The setting and premise are not typical of what I expect from Coates, or even what I normally like to read, but I am loving this book. Super scary and suspenseful. Lots of tension building. I could not put it down and looked forward to getting back to it when I had to put it down, Great read.

As someone who has a fear of water and who loves a good fright I was ecstatic to read this one. From the very beginning I was gripped by anyone that wants to dive 300 ft under the sea. Once you get the mysterious sinking of a ship nearly 100 years ago, and the promise of some spooky things happening that only Darcy Coates can do, I was smitten from the first chapter.

This book switches between time periods; present day and the final days of the Arcadia's voyage. This did great in building the mystery. And let's just say it did a great job of also building the weird. During the present day you get the perspective from multiple people but there's no rhyme or reason on who you're going to get or when. This made how the story unfolded gripping and kept the mysterious aspect of it. In the past tense you see it from mostly one perspective but get another perspective occasionally. I think this allowed for an already hectic and confusing plot to stay within the realm of understanding.

The plot was a slow burn in my opinion. There were times that I just wanted to skip chapters to get to the juicy parts but those chapters were important to the overall story. And I love Darcy Coates' writing style that I never felt bored reading necessarily. Just impatient. Once the action started happening it happened. Sitting in my bed reading before going to sleep I'd catch myself holding my breath, tensing my muscles, breathing heavy, and even a bit of sea sickness. There were so many parts that I could just FEEL what was being described. Sometimes I'd feel like I can finally relax only for the next heart palpitating scenario to unfold. This lead me to read way past my bedtime but it was worth it.

Overall, I very much enjoyed this book. It has the action and thrill with the creepy elements that Darcy is known for.

Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
"No light. No air. No escape.
Hundreds of feet beneath the ocean's surface, a graveyard waits..."
"Cove and her dive team have been granted permission to explore the Arcadia's rusting hull. Their purpose is straightforward: examine the wreck, film everything, and, if possible, uncover how and why the supposedly unsinkable ship vanished."
Everything about this book just clicked with me from the concept to the characters.
I highly recommend it.
Thanks to #Netgalley, #PoisenedPenPress, and #DarcyCotes for an enjoyable read.

<i>ARC provided by NetGalley for an Honest Review</i>
On the surface this book is everything I normally love, however it really didn’t work for me and it pains me to say that. The book is told in dual timelines, past and present. In doing so, the mystery buildup is strong but excessively slow. One thing that’s supremely well done was the setting. Darcy Coates did a phenomenal job creating an atmosphere of absolute terror. The constant reminder of being fathoms down in the pitch freezing dark will almost leave you hyperventilating and feeling equally claustrophobic. No matter what is going on in the depths that deep, humans are essentially helpless and completely at the mercy of the ocean. <Spoiler>It was all just too slow and a bit boring for me. The creepy vibes were pretty strong at times but it was like a horror movie with superb sound effects building up to the crescendo of a fade-away. Call me crazy but it kind of bothers me that an entire ship went down loaded with passengers and then this crew comes along with a scant few diving down to the ship and yet every single one manages to escape and also live? And worse yet, from what I gathered there were two different entity type things on the ship and we learn absolutely nothing about them or where they came from. So what’s the point? Now this will all just be a dirty little (horrifying) secret they’ll all share and just never speak of again? Booo 🥺</spoiler>
Over a hundred years have passed since the unsolved disappearance of the steamship <i>Arcadia</i>. Until now. After being located deep under the ocean a team is selected to dive down to the ship where they are contracted to film enough exploration of the ship to work into a documentary. Over the years speculation has grown on what happened to the ship and it’s many passengers but until now it’s always been only speculation. With a team more used to sunny tropical dives they are all in for a rude awakening because what goes down in the deep dark cold, stays in the deep dark cold and it’s been waiting for a loooong time.

It is important to note that the majority of the themes explored in this book deal with sensitive subject matters. My review, therefore, touches on these topics as well. Many people might find the subject matters of the book as well as those detailed in my review overwhelming. I would suggest you steer clear of both if this is the case. Please note that from this point forward I will be writing about matters which contain reflections on self-mutilation, mental illness, suicide, murder, & others.

Before I say anything regarding the plot I would like to acknowledge that this is a book that I know many readers will love. I was beyond excited in the opening chapters of this story because Coates is a writer with talent; every word is poised with power & intent, & every single scene is utilized to its full potential to draw the reader into the gloomy depths of the vile ocean floor. What I seek in books that fall into the horror genre is for a writer to delicately take my hand & leave me feeling stranded in the pages of the book. I want to forget that I am safely tucked away in my house, far away from the ocean; needing to remind myself that I am not a passenger on a freight vessel that is trying to survive as every other member of the crew & subsequent passengers kill themselves in an attempt to escape the invisible. Coates was able to grand me that experience & for that alone, I am grateful.

I have read many scary stories in my day. I am very familiar with the sentiment of fear both in a tangible, literal sense as well as what the emotion means logically; the way our brains transform within our bodies grasping for coherent rationals to the events transpiring around us. It is the gift of a great writer to provide the reader with an experience of immersion. The beginning of this book saw us meet a cast of characters in the present day as well as view the cataclysmic events leading to the sinking of the Arcadia, through the introspection of Harland, a crew member on the ship in 1928.

This is a story about zombies, plain & simple. Should you be someone who enjoys this subject matter I truly recommend you take a chance with this book. My opinions, or more so my disappointment, is grounded in the fact that I do not like zombie stories & this one felt exceedingly long once we reached the 70% mark. What is most frustrating to me is that I have read another of Coates’ books & zombies played a very key role in the plot as well. Feeling similarly about both books I must acknowledge that I am the sole factor in my disappointment. I cannot rightly place the blame on the author for writing a book that they were passionate about when I should have known better. I should have done a bit of research into Coates’ preferred sub-genre of horror.

With that being said, I found the first 70% of this book absolutely riveting. I am constantly on the hunt for a world-altering scary story. Being a fan of both the horror & historical fiction genres this book appeared to be my ideal match. Had Coates held steadfast in the general malaise which was being crafted throughout the first part of the story I am certain that this would have been one that I would have been loath to put down. Unfortunately, we read about the diving team, set in the present tense, who are exploring the Arcadia that lies beyond 300 feet into the ocean deep. This group of people grow to become insufferable as they seem to willfully neglect logical thought & decision making in the hopes of capturing more footage for the documentary they are shooting.

I appreciate that the corporate world leaves very little room for emotional leeway however, a member of the diving team had an apparent seizure while diving & the entire team felt it appropriate to return to the ship. Perhaps I am not well equipped to speak on this as I have never been behind the eight-ball attempting to gather footage for a corporation that has been known to not pay its employees. In that same breath, I realize that the group of divers were simply misfits in their own rights & truly should not have been diving to explore ruins in any capacity. Cove neglecting to dissuade Aidan from participating in dives was preposterous. We then read about how responsible & forward-thinking Cove is as both an individual & group leader, while never demonstrating this to the reader. Her inability to gauge a safe site from the one in which they explored did allow the plot to move forward, however, it left me feeling confused as to why I would want to root for any of these characters.

The part of this book that enticed me the most was the flashbacks. I adored reading about Harland’s observations as the date of the sinking drew near. The details put forth to craft: the atmosphere of the ship, the terror of the faceless passengers, the overbearing fog, the seeping of mental awareness, & the deaths was superb. If you have ever been in a position to hear rodents scrapping their talons along the inner structure of a wall I can assure you that you will have no trouble imagining the absolute horror that the passengers & crew felt round the clock. The same can be said for every other dramatic & fear-mongering aspect of this story. I cannot say enough positive things about the first half.

Should you not be someone who enjoys a slow burn then I would caution you from starting this book. This story transpires very slowly & even when you think that the plot has begun to spin at high speed, there are chapters on end about the fights of the diving crew against the zombies. Had we seen fewer chapters take over the narrative of the un-dead, I would have appreciated those bits for what they brought to the story. I acknowledge that there are few laneways to explore with this subject matter. After all, up until this point we have read about crew members & passengers alike leaping to their bone-breaking deaths on deck, burrowing their bodies into crevices, & of them going out of their minds due to the fear of the impending ‘others’ who live within the walls.

I recant my previous statement, there are two aspects of this book that I adored; the first being the flashbacks in time & the second being the things in the wall. This is a trope that I hold dear to my heart. It does not matter how many times I see it play out or how few times it is employed in actuality, it never ceases to riddle my heart with angst. I am sure that every horror fanatic holds a special place in their mind’s eye for the specific piece of horror that truly overwhelms them in the very best way. To imagine a being wandering behind walls or, to picture a lump of flesh once alive sickly stuck within the confines of the structural design, well, there are few things that scare me more.

Overall, I did enjoy this book. I have it in me to focus on the many aspects that I did thoroughly enjoy & if asked, I would say that Coates is a writer whose works I would read again. Of course, I would not want to see someone return to the site of a zombie invasion simply to retrieve an engagement ring; you cannot propose marriage if you’re dead but, I digress. The particulars of this book that irritated me are few & far in between. I enjoyed the writing, I enjoyed the horror tropes, I enjoyed Harland & I enjoyed the inclusion of tangible reasoning behind the insanity that transpired on the Arcadia. I did not enjoy the zombies, I did not enjoy the elongated fight/escape scenes, I did not enjoy the solo return to the ship, & I did not enjoy the irrational decision-making & rather long second half of the book.

There is always a place for the torment brought forth by psychological fear; scratching, tapping, crawling behind the tangible; these are things that wander in my mind late into the night.

Thank you to NetGalley, Poisoned Pen Press & Darcy Coates for the free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This book was unnerving. The combination of deep sea exploration and ghost story had me at the edge of my seat the entire time. I will never think of shipwrecks the same way anymore.

This review will also be posted on my Goodreads page. Oh my goodness-I loved this one! Cove and her documentary film crew have found the wreckage of a ghost ship at the bottom of the ocean. This ship went missing a century ago and no one knows what happened to her. Darcy Coates is a go-to for me for a creepy read and this was one of her best. She captured the horror that the dive team faced but also switched back and forth between the past before the ship sank to the present. It was wonderfully done and very scary. I read a lot of horror so it's hard to creep me out but she did it!

I loved every minute of this book - the setting is absolutely captivating and the characters are great, but ultimately it's strength is in it's pacing. The author expertly builds tension using simple storytelling beats, like countdowns and the slow depletion of oxygen, and this allows suspense to grow long before anything scary happens.

From Below by Darcy Coates.

100 year old, mysterious shipwreck. No survivors. Five divers finally try to uncover what exactly happened all those years ago.


Absolutely fantastic! Everything I was hoping for from a Coates novel. The atmosphere is creepy and claustrophobic. The characters are likeable, and I enjoyed getting to know them.

There's no long set up in the beginning, and I appreciate how it gets started with the good stuff right away. The switch between past and present was done perfect. I constantly had a creepy sensation along with the anxiety that comes from being 300 feet below sea level. I didn't know how it was going to end, but in Darcy Coates fashion, it didn't disappoint.

I can't say enough good things about this. It's definitely a favorite read of 2022.

+Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and the author for giving me an e-arc to review!+

I've read several books by Darcy Coates at this point. I've gone back and forth with some others about how good I thought they were. Regardless of how much I like them, I always think that she can write the creepiest scenes that will stick with you.

From Below is very different from any of the other Coates books that I have read, but it is gold. If I had to pick something to improve, it would be that more back story to many of the characters would have been welcome. However, that didn't stop me from rooting for them and understanding their actions. The scenes in the ship were eerie and terrifying. The pictures in my head will stick with me for a while. This is the one that needs a movie deal, please and thank you.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I love Darcy Coates - I think she is to horror what Ruth Ware is to thriller. Coates always deliveries solid scary stories, but with a satisfying ending. I loved how From Below was different than any other scary story I've ever read. The whole book had me on edge, and I truly did not know what to expect. I felt claustrophobic every time they went into the deep water to the Arcadia. I was disappointed in how the characters felt a little flat. They didn't have deep backstories, so it was difficult to understand the full extent of their motivations. I think the map of the ship could have been introduced earlier, because the whole book I wondered why they wouldn't have something like that memorized, especially if there was grave danger on the chance they got lost.

This book was amazing!
Any time I wasn't reading it, I was thinking about it!
A perfect shipwreck ghost story, one that stands alone in excellence!

As a Darcy Coates fan, I was so excited to be approved for this and From Below did not disappoint. When you're reading a Darcy Coates novel, you know what you're getting: intrigue, mystery, and a lot of horror for good measure. Coates' books are always a quick, fun read and this one was no different.

This was an all-around incredible time. The writing was lovely, the story was absolutely engaging and the work that went into the setting was noticeable and superb. I felt absolutely transported and I'm so incredibly glad I was able to read an arc of this story.

I feel privileged to be a horror reader this year – first I got my deep space horror with S.A. Barnes's Dead Silence. Now I get my deep sea horror with Darcy Coates's From Below!

In From Below, a documentary film crew/ group of divers sets out to find and explore the sunken SS Arcadia, and they get more than they bargained for. This horror novel is wonderfully claustrophobic, dark, suspenseful, and a little bit mysterious.

I can't say much without spoiling plot points, so I'll just say that it was a really enjoyable spooky ride. It was creative while also satisfying the craving for a classic under-the-sea haunt. The conclusion wrapped things up nicely. The horror wasn't terribly gory or intense so I think it will appeal to a wide audience,

While I didn't love any of the characters, I grew to like a few of them. I would have preferred to see more of an exploration of their relationships throughout the story though; it was endearing the few times Cove and Roy interacted as old friends.

Unfortunately, the story started to drag on in the second half of the book. Some of the "action" scenes suffered greatly from telling instead of showing, so it felt like I was reading a list of what the characters were doing rather than visualizing it. I do still highly recommend From Below, though. It even has re-readability.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I'm scared of shipwrecks and the depths below. I can't take my eyes away from the video of these things, but I shiver inside. The darkness, the lack of oxygen, the fear of what's just out of reach--all of that makes me recoil. "From Below" is a book that enjoys exploiting, in horrifying detail, my creepy-crawlies about these things.

The story is this: A small team of divers is out on an exploration mission for a third party video production. (Think National Geographic/Discovery Channel.) They're attempting to find and dive on a famous shipwreck, the fictional Arcadia. Arcadia, a passenger ocean liner, went mysteriously lost a decade after Titanic and nobody knows what happened--the last distress message said something like, "They're coming from the walls."

The book goes back and forth between the dive team and the days leading up to Arcadia's sinking. And it is truly, truly, hide-under-your-blankets horrible. Yes, we're not talking about the deepest of literature here--there's a character named Cove, for example--but if you just want to scream inside and shudder, this book is a winner. I could easily see this as a movie. (Which I would NEVER watch, because the book was scary enough for me!)

With thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for sharing this book as an ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

Thalassophobia- the persistent and intense fear of deep bodies of water such as the sea, oceans, pools, or lakes.

I had the privilege of getting to read Darcy Coates new book that is being released June 7th, 2022. I love every one of Darcy’s books, and this was no exception. When I read her books I typically go for the haunted house horror books, but this one, jeez.
As someone who is already terrified of open water, this book REALLY got to me. I was holding my breath, terrified of noises in the house, and always had my back against the wall. I had no idea where this book was going to go, and I don’t think anyone could have predicted the “who” and the “why”.
I would strongly recommend picking this one up when it’s released, and really just picking up anything written by Darcy Coates.

2.5 stars
Having read a few of Darcy Coates' other novels, I went into this with high hopes. However, I think she got in a little over her head with From Below (no pun intended). The overall plot was okay, I wasn't totally blown away by it, but I was intrigued. My biggest issue comes from the characters. No backstories were given more than a paragraph and some characters didn't even get a backstory. They all felt very flat and I didn't feel any particular way about any of them living or dying. Overall, I'm pretty disappointed with this one especially knowing what Darcy Coates can do with her writing.

From below by Darcy Coates is a chilling, suspenseful novel about a sunken ship that has a story spookier than you think.

This is a boatload of suspense. While reading it, I just had to keep going and find out what happened. An unlikely but strong band of characters are diving to the Arcadia, a ship that has been lost for years and is three thousand feet underwater. If that's not enough to freak you out, what they experience will.

This is broken into two parts, present day and the days before the Arcadia sank. That part reads like a nightmare and it's always interesting to read what happened when you know how it ends, it makes it more intriguing.

Our characters are quite lovable. Cove is the leader who needs to get enough footage to get paid. I admired how she always lead her team with enthusiasm and was level headed. Vanna was mysterious but I still liked her. Aiden was a favourite hands down. Roy added some humor to the group and Devereux was a solid figure. Sean's character really came through in the end. Hestie represents any scientist ever trying to get a job in the field they love.

Coates description of the ship and underwater setting is just as visual as her other novels. You can feel the claustrophobia setting in and danger of the situation.

If you like underwater settings this one's for you. Don't sleep on it, dive into it.

Thank you to poision pen press for an ARC of this ebook in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Darcy Coates for your magnificent story telling.

I looooved this book. Sunken shipwrecks, deep sea diving, mysterious ghostship? Yes, please! I loved the buildup. I loved the tension with Vanna and that we didn't find out Vanna's backstory until the end, even though Cove knew it early on. I didn't enjoy the "before the sinking" chapters as much, but they were important to the overall storyline, I just feel they could have been a little shorter. I didn't like Aidan and Roy, but I kind of felt like I wasn't supposed to. I just couldn't understand why Roy would put his friend in danger like that. I definitely wanted to strangle him at times. I really appreciated the way decompression sickness was explained. Most people know what it is and what causes it in a general sense, but I could actually picture the nitrogen bubbles and the analogy with a soda can was amazing. This was my first Darcy Coates book, but it will not be my last!

I had previously come to terms with the fact that no horror novel would ever truly scare me. Then I read this book...
The story is kind of slow-burn overall but it's so atmospherically written with so mucch creepy anticipation that I was already buried deep under my blanket, cowering in fear before the really scary stuff happens in the last third or so.
Maybe it's because I'm generally very scared of the ocean or maybe because the characters just kept going back to the creepy shipwreck. Anyway, I can confidentally say that I've never read anything this scary in my life before.