments were repetitive and annoying. The ghosts were well written and I really enjoyed aspects of the book but I can’t say the book held to what it was promising I didn’t feel scared really and no part of it really made me want to cry mostly I felt sad for the ghosts but not much else. It also felt like to much was trying to happen in once story? Even tho they interconnected it seemed a lot.

This book is labelled as horror and compared to a show that genuinely scared me when I first watched it but honestly it wasn’t very scary and only had a little suspense and some supernatural/shocking elements.

On another note which is expected in an unedited eARC copy was the amount of mistakes and grammatical errors throughout which made me had to reread some lines over and over to understand them.

Do I recommend this book? To the right audience yes? But if you’re looking for something scary and cry worthy maybe not so much!

This has a stunning premise, however I cannot force myself any further into this book. I am not finishing it at 25%.

I was looking for an emotional rollercoaster, and unfortunately I ended up on a kiddie ride.

The writing is extremely clunky and feels undeveloped. This needs several more rounds of serious edits. There are words used just flat out incorrectly, not to mention sentence structure that just doesn’t make any sense in several places. The banter between Edward and William is cringe-inducing and Robert feels like a caricature.

I feel as though this could have been a very promising read with a lot more editing.