Haverscroft by S A Harris **Read an extract here** #Haverscroft #BlogTour @salharris1 @EmmaDowson1 @MyriadEditions

Haverscroft by S A Harris

Published by Salt

Publication Date 15th May 2019

Genre: Contemporary Horror/Ghost Stories

320 pages

My thanks to Emma Dowson, publicist for the opportunity to bring you a chilling extract from Sally Harris' debut novel Haverscroft. I am looking forward to picking up my copy of this spooky book but as a quick taster of what it has in store, read on down and I think you will get goosebumps and be looking to be grabbing a copy of your own. Don't turn out the lights...

Book Description:

Kate Keeling leaves all she knows and moves to Haverscroft House in an attempt to salvage her marriage. Little does she realise, Haverscroft’s dark secrets will drive her to question her sanity, her husband and fatally engulf her family unless she can stop the past repeating itself. Can Kate keep her children safe and escape Haverscroft in time, even if it will end her marriage?

Haverscroft is a gripping and chilling dark tale, a modern ghost story that will keep you turning its pages late into the night.

Extract : From End Of Chapter 9

 ‘Mummy, where are you?’ 

 Sophie’s on the landing, her face, pale and sleepy, chin resting on the bannister, looking down

at me.
 ‘Here, Sophie. On my way back to bed.’
 I stand, the beam from the torch illuminates my daughter. There’s something I can’t make out,
something black, moving along the landing from the direction of the office. Something dark and
tall, swiftly heading to where Sophie stands.
 ‘Sophie!’
 Astonishment wipes across Sophie’s features. I run towards the stairs, all the while staring up
at the landing. A darkness moves behind her, double her height, it will engulf her. What the hell is
it?
 ‘What’s wrong, Mummy?’
 I bound up the stairs, near the top of the flight the torchlight flickers. I shake it, clear the top
step. It dies completely as I make it onto the landing runner.
 ‘Mummy?’
 Tom’s face appears from around my bedroom door. Sophie stands in the triangle of yellow
light seeping from the bedroom. She’s visibly shivering. There’s nothing here. Did I see a shadow,
torchlight bouncing them off the high ceilings?
 ‘Quickly now, back into bed, both of you!’
 I hurry towards the twins, wrap an arm about Sophie and herd them into the bedroom. I glance
towards the spare room. The door stands wide open, the room filled with moonlight. A liquid
darkness moves across the space as the door swings shut. Even though I watch it moving, the slam
makes me flinch. I hurry after the twins, bang the door behind me. So many of these old doors lost
their tiny brass keys over the years but not this one. I turn it now, hear the soft click as the
mechanism moves into place. I step back, stare at the locked door as if it might somehow spring
open. I’d spooked myself. So stupid, convinced I seen something. But what the hell is going on with
the spare bedroom door? I throw my heap of clothes off the dressing-table chair and carry it to the
door. I wedge it beneath the handle.
 ‘Mummy, what are you doing?’
 I turn around, look at the twins sitting side by side on the bed. Riley, next to Tom, my son’s
arm around the dog. I’m startled to see them there, utterly ridiculous. It’s as if, in my panic, I’ve
forgotten their existence. They stare back at me, waiting for my explanation.
 ‘What’s out there?’
 Tom sounds terrified. His face is pale, clutching Blue Duck to his chest.
 Don’t get weird. They’re not used to weird anymore. Normal, be normal.
 I crease my face into a smile.
 ‘Nothing. Nothing’s out there, Tom. Just the wind. It keeps slamming the doors. This’ll keep it
shut. Come on, get some sleep now.’
 I move away from the door, try very hard not to look back at it, to maintain a smile which I
pray looks vaguely relaxed and reassuring.
 ‘Why were you downstairs?’
 I don’t need Sophie’s usual barrage of questions right now. Only a plausible explanation will
prevent several more following.
 ‘Riley was scared by the storm, so I went to fetch him. He nearly tripped me up on the stairs
and I dropped the torch. I had to go back and get it, okay?’
 I’m tucking cold limbs into bed, shooing Riley to the floor. Tom’s nodding, desperate for good
news. Sophie watches and waits for more. I hurry on.
 ‘I must’ve damaged the torch when I dropped it. I’ll have to buy a new one tomorrow. Come
on, snuggle down, you’ve school in the morning.’
 I make much of straightening the duvet and am grateful for the warmth in the bed as I slip in
next to Sophie. I can see the door from here. Nothing moves. In the safety of the bedroom, my
fright already begins to seem ridiculous.
 ‘Can we keep the light on?’
 Tom’s voice is already heavy with sleep.
 ‘Just for tonight, Tom.’
 I’ve no intention of switching off the lamp.
 ‘Sing our song to us, Mummy?’
 Normally I’d laugh, say they’re too big now for nursery rhymes and baby things.
 ‘ “Sing-a-song of Sixpence”?’
 Sophie nods, burrows deeper into the bed. I mumble the song into my daughter’s warm hair.
Riley sneaks back onto the bed and settles himself at the bottom near our feet. I can’t help but strain
my ears for every sound the house makes as I sing.
 3:29am.
 Less than an hour since I went looking for the knocking sounds. I try and think rationally. No
one’s in the house. Just shadows, wind and my overactive imagination. That’s all. It’ll seem absurd
in the morning, in the daylight.
 I’m exhausted. Warmth seeps into my cold limbs as I cuddle up to Sophie’s back. Tom’s
steady breathing suggests he’s sound asleep already. Riley makes small whistling sounds from the
end of the bed. The pressure of him on my feet is surprisingly reassuring. I’m doubtful though, that
he’ll be much of a guard dog, judging by his behaviour so far. I let the song fade to nothing and
hope sleep will come quickly. Sophie mumbles, her words blurring into sleep.

 ‘Who are the people in the empty bedroom, Mummy?’ 

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About the Author:

S.A.Harris is an award-winning author and family law solicitor born in Suffolk and now living and working in Norwich, Norfolk.

She won the Retreat West Crime Writer Competition in 2017. She was shortlisted for The Fresher Prize First 500 Words of a Novel Competition in 2018 and published in their anthology, Monsters, in November 2018.

Social Media:

Twitter: @salharris1

Website: https://www.saharrisauthor.com