Holt House

This is an eerie book that is beautifully narrated.

The story is gripping and keeps you glued. I finished the book in one sitting and i didn't guess the ending of the story which I really like too.

The narrator has a smooth voice that helps to bring the story to life, it's the first audio book where I felt the voice fitted perfectly with the story.

Listening to this felt like listening to an episode of The Magnus Archives podcast. Initially, I expected this tale to be relatively boring as it started off slow. However, the more the story came along, the more I felt “what the fuck” about it.

This short tale really surprised me with both the tale at its raw value and its underlying messages of repentance and purgatory of sorts. The descriptor doesn’t do it enough justice, honestly, and you just have to read or listen to this to experience it fully.

I can’t wait to read more of the Eden Book Society collection!

I loved Holt house, it is a very short novella from a book from the 50's written under the The Eden Book Society a group of books established in 1919, the society published horror novellas for a private list of subscribers and although pitched as a horror it is not a scary horror, it is more of a tales of the unexpected vibe, and having the crackly record style recording in the background really adds to the atmosphere. I loook forward to trying to find some of these novels myself.

The cover of this book is what attracted me to review it. As I started, the introduction tells of the rarity of this book and the others in its collection published through The Eden Book Society.
Although I am a big horror fan I must admit to never hearing of the Book society so upon finishing I did a little research.
The Eden Book Society was established in 1919 by the Eden family a private publisher that passed through generations and existed for almost 100 years publishing British horror to a group of confidential subscribers.
The books were written by pseudonyms rumoured to be the greatest horror authors of the day but now Dead Ink Press have acquired the rights to the collection of books and archives publishing them to the public for the first time, wow!.
Now the book, well, memory plays a big part to this story. As it starts with Raymond a young man camping out in Holtwood, the place of his childhood near Holt House the house of Mr & Mrs Latch. Raymond's purpose is to cure his obsession with a memory he has from his childhood that haunts him. As a 11yr old child he was left with the Latches one night when his parents needed to go to hospital. His memory is vague but he remembers been shown something but he doesn't know what in a wardrobe in a bedroom in that house but whatever it was it it sickened him and it shocked him to his core.
Raymond peeks through the hole in the fence and watches the couple.
Through this story we find what he was shown and the changes in the characters as the tale is told from alternate perspectives. But are the narrators reliable? the hints at misogamy and comments made about women add a sinister edge.
Without doubt the tale has a very creepy dark feel to it. Atmospheric in the explanation of the rural nature, landscape and wildlife particularly otters (eek!). The story is deep and multilayered.
Quite surreal but very enjoyable. I found the narrators easy to listen to and the sound quality change from the introduction to the actual story gave it a authentic vintage 'wireless' sound.
I read American horror and I'm currently reading books off the Paperbacks from Hell ( Grady Hendrix) list which include a lot of the forgotten horror books from the 70's and 80's so it was nice to have a comparison with a British horror book of the same era.
A audio book I would highly recommend and kept thinking about long after I had put it down.
My thanks go to the publishers and Netgalley in providing this copy in return for a honest review I will certainly be seeking out Eden Book Society's further books that are released.

It was a nice change of pace to go for a novella rather than a novel. The premise of the Eden Book Society (with both the foreword and the afterword playing beautifully into the mythos of this mysterious collection of horror novellas) made picking this up and easy choice.

The story itself is intriguing and never stops being so. Just when you think you've an idea of what's going on, Holt House changes the script and keeps you wanting to plough on.

The idea of a mysterious house surrounded by the woods is the setting for many a horror story, none reach the uniqueness of Holt House. In all my time of reading horror, I don't feel as though I've experienced a story that changed so much across so short amount of pages.

The audio book was recorded with that old style recording sound effect, so you get the lovely crackle that you might on an old tape recorder. It adds a certain charm to it that only adds to the uniqueness.

The character work feels simple and uninspired until you get through a bit of the book and realise how wrong you are in that thought. The simple character work is only a layer adding to the overall product and has a feel of being far more involved than the simple beginnings would have suggested.

All in all, I really enjoyed this audio book and look forward to more from the Eden Book Society.

Really enjoyed this audiobook.

The narration, which is crucial to my enjoyment of an audiobook, was perfect. It captured the atmospheric mood of this short tale perfectly and also setup the concept of the Eden Book Society.

I listened to this tale on a hot sunny day while I painted my fence. I was utterly absorbed and the mundane task of fence painting flew by!

I really hope there are more tales from the Eden Book Society as this one left me wanting more. On looking at the website I’ve discovered there are a further five tales. I’ll definitely be looking out for the full collection on Audible. They would be a perfect listen on a dark winter night.

Kudos to everyone involved in this production.

Thanks to NetGalley and Dead Ink Books, Cinder House Publishing Limited for this early audiobook.

This novella follows Raymond, a man haunted by an experience he can’t quite remember from his childhood. An experience that involved the inhabitants of Holt House, and something shown to him hidden in a wardrobe, something that sickened him and left him changed. Haunted and desperate for answers he returns to Holtwood, and watched the residents of Holt House through a hole in the fence. But he doesn’t remain a watcher for long.

Definitely an enjoyable audiobook experience. When the story first began I did think that actually I wouldn’t enjoy it, despite the fantastic narration, as it started off quite slowly. But I’m so pleased that I stuck with it. This very quickly became quite a twisty, turny tale that had me questioning how reliable the narrator was, and wondering what on earth was going on in this creepy house in the woods, because it certainly wasn’t what I was expecting at the start! Will definitely be on the lookout for further releases in this series.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest review.

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher W.F. Howes Ltd in exchange for an honest review.

What an absolute treat this was! I am a longtime classic horror fan but I had never heard of the Eden Book Society and I am delighted to discover them. I think the idea of a secret publishing society of horror books is already incredible, and the fact the recordings have been discovered and are now being shared is even more amazing. I wasn't sure what to expect from Holt House but it did not disappoint.

There are two things I would like to make clear about the audiobook. Firstly, it is an old recording and it does sound like one. However, once I got used to the slightly muffled sound, this did not matter in the slightest. The narrators are great and put a lot of passion into their acting, and it is definitely clear enough that I wasn't struggling to hear it. The second thing is that this is very short, maybe around 3 hours in total minus the introduction and follow-up interview/comment parts. It's a great story so it didn't bother me but I was a little surprised at first and might have been bothered if I'd paid a lot for it.

The story itself is great. It starts with an old house in the forest and a creepy coat made of otter skin, and from there the story develops in the most wonderful way. I never knew what was going to happen and I found myself completed fascinated by the directions it took. The narrators definitely helped here. I got completely absorbed into the world of this book and the great voice acting was a huge part of it.

I don't really want to say anything more as the book is so short, but if you like the feel and atmosphere of classic horror then this is definitely worth checking out. I will be keeping my eyes peeled for the other books hopefully being released, and I am excited at the thought of more hidden gems being uncovered.

Overall Rating: 4/5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and W.F. Howes Ltd for allowing me to listen to Holt House.

This was such an eerie and compelling experience! I'm extremely happy that The Eden Book Society is finally starting to make these rarities available to the public, because they truly are hidden gems and classics of the genre of horror/suspense/gothic stories.

Holt House is a house like no other, hidden in the woods in the peaceful countryside. Nothing too special about it and yet fascinating and compelling to anyone who sees it. It seems to exist outside of time and anyone who ends up there.... doesn't leave.

I don't want to give spoilers, because this is such a short but so impactful story, but the ending is... well, quite the bone chilling twist.

And it also an interesting take on toxic masculinity and abuse of power by men in general that has stood the test of time, even though this story had been lost and forgotten in time for over 40 years.

The narration was superb and really gave you all the spooky atmosphere that this story entails.

I definitely recommend it and I hope to read more of these hidden gems from The Eden Book Society.

#HoltHouse #NetGalley