Flew through this book. Enjoyed the plot and characters, and the twists and turns kept me guessing, right until the end…

Disclosure: I received an e-ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review, and I have received no other form of compensation, monetary or otherwise, from the publisher or the author.

This was my introduction to Ben Alderson's work (aside from the wonderful book he co-wrote with Laura Samotin), and I enjoyed every single minute of my time reading it. The book was an atmospheric, even Gothic, story that kept me reading from start to finish. While there were some pacing issues in the first third or so of the book, they were well worth getting through for the meat of the plot and the subtle (but very present!) romance. If you're looking for a good character study and frank consideration of emotions, this is the book for you.

Given the setting and the overall Gothic horror-ish nature of the book, I think this is one to put on your TBR for the Halloween season. Ben has found a return reader in me, and I am off to check out some of his other works!

Thanks to Netgalley and Angry Robot for this ARC. I’ve been a big fan of Ben Alderson’s work for a while now and as this is his first foray into the horror genre I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised and impressed as always.

That being said I was expecting spooky and I got me being an emotional mess throughout!

Ben is well versed in making characters that you want to root for and you also want to shake for being a little brat like you really want to see them win and William was no exception.

William was dealing with so much grief and the more you learned about it the more it explained how he viewed life. With that grief came anger that was mostly for himself but he’d lash out at others, specifically Edward while still wanting care from him.

Edward was shifty character at points but it was clear when he started to have feelings for William, he was obsessed with him and I love when a man is a little bit obsessed with the MC.

This was duel timeline and I would’ve loved a little bit more from Robert’s perspective. The method of the timelines really left me wanting to explore more of his life.

My favorite thing about this book was that Hanbury manor was essentially a key character of the book. It had so much personality and I loved it.

Overall I think this was such a great book and I cant wait for others to read it!

This book had me in so many emotions.
There is many themes including grief and guilt.
Is has gore, romance all the vibes.
It was a rollercoaster from start to finish and I was all the way there for it.

I got this as an arc on Netgalley and it will come out in September. Dear author: How dare you? That sums up my feelings well. There's a lot of story in this story and this kinda toxic but beautiful mlm story made every bit of it worth it.

An interesting read, not entirely what I expected but worth a go! 3.5 rounded up. Not as creepy as it could have been, and a lot of moving parts to this story, but that’s not a bad thing!

Thanks to Netgalley and Angry Robot for this ARC.

Very unusually for me, this was a DNF. The story sounded great, and I do enjoy a good ghost story. Unfortunately, I did not warm to either of the main characters (William and Edward), and I found their banter quite cringey. I felt there was a lot of superfluous detail that didn't add to the story. If anything, it detracted from it as I found myself getting frustrated.

From reading other reviews, I am in the minority and I'm sure with the right audience, this book will go on to be successful. It just wasn't for me.

Not trying to repeat what so many others have said but I went in expecting a horror book but it ended with tears! I did not see that ending coming. So many times I made a prediction and was dead wrong.

This one had me hooked. A murder mystery with a haunted mansion and secrets of the past in a small town? Plus gay main characters with secrets and a past of their own they’re also running from? Yeah it’s a binge read for sure.
This was a fun popcorn/potato chip read, one of those that you just can’t put down. It covers dark topics and has horror elements in it but at its core there’s a gay love story and redemption and finding acceptance and forgiveness

Ben has become one of my favourite authors and this hauntingly tragic story is just amazing.

From the first page this book had me hooked , the characters are believable and the things they deal with are are very real

The ending had me all kinds of messed up I was crying for hours

Amazing from start to finish!

This had me on the edge of my seat what an emotional roller coaster ride I laughed I cried this is truely a haunting read and that ending had me a grown man sobbing

I gotta admit, this intrigued me immensely and I like and follow the author on Instagram.
They’re a riot and is always receptive of kind critique.

I really enjoyed the concept of a tragic love story being the reason for the haunting (at least as much as I read), but I had a hard time connecting to the MC…

I liked that it read really fast, which is a testament to the authors skills in keeping their audience engaged

All that to say, this ended up not being for me… it was a DNF at around 40%

Well that was a wild ride!

William Thorn had the perfect life in London, that is until he discovers his boyfriend has been cheating. In a fit of rage he kicks Archie out of their home into the pouring rain where a tragic accident occurs and Archie is hit by a car and dies. Archie's last act was to leave a huge country manor to William.

William decides to spend a week at the manor to decide what to do with both it and his life from here. The place is run down and the unwelcoming locals all believe it to be haunted and that William needs leave.

Here's where he meets Edward and together they uncover the tragic past of one of Edwards long, lost relatives and the previous owners of the manor. Only Edward has some secrets of his own.

There are a lot of twist and turns to this story. We go through many stages of both guilt and grief with William as tries to deal with losing the love of his life. He just wants to be alone but Edward persists and worms his way through William's barriers.

There are so many scary, spooky and unsettling moments. I couldn't put the story down as I needed to know what was going to happen next. There were a few things I did find confusing around the end of the story but this did not deter from the overall vibe and enjoyment of the book. My heart was racing through so much of the story and I didn't know what to expect!

The story is heart breaking and bittersweet. Don't read this alone in the dark! If you like a queer haunting story highly recommend!

Thank you NetGalley and Angry Robot for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I just finished The Haunting of William Thorne, and I’m honestly wrecked. This book completely tore me apart in the best (and worst) possible way. Ben Alderson delivered a story that was hauntingly beautiful, emotionally devastating, and utterly unforgettable.

From the very beginning, I was hooked—but nothing could have prepared me for the rollercoaster this story would take me on. The plot twists? Absolutely wild. Just when I thought I knew where things were going, the story turned everything upside down. It kept me constantly on edge, questioning everyone and everything.

And that ending. I don’t even have the words. It left me stunned, raw, and aching. It was powerful, tragic, and yet somehow still so fitting. I genuinely had to just sit in silence afterwards and process what I had just read.

This book is more than just a supernatural story—it's about grief, trauma, love, and the ghosts (both literal and metaphorical) that we carry with us. William’s journey was painful and beautiful, and I felt every single moment with him.

If you’re looking for a queer gothic tale that will haunt you long after the final page, The Haunting of William Thorne is it. Just... be ready. Emotionally. Because it hurts. And it’s so worth it.

I loved that there was a hint of romance but it wasn’t the main focus of this story—we romance readers all need breaks sometimes, and this story was amazing! I appreciated the emotional depth it gave, and the writing as always from Alderson was phenomenal!

wow... i don't even know what to say, i just finished crying my eyes out... i loved this.

this book follows william, who inherits hanbury manor from his fiance who's died not long ago. on his way there, his taxi driver asks william if he believes in ghosts. william says no.

the prologue perfectly sets the scene for this book, it’s rare that i get chills within the first few pages but Alderson’s writing had me in a grip from the first few pages on.

back in the current timeline we follow William moving into Hanbury Manor, which stood empty for a long time. There he finds the old journal of Robert, someone who lived in the manor in 1939, recounting the days he spent in this house yearning after the manor's gardener.
Battling grief hasn’t been easy for William so after a night spent with a bottle of wine he wakes up to bangs on his front door, which is when he meets Edward.

YALL… their first encounter already had me cackling. I knew then that I would absolutely love these two. the chemistry between them was already so noticeable and it got even better when the eerie atmosphere of the manor got added into the mix. the atmopshere of inexplainable happenings, scary encounters and growing feelings while they tried to uncover the mysteries of this haunted house and get to the bottom of family secrets had me stay engaged throughout all 400 pages.

i loved that not everything was explicitly spelled out. the author trusts the reader to come to the right conclusions and didn't assume we’d be too stupid to realize what was happening in certain situations.

the exploration of grief and guilt in this book had me in tears. there were so many beautiful, heartbreaking quotes, and my god, i felt with william, and even edward who tried his best to support someone going through some hard times.

by the 50% mark i could not put this book down. every new chapter broke me in a different way and i just desperately needed to see what would happen to the characters i've grown to love over the course of this story. and let me tell you, i loved them. i needed them happy, i wanted them to find peace and even thinking about it now, when i know how the story unfolds, there are tears in my eyes.

if you liked the haunting of hill house, you will enjoy this book. if you like your horror to explore very deep, emotional themes, this is for you. if you want tragic love stories and your heart to be ripped apart by the end of a book, read this.

this book isn’t just a story about a haunted house, it’s so much more.

thank you angry robot and netgalley for this e-arc. i'll just go continue sobbing now.

Honestly, a 5/5.

I was so on board and like yeah, book is going great, and then the plot twist comes.. and just kinda stabs you in the heart with a letter opener.

The intertwined stories coming together were perfect! This was my first book by Ben that I actually have gotten around to reading, and plan to read more!

Lastly. Ben.. If you ever see this review… How dare you. 😩🖤

If you’re into gothic vibes, creepy old manors, paranormal stuff, spooky scenes, tragic backstories, with a little bit of romance—this book is totally right up your ally! my only regret is not reading this in the fall time. excited to read more by this author!

Hanbury Manor: haunted 🏚️
Stonewell: a quaint little English village, straight out of a Hallmark movie, absolutely nothing weird going on here at all 🤭
1939: Robert and Teddy 💔
2024: William and Edward 👥

This is a spine-tinglgingly creepy ghost/horror story. It's quite slow paced, being set over the course of just one week, but it's full of action, discoveries, hauntings, nightmares, mysteries, terror and heartbreak.

It didn't take me long to get sucked into this story to the point where I didn't want to stop reading—at one point, I put the book down to sleep, but couldn't sleep, so I picked it back up and continued reading! The last 120ish pages absolutely flew by and I didn't feel like I was reading at all, and I could so vividly picture everything as it happened.

My heart was pounding. I was creeped out, I was scared for the characters, I was heartbroken for the events of their pasts... And just when I thought I'd predicted something correctly, Ben Alderson threw me for a spin and it was actually something different that I hadn't predicted!

And if you don't cry by the end or this book... You must not have a heart. Seriously. I was wrecked!!! That ending was not one I could have predicted in any way shape or form, and I didn't feel like there were any clues, or if there were, they'd been so cleverly hidden underneath everything else that had happened so that I didn't suspect a thing!!!

Without a doubt, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 from me!!

The Haunting of William Thorn is a haunted house horror book written in third person, and make is spectacularly gay. It takes place in a split timeline between 1939 and 2024.

I went into this completely blind because Ben had been posting about the book on social media and some of my friends had been anticipating its release. I am so pleased to say that it was EVERYTHING and more. The anticipation kept me on the edge of my seat and I loved every minute of it.

I don't want to ruin it for anyone so honestly, if you like thriller, ghost stories, and angst... pick this up. give the guys a chance to make you want to yell and them and also hold your breath in anticipation.