Craven Manor – Darcy Coates

I'm sorry, Darcy Coates, but this book was really stupid. 

While there were flashes of creativity and intrigue in the first half, the latter part devolved into a mess of half-baked mythology, confusing action and frustrating character decisions.

The setup had potential: Daniel, a down-on-his-luck day laborer, becomes the caretaker of Craven Manor, a crumbling estate with eerie rules (don’t open the tower door, stay inside from midnight to dawn). The atmosphere was initially creepy and well-written, but as the story progressed, things unraveled.

The backstory of the Myrick family, especially Annalise and her photosensitivity, had promise. Unfortunately, the plot became overloaded with too many elements: shapeshifters, a ghost town, a plague, ghosts, gold coins, loose-lipped townspeople, sentient crows, a fire and a demon. None of it meshed well, and Daniel’s cousin Kyle, a shallow and convenient villain, only made things worse.

While Daniel is smarter than most horror protagonists, his gullibility, coupled with Coates' reliance on convenient tropes, quickly became tiresome. The breaking point for me was when Daniel discovered a plague-ridden town abandoned for 200 years — yet somehow still largely intact.

I can suspend disbelief for the sake of entertainment, but I hate when an author changes the rules arbitrarily just to serve the plot. By the time the story wrapped up, the twists were more confusing than thrilling, and the final confrontation was a B-movie monster mishmash with no teeth.

The first half of the book had genuinely good moments, and I'll give the author credit for including a cursed black cat — one of the few charming touches. By the end, however, the story lost all coherence, and I was skimming the last few chapters. 

All-in-all, “Craven Manor” is simply a gothic misadventure. 

Rating (story): 2/5 stars

Rating (narration): N/A

Format: eBook (personal library)

Dates read: September 3 – September 10, 2024

Multi-tasking: N/A