Haunted: Perron Manor
Haunted: Perron Manor
By Lee Mountford
The Sexton’s musings (spoilers are likely):
The house sounds really cool. Not as cool as the Winchester House but still interesting. There is a direct connection to the prequel novella in that the “author” is part of this book as well. This takes place after the death of Vincent who leaves the house to his two nieces. The novella itself is mentioned and a copy even given to one of the main characters by David, which I love. I like David. I think he’s a sympathetic character that those interested in the paranormal, I can relate to. Especially when faced with the skepticism of those that inherited the house, Sarah and Chloe.
I’ve got to be candid here…if they both were to die horribly I would not shed a tear for either one of them. They are not just frustratingly skeptical (not even believing their own senses) but they are downright nasty to David. That does not sit well with me. Sarah essentially makes fun of the poor man and Chloe is just mean. She has a melt down because he tries to warn them about the danger to Emma, Chloe’s daughter. I don’t know if Chloe took it as a threat or a way to “weasel” in but she’s a real fucking bitch to him and quite frankly I wanted to punch her in the face with a baseball bat. I’m guessing that an “I told you so” is in their future but I guess we’ll see. You know, foreshadowing and all that.
Aaaand guess who was right? Yup, that’d be me. At least Chloe has some remorse about how she treated David. Now it’s Sarah’s turn to be a major asshole to Chole. Some of it is the influence of the house, but those feelings were in there somewhere and the negativity in the house just brought them out. Eventually though she comes around when there is no denying what is directly in front of her. I mean it’s in front of all of them in an undeniable way that they are not alone in the house.
Closing thoughts:
Even at the end of the book I still have mixed feelings about Sarah. She is both a hero and part of the problem. If they had not been so closed minded they may have been able to escape with less tragedy. I was not expecting the final conflict to end in the way that it did. However it does leave things open for future stories. I do hope that we see David again. I think he’s a great character. I do wonder if we are going to meet Emma again as well. Perhaps as an adult or young woman.
Like so many of Lee’s books before this the supernatural entities have some really creepy moments and descriptions. They sound very similar to some of the entities in some of the previous series. Especially the “demon”. The house also seems to have its own form of life. An interesting start to this series. Yes it’s pretty basic but you have to have a baseline to avoid a series feeling disjointed. I’m sure we will come back to things mentioned in the first book later on. Perhaps even an ah ha moment. I suppose we shall see what happens.
