I loved the ooky spooky atmosphere in this one. It was creepy and gothic to the highest degree. However, the buildup was a bit slower than I feel it could have been, making it difficult to stay focused on the story for long periods of time. The last half had me absolutely hooked and gripping onto every word.

This is a fast-paced, dark, and very creepy gothic horror that had me on my toes! It's a very well written psychological thriller with compelling characters.

Gothic reading at its best. This book grabs you and doesn't let go. Loved it. I will definitely be looking for more by this author, we'll done.

Ashes of August Manor by Blaine Daigle is a gothic horror story that follows Noelle, a hospice worker, who accepts a job to help care for the patriarch of the August family. When she arrives at their remote home, she begins to experience hauntings that only the young mute son seems to acknowledge is happening.

As a gothic horror fan, I originally picked up Ashes of August Manor because it was marketed for fans of The Haunting of Hill House. The setting and descriptions do not disappoint, and remind of not just that story, but also of The Woman In Black. The setting is a remote, fog-shrouded mansion, and the novel uses its eerie atmosphere and gothic elements to immerse readers in themes of death, regret, and isolation.

The pacing in the beginning of the story felt slow. As the manor came alive, and Noelle was brought deeper into its grasp, the tension began to build, and I couldn’t put the book down. The ending, however, felt rushed, and the plot twists detracted from the emotional buildup, leading to a less satisfying conclusion.

Despite the disappointing ending, I really enjoyed Daigle’s poetic writing and the vivid atmosphere he created. I rate it 3.0 stars, recommending it for fans of character-driven, atmospheric horror despite its flaws. I have not listened to the audio book, but I feel like this would be a really great story in that medium.

This dark, gothic horror story unfolded slowly at the beginning. A hospice worker gets the offer of a lifetime to be paid very well to take care of a dying man in his home, at a time when she needs a change. Off she goes to a remote small town in the Oregon Cascades, and nothing is what she expected. It's a complex, dark plot with some pretty big twists and turns along the way. A haunted, isolated mansion that the town folks tried to warn her off from is the scene of things she never could have seen coming. Very atmospheric - I enjoyed this one a lot.

Thanks to Wicked House Publishing and NetGalley for an ARC to read and review.

Ashes of August Manor is a dark and eerie gothic horror that creeps under your skin in the best way. It’s steeped in occult themes and draped in mystery, keeping you constantly on edge as you try to piece together what’s truly going on.

Blaine Daigle’s writing flows beautifully. It’s atmospheric and immersive without being overcomplicated. If I hadn’t had other obligations, I would’ve finished it in one sitting. The tension is subtle but powerful, creating a slow-burning unease that lingers throughout the entire book.

The characters are compelling, especially the FMC and a boy tied to the manor’s secrets. Their emotions felt real and grounded, pulling me deeper into the story. The gothic tone is executed brilliantly—haunting, mysterious, and at times even a little disturbing, especially thanks to the vivid, unsettling descriptions.

I’d highly recommend this to fans of gothic horror, eerie mysteries, and stories that leave you feeling slightly haunted long after you turn the final page.

Ashes of August Manor: A Novel by Blaine Daigle🐦‍⬛🩸😨 - Here’s what I think…

Rating 3/5🙂:
This is what I’d consider a grief-based horror! Readers expecting fast paced or shock horror might find the pace slow or understated. Its strength is in subtlety rather than theatrical terror!!!

🧐 Would I Recommend This? 🧐

I would! When reviewing something, I always ask myself, would I gift this to someone? This was a different experience than most horror novels I’ve read. I enjoy a fast-paced suspense oriented horror most of the time. I don’t read a lot of psychological horror. In this case, this was exactly that. This book did a lot of things right though. I enjoyed the world building. I didn’t find it hard to follow. It was very thorough. I liked that there was a sense of creeping dread but not enough to keep me on the edge of my seat. It’s nice to enjoy it in moderation. This book was very keen on emotional resonance. Noelle’s trauma was key to the plot and grounding of the horrors in the story.

Ashes of August Manor is OUT NOW! 🤩

Ashes of August Manor is a masterclass in atmosphere and a throwback to the horror of the 70s and 80s. It is eerie, poetic, and hauntingly still. Blaine Daigle conjures a setting steeped in gothic decay and nostalgic dread, where every creaking floorboard and drifting ash particle feels like a memory trying to claw its way back. The manor isn’t just haunted. It’s remembered, like a VHS-era horror film you half-forgot but can still feel in your bones.

Readers frequently draw comparisons to the eerie calm of The Others or the slow-burn isolation of Session 9. There’s a distinct cult horror undertone, echoing '70s and '80s psychological thrillers that favored mood over mayhem. The story leans into that aesthetic with confidence: a hospice nurse trapped in a power-less mansion, grotesque artwork, ashen footprints, and secrets that fester rather than scream.

Daigle’s lyrical prose wraps you in fog, or ash, building a world where silence holds the most terrifying truths. While the final third leans more on exposition it doesn’t break the spell so much as shift its tone, from whispered dread to full-bodied reckoning.

For fans of retro horror that whispers before it howls, Ashes of August Manor offers a deliciously bleak experience: slow, surreal, and soaked in sorrow.

I’m a newbie when it comes to ghost stories but I really enjoyed this story!

The gothic atmosphere was instant and spot on. The whole book had a quiet sense of dread and wrongness but completely absorbing and enchanting at the same time.

All of the characters were interesting and mysterious, and August Manor and the surrounding land were characters in themselves, thanks to such vivid imagery and the uneasy feelings they evoked.

As the author says it’s a quiet story, I didn’t initially know what that would mean, but I knew as soon as I started reading - this story about death, silence and grief, that is wonderfully written, not over the top and fast paced, but simmering away under the surface, enticing you to find out the mystery.

Also some scenes were unsettling and creepy so I only read this book during daylight hours as I’m a bit of a wuss!

I really enjoyed this and will definitely read more by this author!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing this ARC. 

I love the Haunting of Hill House and Bly Manor, so I was very excited when the description compared this book to them. I'm so happy that it delivered on that promise. 

The writing in this was so beautiful and the atmosphere was so well established. I loved the gothic vibes. 

The story was slow, but that's expected for a more gothic horror story, so I didn't mind it. I know some people wouldn't enjoy that though.

This book is about the inevitability of death and the fact that it will come for all of us in the end.

"Every story ends the same way if it goes on long enough,"

As soon as I read the synopsis I was intrigued but it still took me some time to get into this. But once the atmosphere started really building, I became more invested. It felt very spooky and gothic. There are so many well composed elements that come together to make for an interesting read; The air of mystery surrounding not only the house and the land but also the inhabitants of it, the black ash that never seems to go away, the chilling stories of children gone missing, the woods that everyone is warned to stay out of, the sounds during the dead of night, etc. From a young age, Noelle has been more accquainted with death than most are. Working as a hospice caregiver she recieves a call one night offering her a job opportunity to care for the patriarch of August Manor in his final moments in exchange for more than enough money to start fresh afterward, hopefully away from the constant prescence of death, and she accepts. Little does she know she's in for a lot more than she bargained for.

I’m not sure it’s fair to be disappointed by a 4-star read that I'd still wholeheartedly recommend, but considering how incredibly close this was to a new all-time favourite, that’s still the overwhelming feeling I’m left with. Long review incoming…

"Everyone deserves to have someone at their side when they go."

The Story:
We follow Noelle, a 27-year-old hospice worker at the end of her emotional rope, who accepts a job caring for the dying patriarch of the reclusive August family at their lakefront manor in the Oregon forests. Arriving at the manor, she soon learns that this is going to be a job unlike any of her previous ones. The gothic manor, isolated and perpetually covered in ashes from a local papermill, as well as the eccentric family that calls it home, ooze a sense of dread and mystery. Together with the August’s mute son Elias and the manors gardener (who eerily resembles Noelles deceased fiancé), Noelle reckons with the secrets of the family, as well as those of her own tragic past.

What I loved:
Plenty a book has been marketed as “for fans of The Haunting of Bly Manor”, but I don’t think I’ve ever had a book truly capture that same feeling the show gave me. Until The Ashes of August Manor. For the first 60% or so, I was obsessed with this novel. I read it in almost a single sitting, completely captivated and amazed by how much this book matches all the things I love in horror. It’s a gothic, quietly melancholic tale of grief-horror that’s absolutely brimming with atmosphere and building dread. Our protagonist Noelle is a fascinating three-dimensional lead, who’s equally haunted as the manor she works at. The writing is gorgeous, delivering stunningly gorgeous gothic descriptions that are clearly inspired by the likes of Shirley Jackson (the opening paragraph could’ve been straight out of Hill House). Yet it also knows exactly when to tone that down and deliver a short and poignant line to drive in the emotional nail.
In short, this book was so close to perfection, that it made it all the more frustrating when it took a turn that really didn’t work for me.

What I didn’t love:
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a novel squander its potential to be a new favourite, this hard in a single chapter before… That chapter happens to be chapter 17. Here, what was a subtle and “quiet” horror-novel (these are the authors own words, as stated in the afterword too, so we know this was the intended direction!), tosses all that out of the window with a heavy-handed villain monologue explaining everything ánd introducing several more twists that weren’t properly foreshadowed… It turns into a masterclass of over-exposition and it’s all the more sad that, had this single chapter been rewritten, leaving the entirety of the rest of the book the same, this could’ve been a new favourite for me. It’s still a 4-star, because I loved the majority of the book, and I don’t think my particular gripes will be universal to every reader.

Beware spoilers below, because I want to go into a bit more specifics.

Chapter 17- Fireside confessions – consists largely of an extended villain monologue, in which Isabel delivers exposition regarding almost every mystery that’s been set up so far. It’s about as subtle as a wrecking ball, slamming down the carefully crafted gothic manor. Here’s what I personally would’ve changed:
- cut the entire monologue by Isabel. Instead, either leave things a mystery, or let Noelle figure things out for herself organically, rather than being told.
- stick to a single “twist” or paranormal driver. In this case, the book clearly set up its ghost-angle and almost every motif ties into this. Then it comes out of left-field introducing a cult-storyline, worshipping Old Crow, where the entire village turns out to be involved in the supernatural shenanigans. None of this is properly foreshadowed and it breaks the immersion and subtlety completely.
- please lose every twist for the sake of “twist/shock”. The plotline about Isabels daughter and her accident in the crematorium was horrifying enough, and actually added to Isabel’s tragic character. Revealing that she actually murdered her own child only cheapens the story for me.
Similarly; the reveal that Noelle is related to the Augusts falls completely flat. There’s no build up to it, making it feel utterly unearned and unbelievable. Even retroactively, the only “foreshadowing” I could find was a mention of Elias’ eyes being similar to Noelles; that’s far too little to pull of a twist that big.

Many thanks to Wicked House Publishing for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

haunting, haunted book filled with soul(s) and some very impeccable vibes. the buildup is good and I thought the reveals was fun too. 5 stars. tysm for the arc.

The book had a nice Gothic and creepy atmosphere but fell short for me. I wasn't expecting the twist at the end so that was a nice touch. I wish the pacing of the book was faster it was a little boring at times but the ending picked up. Overall an easy scary read for the fall.

Gothic, creepy, unnerving, dark, and chilling! Blaine Daigle's Ashes of August Manor with its eerie vibe slowly and silently sucked me and never let go! I was instantly engrossed in this book about a hospice worker who has been hired to care for a dying man in his manor home outside of Bell River, Oregon. This book delivers on the chills and thrills and kept me guessing. I was instantly intrigued by the fact that before she even arrives at his home she is warned by someone in town to go home. The dying man is a monster she is informed. When she decides to continue on to the home, she is strongly urged to never go into the woods!!!! I was all in for that! I mean seriously, what could be in the woods that has everyone in town avoiding them? Plus, are those ashes falling from the sky?

Noelle, who is no stranger to loss, grief, tragedy, and loneliness, has been hired by the Isabel August to care for her dying father. She along with her mute son, Ernest, live in the dark home with Isabel's dying father. The home is grand yet relies on candles as there is no electricity. What? How do they cook, what about a refrigerator? If these questions pop up, just push them to the side and go with it as I did. Noelle is happy to get to work but Isabel always seems to have a reason that she needs to check on her father. Earnest, the mute child, is frightened and Noelle wants desperately to help him. Noelle can relate to his fear, his loneliness, his helplessness, and his isolation. It's not long before strange things begin to happen. Noelle begins to hear and see things. Are they real? Is the house haunted? Plus, what is up with the ashes????Don't even get me started on the ravens!

This book is oozing with atmosphere and unease. I loved the foreboding and sense of danger that ebbed and flowed just underneath the surface. Something isn't right but what is it? Why is Isabel not letting her see the man she was hired to care for? Why is Earnest so frightened?

This is the 4th book which I have read by Blaine Daigle, and he continues to wow me with his wonderful writing, his well thought out plots, his characters, his settings, his vivid descriptions, and the chilling feel of his books. This book goes through a metamorphosis as it progresses. It goes from being a haunted house book to something else entirely. I had no idea where things were going to go in this book, but I happily read along as Daigle switched things up in a spooky strange manner.

This book read like an old-time horror movie/ horror book, and I loved every page of it. There is something nostalgic and creepy about the house, the atmosphere, and the characters. I felt as if this book was taking place in black and white and I mean that as a compliment. This book is spooky, chilling, dark, haunting, gothic and atmospheric.

Dark, gothic, wonderfully written, and hard to put down! I can't wait to read what Blaine Daigle writes next!

I loved the atmosphere in this book, gloomy and dark and creepy as the fog that creeps through and over the woods in this gothic tale of ghosts and family horror in an ominous manor in the Oregon forest. Noelle is an end-of-life caregiver working at an assisted living facility when she is hired by a mysterious voice over the phone to care for the dying patriarch of the August family. Little does she suspect that her secrets and that of the August family have been intertwined her entire life, and things come together swiftly once she moves into the manor.

Although I enjoyed this book, as the author is a particularly skilled wordsmith, I was disappointed in several aspects of the plot in the book, and I was left with many unanswered questions and why this? and why that? Overall, however, this was an enjoyable, creepy read that is sure to delight many fans of a dreadful family tale.

I did not see that twist at the end! A nice moody book with a spooky atmosphere. The descriptions of the setting were great, I could really picture it as I was reading.

Even though the text was easy enough to follow, the clarification of the characteristics of the house helped create the imagery effortlessly.

Hauntingly beautiful, Ashes of August Manor invites you in and doesn’t let you go.

Noelle has had a particularly tragic life, surrounded by death in her personal and professional life. Although easing hospice patients’ end of life moments is something she finds important, it’s hard to say no to an offer from a rich family tucked away in a manor in the cascades.

Blaine Daigle is a master of his craft. Truly. Each novel he writes is so unique in style and substance. You don’t get repetitive plots and characters, and yet each one is extremely well thought out and as good as the one before. Every story is completely fresh.

I have a particular soft spot for gothic horror and this take on a haunted manor is perfectly subtle and subdued. I could not put this down, the mixture of horror and humanity will get you every time.