Whispers in the Wallpaper: A Seasoned Horror Fan Reviews Perron Manor
⚠️ Trigger Warnings
Paranormal and demonic themes (including possession and occult rituals)
Child endangerment (psychological and supernatural threats to a young child)
Mental health deterioration (characters experiencing psychological distress, paranoia, and emotional breakdowns)
Violence and death (including graphic descriptions of supernatural attacks)
Isolation and gaslighting (emotional manipulation and breakdown of familial trust)
Mild body horror (disturbing imagery, though not extreme or gore-heavy)
NO SPOILERS AHEAD!
There’s something uniquely unsettling about a haunted house story that doesn’t rely on cheap thrills or gore-soaked spectacle. Lee Mountford’s Haunted: Perron Manor understands that true horror lives in the slow unraveling of relationships, the erosion of trust, and the creeping dread that turns a home into a battleground for the soul.
I stumbled across Mountford on TikTok, where the algorithm clearly knows I’m partial to haunted architecture and psychological torment, and promptly bought three of his books in the Haunted series: Perron Manor, Devil’s Door, and Asylum. The series itself spans nine books, each exploring different haunted locations with recurring characters and escalating stakes.
Mountford introduces us to Sarah Pearson, an ex-army soldier, and her sister Chloe Shaw, who—along with Chloe’s husband Andrew and young daughter Emma, inherit the dilapidated Perron Manor from a distant uncle. From the outset, the house is a character in its own right: neglected, brooding, and brimming with secrets. Cold spots, phantom knocks, strange smells, and the unmistakable feeling of being watched begin almost immediately. But Mountford doesn’t rush. He lets the tension simmer, allowing the paranormal to seep into the cracks of familial bonds.
What’s striking is how the haunting mirrors the emotional disintegration of the characters. The sisters, once close, begin to clash. Their arguments feel less like plot devices and more like the natural consequence of living in a space that amplifies unresolved trauma. Mountford’s background in writing both supernatural and extreme horror lends authenticity to the haunting. He avoids melodrama, instead opting for realism—occult relics, a mysterious Latin manuscript, and demonic elements that feel disturbingly plausible.
There’s a psychological depth here that elevates Perron Manor beyond genre conventions. The house doesn’t just scare—it isolates, manipulates, and exposes. It’s not just ghosts that haunt these halls; it’s the specter of unmet needs, a demon of buried grief, and the terrifying possibility that love alone may not be enough to save you.
Mountford’s prose is lean but evocative, never overwriting the horror but letting it breathe. The pacing is deliberate, and the climax, without spoiling, is both surprising and emotionally resonant. For readers who crave horror that respects their intelligence and emotional complexity, Haunted: Perron Manor delivers.
Personal Reflections
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It’s perfect for someone who scares easily or is just dipping their toes into horror fiction. For me, though, it was more of a low burn, I didn’t get the hide-behind-a-pillow kind of fear. But then again, I’m a seasoned horror consumer. I used to browse Rotten.com in my youth without blinking, so my threshold for terror is... let’s say, well-developed. However, the book draws you in, and as soon as I finished it, I immediately started the next in the series.
Goodreads Review can be found here: Goodreads
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆ (3/5) Atmospheric and emotionally layered, but not quite nightmare fuel for the horror-hardened.
📚 Call to Action
If you’ve got horror book recommendations that could genuinely rattle a horrorcore veteran, I want them. Indie authors welcome, bonus points for originality and psychological depth. Just a heads-up: I tend to avoid books with repeated animal abuse. My TBR is hungry, and I’m ready to feed it something truly terrifying.