The Haunting of William Thorn

I would not call myself a skeptic, but a super skeptic, I just cannot begin to believe that ghosts exist, but that does not stop me from enjoying a good ghost story, or even a good old-fashioned ghost story. The Haunting of William Thorn by Ben Alderson has very modern characters and relationships, but deep down is a classic feeling spooky tale about being trapped in a remote mansion with some ghosts. 

William Thorn has been bequeathed what could be a dream home in a Will, but he would much rather have his partner Archie alive and not Hanbury Manor. The Manor has seen better days, abandoned for a decade, the locals think it cursed and ripe for knocking down, but Will is nothing but stubborn and swears to make a go of it. Help could come in the form of the obnoxious local Edward, who is drawn to the Manor. Something happened within these walls. Can Will and Edward discover what it is, lest they become the next person to disappear from Hanbury Manor? 

Do you like a good ghost story? And are you partial to a little romance? Then Haunting may have been written for you, a combination of classic feeling ghost story, with a will they/won’t they romance. There are some variations on the theme. The characters are gay men, and this does impact directly into story. The relationship between Will and Edward is fraught, but modern. It is in the past that being homosexual proved dangerous, even deadly. 

The split timeline is not 50/50, most of the tale is told in the present, but in one flashback and through a few diary entries we learn about the plight of a former occupant of the Manor. Robert Thomas hung himself in the attic in 1939, seemingly on the receipt of a letter informing him that a young man he had known had been killed during the war. As the story progresses, we learn more about events leading up to the hanging and leading up to the haunting. 

The book is set over a series of nights and a series of hauntings. William has a connection to the house. He hears noises, is drawn to certain areas, walks in his sleep. The events are terrifying, but William refuses to leave. Most rational people would exit stage left as soon as they could, but to make the book work Alderson had to make William an incredibly stubborn person. William’s frosty attitude can be explained in part by not only being haunted by the ghosts of Hanbury Manor, but by his own grief. 

Throw into William’s turbulent mind, the enigmatic Edward, a young man with his own agenda. The two are thrown together and their relationship ebbs and flows. This part of the story is a full-on romance novel, of opposites sparking off one another and creating small fires all over the place. I found it all very melodramatic in places, but romance fans will enjoy the central crackling relationship. 

Haunting is one of the most traditional ghost and romance stories that I have read in a long time, just with modern characters. It scratches that itch for any reader that wants to read a thumping story about noises coming from the attics and mysteries that require solving. It is relationship led, with the characters of William and Edward playing a two-hander through most of the book. You are going to want to enjoy some romance and drama to get the most from this book. I see it as a novel to snuggle up with and read as Halloween encroaches.