2018 HWA Gold Crown Award (longlist)
**Longlisted for the HWA Gold Crown**
An eerie and compelling ghost story set on the dark wilds of the Yorkshire moors. For fans of The Witchfinder's Sister and The Silent Companions, this gothic tale will weave its way into your imagination and chill you to the bone.
'Spine-tingling... the scariest ghost story I have read in a long time' Barbara Erskine
'A wonderful, macabre evocation of a lost way of life' The Times
'Like something from Emily Bronte's nightmares' Andrew Taylor, author of The Ashes of London
Maybe you've heard tales about Scarcross Hall, the house on the old coffin path that winds from village to moor top. They say there's something up here, something evil.
Mercy Booth isn't afraid. The moors and Scarcross are her home and lifeblood. But, beneath her certainty, small things are beginning to trouble her. Three ancient coins missing from her father's study, the shadowy figure out by the gatepost, an unshakeable sense that someone is watching.
When a stranger appears seeking work, Mercy reluctantly takes him in. As their stories entwine, this man will change everything. She just can't see it yet.
What readers are saying about The Coffin Path:
'A fantastic eerie ghost story to settle down with on a winters night'
'Compelling and chilling, the slow build-up of tension had me completely on edge'
'I couldn't put it down. I felt I was there on the moors, being watched by the unseen'
Genre: Horror
An eerie and compelling ghost story set on the dark wilds of the Yorkshire moors. For fans of The Witchfinder's Sister and The Silent Companions, this gothic tale will weave its way into your imagination and chill you to the bone.
'Spine-tingling... the scariest ghost story I have read in a long time' Barbara Erskine
'A wonderful, macabre evocation of a lost way of life' The Times
'Like something from Emily Bronte's nightmares' Andrew Taylor, author of The Ashes of London
Maybe you've heard tales about Scarcross Hall, the house on the old coffin path that winds from village to moor top. They say there's something up here, something evil.
Mercy Booth isn't afraid. The moors and Scarcross are her home and lifeblood. But, beneath her certainty, small things are beginning to trouble her. Three ancient coins missing from her father's study, the shadowy figure out by the gatepost, an unshakeable sense that someone is watching.
When a stranger appears seeking work, Mercy reluctantly takes him in. As their stories entwine, this man will change everything. She just can't see it yet.
What readers are saying about The Coffin Path:
'A fantastic eerie ghost story to settle down with on a winters night'
'Compelling and chilling, the slow build-up of tension had me completely on edge'
'I couldn't put it down. I felt I was there on the moors, being watched by the unseen'
Genre: Horror
Praise for this book
"Spine-tingling... the scariest ghost story I have read in a long time." - Barbara Erskine
"Oozing with gothic symbolism, this brooding and beautiful ghost story is guaranteed to haunt your dreamslong after the cover has been closed." - Essie Fox
"The Coffin Path is exquisite - the intense and brooding sense of place is reminiscent of Wuthering Heights, while Clements' characters are as vividly evoked as the dark fate hovering over them all. Highly recommended." - Alison Littlewood
"As dark and unsettling as I'd hoped. A brilliant ghost story. Her best novel yet." - Anna Mazzola
"Brooding and full of creeping menace." - Laura Purcell
"Seriously impressive... A good ghost story needs an absolutely authentic framework and a clear place in history, which is what we get here. The supernatural seeps into Scarcross Hall like rising damp, but the real horror is in the everyday cruelty of country life and its lingering barbarism. Even as your heart bleeds for the admirable Mercy Booth, you sense things are only going to get worse..." - Phil Rickman
"A chilling and disturbing tale of unusual power. The rich, textured writing delivers a gripping sense of time and place. I was convinced, transfixed, transported and I'll be keeping these characters close to me for a long time to come." - Imogen Robertson
"The Coffin Path is the perfect ghost story: utterly absorbing, immersed in a world so completely authentic, peopled by men, women, children - and the beasts of a shepherding life - so completely flesh and blood that when the not-so-flesh arise, it's *terrifying*. But not only that, it's a beautifully wrought evocation of a world and a time that feels as if it's just around the corner. If you like Michelle Paver, you'll love this, but fans of Mantel will love it too - the language is a delight, the word-smithing pitch-perfect, and the narrative drive compelling. This is a book about passion and fear, blood and death and life and love and all the pieces from which life is wrought - if you read only one book this year, make it this one, you won't regret it." - Manda Scott
"Like something from Emily Bronte's nightmares." - Andrew Taylor
"A beautifully written, nuanced ghost story which packs a powerful emotional punch. Katherine Clements expertly layers her story of the Yorkshire moors with a burgeoning sense of evil and impending emotional crisis. A haunting and evocative gothic story for a winter's evening." - Sophia Tobin
"Oozing with gothic symbolism, this brooding and beautiful ghost story is guaranteed to haunt your dreamslong after the cover has been closed." - Essie Fox
"The Coffin Path is exquisite - the intense and brooding sense of place is reminiscent of Wuthering Heights, while Clements' characters are as vividly evoked as the dark fate hovering over them all. Highly recommended." - Alison Littlewood
"As dark and unsettling as I'd hoped. A brilliant ghost story. Her best novel yet." - Anna Mazzola
"Brooding and full of creeping menace." - Laura Purcell
"Seriously impressive... A good ghost story needs an absolutely authentic framework and a clear place in history, which is what we get here. The supernatural seeps into Scarcross Hall like rising damp, but the real horror is in the everyday cruelty of country life and its lingering barbarism. Even as your heart bleeds for the admirable Mercy Booth, you sense things are only going to get worse..." - Phil Rickman
"A chilling and disturbing tale of unusual power. The rich, textured writing delivers a gripping sense of time and place. I was convinced, transfixed, transported and I'll be keeping these characters close to me for a long time to come." - Imogen Robertson
"The Coffin Path is the perfect ghost story: utterly absorbing, immersed in a world so completely authentic, peopled by men, women, children - and the beasts of a shepherding life - so completely flesh and blood that when the not-so-flesh arise, it's *terrifying*. But not only that, it's a beautifully wrought evocation of a world and a time that feels as if it's just around the corner. If you like Michelle Paver, you'll love this, but fans of Mantel will love it too - the language is a delight, the word-smithing pitch-perfect, and the narrative drive compelling. This is a book about passion and fear, blood and death and life and love and all the pieces from which life is wrought - if you read only one book this year, make it this one, you won't regret it." - Manda Scott
"Like something from Emily Bronte's nightmares." - Andrew Taylor
"A beautifully written, nuanced ghost story which packs a powerful emotional punch. Katherine Clements expertly layers her story of the Yorkshire moors with a burgeoning sense of evil and impending emotional crisis. A haunting and evocative gothic story for a winter's evening." - Sophia Tobin
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Used availability for Katherine Clements's The Coffin Path