The Haunting of Paynes Hollow: A Novel
From New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong comes a nail-biting supernatural horror about a haunted lakeside property and twisted family secrets.
When Samantha Payne’s grandfather dies, she figures she won’t even get a mention in the will. After all, she hasn’t seen him in fourteen years, not since her father took his own life after being accused of murdering a child at their lakefront cottage. Her grandfather always insisted her father was innocent, despite Sam having caught him burying the child’s body, his clothing streaked with blood.
But when she does attend the reading of the will at the behest of her aunt, she discovers that her grandfather left her the very valuable lakefront property where the family cottage sits. There’s one catch: Sam needs to stay in the cottage for a month. To finally face the fact she was wrong and her father was innocent, in her grandfather's words.
Traveling to Paynes Hollow, Sam is faced with the realities of her childhood and the secrets kept hidden in the shadows of her memories. When her aunt goes missing a couple days into their stay, Sam begins to question everything again. Plagued by nightmares and paranoia, she begins hearing sounds in the forest and seeing shapes crawling from the water as the rippling waves of the lake promise something unspeakably dark lurking just below their surface.
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Community Reviews
This marks the 23rd Kelley Armstrong book that I have read. Suffice it to say that I’m a little bit of a fangirl of hers. I first discovered her Rockton series and have since committed to the spinoff series, Haven’s Rock, as well as her Rip Through Time series. I’ve also enjoyed her paranormal/horror stories as well, which this one would most certainly fall under.
The book summary just basically introduces the start of the story and the primary storyline. What the book summary doesn’t say is that to ensure that Sam follows through on the terms and conditions of her sadistic grandfather’s will, Sam must wear an ankle monitor to make sure she spends an entire month on the property and is not allowed to be vacant from the property for more than an hour a day. There’s also a secondary storyline that isn’t really mentioned and it's the storyline of what goes on in Paynes Hollow when the sun goes down. Seems when Sam was a kid, her grandfather told her stories of the headless horseman, and that the legend of Sleepy Hollow was actually based on the legend of Paynes Hollow. While this isn’t a remake of the legendary Sleepy Hollow story, Armstrong does utilize some of the same characters and their behaviors.
To make things even worse for Sam, her “caretaker”, who works for her grandfather, is Ben, the older brother of Austin, who was supposedly murdered by Sam’s father, and who she saw burying and why Sam’s grandfather has banished her to the property for a month in an effort to force Sam to remember what actually happened. Her grandfather never believed his beloved first son killed Austin. It’s deep in the second half that all the storylines collided into some intense and frightening scenes that had me up really late finishing the book because I could not go to sleep until I knew how it ended.
The character development of Sam, Ben and a couple of other characters was well done. The pacing was steady to fast, and the story was amazing! I loved the paranormal manifestations that Armstrong created; truly creepy and gruesome. On the Donne horror scale of 1-5, five being horror filled, I would rate this one 3.5-4, which was the perfect level of horror for me; I don't like 5's or even a lot of 4's. The writing was classic Armstrong with all of her twists and turns. Loved the ending! Whoo hoo! Karma is a &*!%#!!! I’m looking at an overall rating of 4.5 that I will be rounding up to a 5star review. I want to thank NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for sending me this eARC in exchange for my honest review.
#NetGalley #StMartinsPress #TheHauntingofPaynesHollow
The book summary just basically introduces the start of the story and the primary storyline. What the book summary doesn’t say is that to ensure that Sam follows through on the terms and conditions of her sadistic grandfather’s will, Sam must wear an ankle monitor to make sure she spends an entire month on the property and is not allowed to be vacant from the property for more than an hour a day. There’s also a secondary storyline that isn’t really mentioned and it's the storyline of what goes on in Paynes Hollow when the sun goes down. Seems when Sam was a kid, her grandfather told her stories of the headless horseman, and that the legend of Sleepy Hollow was actually based on the legend of Paynes Hollow. While this isn’t a remake of the legendary Sleepy Hollow story, Armstrong does utilize some of the same characters and their behaviors.
To make things even worse for Sam, her “caretaker”, who works for her grandfather, is Ben, the older brother of Austin, who was supposedly murdered by Sam’s father, and who she saw burying and why Sam’s grandfather has banished her to the property for a month in an effort to force Sam to remember what actually happened. Her grandfather never believed his beloved first son killed Austin. It’s deep in the second half that all the storylines collided into some intense and frightening scenes that had me up really late finishing the book because I could not go to sleep until I knew how it ended.
The character development of Sam, Ben and a couple of other characters was well done. The pacing was steady to fast, and the story was amazing! I loved the paranormal manifestations that Armstrong created; truly creepy and gruesome. On the Donne horror scale of 1-5, five being horror filled, I would rate this one 3.5-4, which was the perfect level of horror for me; I don't like 5's or even a lot of 4's. The writing was classic Armstrong with all of her twists and turns. Loved the ending! Whoo hoo! Karma is a &*!%#!!! I’m looking at an overall rating of 4.5 that I will be rounding up to a 5star review. I want to thank NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for sending me this eARC in exchange for my honest review.
#NetGalley #StMartinsPress #TheHauntingofPaynesHollow
This is the kind of creepy, atmospheric horror I live for. Small town, old legends, and that feeling that the woods are holding a grudge. I was pulled in immediately.
Kelley Armstrong does dread so well. It’s not just jump scares, it’s that slow, smoky build where you can feel something watching from the tree line. The folklore woven through it gave me chills, and the main character is exactly who you want in a haunted hollow — smart, stubborn, and not willing to look away even when she probably should.
No spoilers, but the setting is a character on its own. Paynes Hollow feels isolated and lived-in and wrong in the best way. It’s gothic without being heavy, tense without being gory, and the payoff is so satisfying and eerie.
If you love folk horror, cursed towns, and that “don’t go in the woods” energy, this is an easy five stars for me. I devoured it.
3.75 Stars
This book started out pretty slow for me. It took a bit to get into and I was debating if I wanted to keep going. I'm so glad I did. While, it feels like it drags, the second Sam gets to the cottage this book takes off and does not let you have a moment to breathe. After that first night, I could not put the book down. There was so much that seemed to happen in the span of under 300 pages [BOTM Edition], but it was in a way that was well rounded.
Sure, I kind of predicted the ending a little bit. [I always have a set of auto guesses at the start of any book like this] I was still pleasantly questioning each thing that happened. Overall, this was a well written book that had me on the edge of my seat at times and not wanting to put it down because I needed to know what was going to happen.
This book started out pretty slow for me. It took a bit to get into and I was debating if I wanted to keep going. I'm so glad I did. While, it feels like it drags, the second Sam gets to the cottage this book takes off and does not let you have a moment to breathe. After that first night, I could not put the book down. There was so much that seemed to happen in the span of under 300 pages [BOTM Edition], but it was in a way that was well rounded.
Sure, I kind of predicted the ending a little bit. [I always have a set of auto guesses at the start of any book like this] I was still pleasantly questioning each thing that happened. Overall, this was a well written book that had me on the edge of my seat at times and not wanting to put it down because I needed to know what was going to happen.
3.5 stars rounded up. better than I thought it would be. Sure it's a far fetched story and crazy. Still there was a lot going on. LOL 2 books in a row where dead old white men are making their children and/or grandchildren play games or complete tasks to get their inheritances. There is a bit of the unreliable narrator and def need to guess who to trust. Still thought this was well done.