Book Review: Bottling His Ghosts by S.H. Cooper
Genre: Gothic Horror
Age: Adult
Format: ebook
Disclaimer: I am very honoured to call S.H. Cooper a friend. Not only is she an excellent writer, but she’s a warm presence within horror. I became friends with her through fangirling so hard over her work she took notice, and she’s supported me and DHR ever since. I present this up front to explain that if I didn’t trust this book was going to be good, I wouldn’t have asked for a review copy. The fact is, I don’t often get the chance to review S.H. Cooper’s work as a reviewer, so I jumped at the chance with this one.
Netta, recently widowed, returns to her family home, Daunderhead, but she’s not the only one who’s come home. Her cousin, Thorn, is living nearby, his drinking growing too much for his wife and child. When Netta confronts the man she’s come to call brother, strange things happen, and soon Netta is seeing ghosts everywhere.
This is a standalone, but I’d suggest also picking up Inheriting Her Ghosts by S.H. Cooper, because it’s also a fantastic book and Bottling His Ghosts works as a spiritual sequel. Plus the two books go really, really well together.
Here, S.H. Cooper does what she does best – crafts compelling characters who drive the plot. The gothic atmosphere nicely reflects Netta’s grief, and the mystery around the ghosts keeps you firmly hooked. Cooper’s characters really are her strength, with emotional depth and ensuring every action and reaction fits with the characters themselves. We can understand why Netta takes the steps she takes, and why she reacts to circumstances how she does, we can see the extent of her grief. There are a few others who pop up who originally appeared in Inheriting Her Ghosts, and it gives a wonderful ‘moreness’ to this world, linking these two together in ways that work brilliantly.
It would be easy to go on about how much I loved this book, but if you’re looking for gothic fiction with compelling characters and ghosts who haunt more than just the pages, you’ll find it in Bottling His Ghosts.
Review by Elle Turpitt
Twitter: @elleturpitt
Bluesky: @elleturpitt.bsky.social
I received this ebook from the author for review consideration.
