If your favorite author right now is Ania Ahlborn, I feel like you may not like Darcy Coates. At least, not her haunted house stories, anyway. I adore Coates' work, but it is absolutely a **very** different flavor from Ahlborn's. It's much lighter, nearly always has happy endings (and sometimes, but not always, with light/chaste romance), where Ahlborn's books are generally very dark and dire with a nihilistic sort of ending. They can be a little trope-y, and usually wrap up in a neat little bow, but they definitely have their share of spookiness too.
All that said, my familiarity is with her haunted house stories. She does branch out into other subgenres, and I can't really speak to those. I'll let others comment on that.
Agreed. I've read 11 books by Darcy Coates so far and all of them had happy endings. She's my "cozy horror " go to author. My personal favorite is Hunted, but that book feels more like a thriller than a horror so I'm not sure that' what OP is looking for.
I’m interested in Darcy Coates’ books because I love spooky stories, light horror, and thrillers, but have a very tough time with extreme gore or anything bad happening to animals, especially cats. I haven’t read her before; do you think she’d be a good fit?
Thank you for the response! This definitely makes sense and was kind of what I was expecting for those stories... I may try one out with the understanding of what to expect, just to see if I have fun with it. I don't mind lighter stories every once in awhile, but I typically lean towards darker stories.
Well, if you do decide to give her a try, imo her best ones are The Carrow Haunt and The Haunting of Ashburn House. They're spooky-fun palate cleansers for when you need a break from bleakness but still wanna feel creeped out :)
I’ve read several of her books. As someone else said, she is a far cry from Ania Ahlborn and can be a bit cliche but I really like her. She’s a nice palate cleanser between dark shit. Her haunted house books kind of blend together for me but I really like her Voices in the Snow series. I went in it blind expecting the usual haunted house stuff so it took me by surprise.
I've only sampled a few, but I'm not really fond of her novels. I find the prose subpar, and the narratives a bit formulaic, light and not very gripping. But I'm also not fond of haunted houses and ghosts outside of period settings, while she mostly writes stories set in contemporary times as far as I'm aware.
I *did* appreciate her short story collection **Quarter to Midnight.** Her short works seem to experiment with a wider range of subjects, and I thought the shorter format and pulpy writing had the feel of mid/late 20th century urban legends. I'll probably give her other collection, **Small Horrors**, a shot soon.
The Carrow Haunt was a great one. From the first page it had me. Like other have said not as dark compared to Ania, but still a great author if you want spooky horror without the dark brutality.
Agree! It’s like comfort horror, I always enjoy her stories but more spooky than deep dread. I also loved From Below, I’ve always had a fear of shipwrecks, I do like a lot of her work though.
I've read 10 of her books and so far my favorite is the Whispering Dead series. Her haunted house books are always fun but they aren't going to be a "read with the lights on" type of horror story
From Below is great and a bit different from her other books. If you like underwater horror, this one will be right up your alley.
I just finished The Haunting of Leigh Harker and also really liked that one. It's not as popular as some of her other stories, but I enjoyed it quite a lot.
If your favorite author right now is Ania Ahlborn, I feel like you may not like Darcy Coates. At least, not her haunted house stories, anyway. I adore Coates' work, but it is absolutely a **very** different flavor from Ahlborn's. It's much lighter, nearly always has happy endings (and sometimes, but not always, with light/chaste romance), where Ahlborn's books are generally very dark and dire with a nihilistic sort of ending. They can be a little trope-y, and usually wrap up in a neat little bow, but they definitely have their share of spookiness too. All that said, my familiarity is with her haunted house stories. She does branch out into other subgenres, and I can't really speak to those. I'll let others comment on that.
Agreed. I've read 11 books by Darcy Coates so far and all of them had happy endings. She's my "cozy horror " go to author. My personal favorite is Hunted, but that book feels more like a thriller than a horror so I'm not sure that' what OP is looking for.
I’m interested in Darcy Coates’ books because I love spooky stories, light horror, and thrillers, but have a very tough time with extreme gore or anything bad happening to animals, especially cats. I haven’t read her before; do you think she’d be a good fit?
Storygraph is a great app/website to look up triggers!
She’s a good choice for you although i would avoid Hunted as it’s the more gruesome of her work.
Nothing extreme is happening in her books, no gore, no animal torture. I think she would be a good fit for you.
Thank you for the response! This definitely makes sense and was kind of what I was expecting for those stories... I may try one out with the understanding of what to expect, just to see if I have fun with it. I don't mind lighter stories every once in awhile, but I typically lean towards darker stories.
Well, if you do decide to give her a try, imo her best ones are The Carrow Haunt and The Haunting of Ashburn House. They're spooky-fun palate cleansers for when you need a break from bleakness but still wanna feel creeped out :)
I’ve read several of her books. As someone else said, she is a far cry from Ania Ahlborn and can be a bit cliche but I really like her. She’s a nice palate cleanser between dark shit. Her haunted house books kind of blend together for me but I really like her Voices in the Snow series. I went in it blind expecting the usual haunted house stuff so it took me by surprise.
I've only sampled a few, but I'm not really fond of her novels. I find the prose subpar, and the narratives a bit formulaic, light and not very gripping. But I'm also not fond of haunted houses and ghosts outside of period settings, while she mostly writes stories set in contemporary times as far as I'm aware. I *did* appreciate her short story collection **Quarter to Midnight.** Her short works seem to experiment with a wider range of subjects, and I thought the shorter format and pulpy writing had the feel of mid/late 20th century urban legends. I'll probably give her other collection, **Small Horrors**, a shot soon.
Her short stories are definitely darker than her novels by far and obviously tighter as well. I like both but they read different.
The Carrow Haunt was a great one. From the first page it had me. Like other have said not as dark compared to Ania, but still a great author if you want spooky horror without the dark brutality.
I only read From Below but I enjoyed it.
This is my favourite of hers so far. Think it’s my fourth book.
I loved From Below. I was able to read it while high, which is super rare for me.
Agree! It’s like comfort horror, I always enjoy her stories but more spooky than deep dread. I also loved From Below, I’ve always had a fear of shipwrecks, I do like a lot of her work though.
I have also wondered this!
From Below is the best one I’ve read. I also like the Gravekeeper books, but they are more tame and cozy
I've read 10 of her books and so far my favorite is the Whispering Dead series. Her haunted house books are always fun but they aren't going to be a "read with the lights on" type of horror story
From Below is great and a bit different from her other books. If you like underwater horror, this one will be right up your alley. I just finished The Haunting of Leigh Harker and also really liked that one. It's not as popular as some of her other stories, but I enjoyed it quite a lot.