After the passing of her estranged parents, Margot Hull returns to her childhood home in hopes of understanding her past. She has not seen or heard from her parents since she was a young child and has no memory of why. Upon arrival at Gallows Hill she finds she is now the owner of a winery that has won awards and is world renowned…and also has tainted the town with it’s dark history. What will she uncover about her forgotten past? Will this become her new life? What exactly was that noise coming from upstairs?
This is a fantastic haunted house with a side of mystery story. I feel that the pacing was great and I couldn’t wait to discover the truth with Margot. Darcy Coates is a powerhouse of an author and this novel illustrates this perfectly. If you are into supernatural horror like I am, RUN to get this. This is atmospheric horror that also has a heartbeat. Thank you NetGalley for allowing me the chance to read this beautiful novel.
#netgalley #supernaturalhorror #GallowsHill

I have to say, from a young age I have loved horror. But, not slasher where it is just gore for gores sake. Think more like the Conjuring Universe.

I don't find I get the same kind of scare in a book. I might feel suspense, but not the same fear as when I'm watching a movie. This book however was terrifying! After I finished I was jumping at shadows and looking under my bed.

It felt a bit slow at first, but when I got to about a third of the way in you could start to see the story developing and it started to become much more frightening.

I enoyed how this story developed. The MC undertook such a journey to understand her ancestry and the impact her distant ancestors ended up having on generations to come. The ending was very unexpected, the path that the MC chose to take in the end was so courageous.

Beyond being a horror story, Gallows Hill demonstrates what lengths people can go  in order to maintain wealth and prosperity and how the consequences can be justified.

In horror movies characters continually feel the need to investigate the creepy sounds they hear, alone, in the dark and the audience is left wondering why? I thought it was great that the author addressed this early on and I loved the explanation the MC gave of fearing NOT seeing more. This allowed us to understand her motivations more.

Overall, if you love a really good scare, this book is absolutely for you!

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for this e-arc for my honest review. I was thrilled to have the opportunity to read and review this book.

I love Darcy Coates and was so excited to get my hands on her newest book, Gallows Hill. And she again wrote a great ghost story! Unlike some of her other titles, there is a ton of lead-up story and background information that the reader gets. We really get to know the main character, Margot, before the action begins. We learn about her history with her parents before we go to their funeral and Margot inherits the house, business, and land her parents owned. The other characters are great too. While we don't learn a ton about them and they don't have much depth, we know just enough to care about their well-being. The action really gets going in the second half of the book and this is where Coates really shines. Her detail is great and really gives me goosebumps. This is definitely a great book for spooky season and for already fans of Coates!
Thank you, NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

Darcy Coates is the current reigning queen of the modern horror story. Is this great, highbrow literature? No, but I can always count on her for a helluva good time.

Where Coates excels is in a creating an eerie atmosphere that leaves the reader continually on edge in the anticipation of what will come next. And the scares always feel authentic to the stories and characters and never come off as a cheap gimmick. They are not there for the sole purpose of shocking the reader, but rather are enmeshed in the narrative so that they feel natural.

This book, unlike the others I have read, was at times a bit repetitive and this slowed the pace and detracted a bit from the overall experience. Still, subpar Coates is still far good and this is the perfect time of year to indulge in her delicious sense of creepiness.

For the full scary experience I recommend reading this one at night (if you get scared too easily then don't do it).

This wad a slow burn horror read and I loved every second of it. It was truly scary and mind blowing.

Highly recommend.

A perfect creepy read for spooky season! I love that the author is able to take traditional ghost story tropes and make an unexpected story. I also enjoy that the FMC doesn’t make poor decisions or reckless choices. Her decisions are well reasoned and well intentioned, even if they don’t always work.

The setting is exceptionally morbid - a young woman returns to her family home and winery after her parents unexpected death. That winery? It is located on the land that was once used to hang criminals. The last 100 pages were riveting and made me slightly uncomfortable being home alone

I was hooked from the first page. I had to stay up late to find out what happens next. The author, Darcy Coates, created a storyline that slowly built up from an ominous dread to a frenzied climax. Even as you feel a sense of trepidation building up, you have to turn to the next page.

The tale of Margot's life post-inheritance from her estranged parents is so much more than a haunted house story. This is an authentic horror novel that leaves your nerves on edge. You will be thinking about it long after the last page.

For lovers of the horror genre, Gallows Hill is not to be missed. Be sure to pick up a copy in time for Halloween.

Thank you to Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Publishing for the advanced copy. I now have a new favourite author.

I have been a fan of Darcy Coates for years, ever since I read Craven Manor. I loved Gallows’s Hill, it was exactly what I needed. It was extremely creepy and the perfect read for spooky season,

I loved this book. I am a big fan of Darcy Coates and this one is one of the good ones. I felt myself being spooked more often than not. I feel like the setting was described so perfectly that I could see it in my mind's eye. Loved loved loved it.

think Darcy Coates is great at imagery. She had a few scenes that were genuinely creepy and were described perfectly. With that being said I did not enjoy the story. It had a very rushed ending. And after everything Margot endured all the zombie-ghost-curse needed was an apology and it would go away?! No séance or ritual? Just an apology for a murder her ancestor committed 200 years ago.

Gallows Hill was a unique masterpiece and probably one of the most intriguing Darcy Coates books that I have read to date. It was filled with a unique story that was a bit more slow paced than some of her other books that I have read. However this slow burn built into a haunting conclusion that really makes one think about the price of success and what you are willing to live with to be considered successful.

Margot has come home to her hometown of Gallows Hill under sad conditions. Her parents have passed and she must attend to their funeral. However Gallows Hill does not lack for mysteries, memories, and bodies. Darcy Coates writing is full of emotions that the reader will pick up on. Themes of loss, and the cost of legacy abound in this story. In addition, this book has all the classic Darcy Coates scary imagery that we know and love.

Check this book out! Thank you to NetGalley and PoisonPenPress for this arc!

I was expecting so much more out of this book. It had potential but it just didn't get there.
Margot is called back to her family's wine business after the death of her parents. She finds out that the land is cursed. Thanks to Net galley for the ARC and the publisher Poisoned Pen Press.

An atmospheric read with multiple horror elements, to boot. Ms. Darcy, as in her previous books, never fails to build tension, character, and story plot - that make for a creepy read. Her storytelling kept me reading well into the night and promptly had me coming back to the book, the next day.
Recommended!

Queen Darcy does it again! Another fantastically written atmospheric horror novel about a haunted winery and the many generations of secrets that are kept there. I really loved Margot's character and found her to be extremely relatable throughout the various terrifying events. I feel as if this one really stands out from Darcy's other "haunted place" trope books as it brought in many different elements I hadn't seen in her writing before, so this is definitely one of my new favorites from her. One of those last scenes in the cellar will be stuck with me FOREVER.....if you know you know. I absolutely loved this one and will look forward to recommending it to anyone who will listen.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for my review copy!

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the opportunity to read and review this eARC.

Once again, Darcy Coates delivers! Gallows Hill initially appears to be just your average haunted house story but she give you such horrific elements that leave you with chills! There are no questions left unanswered. This would be the perfect addition to your spooky season TBRs!

Grab your PSL and shacket because this is the PERFECT way to start your spooky season reading!

Gallows Hill follows Margot, who has to take over the family winery and spooky house after her estranged parents are found dead. Horrible things start happening and she has to figure out what exactly her family history entails.

We’ve got:
- Family curses
- Creepy town hangings
- Underground passages
- Award winning wine
- A very good boy golden retriever

This has the perfect amount of suspense, a great cast of characters and plot that keeps you guessing.

Honestly, I think this is my favourite Darcy Coates so far! The queen of haunted house stories strikes again!

The disappointment is real. This was needlessly long (read that way too) and there was zero plot until about 60% in. Just atmospheric, establishing, long and drawn out prose about the house doing weird shit. The twist in the end was not worth reading almost 500 pages with barely any useful action.

Gallows Hill was a very chilling read for me. It was perfectly atmospheric and, from the very start, I felt myself gearing up for a scare. I appreciated the little details (e.g., TV guide from 1997) sprinkled throughout that made this story, going back a quarter millennium, feel modern and more realistic.

I will say that there were a few scenes that I found myself getting very frustrated with Margot, and also a few that left me scratching my head, but every thread that I could find was tied up in the end.

As for the ending - I really wasn't sure how this was going to end, and I was pleasantly surprised by it!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for sharing this digital ARC with me in exchange for my honest review.

e-arc review.

Darcy Coates is quickly becoming one of my favourite authors. She is the queen of building up suspense in her horror novels. I honestly did not want this book to end.

The characters and the plot all tie together nicely and the twist at the end I did not see coming. I think it’s best going in to this book completely blind. More shock value.

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Spoiler free 😬
Synopsis: The Hull family have owned Gallows Hill Winery for generations. Their wine is quite famous and has won awards frequently. Their families business and family are thriving until Maria and Hugh Hull die under mysterious circumstances.

Locals believe that the place is cursed and avoid it. Margot Hull returns to bury her parents that she barely remembers after being sent away and to uncover how her parents really died and what this apparent curse is.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Darcy Coates and Poisoned Pen Press, in exchange for an honest review.

‘Gallows’s Hill’ by Darcy Coates gets released on the 6th September 2022 👌🏻

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4 stars ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I have read numerous Darcy Coates books and this one may be the creepiest. I really enjoyed it overall! I felt like the story was well thought out and paced really well. I was worried there would be unanswered questions by the end, but she seemed to wrap everything up well. Pacing started slightly slow, but picked up pretty well. I found myself wanting more back story on Margot though. She was a likeable character, I just felt like I didn’t quite know her well enough.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. This one is definitely a good one for Halloween coming up!