Not for me unfortunately. Remembered I never left a review here. It's been a while since I read it so my review isn't going to help very much! I haven't been on my Netgalley in years.

Arkham Horror! In book form! What's not to love? If you don't know Arkham Horror, it's a series of board games and card games (for adults) that are all H.P. Lovecraft world-themed. But wait, will that really adapt itself back into book format, given that it was based on books (ok, ok, stories) to start with? The answer is yes.

I think that this could also be very enjoyable for Lovecraft fans who aren't familiar with the games, since it's not about the games - it's about the world of the games. So you have all of the creeping dread, strange shapes, and other Lovecraftian themes that any Lovecraft fan will enjoy.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this eARC.

In the Coils of the Labyrinth had so much potential. It was creepy and atmospheric, but ended up not being something I enjoy.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an e-ARC copy of this book, in exchange for this honest review.

I have been provided with an advance copy of the new Arkham Horror book In the Coils of the Labyrinth by David Annadale, published by Aconyte Books, so here is the honest review I promised in exchange for the book.

So here is an important disclaimer which is always important to put out there first. I have a casual work contact with Asmodee to demonstrate board games for them in stores and at conventions. Asmodee being the parent company of Aconyte the publisher.

I am going to try my best to not let that cloud my judgement in this review, but I accept that subconsciously it might.

What is Arkham Horror

Anyway that put to one side, let’s look at this book, by first looking at the game Arkham Horror which is a cooperative game, originally designed by Richard Launius, and is now in its third edition which was released in 2019.

It’s published by Fantasy Flight Games, a subsidiary of Asmodee, and is set in 1926 in the town of Arkham, Massachusetts. Each player takes on the role of an investigator, who are working to stop the Ancient Ones, eldritch horrors which lurk in the void beyond space and time.

It’s a 1-6 player game and you work together to gather clues and defeat the evil of the Ancient Ones and save the world.

As I said I haven’t actually played Arkham Horror but I do own its spin off Elder Sign the cooperative dice game.

The Story

In this story we find Professor Miranda Ventham, seriously ill with TB as she books herself into the Stroud Institute, a new sanatorium with a new modern way to treat the disease and heal the patients of Arkham.

But dreams, bad dreams plague Miranda, and she cannot quite shake the feeling that something is wrong, deeply wrong with the Stroud Institute, especially with its mysterious director, Donovan Stroud.

With help from her friend, the parapsycholist Agatha Crane, they work to unravel the mystery of the Stroud Institute, in an investigation that takes them from Arkham, to Scotland and into the heart of the mysterious labyrinth, and the sinister secrets it holds, that is longing to be set free.

Conclusion

This is a subtle book, there aren't many cultists or monsters as with most Arkham Horror books, but a look at the blurring between dreams and reality with a smattering of Romantic poetry and a look at 1920s health care.

I have been very critical in the past of David Annadales books, but I must admit his Arkham Horror stuff is very good, in fact its probably his strongest stuff and this shows off what he does well, brilliantly. Its a subtle type of horror, almost insidious and it feels like its getting under your skin.

For me this book feels like an idea way to get into the Arkham Horror series, its not too in depth, but touches on and introduces key concepts in the series and the wider Lovecraft mythos is a way that is very apporachable.

The protagonists are really rather good, and I hope to see their further adventures in the future.

One negative, that very nearly had me give up right at the beginning, the prologue is set in Scotland and the local priest is involved, and the locals refer to him as a Vicar, and that annoyed me, because there is not a chance in hell a Scotsman in any day or age will use that word for a priest, and it did destroy any chance of immersion in that prologue and made me feel like the book was going to have been very poorly researched. It just felt lazy, so please rectify that for the next printing, that needs changing to minister, or rector.

But the thing is, the book is incredible well researched, I found myself checking things about the treatment of TB and yeah, they really did stuff like that, so gah, why do I let myself get obsessed over little things like that!

Regardless of that tiny issue, I really loved this book, incredibly good story and its so well written and flows really well.

4 out of 5 stars!

In the Coils of the Labyrinth had so much potential. I really enjoyed the writing style and the way the atmosphere of Arkham was built. I felt like I was in Arkham myself. The first few chapters were really well done and piqued my curiosity. My problem was as the story progressed, things stopped making sense. Sure, the characters had no idea what was happening, which means I had no idea, too. This way, it was hard to even be interested in the outcome because there didn't seem to be a proper build-up. The main characters, Agatha and Miranda, were strong at the start, but they started to become flat as the book progressed. Lastly, the ending was just too convenient. There wasn't any struggle at all.

Overall, this wasn't so bad, but it wasn't good either. 2.5/5 stars!

Another winner from the Aconyte Arkham series, this was an absolute pleasure to read. Well, perhaps pleasure isn't the right word...

Rather than some of the other recent novels in this series, this book stays mostly in the town of Arkham itself. Because in Arkham, people have a habit of going a bit mad sometimes. Most residents seem to take it in stride, but a new doctor has set up a special clinic that aims to help where others have not.

I don't want to give much more away, but we follow the adventures of two wonderful strong female protagonists - both academics of A Certain Age, so definitely not your typical heroines! One is investigating why patients in the clinic keep vanishing, why the dimensions of corridors seem to change daily, and what exactly is going on at the centre of the building. The other travels to explore the history of the doctor himself, venturing into a remote community with a broken-down stately home that harbours monsters.

This is 100% gothic Lovecraftian gorgeousness, and I sped through it because I really could not put it down. As the story progresses, the reader feels as if they're caught in the labyrinth as well, twisting and turning beyond the physical, with smart heroines determined to save themselves (and the world, natch) while everything conspires to stop them.

I love David Annandale's writing, and am watching for his next books eagerly. Meantime, this is definitely recommended, and I hope these characters return.

A Slow Burn Horror..................


In The Coils Of The Labyrinth by David Annandale takes you back to Arkham Asylum. Although, the plot is an immersing one, as it caught me right from the beginning. But, by the time I reached the middle of the story, it seemed like ages. I was too disappointed that I had to drag myself to the climax. If I talk about the characters, then they are fantastic. Agatha and Miranda are the pillars of the story. Also, at some points the plot takes an abrupt change which confused me. Maybe the book was not for me.

I would like to give the book 3 stars. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me an opportunity to read and review the book.

⭐⭐⭐ -- Most excellent cover on this one!

What can i say about this one? I didn't love it. I didn't hate it. On the positive side, it was very atmospheric and creepy. The tuberculosis stuff was well written. On the other hand, it felt like a slog to get through. 🤷🏻‍♀️

**ARC Via NetGalley**

This book definitely caught me at just the right time, but it also just hit all of its beats, achieved what it set out to do, and did it well, so don't think I'm rating it 5 stars just because I was in the perfect mood for Lovecraftian horror. Though it really was a perfect read for my Halloween weekend this year, especially with me running my seasonal Call of Cthulhu game for the holiday.

For those who are unaware the Arkham Horror books, while obviously inspired by and derivative of the works of HP Lovecraft, are more specifically within the universe of Chaosium's tabletop role-playing game (think Dungeons & Dragons), Call of Cthulhu. Lovecraftian/cosmic horror is one of my favorite genres, especially in the hands of modern writers who eschew Lovecraft's barely disguised bigoted metaphors and euphemisms.

In the Coils of the Labyrinth, set in 1920s Arkham, Massachusetts, consists of a cast of mainly female characters. The main protagonist, Miranda Ventham, is a professor of literature (mainly romanticism) at Miskatonic University. Her BFF is a mid 60s parapsychologist, Agatha Crane, who is actually quite the badass. Miranda spends most of the novel holed up in a sanitarium for suffering tuberculosis, in a mindfunk. Occasionally she has moments of brightness, seen mainly in her conversations with Agatha or with the (human) antagonist, Donovan Stroud. It gets frustrating being inside her head so much, which actually works with Annandale's plot. Still, I liked Agatha better and wanted more of her lol Even the side characters were fascinating though!

The antagonist, Stroud, is mostly boring, and even a little sympathetic. The actual protagonist was genuinely terrifying though. I like that nowhere and nothing is safe, which is what I always found to be the most terrifying thing about Lovecraft's monsters.

This was a fun little read, very quick and enjoyable and scary. David Annandale is a great writer, and I look forward to checking out more of his work (and I hope he writes another Arkham Horror novel and brings back Agatha!).

Not the first book I read by David Annandale but his first book in the world of Arkham . A creepy and highly entertaining book that kept me turning pages.
The author di an excellent job in mixing the cosmic horror with mystery and the atmosphere of the Twenties.
The characters are fleshed out, there's the right level of creepiness, and it's highly entertaining.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

A dark and gothic read that was chilling and creepy that I will think about for a while. I loved it, a great red for fans of dark/horror reads.

To be short., I wanted to like this and didn’t. It takes place in a long line of Arkham books based on H.P. Lovecraft’s works and the game. I think this is the 17th book.

I’m not a fan. I didn’t like the characters. I just couldn’t get into their lives, I didn’t care. Then there’s the fact that the mystery element of the story, while well done, slogs. IT takes up so much time. I just got bored.

It takes place in an asylum but it isn’t the standard horror in an asylum fare and I just wanted to enjoy it. It feels like the way the plot is constructed and plays out gets in the way of actually enjoying it which was a disappointment.

I love seeing what other author’s do with Lovecraft’s work given his horribly racist self and the way it shows in his work. If I want to continue that, I think I’ll just read books by people he was racist against because the way they handle it is deft and beautiful and this, unfortunately, was not.

I give i a two (2) out of five (5).

I received this eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to them and the publisher.

In the Coils of the Labyrinth isn't your average Arkham Horror title. It's a book that plays things pretty close to its chest for much of the novel, and relies on a more subtle, insidious kind of horror to get under your skin.

It tells the story of Miranda Ventham, a professor at Miskatonic University. She lives alone in her modest apartment, teaches literature, and has a decent, enjoyable life. However, as she begins to grow more and more sick, she has to face the possibility that perhaps she's suffering from more than just a simple cold. When she gets diagnosed with tuberculosis she has the choice of either going to the local hospital, or trying out the new Stroud Insitute, a building that Miranda has watched slowly constructed on a plot of empty land in the middle of the city.

Having heard that patients at the hospital haven't been doing too well, and that the new Stroud Institute has had a few successes with its more unusual methods, Miranda decides to take her chances at the Institute. When she arrives she finds a building that's brand new, but that looks like it's been there for decades or more, ancient and modern at the same time. The interior layout is filled with twists and turns that seem designed to confuse. And she begins to have strange dreams about the place. Whilst she does begin to improve at the Institute, the uneasy feelings she has only intensify when more and more usual stuff starts to happen. Convinced that there's more to the Stroud Institute than there first appears, Miranda becomes determined to get to the bottom of it.

One of the things that this particular story does it capture the strange feeling of being sick. I'm sure we've all had at least one time when we can remember being sick enough that reality seemed to bend and warp around you. Whether it's a fever making patterns on the wall move, being convinced that someone's there to hurt you, or even just being that sick that you think you're going to die. Illness can have horrible effects on the mind. And David Annandale uses this to torment both Miranda and the reader. There are times in this novel where you start to question what you've read. Did that really happen, or was it just Miranda's illness messing with her?

And this is where the book excels, as taking those mundane moments, of living through hospital, of being stuck in your bed for hours at a time, unable to do anything, unable to talk to people, going through the same routines over and over and feeling like nothing is improving, and making them even worse by injecting the paranormal. If it wasn't for the fact that Miranda has a friend in the outside world who's investigating and finding paranormal horrors this story could believable pull a twist where there was nothing wrong at all.

Speaking of her ally, I have to talk a bit about Agatha Crane, her friend and fellow professor at Miskatonic. An expert in parapsychology, Agatha latches onto Miranda's stories of her experiences, having lived in Arkham for years she knows that the city is more than it first appears. Using her ability to actually get around in the real world, Agatha is able to do the legwork that Miranda can't and gets to go off on a particularly great side-adventure that's easily my favourite part of the book.

I won't spoil it too much, but Agatha and her husband, Wilbur, set off on a journey that will take them around the world, investigating ancient sites, and dealing with horrors that can bend and warp reality. They are some of the more tense and action heavy parts of the book, and also have the more overt horror elements, and it's great seeing an older couple getting into adventures and scrapes like that; especially Wilbur who is absolutely not equipped for it, but supports his wife through anything. I would love to see more stories with the two of them involved.

In the Coils of the Labyrinth is a slow, insidious horror that plays more on fears of hospitals and loss of health than having cthulian monsters chasing people down corridors (though there is some of that), and stands out amongst the other entries in the series. It takes risks, and tells a very different kind of story about two women rising up to take on forces beyond their comprehension. It might not be for everyone, it might freak you out a bit too much, but for me, it was a wonderfully twisted reading experience.

I went back and forth on this one. On one hand, the first half of the book was interesting enough and set the scene very well. I also thought this was interesting because it was based on a board game. The horror scenes were really well done and definitely creeped me out.
I feel like this was a missed opportunity. It would have been fantastic as a graphic novel, and I thought it was one prior to reading it.
However, the second half had so many POVs that it was hard to follow so I had no idea what was going on. Neither did any of the characters. They couldn't articulate what was going on well enough for me to really care about the solution. The characters also fell kind of flat for me.
All in all, interesting premise but wasn't for me. 2.5 🌟
thank you to NetGalley and Aconyte books for this Advanced Readers Copy, this title is available now.

4,5/5 stars (rounded up)

Another book immersed in the 1920's Arkham Horror universe. In this story, you follow Professor Miranda Ventham who unfortunately becomes sick with tuberculosis. She then gets herself into the Stroud Institute in which the treatments sound promising. Her nightmares becoming more frequent and confusing, she gets help from her parapsychologist friend, Agatha Crane. Together, they will try to solve the mystery of the strange things happening in the walls of the Stroud Institute.

I really enjoyed my read. I have not ready any of the other books from this serie and I hadn't heard about the Arkham Horror universe before receiving this arc. I did do a little bit of research on the board game before diving into the book which I'm glad I did.

I think the author really set the tone in this unique universe. With the introduction of the main charactar, Miranda, I was quickly invested in the story. I enjoyed how the author took the time to develop the characters and they were really fun to read. I have to admit that I was expecting a bit more horror from the beginning of the book. I don't feel like the first half was very scray, but the second half definitely made up for it. It kind of reminded me of a "Buffy-the-Vampire-Slayer-End-of-the-World" type of vibe which I really enjoyed. It just took a little while to go into it. The staff and other patients in the Institute were definitely creepy and helped set the thriller tone fo the book. I think the pacing was a bit slow in the first half but it definitely picked up as it went.

I also really enjoyed Agatha's journey and research she did overseas. I think it brought some interesting elements and was really fun to see her character grow and evolve as her journey went on. I was weary at first of how the "healing" part of the tuberculosis was dealt with in the book but it was eventually dealt with. I loved the metephor of the labyrinth that was thouroughly thought of in the book and all the life reflexions it brought up. I thiknk it was a very interesting aspect to add to the book and it brought a little bit more depth to the story.

Overall I really enjoyed the read. It was creepy, it was fun and I was invested in the characters. I would highly recommend this book to fans of historical fiction horror/thriller as well as fans of supernatural phenomenons. This ARC definitely got me interested in reading more books from the Arkham Horror serie.

Thank you to NetGalley and Aconyte for the digital ARC in exchange of an honest review.

In the Coils of the Labyrinth by David Annadale is a heart-pounding dive into a world filled with Lovecraftian horrors. I will admit that I am unfamiliar with the Arkham Horror series, and so I went in blind -- however, I still found it to be an engaging read and don't think I was missing anything for having not known the franchise. Definitely one for the cosmic-horror and gothic noir crowd.

"An unnatural terror penetrating our reality preys on the dreams of its victims, in this darkly captivating novel set in the world of Arkham Horror.

Professor Miranda Ventham is having bad dreams - nothing new in 1920s Arkham - but hers are horrifying glimpses of a dark future. Now seriously ill, she books herself into the new sanatorium, Stroud Institute. With luck, the town's eldritch taint won't reach her there. And yet the nightmares worsen. With the aid of her friend, parapsychologist Agatha Crane, they delve into the background of the sanatorium's enigmatic director, Donovan Stroud. Plagued by doubts, delusions, and terrifying visions, Miranda must unravel the shrouded history of the Strouds before she is trapped in a labyrinthine nightmare. Something sinister lurks at its heart, and it longs to be set free."

Would you want to go into a sanatorium in Arkham? Hell no. Which is why it's so fun to read about it.

Rating:
4 out of 5 stars

Summary:
Miranda and Agatha both work at university when Miranda falls ill. She is diagnosed with TB and needs to go to a sanatorium. A new one just happened to have opened in town, so that’s a great opportunity, right? Agatha brings her and they talk for a while in her new room, but then the time has come that Agatha needs to leave and Miranda is left behind. It feels as if the hallways are not linear, but that’s probably the fatigue… right?
More and more odd events happen at the sanatorium and both women don’t trust it. Agatha, who is parapsychologist, starts to do some research, because something just doesn’t add up here…
What the hell is going on here and will they solve it in time?

Review
The book is divided into three parts and each part shows a different state of the sanatorium and the people in it. We get to see most of the events through Miranda’s perspective, but sometimes also Agatha’s and seldom one of the other patients’. I like this alternation between perspectives, because it gives you an insight in different parts of the story. However, it is at times a bit confusing that he perspective shifts, because it also happens in the middle of a chapter and is not announced.
The chapters, then, are fairly short, which is great when you want to read for shorter periods of time as well (f.i. when waiting for the bus). You can literally pick up the novel anytime for a few minutes.
Lastly, before I start talking about the plot, this was definitely a cover-pick. LOOK AT IT, IT’S BEAUTIFUL. AND A GREAT STORY. WIN-WIN.
First thing I really like about the plot is the fact that the women are portrayed as very strong, powerful, independent and daring and the men as more scared and reserved. The women carry the story and know what to do. The leader of the so-called cult is a man with a female assistant, which is unfortunate in the feminist reading, but it doesn’t end well for him, so that makes up for it.
I also think that the characters are well-written, since they really have their own personalities and background stories and it feels as if they are real human beings. It makes the story that much more real and you can easier forget you’re reading.
The world is very well written as well. The descriptions are lively and really makes you think about the world as Miranda experiences it. Is the sanatorium build ‘correctly’ or is there really something wrong?
The only thing I didn’t quite like was the fact that the novel was labelled as ‘horror’, whereas I thought it was more a thriller or a psychological novel. Sure, there were some aspects that were gross and suspenseful, but it definitely wasn’t that scary.

Conclusion:
I really recommend this book, especially now we’re nearing spooky season! It’s a great novel with a suspenseful atmosphere and some mind-twisting concepts. It’s well-written and it has well-developed characters, not to mention the world-building!

As with all of the Arkham Horror series this is set in the 1920s and loosely based on Lovecraftian horror. Lovecraft was a horrible racists so I love to see diversity set in his universe. This follows a woman, Professor Miranda Ventham, who has TB and she must go to a sanatorium to recover.

A horror set in a 1920s sanatorium is pretty much a recipe for success in my book but this isn't your typical "tortured by the horrible staff" kind of sanatorium. This one is actually pretty nice if you ignore evil god creating being summoned to destroy the universe.

I recommend if you like your horror mixed with a little mystery solving, a 1920s setting, and creepy worm vibes.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. I only recently stumbled into Arkham Horror and have been delighted that I don't have to be deeply familiar with the board game to enjoy the books. This was a delightful, spooky, thought-provoking read that makes you wonder what is on the other side. The chills are perfect to make this an autumnal read!