Craven Manor by Darcy Coates
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Audience: Adult — Genre: Horror — Sub-Genre: Supernatural
Length: Audio: 08:25:40 — Dates Read: 09.13.25 – 09.15.25
Scare Level: ★ ★ — Plot: ★ ★ ★ ★



🕊️ ➞ Top 5 Tropes:

Ghosts — Haunted Mansion — Evil Spirit
Town Urban Legend — Skinwalkers



🕊️ ➞ Synopsis:

Daniel is desperate for a fresh start. So when a mysterious figure slides a note under his door offering the position of groundskeeper at an ancient estate, he leaps at the chance, even though it seems too good to be true. Alarm bells start ringing when he arrives at Craven Manor. The abandoned mansion is straight out of those old Gothic the front door hangs open, and leaves and cobwebs coat the marble foyer. It’s clear no one has lived here in a long time…but he has nowhere else to go.

Against his better judgment, he moves into the groundskeeper’s cottage tucked away behind the old family crypt. But when a candle flickers to life in the abandoned tower window, Daniel realizes he isn’t alone after all. Something awful happened here long ago, and it’s a paranormal mystery Daniel is afraid to solve. Because Craven Manor is hiding a terrible secret…One that threatens to bury him with it.



🕊️ ➞ My Thoughts:

***Possible Spoilers below

Craven Manor was a fun read! I’ve learned that I enjoy Darcy Coates’ stories, even the cliché ones. They’re quick and give the exact vibes I look for when going into each book. This one followed a man, Daniel, who was down on his luck and got a random job offer. A strange letter showed up at his place, offering a groundskeeper position and providing vague directions to what he learned was a decrepit manor that needed a lot of landscape work done. It even offered him room and board in the groundskeeper’s house.

Not sure about you, but that sounds suspicious…



Anyway, Daniel took the opportunity since his AH of a cousin, Kyle, moved someone else into his room…?





What sweetened the deal was that his mysterious boss would only pay him in big, solid gold coins. His biggest mistake was boasting to Kyle and even showing the AH one of them. The lazy twit naturally lit up at this knowledge, and his future actions would lead to a plethora of consequences. But he got his, so that was satisfying.



The lore interwoven into the plot was spooky enough and intriguing to keep the storyline well-paced. Most of the Darcy Coates books I’ve read feature an evil spirit versus a living person, but in this case, there were good spirits at play. I enjoyed that change; it was a good refresher.



🕊️ ➞ Conclusion:

I recommend Craven Manor to anyone looking for a story with haunted gothic mansion vibes, vengeful and unrest spirits with a dash of family drama. It was well-paced with decent world-building and dialogue. It was a 4 out of 5 for me.

How about you? Have you read Craven Manor? What did you think of Bran? Or Daniel? What were your feelings on Daniel’s actions and his choice at the end of the book? Would you have done the same in his shoes? Comment below!

– ♡ L.B.

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