I appreciate having had an opportunity to read and review this book. The appeal of this particular book was not evident to me, and if I cannot file a generally positive review I prefer simply to advise the publisher to that effect and file no review at all.

An admirable novel indeed, THE GENERAL THEORY OF HAUNTING has taken its place on my metaphorical bookshelf with Garth Stein 's A SUDDEN LIGHT and John Harwood's THE GHOST WRITER. I devoured this novel, even as it planted roots in my memory and consciousness. A most exquisite rendering, it defies my ability to describe.

Siblings who own the London publishing house founded by their late parents decide to celebrate the company's 18th anniversary by treating their four employees to an end-of-year house party; but no accommodations are available. Except, rather suddenly, comes an unexpected offer, from an unknown locale: Marryman House, in the "wilds" of Devon. Available Dec. 29-Jan. 2, the secluded upper-class establishment should be a joyful party spot: but instead it immediately morphs into a hotbed of rivalries, grief, hatred, revealed secrets. Snowed in, "seeing things," hearing unidentifiable sounds, in an extraordinarily constructed building, the "party" becomes a pressure cooker. Marryman House in Devon is quite literally a building unique in design and execution, a home constructed in less than a snowy year in 1810; a building with an incredible, a visionary, purpose. THE GENERAL THEORY OF HAUNTING will inspire readers to rethink everything they know about classical physics, quantum mechanics, metaphysics, and relativity.

The beginning develops at a slow pace. Character development is crucial to the storyline and well done. There is a bit of flowery language, but not so much that it detracts from the reading enjoyment level. Some of the scenes are fabulously developed to capture the essence and atmosphere of the individuals as they interact with the ghosts as well as the mansion itself. Would I read it again? No. Did I enjoy it? Yes, once the action and pace picked up about 40% into the story. Would I recommend? Yes, to those readers who don't mind slow development of setting and characterizations and who enjoy unexpected twists and turns and peering into our secret selves.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC copy of the book. The opinions expressed above are my own.

A very slow read and the characters were just not there. I was really hoping to enjoy this I like a good ghost story but unfortunately, it was lacking.

A great read for those dark nights that you can't sleep - cause once you get started, you will not be able to stop until you finish the book!

If you love a thrilling ghost story, check this one out!

Atmospheric and dark, where science and the supernatural meet with nerve shredding results! A new take on the haunted house mysteries.

This book was hit-and-miss for me. Hit: Good backstory, good writing, interesting twist that kept me reading to the end. Miss: Didn't care about the present-day characters, not a ghost story (which is what I expected it to be), bit of an overused premise for a story.

The author has knack for writing in the theme of gothic horror. I enjoyed the atmosphere and eerie descriptive prose. Where things fell flat for me was in the character development. I didn’t feel like I really knew any of the characters all that well except for their glaring flaws. As a result, I didn’t particularly like any of them or feel like I was emotionally attached to any of them. This ultimately made it challenging to stay invested in the story. I think with better character development from the onset, I would have enjoyed this book much more than I did.

The General Theory of Haunting is supernatural story with a Gothic twist told concurrently in dual time periods. In present day (2018) Lucy and Greg Knights, current owners of a Christian publishing company, booking Marryman Hall for a New Year's Eve celebration with their employees. A massive snowstorm strands the handful of guest fortunate (?) to have reached the Hall, wherein odd things happen leading to startling revelations and harsh truths. There are occasional flashbacks to the early 1800's with Lord Frances Marryman mourning the loss of his wife Patience and building Marryman Hall, a uniquely designed estate as a way keep her memory alive.

I enjoyed the overall pacing and the melding of science and spiritualism into the story, as the guests in the present day deal with the isolation of being stuck in a "haunted" estate, and the groundwork in the flashback scenes that trigger the events in the future. Time is definitely wibbly-wobbly in many ways which I should have anticipated but didn't, and the conclusion fit in the way most ghost/horror stories end.

As this is to be the first in a trilogy of stories (though given the flexible use of time in this story, that might be debatable), I'm curious to read more about these characters and the scientific theorems presented (in an understandable, not-too-technical way).

This was the best kind of ghost story to read on a cold, snowy night. A very interesting story which pulls you right in and stays with you after you've finished it. Definitely recommend.

In 1809, Lord Francis Marryman has lost his wife. He desperately misses her and, in honour of her, decides to build a Hall in the Devon countryside.

Two centuries later, K&K Publishing Company needs a last-minute venue for their New Year’s Eve party. Marryman Hall is the only place available, and when the day of the party arrives, a snowstorm means only a handful of people can attend, soon finding themselves snowed in with no phone or internet.

As the guests settle into the Hall, looked after by the butler, Mr Boulder, they start to hear noises and voices that they can’t explain. The more they delve into the history of the Hall looking for answers, the more their own secrets are brought to light, and the more they realise that Lord Marryman wasn’t simply building a house to remember his wife, but was attempting something much more sinister.

The General Theory of Haunting starts off as a pretty generic ghost story: A group of people are stuck in a big manor type house with no contact with the outside world. Their only companion is a butler who’s a little bit off, but no one’s sure why. They start to hear strange noises and see odd things happening. Fairly standard stuff for a ghost story set up.

But this is a ghost story with a bit of a twist. It gets a bit science-y, which is unusual in a story about the occult. We find out that Lord Marryman was a bit ahead of his time when it comes to quantum physics and it takes a turn that not a lot of ghost stories have done before (I don’t think).

I liked this unusual direction because otherwise, I think this could have been a really basic story. And Easter deals with the scientific stuff well. It’s not written in a way that alienates anyone. So if you’re familiar with quantum physics it’s not dumbed down too much that it will bore you, but if you’re not, it’s still easy enough to follow.

Even with the scientific elements, Easter manages to keep it a great ghost story, and a lot of that has to do with the claustrophobic atmosphere he creates. You feel like you’re snowed in the house with the guests with the walls creeping in on you.

The characters themselves are what drive this story. Their fractured relationships are heightened by their situation. The fact that they’re stuck in this house with only each other means they have no choice but to face their problems, some with disastrous consequences. Each person is brought to breaking point with no way to escape. It makes a great read!

The story does take a while to actually get going, which annoyed me a little bit as I wasn’t sure if there was much point in continuing. And the reader figures out what’s going on just before the characters do, so I did find myself willing them to hurry up and get it because I was getting a bit bored.

But it is worth sticking with as it’s an interesting plot and satisfying ending. If you find yourself waning a little while reading it, just keep going a little longer. I don’t think you’ll regret it.

The General Theory of a Haunting by Richard Easter

This book ensure that you are up way past your bedtime. In this story we meet Siblings, Greg and Lucy Knights who are looking for a venue to host the 18th anniversary of their publishing company. As luck would have it, because it was last minute, there was one place available, Marrymen Hall. The building has a history that not many know about. When it was built by Francis Marryman, his wife had died and as a tribute to her something more was placed in the house besides the brick and mortar.
As the cold weather and snow beat down on the town there are only six guests that are able to make it. Once inside though, there will be no turning back. There are many things that we learn about the guests and the author does a great job at weaving them into the story and showing the true colors of those who are supposed to be friends but may not be more than enemies. What could this house possess? The butler says the house is not possessed. However, as the six guests venture around they find out that may not be true. As our guests secrets are revealed, so are more of the previous owner/builder. They begin to hear voices and see things that could not possibly be there. Then just as you think you have it somewhat figured out, there is a bombshell that will leave you thinking about this story long after you have finished reading it. Certainly a great story to read close to Halloween.

Thank you to netgalley as well as the author for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

A haunted house novel that reads more than little like an off-brand 'The Haunting of Hill House'. Here too we have a house with inexplicable powers and a set of people with just the right skills necessary to solve the mystery. In this case it's Marryman Hall, a large Regency-era house isolated deep in the English countryside. When a publishing company needs to rent a location for their New Year's Eve 2018 party, Marryman Hall just happens to be conveniently available. Unfortunately a snowstorm closes the roads, and only six employees actually make it to the party. There they find themselves alone with the hall's butler and completely cut off from civilization: no cellular service, no internet, not even a TV. What to do but explore the odd noises coming from the house, which begin to escalate into words, footsteps, and visions? Particularly once they learn Marryman Hall was specially constructed to summon Patience, a previous Lord Marryman's wife, back from the dead. Luckily this publishing company specializes in Christian literature, New Age spiritualism, and physics (no, such a weird combination is given no real explanation), so they basically have every angle on the supernatural covered. Each person also has some dark secret – barely functional alcoholism, grief for a dead child, a secret marital affair, etc – all of which of course come into play as the story progresses.

It's a fine book (I mean, it's not as good as Shirley Jackson, but that would be an unfairly high bar to apply to all new horror novels) if not particularly memorable, but then Easter has to ruin it by trying to provide an logical explanation. Which he does through an, um, extremely <i>unique</i> understanding of quantum mechanics:

<i>Could it be, Bishop, that Angels are quanta?

I have combined magic with science, and I have done it here at Marryman Hall. I have done it to find my beloved Patience because I believe part of her can be found, in the quantum.</i>

DEAD PEOPLE ARE IN THE QUANTUM, YOU GUYS. The word "quanta" is used so often in <I>The General Theory of Haunting</i> that it ceased to have any meaning. Particularly because it's often used as though quantum were a place, which is not remotely how science works. Why do authors feel the need to pretend that their supernatural stories are plausible? Just tell me it's a magic house that summons magic ghosts and I will be very happy! Instead I can't help laughing at this extremely silly and inaccurate evocation of physics.

Anyway. If you have a higher tolerance than I do for Hollywood Science, you might enjoy <I>The General Theory of Haunting</i>. There are a few genuinely scary scenes, and I did like the eventual resolution of the mystery; it left more than a few plot holes gaping open, but it was a take on the haunted house genre that I've never seen before. For my part though, I'm forever going to giggle at "angels are quanta".

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2568294290

When only a handful of staff from Knights & Knights publishers arrive for their New Year’s week away at an isolated mansion, the attendees assume they’re in for a dull holiday. When the history of the building begins to awaken, they find out how very wrong they were.

The General Theory of Haunting is the first novel in The Snow Trilogy series.

I thought The General Theory of Haunting was going to be your run of the mill haunted house story that is super derivative of Shirley Jackson. I was so wrong. The General Theory of Haunting is a fascinating combination of horror, science fiction and mystery that burns slow but in doing so only increases the suspense.
The characters in The General Theory of Haunting are well rounded and feel real. They are just your average, run of the mill flawed humans trying to do their best with what they have and who they are.

I loved how much Easter was able to explore the humans in The General Theory of Haunting without bogging down the suspense or their experiences in the mansion. Their past intwines perfectly with their present and I was left genuinely wondering about their futures.

Overall, I found The General Theory of Haunting to be unexpected but thoroughly enjoyable. The haunted house story is eerie, the characters are interesting and the twists are really fun. If you enjoy the unexpected in your reads then I highly recommend The General Theory of Haunting.

As the first horror book that i’m reading, I quite loved the atmosphere even as it wierdly soothed me to sleep in a way. However, this book wasn’t the non-fiction I would’ve thought it was by the title of it, and to be honest even if I liked it; I just think it went kind of slow.. and thus the book felt long to me. Instead of horror escalating, it just kind of went up, stalled for a while, to go up again, stalled, and so on. I would’ve prefered the horror to keep escalating and really make me hold my breath – and that wasn’t the case here.

As for the characters … I don’t know, I didn’t particularly liked any of them. To me, it sounded like they all had something “wrong” with them; either mentally, an adiction, or even a rough past, which was kinda eh. I also prefer biology much more than physics, and the characters being so obsessed with the physics of the Maryman’s hall and how the hall was working all together with it’s wierd circular shape didn’t interrested me much. Added to that the multiple (atleast 5+) character’s POV, harder english and the jump in times which tend to have me needing to go and reread some stuff.. I’m giving it 3 stars and a half, as I did wanted to know what in hell was going on there in despice of all that and that kept me from DNFing it – aha. Could’ve been better in my opinion, but a good start into horror nonetheless.

When I started reading this book I saw glimpses of "The Shining"by Stephen King. It seemed as if the mansion was malevolently alive. But as I progressed with the book this changed into something even more astonishing.

I have to say Richard Easter is a master at keeping his readers guessing and on the edge of their seats. I'm absolutely amazed at this book. It was exceptional, the twists in the story line fantastic.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book.

this book was amazing and unique. I love the new take on haunting. the characters were believable and each had a great backstory. I loved how they interacted with each other. The other thing I really liked is the alternating POV. It gave the story more depth and dimension.

This messed with my head a little bit. It's a classic scenario - a group of people trapped in a weird house, unable to communicate with the outside world. They each have their own secrets and anxieties, and, of course, the setting will bring all that out and more.

I really enjoyed the author's voice, and the unrolling of the plot. There was a great spin on the haunted house mystery that I appreciated. Definitely worth a read.

Many people may well agree that socialising and holidaying with work colleagues is not without its dangers, especially not at Christmas and New Year. Especially not if the business is a small one, where skeletons in the cupboard and sexual tensions may come to the surface.
A small publisher of Christian and New Age material decides to do just that - in the inevitable mansion with History, snowed up in the middle of Nowhere. The enigmatic butler assures his hosts, however, that the place is not haunted.
But this is a gothic, neither ghost story nor another Poirot's Christmas. The new ingredient in the mix is the inventor of the building, who appears to have been on a Faustian quest to recreate the spirit of his dead wife, through a combination of science and magic.
So there may or may not be ghosts or if there are ghosts, perhaps not ghosts as we know them. And then there is what the guests themselves bring to the mix, in their angsts and isolation, along with whatever role the enigmatic Butler has to play.
An intriguing and interesting new take on this genre, with a few, fairly New Age twists along the way.

I liked this book just as much. She has a unique clean writing style that draws you in and just won't let you put the book down. I read this one in 5 hours. Highly recommend.