Posthaste Manor: Novel Review
Happy Canadian Thanksgiving to all my fellow Canucks out there!
I’ve got a special treat of a review today! Not only did I receive and ARC of Posthaste Manor to read, but I also got to interview the two authors for an episode of PLM Talks, which will drop this Thursday! So check back here then!
And the fun doesn’t stop there, I am also hosting the online launch party! There will be live readings, Q&A, and three giveaways during the event! You will have a chance to win:
Signed bookplate
Merch (stickers etc)
Tenebrous shirt
Paperback copy of Posthaste Manor
* USA shipping only
So don't wait, reserve your free ticket today and visit the Posthaste Manor for a special tour October 21st!
The Authors
Jolie Toomajan is a PhD candidate, writer, editor, exhausted feminist, and all-around ghoul. Her dissertation in progress is focused on the women who wrote for Weird Tales and her work has appeared in Upon a Thrice Time, Black Static, Los Suelos, and Death in the Mouth (among other places).
Carson Winter is an author, punker, and raw nerve. His fiction has been featured in Apex, Vastarien, and Tales to Terrify, among others. “The Guts of Myth” was published in volume one of Dread Stone Press’ Split Scream series. His novella, Soft Targets, is out now from Tenebrous Press. He lives in the Pacific Northwest.
The Novel
NEVER TRUST A HOUSE WITH A NAME.
Everyone has a story about Posthaste Manor.
None of the stories end well, but that doesn’t stop the hopeful from hoping and the desperate from trying.
This composite novel stands as both history and eulogy of one very haunted house, as recounted by artists, real estate agents, and beloved family pets; by the debauched, the dead and the dying, and anyone looking for one last chance.
Raise a glass in celebration. Just don't linger within its walls for long.
— Posthaste Manor description on Tenebrous Press
Dropping October 18th from Tenebrous Press, Posthaste Manor is a cowritten (you’ll recognize both authors, I think, from previous reviews, PLM Talk interviews, and even a launch party or two! ) deconstructed haunted house novel. Its narrative is structured in a series of short stories and a longer novella piece and features illustrations by Alex Woodroe and a cover by Trevor Henderson.
Fun fact—this is Jolie’s debut!
Pre-orders are available on the Tenebrous Press website now!
The Review
I am a huge sucker for haunted house tales and Posthaste Manor was delightful in its use of familiar tropes, gothic/weird themes, and all the batshit craziness Carson/Jolie weaved throughout the book. As I mentioned above, the house’s history is told through a novella and a series of short stories, leading the reader down a deliciously insane background of a house that just won’t let go. Not of the characters or the reader.
The book opens on the novella which tells of two separate characters’ experience with the house. Otho (his sections are written by Carson) is curious about the house’s reputation and just had to have it, Adira (her sections are written by Jolie) is running from her abusive husband and the cheap price tag and looming walls of Posthaste Manor seem to be the perfect haven…at least for a while.
I loved how the two characters’ stories are individual from one another and yet line up and sometimes intersect like a perfectly orchestrated nightmare. It’s the perfect start to the reader’s tour of the hungry haunted house that is Posthaste Manor.
After the novella are the short stories, which drag the reader in the weirdest, brutal, and sometimes gory events in the house’s past that flavour its curse. Each story is delectable, I honestly couldn’t put it down.
I feel like it takes true talent as a writer to be able to collaborate with another. Carson and Jolie did an amazing job of working with each other’s narrative voices, prose, and style, building a haunted house novel with good, nay, great bones. (bah dum tsh)
And the beautiful thing about Posthaste Manor is its so unique. I am struggling to find the right words to describe how you, dear reader, might experience the book. For me, it was like touring the house myself, with a dark and mysterious guide, learning its secrets and shivering.
Besides the novella, I do have some favourites among the shorts:
“Rats and Dogs on the Planet Nowhere” - Carson Winter: a swingers party in a haunted house like no other.
“Everyone’s Just Screaming All The Time” - Carson Winter: a man is called to fix the boiler in Posthaste Manor.
“Conscious Uncoupling” - Jolie Toomajan: a wife and husband are interviewed about the house.
And my absolute favourite: “Mrs. Mutilate’s Husbands” - Jolie Toomajan: a Gothic fairy tale-esque tale a woman with the worst luck in men.
So if you’re looking for a nice little haunted house novel for the coming spooky season, pre-order Posthaste Manor now! I promise, it’ll be nothing like anything you’ve ever read!
10/10
x PLM
p.s. don’t forget to come to the launch party too! You’ll have a chance to hear the authors read parts from the book and a chance to win prizes! It’s free and online, just reserve your spot:
