The Holy Terrors is the start of Simon R Green's new series dealing with supernatural mysteries. The novel follows Alistair a bishop, Diana an actress, Toby a comedian, Indira a celebrity chef, Leslie a medium, and lastly June host and producer for the show Spooky Times. The characters are investigating the most haunted town hall in England, locked in for a night of frights.

I have been a fan of Simon R Green's since his Secret Histories series. and the summary for this seemed right up my alley. I have to say the author missed the mark for me. It still has the witty writing I have come to expect from the author but the dialogue takes up most of the book which detracts from giving an eerie atmosphere for the book. I didn't get a feel that they were in any real danger even when people had died. And the quick father/daughter relationship between Indira and Toby was not believable for me. I don't know maybe I am too used to the author's more fantasy heavy novels but this novel was not for me.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for an ARC for The Holy Terrors.

Rating of 3.5.

Established thriller author Simon R. Green produces a fun and compelling read with The Holy Terrors, a cool book with an interesting plot idea behind it.

The Holy Terrors was an intriguing book from Simon R. Green that I had a fun time getting through. Short and very sweet, The Holy Terrors made good use of its compelling plot idea, which saw a bishop, a diva, a comedian, a celebrity chef, a psychic and a TV producer become trapped in a haunted town hall. While that sounds like the set up to an elaborate joke, it produces a great plot background for an entertaining novel that you can quickly power through.

I loved the author’s idea of simultaneously parodying ghost shows and the reality television crowd, while also presenting the reader with a unique locked-room mystery scenario that might or might not be caused by supernatural forces. Thanks to these ideas, I think the overall story was pretty good and proved to be quite exciting. Green sets everything up nicely, and you are quickly drawn into the plot, especially as you know that there is something bad on the horizon. After a few early scare elements, you are led nicely to the centre of the story, where one of the characters dies and the rest are left scrambling to figure out who or what is trying to kill them. This proves to be a great backbone for much of the story, and the initial range of characters are fun.

While I enjoyed how the book was set up, I think that it slightly fell apart in the second half. The story gets a bit silly in places, and it is easy to predict what the subsequent order of death was going to be. I did enjoy how Green tried to keep the reader guessing about whether this was a horror novel or a murder mystery, especially as there are some great psychic inclusions, apparitions, and other mysterious occurrences. However, despite the included misdirection, the answer to this question proved to be a bit obvious. The eventual culprit reveal was predictable, as it was literally the most obvious suspect there, and Green’s method reveal was pretty unsubtle. Still, the final confrontation was nicely written, and I liked the cool conclusion to the plot. in the end, The Holy Terrors proves to be quite an easy book to get through quickly, and I manage to finish it off in two sessions.

While Green proved adept at creating a chilling atmosphere and utilising it well in his story, I did have certain issues when it came to the characters. The author does come up with six interesting main figures for the story, each of which is a celebrity reality star archetype, and there are some fascinating dives into their backstories, especially during an emotional sequence near the climax. However, for the most part I felt these characters were underdeveloped, and Green could have showcased them a little better. Certain relationships between some of the characters were a bit forced, and quite a few interactions felt unusual. I also found some of the dialogue to be a bit stilted and weak in places, and it could have come across as a bit more natural. These elements let down The Holy Terrors’ promising plot to a degree, although I still managed to have fun getting through it.

Overall, The Holy Terrors was an interesting read from Simon Green that you can have an entertaining time with. The author’s intriguing scenario does prove quite compelling, and while certain elements of the book were not as strong as I would have hoped, you can easily power through this book in no time at all. As such, The Holy Terrors is a great book for anyone looking for a quick and efficient novel that tries to blur the line between horror and murder mystery.

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was really enthralled with this book. I thought it was going to be a book about the supernatural and it turned out to be a whole different type of book. There were times I was just as baffled as Allistair as to what was happening. The book had a really great twist. I had fun reading this novel.

The Holy Terrors by Simon R. Green, I enjoyed it. Green is a good author and I am always on the lookout for his books as they come out. A TV show looking for ratings, and down on their luck celebrities wanting to make an impact, combined with a Haunted house what could go wrong.

I've long felt that, if you've read one Simon R. Green book, you've pretty much read them all, but with his longer series, such as the Nightside and the Droods, there are enough secondary characters and enough storylines to make them very worthwhile reading.

Not so with his more recent series, including this new (and hopefully short-lived) one, beginning with The Holy Terrors. He has his typical two main characters, a male antihero and a supporting female who, in this case, is much less kickass than his norm, and a few cannon fodder, I mean, supporting characters who are fairly indistinguishable from one another. It’s a good thing they become so attached to each other, because I didn’t care about any of them, and frankly was hoping they would all meet their untimely ends quickly, so that I could call the book finished.

Now, it wasn’t a terrible book, but it wasn’t up to the standard of Green’s earlier works, and I think that’s the problem I’ve had with a lot of his recent stuff. It just feels formulaic and like he’s phoning it in. Maybe it’s always been that way, and I just didn’t have the discernment to realize that, but it’s disappointing.

Why you should read it: If you haven’t read any of Green’s older works, and you like reality-type haunted house shows, you might like this.

Why you shouldn’t read it: Unlikeable and unmemorable characters, stale and predictable plot. Go pick up the first Nightside or Drood book instead.

I received an advance copy from Severn House via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

2 out of 5 stars.

The premise of this book sounded intriguing but was really kind of a dud. A group of C-list celebrities spends the night in the "most haunted hall in England" and has their every move on camera. However, things start to go wrong almost immediately; the host and her pet medium can't get the director or crew to respond and then someone dies by mysterious circumstances.
This was short and supposedly the start of a series but I don't think I'll be tuning in for the next episode.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Severn House for this e-arc.*

While I loved the premise of this book, unfortunately the execution was off. The book's blurb grabbed my attention but the book lost that attention within the first 10 pages. I didn't connect with any of the characters. None of them had much depth and were pretty boring for most of the book. The book was mostly telling, not showing and the supernatural aspects felt farfetched. The book was fast paced at least and I didn't mind the author's writing style. I would be open to reading some of the author's other works, this series just isn't it for me.

Thank you to Severn House for providing this eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I'm still a big fan of Simon R. Green because I read and re-read several of his books (e.g. the Deathstalker books). I just love them.
This one, alas, does nothing for me.
It's all talk and very soon I lost track of who was who because the characters all talked with the same tone of voice.
It's a pity and I hope the author will soon come back with new stories that are more like the ones I read and loved so much.

Thanks to Severn House and Netgalley for this review copy.

Spooky Time!, a tv ghost-hunting show, is doing a special live episode in the hopes of boosting the ratings and saving the show. June, host and producer, along with her "pet psychic" Leslie have invited four seemingly random "celebrities" to exploit for the peoples' entertainment. Included in the show's line-up is Diana, star of stage and screen who is starting to get desperate for work as she does what all of us must - age; Alistair, the Bishop from a very bad section of London who makes the rounds on morning talk shows at the behest of his superiors; Toby, a comedian attempting to boost his club bookings after his latest heart attack; and Indira, a celebrity chef who won a tv cooking contest and needed to promote her newest book before she falls into obscurity. And the place? "[T]he must haunted hall in England, and that is officially certified, by Guinness," at least according to June. Officially, it is just a town hall in the middle of nowhere.

Things start to go wrong immediately - equipment missing, cell phone service gone, electricity sketchy. It seems easy to write it off as the show's schtick until one of the guests is found dead. Is there a murderer in their midst or is the hall truly haunted with ghosts bent on revenge?

I really wanted to like this and it is normally something totally up my alley, but it really fell flat for me. All the arguing, lots of nothing happening, and even I had a hard time suspending my belief that anything but normal ghost show crap was taking place. I had hopes for more, but alas, here we are.

It's a good and entertaining story with multidimensional characters and cool twists. I enjoyed reading it and appreciate the well-thought-out plot and the author's ability to keep the reader engaged. Worth a shot.

This may be trying to build up to a larger series in the future but I didn't really find this book able to hold my interest at all. Maybe it will build up in later entries but I don't find myself really excited with the thought of continuing.

A gathering of minor celebrities in the most haunted place in England...sounds like a recipe for disaster to me. Spooky Time, a reality TV show, sputtering along, has hired an Anglican priest, a South Asian celebrity chef, a has-been comedian and an aging actress to appear. June and Leslie are the hosts, June manipulates behind the scenes and Leslie is the resident medium. But, what has the group awakened in the hall? When the bodies start dropping, everyone begins to freak out. Quite slow-paced at the beginning, it picked up speed in the last half. This is the beginning of a new series for Green which will feature Alister and Diana, the priest and the actress, as ghost-hunters. I do not know if I will read the second. This did provide the trademark Green snark and British humor.

I appreciate having had an opportunity to read and review this book. The appeal of this particular book was not evident to me, and if I cannot file a generally positive review I prefer simply to advise the publisher to that effect and file no review at all.

4 Stars!

It had been a long time since I read anything by Simon R. Green and The Holy Terrors seemed like a great way to get reacquainted with the author. Touted as a “locked-room mystery with a paranormal twist,” this novel seemed like the perfect mix of mystery and horror on the outside, so I could not wait to sink my teeth into this mystery for a spine-tingling adventure.



Spooky Time was a ghost-hunting reality show that was low on reality and high on scripted scares. It was a formula that worked for a while but the show’s rating were in a free fall and cancellation seemed inevitable. June, the host and creator of the show, has the perfect way to save it: a live broadcast with a celebrity cast from The Most Haunted Hall in England. June set out to cast the show and was rebuffed by her first choices, so they were not the celebrities she wanted, but they would have to do. This is how Alistair, a bishop who hosted a morning religion show, finds himself locked in the hall over night with June, a medium, and actress, a comedian, and a celebrity chef.



Just having a live broadcast from a spooky location overnight may not be enough, especially with the Z-list celebrities she was able to get to sign on. June is not above manufacturing some scares, though, and is confident that she can pull this off. Once they are locked in and the show begins, however, her idea of scripted scares goes out the window with the first murder. This is definitely not what the guests had in mind, but it may just be the way to save the show. But only if they can stop the person, or ghost, who seems hell-bent on murder.



The Holy Terrors starts out with the introduction of the cast as they arrive for the show. Alistair takes the spotlight from the beginning and, to be honest, he is the most interesting character in a cast that lacks depth. The focus is definitely on him, which is not surprising since I am guessing the new series is going to build around him. There is enough conflict and depth in him to make him interesting. The rest of the cast seems disposable and, in fact, proves to be so over the course of the story. The storyline is a bit formulaic, especially at the beginning, but the book is an easy read and it flows quickly. I will admit that I was not immediately impressed or pulled into the book, but then things get interesting.



Once the story gets rolling and the cast is locked in the haunted hall, The Holy Terrors becomes a fast, fun read. Green throughs curves at the reader with abandon and leaves them questioning their thoughts and assumptions about what is really happening in the story. There is a simplicity to his prose that makes the convoluted story easy to navigate so that it never left me feeling bogged down. I thought there was a definite Agatha Christie vibe to this story that reminded me of my teenage years when I first discovered her books. It is clear that Green is a master of the genre adn this story is entertaining throughout. My one quibble would be that I figured out what was really happening very early on in the book (although I have been told that I am very good at that), but that did not diminish my enjoyment of the story much as it was interesting how green unravels the story. If you have not read anything by Green before, this is a great book pick him up. If you have read him before, it has been too long, even if you read his last book, and Green will remind you of just how good he is.



I would like to thank Severn House and NetGalley for this review copy. The Holy Terrors is scheduled to be released on February 6, 2024.

I really wanted to like this book. I wanted it to scare me. But I didn’t and it didn’t. It wasn’t believable even by paranormal standards.

This was a fun read, but I missed the supernatural elements of the Nightside and many of the author's other series. I enjoyed this book, and read it straight through, but it would be a book I borrow from the library rather than a book I buy and keep.

New characters, same snarky dialog by Green. Not sure if this is a beginning to a new series or not. This has "most haunted hall in England" as the locked door drama with 6 characters all whom have experience in television with some notoriety, acting, religion, cooking, comedy, along with the hostess and her sidekick, a medium.
It's to be shown live for a ghost hunting show for a full night, with the locks only opening in the morning. A murder happens in the beginning, leading to a seance, multiple connections to ghosts from the past, and a resolution for an ending. Not much action, other than paranormal. Lots of dialog, and information of all characters pasts. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced read.

**Thank you to NetGalley and Severn House for the eARC of this book.**

Unfortunately, I am with the majority of reviewers on this one and it ended up not working for me. Rounded up to a generous 3 stars due to a promising premise, the hints of a good story in there somewhere, and a couple characters that I didn’t hate.

The idea of a reality TV show taking place in a “haunted” building that ended up being actually haunted sounded so perfect to me. The Holy Terrors loses itself in too much dialogue and not a whole lot happening, unfortunately. The character interactions were weird, and I was given no reason to suspend any kind of disbelief to make them seem more real.

Check this one out if you like reality TV, ghost hunting shows, and horror that focuses primarily on the relationships of the characters!

Huge fan of the Nightside series, so wanted to give Holy Terrors.

Al locked room thriller with the addition of a possible supernatural element. 6 people enter a haunted town hall for a ghost hunting tv show. The doors are sealed and no one can leave till morning. All kinds of spooky noises and then people start dropping dead with no visible injuries.

I really liked the main character, Alastair, who is a bishop. He’s the most skeptical if them all with an analytical mind.

A real quick and fun read.!

Unfortunately this was a miss for me.
Unlikeable characters, way too much dialogue, and honestly quite boring for the majority of the read.

If there was more character introspection, more mystery/dread/horror, less obnoxious characters (and also more realistic) I think this would be a fantastic story.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, & Severn House for a copy.