The House on Cold Hill

By: Peter James

Narrated by: Nicholas Boulton

Length: 8 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

They said the dead can't hurt you.... They were wrong.

The House on Cold Hill is a chilling and suspenseful ghost story from the multimillion-copy best-selling author of Dead Simple, Peter James.

Moving from the heart of Brighton and Hove to the Sussex countryside is a big undertaking for Ollie and Caro Harcourt and their 12-year-old daughter, Jade. But when they view Cold Hill House - a huge, dilapidated Georgian mansion - Ollie is filled with excitement. Despite the financial strain of the move, he has dreamed of living in the country since he was a child, and he sees Cold Hill House as a paradise for his animal-loving daughter, the perfect base for his web-design business and a terrific long-term investment. Caro is less certain, and Jade is grumpy about being separated from her friends.

Within days of moving in, it becomes apparent that the Harcourt family aren't the only residents of the house. A friend of Jade's is the first to see the spectral woman, standing behind her as the girls talk on FaceTime. Then there are more sightings as well as increasingly disturbing occurrences in the house. As the haunting becomes more malevolent and the house itself begins to turn on the Harcourts, the terrified family discover Cold Hill House's dark history and the horrible truth of what it could mean for them....

©2015 Peter James (P)2015 Pan Macmillan Publishers Ltd.

Critic reviews

"Superbly creepy modern horror story." "Book of the Week" (The Sunday Mirror)

"James is a compelling storyteller and he ratchets up the tension in increments, so that his readers will be suitably terrified. By the time you want to scream ‘Look behind you!’, it’s already too late.” ‘Halloween Chillers." (The Daily Mail)

"A chilling read…this novel is almost impossible to put down." (Charlotte Heathcote, The Daily Express)

Not up to par

I am a huge fan of the Roy grace series. This book,however, dragged on and on. I listened to it. I probably wouldn't have finished it if l had been reading it.

Peter James’s Cold Hill House

This is a marvelous ghost story. Peter James is one of the best writers I’ve ever read. While he may be better known for his Crime Dramas, he is just as adapted with a ghost story, as well as his other works. Thoroughly enjoyed this book!

Good book ....

I enjoyed it but the pace didn't vary throughout and despite a few deaths being connected to the main character, no Roy Grace minded inspector got involved, wasted opportunity! also felt the end was a bit rushed

Better than Stephen King

An old fashioned haunted house book, without blood and gore, set in modern times with a contemporary family.
I am generally not a great lover of fiction, but this one held my attention all the way through. And it was the perfect length. The narrator was great. I will be recommending it to my Bookclub.

Great if you love horror clichés...

My "House on Cold Hill" Drinking Game

1) Before reading, take a second to write down every horror cliché you can imagine. Don't be stingy!! No trope is too overdone, no ground too treaded, no stone too turned!
2) While reading, mark down every one you get right. Bonus points if you saw the same gimmick used in a recent episode of Supernatural or a reenactment from "My Celebrity Ghost Story"...
3) When you finish, take one shot for every one you marked. The neat thing is that, when you are taken by the eventual onset of alcohol poisoning, you will feel on the outside, how this book makes you feel on the inside... dead.