Spooky season seems to be the time when most people want to read horror fiction. For me, it's a year-round thing, but I do try to make it a point to read at least one ghost story during the month of October. Doesn't always happen, but I try. This year, I was successful and read The Haunting of William Thorn by Ben Alderson. Now, I've never read anything else by Alderson, so I wasn't sure what to expect.
The book opens in 1939, with the police investigating what appears to be the suicide of a young man, Robert Thomas. The only clue as to why he might have done it is a telegram announcing the death of Edward Jones. Then we jump to 2024 and are introduced to one William Thorn, the proud new owner of Hanbury Manor, who has come into possession of the abandoned property through an inheritance. It seems his fiancé, Archie Thomas, recently passed and left the manor to him.
No sooner does William arrive when he has an unexpected visitor, Edward Jones (yes, a relation to THAT Edward Jones). It seems the young man was hoping to gain access to the property so he can find out what happened to his great-uncle, Edward "Teddy" Jones, 85 years ago. Seems the young man went missing from the manor, where he worked as a gardener. The two soon realize the house is haunted. Well, Edward believes the house is haunted; William still needs convincing, and until such irrefutable evidence can be presented, he insists there's a logical explanation for everything that is happening. The longer they stay in the house, the harder it becomes for William to insist there's no such thing as ghosts, and before too long, they're pulled into an investigation of the property and all its secrets, while trying to keep their own secrets hidden.
All the trappings of your typical haunted house story are present here, and despite being predictable at times, Alderson does a good job of creating some genuinely creepy moments, and the story moves along at a brisk pace, so the reader is never bored, and the manor's mysteries only serve to hook the reader. That's not to say the book doesn't have its problems, however, because it does, with the big one being the character of William Thorn himself. William is not a likable character. In fact, he comes across as rather boorish, and the reader never really warms up to him. You keep waiting for that moment where he softens up and becomes "human," and it never happens. You think the moment his secret is revealed would be the moment where you finally sympathize with him, but just the opposite happens. The reader almost becomes smug, believing everything William is experiencing and feeling is justified. So why Edward becomes so taken with him becomes one of the book's BIG mysteries. Edward, on the other hand, is a likable character despite all his flaws. And when his BIG secret is revealed, it's a moment where I think the author expects you to turn on him, but he only becomes more sympathetic.
Needless to say, Alderson's The Haunting of William Thorn was a very pleasant surprise (even though I hated the ending), and I'll definitely be checking out more books by the author. Recommended reading, especially during the spooky season.
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