Wow just wow. This book was amazing start to finish. I had such a hard time putting it down. You are absolutely riveted and on the edge of your seat the entire time. This is the perfect Halloween read, it’s creepy, it’s scary and will make you look over your shoulder in the dark.

I literally could not go to sleep until I finished this book. And now I probably won’t sleep because I AM SCARED. This book was terrifying, haunting, intense, and just all around great book. I was trying to save all my @darcybooks reads for October, when my account will become a Darcy Coates Stan account, but when I got the opportunity to read this prior to its release I couldn’t resist. SO GOOD and the perfect spooky szn horror story.

This is probably my favourite of all Darcey Coates' books so far!!. It was full of horror, suspense and mystery. I had to read until the end...
It all starts with poor Margot coming home to bury her parents who both died at the same time in bed of a heart attack. Sounds very strange and hardly believeable. So what really happened?. Why are people afraid of Gallows Hill?. Margo has inherited a world famous winery and a massive sprawling house but things start to get decidedly creepy as the time goes on......
I loved it from start to finish, the atmospheric writing was fantastic and really made the book come to life and really feel scarey!!!. Just how I love it!!!!
Many thanks to Netgalley for the free ARC book for an honest review.
#Netgalley, poisonedpenpress, #darcybooks

After the unexpected death of her estranged parents, Margot finds that she has inherited their property - a huge house on a hill and a winery. The property has a lot of local superstition surrounding it due to the history of the land. Despite this, Margot decides to give this new life living in this home and owning the winery a shot. Then, some strange, terrifying things begin to happen at night…

Oh man, I LOVED this book! It was creepy from the beginning. I was physically cringing in some instances. Yet somehow, it also had me pretty emotional in some parts. And, my gosh, the ENDING!

Read it!

Gallows Hill is the type of gothic horror that never gets old. It is set at a rundown house and winery that lay upon a hill made famous for its previous intention: a place to hang people who were accused of committing a crime. Because of Gallows Hills morbid history, Margot’s family has been cursed for generations.

Darcy Coates has imbued Gallows Hill with a constant sense of foreboding. She plays a lot off of something that plagues anyone with a healthy fear of the dark: shadows. The shadows that Margot sees often actually are something that goes bump in the night. Coates has crafted a genuinely scary, but very entertaining novel. It is a thrilling read.

Margot returns to Gallow Hills at the sudden occurrence of the death of her parents, after a decade of her parents leaving her with her grandmother.
She had lots of questions with no one to answer them. Why they left her,
what caused so horrific death of her parents, and why everyone in town is afraid of Gallow Hills?

She was getting close to the answers but something worse was going to unfold in Gallow Hills.

My thoughts -

Darcy Coates's work is not new to me. I have read a few books written by her and I really liked Haunting of Ashburn House, so naturally, I had great expectations from this book.

It's so hard to accept that this book disappointed me.
It was an easy read with susceptible language but what took all my attention away was over description or you can say narration.
I felt like the story have so much to offer but it took a long paragraph only to describe a talisman and the list goes on. I had to skip lots of them to keep going.

The first half of the story was slow-paced with almost nothing happening with the main character and no twists and turns, but the 2nd half caught the momentum and was the most intriguing portion of the book. No doubt the ending was well written and author did the justice with the climax.

I liked the protagonist and Kant's character and they were the only force that kept me hooked during the first part. The atmospheric presentation was giving frightening gothic vibes and there were a few scenes so horrible that gave me goosebumps.

I would recommend this to readers who can bear long paragraphs and who like gothic, dark academia stuffs.

Ok. So horror/gothic novels are my go to. I love them. But because of this, it means I’m almost immune to the horror and the scares nowadays.
This book though, this book certainly had me engrossed and engaged in this unfolding tale. The atmosphere the author created was impeccable. So eerie! The characters also are extremely well thought out and brought to life.
This book has everything, and what really made me love it, was it had the creep factor. Something that is so often missing in modern books.
I’ll definitely be recommending this one to others.
Thank you to the author. the publisher and Netgalley for my arc.
All thoughts and opinions are entirely my own.
Thank

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an arc of this book.

Following the mysterious death of her parents, Margot returns to her childhood home, Gallows Hill, to settle her parents estate and find answers to why her parents left her to be raised by her grandmother at a young age. What she doesn’t know is that once she arrives at Gallows Hill, she belongs to the land and can never leave.

The first half of the book felt like an atmospheric slow burn, however once it picked up it was really hard to put down. Gallows Hill had just the right amount of creepy and haunting and both the characters and the setting were beautifully written. This book is one where you get to watch a character unravel in many ways. She's seeking answers about her family, her home and herself.
However there are shadows and and nooses popping up everywhere. It was great that this kept you and her guessing about ghouls and what was really happening at Gallows Hill.

I’ve read nearly all of Darcy Coates’ books now and loved all of them, she has quickly become one of my favorite authors. This book was no exception.

Special thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.
Expected publication date: September 6, 2022
Margot knows very little about her parents, except that they sent her away to live with her grandmother when she was a young child. Now, she is the sole heir to their estate, Gallows Hill, and the winery that sits on the property. Both of her parents appeared to die in their sleep, on the same night, of “heart attacks”, or so the paperwork says. But Margot, and the staff at the winery, are suspicious. As soon as Margot arrives at the property, she immediately senses something “off” about the grounds, and when the caretaker tells her about all of the deaths on the grounds, Margot begins to question even more if the death of her parents was truly an “accident”.
Darcy Coates is an Australian horror writer, focused on haunted houses if her previous novels (“Haunting of Ashburn House” and “Craven Manor”, to name a few) are anything to go by. She’s a completely new read for me, and I always love a spooky haunted house story.
Margot knows little about her birth parents and her own family history, and she travels to Gallows Hill in hopes of finding out more about them, and why they gave her up. But the creepy things that go bump in the night provide Margot with more answers than she ever bargained for. Coates can write a creepy tale, and the extremely descriptive ghouls and ghosts that haunt the manor were enough to give me goosebumps.
“Gallows Hill” is a slow burn, and it took me a while to get invested in both the characters and the storyline. Although Margot’s family has quite the sordid history, the entire story takes place at Gallows Hill, when Margot arrives at the manor. Although Coates provides answers to the burning questions, I was still left wanting to know more of the backstory. I wanted to know about Margot’s parents, and their experiences, as well as the rest of the Hull family. This is one of the novels that I would love to see turned into a series (prequels, at least), exploring more of the Hull family history and the haunting of Gallows Hill.
This novel had an exceptional ending, and I was glad Coates chose this route, with so many other options at her fingertips. “Gallows Hill” is a character driven, slow burn ghost story that will haunt you to your very core if you can invest in its plot and see it through to the end.

Darcy Coates has done it again! She truly does haunted house and ghost stories like no other and this one is no exception. This starts off setting the scene- a large house with a plot of land turned into a winery that Margot has inherited from her parents. Some smaller unsettling things start happening immediately and quickly turn into terrifying chaos.

Like all her other books I've read, this one is atmospheric and creepy as hell. I could picture the land and the ghosts, and could feel the terror she felt. The horror starts right away and ramps up throughout for an epic finale.

This one would be perfect for spooky season or for any fans of horror. Everything I've read by this author has been 5 stars, but is it possible to give it 6? This one deserves it!

Thank you to @netgalley for a digital arc in exchange for an honest review!

4/5 stars. This was a good horror novel with lots of creepy to take you through. Creepy atmosphere was perfectly crafted, with the house being so large and winding, lights always going out so wandering in pitch dark, and the eyes someone’s peering back from the darkness … and those bells! I haven’t read much Darcy Coates before, but really enjoyed this one and will be checking out her other stuff.

This was definitely a solid page burner! An amazing thriller with a touch of -on the edge of your seat horror. This story had all the perfect touches of atmosphere, twists and turns and friendships. I was able to predict some, but not all the twists...even the ones I was able to see coming, I was still thrilled with! I will definitely be picking up more of this author and highly recommending it to everyone I know. This one will please the mystery/thrillers and horror lovers alike.

Thank you Poison Press and Netgalley for an advanced copy!!

Before we get any further I want to let everyone know that this book scared the shit out of me. I’ve read A LOT of horror lately and I think this is one of the most atmospheric, edge-of-your-seat, don’t read at night books I’ve picked up in quite a while. It took me longer to finish because I was simply like “NOPE, not reading after dark, right before I go to bed.”. For real.

Gallows Hill introduces Margot Hull, who inherits Gallows Hill Winery after her parents die of heart attacks unexpectedly on the same night. Margot hasn’t been back to the area since she was a small child of eight and doesn’t remember anything about what used to be her home. There was no contact with her parents after they sent her away and she is only back for the answers to her questions about why they cut her out of their lives. But as soon as she arrives in the small town she knows something is off about how the residents act toward her, her parent’s death, and the land where the winery stands.

This book creeped me out. Almost from the moment Margot entered the house on Gallows Hill and slowly started discovering its secrets I had this intense feeling of dread. As with any haunted house/horror novel, there is a backstory of past traumas suffered on the land and in the house Margot has inherited and now she is caught up in its curse and can’t leave. The scenes at night are fraught with terror and suspense, the setting dark and sinister, and even the secondary characters tense in a way that spiked my anxiety. I was so happy to get to the end.

If you are a true fan of the horror genre this is one read you won’t want to miss.

GALLOWS HILL was my first Darcy Coates to read. I've seen her books at B&N, but never bought one. After reading GALLOWS HILL I'm going to read her backlog.

She has such VIVID descriptions in her writing. The character's movements, thoughts and fears are expressed in real time. It's rare when reading horror that I'm actually scared. I often have a hard time of utilizing suspension of disbelief. I don't have this issue while watching a movie. Ha!

But Darcy's writing of each sentence is so purposeful and intentional that everything comes together in a way that makes sense. Even when it shouldn't.

Margot's parents died leaving her their family legacy winery. Her parents gave her up when she was eight years old, so she has a lot of questions. When she travels to the winery's odd town and spends the night in the creepy family house she has even more questions.

Margot has to figure out her place in this new life along with the people her parents employed. She's also sure there is something sinister inside the house that caused her parents death.

No spoilers, but let's just say Margot had good reasons to be fearful.

The only issue I had with GALLOWS HILL was this was a one-character driven story. She was a lonely child who became a lonely adult. There were several of her parents employees who were there for her like family. However, most were older than her.

A big chunk of the book was about the movements Margot made. I wish there had been more of a friendship/relationship characters closer to her age. I felt like there was a puzzle piece missing and I think that may have been it.

Nonetheless, I loved this book. I'm gearing up for a Halloween series on my blog and GALLOWS HILL will be the first entry.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for an e-copy of GALLOWS HILL to review.

I rate GALLOWS HILL four out of five stars.

I loved this book! It has so many great aspects of horror and thriller and mystery wrapped into one! This book terrified me in the best way! I love Darcy Coates writing to this day. She has a way of investing you in the characters and making you scared to go to bed without a light on. I loved all the characters in Gallows Hill. I did find myself yelling at Margot when I figured out the twist and she still hadn’t yet. But I loved it. The story was great from beginning to end and I highly recommend it for all my horror lovers out there! It’s going to be a great spooky read this fall!

I love a good haunted house story but this one really gave me nightmares. It was definitely a nail biter to the end.

I read a copy of Gallows Hill from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book had moments of me sitting on the edge of my seat, straining my eyes at the screen of my phone, and my breath held as I read page after page. Followed by long rests between reading where I was bored and had to force myself to go back to reading. Mind you, I think these sections were a lot shorter than I’m making them seem. But the points like the tapes, and the nooses bring a life to the house and her past that make me shiver and intrigue and I want more.

The story itself is about Margot, who returns to her childhood home after her parents are found dead in their beds for their funeral and everything is left to her in their will. She comes in hopes of a future, but also to fill in the holes of what happened during her childhood, and amnesia that has haunted her since childhood, especially since her parents never came to visit her as she was raised by her nana.

As she starts learning the winery business, it becomes apparent that something is coming out at night to haunt the house and land she lives on. Through stories from the locals, diaries, and other means, she learns the bloody history of the land she now lives on. The men hanged there, and the history how her own family might have contributed.

Give me creepy tapes with puppets that are meant to teach children something, and apparently, I’m sold, though honestly, I think that it was also one of the few ties that I had to Margot and her past. Like any of her past. And this might have been the greatest weakness of the book. The main character is an ill-defined mess. One of the things focused on by the main things that this character focuses is her past, and I get it, she has amnesia, but I felt like she there was nothing to her. Like she just blossomed out of the car that she drove to the funeral. Like she didn’t need to give me a blow-by-blow of her past and job, but even when she talked about it later it was so vague that it didn’t feel real, so a book about the past just didn’t seem real to me.

Then there’s her personality, especially that first night. She’s just so susceptible to the scares of what is going on. I started to assume that whatever was going on needed someone who easily believed in ghosts and hauntings because she was so easily scared and pathetic. And while she became more bearable as the book went on, but anytime that it was just her concentrating on scares before the actual real danger happened or really interesting concepts came up, she was the reason I’d stop reading for hours.

This brings us to the horror. The past of the place is the real draw for me. I loved the setting of the place. The random nooses that would show up from time to time. The tapes, as I said. The diary, though she is remarkably, ridiculously dense about the diary. But that’s one thing about horror stories, protagonists tend to be dense about that thing.

Once the horror starts vamping up later in the book, that’s also a lot of fun, and the twist is great, even if the ending is a little bit underwhelming as a whole. So, a solid 4 star from me. There were moments I really enjoyed reading the book. Where my blood was pumping, and I just craved to read more and more. And there were moments that I just wanted to put the book down and not read it for a while. I’m interested in checking out the author’s other horror stories and think this would be a great horror read this Halloween season.

This was my first book by Darcy Coates and holy crap, I wish someone told me you shouldn't read her books at night.

This had me peeing my pants when I was up at night by myself. It was so good. I love a good story with ghosts.

I found the ending a bit flat for me to be honest. I mean, I didn't really know how it would all tie up in the end, but the way it did, just wasn't for me.

I can't wait to read more by this author. Bring on the scares!

CREEPY AF!!! Kept my adrenaline pumping from beginning to end

Margot is home for the first time since she was 8 years old to attend the funeral of her parents.
She has no memories of her life before then.
She learns that she has inherited their home and their small winery on Gallows Hill that has been in the family for centuries.
Once she moves in, strange things begin happening. Upon investigating the history, Margot learns that the land was once used as a spot to hang people and dispose of their bodies. This, along with a dark family secret has left the land cursed. Once there, no one can leave. Now Margot is in a race against time to solve the mystery, redeem her family, and break the curse forever.

I.LOVED.THIS.BOOK!!!!!!! There was no slow build. It kept my adrenaline pumping from beginning to end. Definitely not one to read alone in the dark.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

***

It's been a while since I've read a book that hooked me fully and immediately. This one did. We start with tragedy, mystery, and creepy scenery. I loved the descriptions and the chilling scenery.

This book is one where you get to watch a character unravel in many ways. She's seeking answers about her family. She's seeking answers about her home. She's seeking answers about herself.

But, there are shadows and visions and nooses popping up everywhere. It was great that this kept you and her guessing about ghouls and sanity. Wonderful read.

I think this may be my new favorite Coates book.