Yvonne
THIS IS A MEME FOR ALL YOU ‘FIRST PAGE BROWSERS‘
THE HOUSE OF A HUNDRED WHISPERS by GRAHAM MASTERTON
BOOK BEGINNINGS / FIRST LINES
CHAPTER ONE
“As he reached the top of the staircase, Herbert heard a door opening. He paused, one hand on the newel post, listening intently. The full moon was shining so brightly through the diamond-patterned windows that there had been no need for him to switch on the landing light.
‘Who’s there? he demanded. He was trying to sound authoritative, but he could feel his heart beating against his ribcage and he was breathing hard. After forty-two years he had become inured to the musty old-oak aroma of Allhallows Hall, but he could smell it strongly now, almost as if the house were sweating with anticipation.
He heard the creak of floorboards behind him and he turned around, but there was nobody there, only the dark oil portraits of the Wilmington family that hung around the landing, staring back at him balefully through four hundred years of walnut-coloured varnish.
He hadn’t intended to come back into the house, not after dark. Whenever the moon was full, he left Allhallows Hall for three days and went to stay at the Marine Hotel in Paignton. This time, though, he had forgotten to take his accounts book, and was already two weeks late in filing his annual tax return.
He waited a full minute longer. The only sound was the wind whistling sadly down the chimneys, but he had been living on Dartmoor for so long that he was used to that constant wind, too, and he no longer found it eerie.
‘Oh, well,’ he said. ‘Whoever you are, you miserable reprobate, enjoy your weekend.’
With that, he took the first step downstairs. As he did so, though, he heard footsteps running towards him ….”
So, you have taken a sneak peek, would you read the book?
Let me know what you think in the comments section below.
Just to give you an extra helping hand, here is the book’s premise …
And here is an extra sneak preview from an earlier Blog Tour feature
THE HOUSE OF A HUNDRED WHISPERS
Dartmoor, with its mists, bleak winter weather and overwhelming sense of isolation, is the perfect place to build a prison. It’s not a place many would choose to live – yet the Governor of Dartmoor Prison did just that.
When Herbert Russell retired, he bought All Hallow’s Hall – a rambling Tudor mansion on the edge of the moor, and lived there all his life. Now he’s dead, and his estranged family are set to inherit his estate.
But when the dead man’s family come to stay, the atmosphere of the moors seems to drift into every room. Floorboards creak, secret passageways echo, and wind whistles in the house’s famous priest hole.
And then, on the morning the family decide to leave All Hallow’s Hall once and for all, their young son Timmy goes missing…
You might also like to visit the meme host, Gilion, over at ‘Rose City Reader‘, where you can share links to the book beginnings from her own reading schedule and that of many of our fellow bloggers.
There are always plenty of new authors and titles to be discovered and you never know where that next ‘must read’ is going to come from!
…
Ooooo… the dark and brooding cover matches those opening lines perfectly! This really sounds good and I hope you’ll have more posts about it in the future!
You know what? I just checked to make sure I had it on my wishlist at Amazon and it’s now only 99 cents. That means it’s now on my Kindle! 😀
At 99cents, you definitely have a bargain!
Enjoy 🙂
Hi Kelly,
I don’t know if you caught the link in the post to the ‘Blog Tour’ extract I shared in an earlier post?
My review is scheduled for December 30th, although I am not sure if you will still be in Blogland by then. If not, here is a small spoiler (For your eyes only 🙂 )
Imagine a ‘mash up’ between ‘Carrie’, ‘The Exorcist’ and ‘Poltergeist’, and you will still need to have a good imagination to be on the same wavelength as Graham Masterton was, when he came up with this storyline!
It was really creepy and definitely one to be read with the lights on!
I did see your earlier posts and it looks quite creepy! Not my usually fare, but fun in the written form occasionally. I might save it for next October (which is a good time for spooky reading whether blogging or not) or I might not be able to wait. We shall see!
🙂 x
The descriptions and the intensity of the moments reeled me in. Now I want to know what happens next!
Thanks for sharing, and here’s mine: “THE COUSINS”
Hi Lorraine.
I wonder if you really do want to know what happened next?!!
I kept thinking that things just couldn’t get any worse or more strange for this group of house guests – but believe me, it did!
I can’t think why I haven’t read a horror story for some time, but that lapse isn’t going to happen again!
Thanks for stopping by and have a peaceful weekend 🙂
Oeeeeeee, I got goosebumps just from reading your extracts. Yea!! Love it. Will definitely have a look!
Happy reading and enjoy your weekend Yvonne.
Lots of Love,
Weekend Book Friends
Hi Mareli,
I haven’t read one of Graham Masterton’s horror stories for many years and I had forgotten just how good they were. In fact I think he has surpassed himself with this one, as I had no idea what was going to happen from one minute to the next – and just when I thought things couldn’t get even more weird and eerie – they did!!
Thanks for stopping by and I hope I didn’t freak you out too much with this post! Have a peaceful weekend and Take Care 🙂
Sounds like a nicely creepy story. I’d likely read it. I’m spotlighting The Shadowy Horses by Susanna Kearsley which was a read/listen combo for me. Happy reading!
Hi Kathy,
A very twisted storyline, I don’t think that creepy begins to describe this one!
I was shocked almost every time I turned the page!
Thanks for stopping by and have a peaceful weekend 🙂
I enjoy novels set in places like All Hallow’s Hall. Full of secrets and creepiness. This sounds like it is an interesting and intense book. I am adding it to my wish list.
Hi Wendy,
The moors in this part of the UK can be very creepy, with small hamlets of houses, or larger ‘estate’ properties like Allhallows Hall, being very remote and insular, almost cut off from mainstream society!
This creepy, sinister storyline, was definitely set in the right place, which created an atmosphere of fear and mistrust around every corner!
Thanks for visiting this week and I hope that all is well with you 🙂