Thank you NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for the eARC.
I was disappointed in this book, the premise sounded great, but it was fairly boring as a read. The characters did not appeal to me, the chapters on quantum physics were beyond me (not the author's fault!) and the ghost was not frightening at all. All in all a bit of a slog...I raced through to the end, which was the best part. As most of the reviews I read were 4 and 5 stars, I'm obviously in the minority!

Who doesn’t love a supernatural thriller? The General Theory of Haunting has all the elements of a good old- fashioned ghost story/thriller with a surprising twist to the tale. Not recommended bedtime reading as you’ll be busy checking over your shoulder for ‘visitors’!

The General Theory of Haunting sucked me in and held me. It's not your every day haunting story. Take a love story, add some quantum physics, mysticism, great writing, well developed characters, and a twisting plot and you have a unique story. Enjoyed it tremendously.

This is one of those books that as you read it, you think to yourself, this would make a really solid movie. Truly hair raising in some places, and heart wrenching in others, once the secret is finally revealed, you understand how delicately and precisely this book was put together.

I thought there was good pacing with the back and forth between past and present but it was a bit slow to develop. Ultimately I really enjoyed navigating the ties between everything. A bit more science than I’d typically like but it all fits together in the end. I thought Anne’s storyline in particular was very compelling and well written. You have to be patient for the first third as the characters get mapped out but it was worth the wait.

Thanks as always to NetGalley, the publishers and the author for the opportunity to read and review.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. There were some truly terrifying passages and spine tingling scenes. I read this book straight through and was not disappointed in the ending.

The General Theory Of Haunting – Richard Easter
Summary:
A ghost story, replete with an isolated Victorian mansion, built in 1810 by a grieving widower Lord Marryman, and whose mysterious purpose has not been unveiled until New Years eve, over two hundred years later.

Main Characters:
There are six visitors to the house on this ill-fated New Year’s eve, all employees or owners of K&K Publishing Company. Each have their own strengths, but most importantly their own weaknesses and secrets, which are laid bare in the house.

Mr Boulder: The suave, knowing, polished butler, who has served the Marryman family for over forty years, and seems to hide more than he shows.

Lord Marryman: Third Lord Marryman, he builds Marryman Hall seemingly as a country getaway, but it has a deeper purpose than what he is willing to publically reveal.

Plot:

Deep in the Dorset countryside, in the teeth of a vicious snowstorm, six people are struggling to make their way to a New Year’s Eve party, being thrown over three days by K&K Publishing. It was a last-minute choice of venue, and most of the team has cried off for various reasons.

Two are the sibling owners, Greg and Lucy Knight (one deeply and smugly religious, the other an alcoholic), two are the married couple Dan and Anne Barker (who outwardly are united, but inwardly struggling to come to terms with the death of their disabled son Nat), and finally Ian and Paula Hatton, also married, but also with their own secrets to hide. Especially from each other.

Ian and Paula finally get to the door, and are bundled inside by the butler, Stanley Boulder. We immediately get a sense of the Hall watching, looming, waiting. Quite quickly, we find out just how isolated the Hall is – no internet other than dial-up (kudos to younger readers who know what that is!), no working phone, and roads sealed by the blizzard. There is an unease in the group, with no-one really wanting to be there, and Boulder sets the scene with benign explanations of the noises the Hall makes.

The story then cuts to 1809/1810, where the Third Lord Marryman is losing his wife Patience. His final promise is to find her, and he makes this the focus of the rest of his life. Immensely wealthy, he has access to the great and the good to the odd and downright mad, and consults them all. A sharp intellect fed by voracious reading in multiple disciplines, this leads him to design plans for a Hall in Dorset. He has the money to enable his project to be completed, and the social standing to be able to ignore the naysayers.

Back in the twenty-first century, the snow has entombed the guests, who begin to take a more active interest in the Hall, for want of other distractions. They get glimpses of the history from Boulder, but also begin to pick up the scent of a puzzle, that something is not quite right about the Hall.

They begin to hear voices, footsteps, phrases out of context, and what appear to be warnings, and unexplained shapes appear. Increasingly scared, the individual issues each of the group is personally facing come to a head, and they cannot hide from them anymore.

Coming across writings of Lord Marryman, the scientist amongst the group recognises formulae equivalent to quantum mechanics, written some two hundred years before they were officially proven. Quantum mechanics, from what I gathered, is the science of the extremely small, down at a level where “magic” happens.

From there, the tension builds, as the guests figure out the real purpose behind the Hall. Even the sceptics begin to wonder exactly what did happen two hundred years ago, and what might Marryman have unleashed? The fear and paranoia of each of the guests influences their actions and interactions, and leads to some decisions being taken that under ordinary circumstances would not even had been thought of.

All of this builds the tension, up to the surprising reveal.

What I Liked:

How the characters began light and easy (e.g. Ian and Paula in the car), through to the fractured nature of the relationships at the end – very believable transition, and excellent interplay between all the characters.
The characters themselves were excellent, each with deep flaws (e.g. Lucy the alcoholic, but we only find out at the end the reason for her self-loathing; Dan, who cannot articulate his sense of loss, and is unable to help his suffering wife).
I liked the layman’s explanation of quantum mechanics!
The interchange between past and present went very well, and I did like the ending of the 19th Century part of the story.
What I Didn’t Like:

It was slow to take off, the author focusing on scene-setting and atmosphere-creation, but then picked up pace about half-way in.
For me, the reveal was a little anti-climactic, with me looking for more horror and scare. However, it IS part of a trilogy, so other characters make step forward in the next book.
Overall:

It was a good read, and a relatively quick one. Once the story picks up, it moves at a rattling pace, and the tension builds nicely.

There are some excellent twists before the end, and the author takes an innovative angle on the purpose behind the Hall. If you like your gothic horror, this is a very good choice.

Acknowledgements:

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for giving me a free pdf of the book, in return for an honest and objective review.

This was an enjoyable read. A classic British haunting played out beautifully. Past and present meet to tell a tale of betrayal and deception and the consequences of death. It does drag quite slowly in some areas as the author attempts to create an atmosphere, but nothing too off putting. The characters are interesting in their own right and well believable. Not too dragged out, but a fairly normal read.

For me this book was just ok. It was very slow moving until around three fourths of the way into it. The characters were very well fleshed out and you got to know them quite well (except for Greg). Few of them were very likable. By the end I was rooting for the ghosts.

With a gothic feel, and very atmospheric this is a wonderful read for those who enjoy haunted houses stories.

It's very well written, with interesting characters and some really smart plot points. The story engages you from the beginning, leaving you with a very creepy feeling, what else could I ask?

Easter has accomplished what many have said was impossible - to combine something truly unique with the tried and true formula of a good ghost story. Simply put - this is s must read for fans of horror, suspense, the supernatural and those who simply appreciate a well crafted tale, regardless of genre.

This book really drew me in, so imaginative. Absolutely did not see that ending coming and it was all the better for it. Each character was dissected thoroughly and irrevocably changed, with all their secrets laid bare. Highly recommended.

Wow, loved it. it scared me half to death until it was explained as to what was really happening. It's an exciting, interesting and enjoyable book. I really, really want to read the others in the trilogy now,

Very well written, nice twists at the end.

The general theroy of haunting ⭐️
After lord fancis’s wife died he became slightly obsessed with reuniting with his wife. He is a man of science but knows that he can bring her back somehow.

It was a good ghost story but also you know when you pick it up that it is going to be spooky (or at least hope so) so every page kept me guessing when will the action the mystery the haunting start.

Star reasoning
⭐️The writing drew me in right away. I loved his description of the characters

⭐️The characters were relatable and fun and i wanted them to survive and solve the mystery so to say.

⭐️The haunting was ultimately handled in the end which i didn’t expect. I thought there would be an ongoing mystery that would haunt those for years to come. But it didnt.

-2 I found that i liked the year 1810 perspective better then 2018. I liked all the characters just fine but I didnt connect with them. I wanted the spirit to win and overtake the people because a good ghost story for me is gruesome and has you terrified that ghost are real. I didnt get that from this. I did enjoy it but maybe i just wasnt in the ghostly mood.

Thank you so much to Endervour media via netgalley for sending me an ARC copy of The general theory of haunting by Richard Easter. This is already available to read at your pleasure. (December 24, 2017)
All opinions are my own.

This one started off a bit slow with an introduction to the characters and Marryman Hall, but it had a gothic feel to it and the characters were interesting enough to keep me turning pages. The pacing stayed rather slow for a good part of the book with something creepy happening here and there as we get to know the characters and their flaws, personal problems, vices, etc. We also get some rather detailed talk of quantum physics, which I'll admit had me zoning out, but that's just me. Finally, things pick up and really start moving as this group figures out what is really going on with Marryman Hall and it's history. While I did guess a lot of it before we got the explanation, I did enjoy the reveal, so this one ended up being a mixed bag for me in terms of reading pleasure.

This book was quite a surprise. The concept is very reminiscent of Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House. A small company decides to hold a News Year Eve party/retreat in an old hall in the English countryside. A snow storm keeps the majority of guests unable to reach the building, while the few who do make it are trapped within its walls for a number of days.

They are served by a single man, Mr. Boulder, who prepares their meals, shows them to their rooms, and tells them some of the history of the building, which was built by an ancestor of the family who still owns it.

As they try to remain entertained while stuck within this house, the six coworkers began to explore and unusual, unexplainable events begin to occur. Just as in The Haunting of Hill House, I felt as if events that the characters believed had supernatural causes were just as likely resulting from psychological issues within each of the characters themselves. And, although I love Shirley Jackson’s book, and I was enjoying the atmospheric writing of this novel, I was feeling rather disappointed at times because of how derivative it felt.

However, the book takes a strong turn away from the expected course when one of the visitors discovers what appear to be explanations of quantum physics in the writings of the man who originally built the house. From there, the story veered off into a completely unexpected path, and one that was at once very interesting and truly creepy. From that point, I found the story fascinating and enjoyed the novel through to the end.

I received an advanced reading copy from Booksgosocial via NetGalley. Thanks!

I enjoyed The General Theory of Haunting, although I did find it a very slow moving read, especially the first 40%. I particularly liked the descriptions of the snow scenes and the personalities of the characters really came through. It is a creepy, and in parts, a scary read and the writing flows really well. Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and Mr Easter for an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest opinion.

The General Theory of Haunting is a nicely-written, paranormal mystery thriller that moves slowly at first, picks up pace, has great character development, several surprises, and an absolutely fascinating theory on... well, hauntings. Marryman Hall also manages to develope a personality of its own. This isn't a horror novel, despite the hauntings. But part of the novel make a beautiful love story. Watching the time-spanning mystery of Marryman Hall unfold was just as exciting as the more usual action packed murder solving mysteries. A lovely book. I'm looking forward to more work from this author.

Firstly, I would like to thank NetGalley, BooksGoSocial and Richard Easter for the opportunity to read The General Theory Of Haunting.
I found this book to be an enjoyable read. The storyline was well thought out with very vivid descriptions that make the book come alive. I will definitely be reading more from this author.
If you like creepy ghost stories, I think you will find The General Theory Of Haunting well worth a read.