Review of William by Mason Coile

I am absolutely in my horror era! William hit the spot, simultaneously chilling me to the core whilst completely sucking me in.

We meet Henry, an engineer with agoraphobia. Hidden away in his home with his pregnant wife, Henry begins to unravel, especially when his newest creation, William, starts pulling Henry's strings. William, from the outset, scared me. He's a half-created robot, a warped confident of Henry's, but he's also toe-curling. The way Mason Coile describes William moving across the room is forever burnt into my brain and is, in itself, nightmare material.

As Henry begins to lose control of William, William's obsession with Henry's wife, Lily, begins to grow. After their initial meeting, William changes, and his anger evolves into more than chilling 'friendly' word play with his creator. He begins to haunt their home and create absolute havoc.

My childhood nightmare character was Slappy from Goosebumps. Even now, I can't watch a show with him in it. William is the AI, robotic version of Slappy that is seared into my nightmares. Mason has created an electric terrifying atmosphere within this book. The writing was perfect and melted like butter, but constantly held that forewarning sense of doom. I was holding my breath for half of the chapters and didn’t feel I couldn't get enough air in after I finished!

William is a horror novel centring around what it is to be human, but it is also a book about loneliness and the urge for a connection. William is absolutely a ghost story filled with the most tummy twisting of thrills and adrenaline pumping chills. I would highly recommend adding this one to your Halloween TBR!

Reviewed by Danielle.

William was published on 3/10/24 by Baskerville

.

.

.