Lee Allen's Blog - Posts Tagged "legacy-of-darkness"

The Meadows by London Clarke

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A gothic supernatural chiller to haunt your waking moments.

Scarlett DeHaven plans to start life afresh, focusing on her songwriting and new business venture, leaving her history of addiction behind. Moving to a remote town, she purchases a property with plans to open a bed and breakfast. But Asphodel House has a disturbing history, one that haunts it from every nook and cranny.

The strange atmosphere of the house rapidly unsettles Scarlett and she begins to feel, hear and see anomalies she fears may not be real, while the prospect of them being real is more terrifying still. With its history of brutal murders, reports of paranormal activity, and its use by a cult purporting to be vampires, in the present day the Meadows poses a threat to Scarlett’s sanity.

As she descends back into addiction she hoped to escape, Scarlett desperately searches for answers, finding help from demonologist Hunter Massabrook, who has his own history with the house. But as forces of darkness coagulate around Asphodel House, it becomes clear that whatever malign scheme has played out within its walls has not yet come to its conclusion and no one who has been touched by its shadow is safe.

London Clarke’s first volume of the ‘Legacy of Darkness’ is a gripping, thrilling delight for fans of gothic horror – with its setting of a lonely, secluded property haunted by malign entities that may be demonic or spirits of the dead; the mysterious cult, calling themselves the Colony, which may or may not exist, while its members may or may not be vampires; a group of outsiders, aliens in this secluded spot, meeting an array of locals, some portraying their fair share of eccentricities.

Creative, troubled and aspiring for a new start, Scarlett is a splendid central character – at times endearing and at others difficult to relate to, perfectly capturing the jarring nature of a relationship with an addict, as both an observer and from Scarlett’s own perspective. Her mistrust of her own recollections and emotions heightens the mystery and suspense that envelope every twist and turn of the plot, as it propels towards its conclusion and the secrets of the Meadows are finally unveiled.

With its host of well-drawn characters, gothic imagery and lightning-paced plotting, the novel takes inspiration from the classics to conjure a contemporary tale of unease. By the time I closed the book on the final page, I was already very excited to delve into ‘Whickering Place’, London Clarke's second volume in the ‘Legacy of Darkness’ trilogy.

Gothic and atmospheric, ‘The Meadows’ is a well-crafted and thrilling paranormal horror novel, demonstrating the allure of the supernatural remains as resolutely unshakeable as the walls of Asphodel House itself.



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Whickering Place by London Clarke

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


A traumatised young woman becomes an unwitting legatee of darkness in this gripping paranormal thriller.

Whickering Place presents a new chapter in Avery's life, following unexpectedly inheriting the estate. Having suffered with agoraphobia for years following an attack that killed her boyfriend, Avery struggles to adapt to her new environment.

As she learns more about her deceased father and his home, she begins to experience strange and unsettling incidents, which may be preternatural in origin.

As the darkness surrounding Whickering Place intensifies, Avery discovers its secrets, some of which may prove impossible to escape.

'Whickering Place' is the second volume in London Clarke's 'Legacy of Darkness' trilogy, following 'The Meadows'. Both a standalone supernatural horror thriller following Avery's experiences after inheriting the eponymous property and another chapter in the history of The Colony, the vampire cult with links to murder and corruption, it immediately immerses you in its atmosphere of classic gothic horror through a modern lens, a well-crafted chiller that will keep you hooked late into the night.

Avery is a brilliant gothic heroine - vulnerable, traumatised, struggling with her mental health - her own demons and past experiences haunting her, making for a perfect storm with the supernatural activity in the house she inherits from her father. Gothic and horror fiction surrounding hauntings is at its best when it crosses into psychological horror territory and no one can quite trust what they are experiencing to be true or if their own senses are betraying them.

Along with the house, Avery inherits two tenants, brothers, both of whom she finds herself attracted to - one kind and dependable, the other mysterious and hiding dark secrets. Having been a recluse for so many years, they are the first people with whom she develops emotional connections in a long time, through which she finds herself facing her past and battling her mental health issues, now with more to lose than ever before.

We also delve deeper into the history and practices of vampire cult The Colony, their rituals of murder and sacrifice and the evil at its core, as they gather around Whickering Place and wish to claim it for their own. With flourishes of romance, a creeping, haunting atmosphere, entwined with glimpses of an investigation into a series of brutal murders, London Clarke has combined multiple elements to create an absorbing supernatural thriller, dripping in suspense.

The novel concludes with a tantalising glimpse of how the story will continue, leaving us in anticipation of 'Nocturne House', which concludes the trilogy.



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