Tag Archives: Romantasy

The Spirit Collection of Thorne Hall by J. Ann Thomas is as intriguing as its title. I picked it up because of the title, and stayed because of the blurb. There are fifteen ghosts and three living people stuck in a Belle Epoch mansion (summer cottage) in the Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts. The collection is controlled by the bloodline of the family Thorne. In the day, the collection is unseen, nearly unfelt, but at night, oh, at night, they are almost corporeal!

The first chapter centers around a grand party at the Thorne residence, viewed by a footman “borrowed” for the night from a neighboring estate, who has more than a touch of the “canny”, a term for the local folk magic. He journals the events of the night. The master of the house, Jasper Thorne, and his wife, Delilah, are having something even more special than a séance; he’s going to raise the dead. Well, the young footman knows it can’t be done, but as the ballroom fills, the young woman inside the white circle begins writing runes in her own blood, and singing, a breeze in the closed ballroom begins, people are on edge, then as the ritual progresses, the blood turns black and burns. The young footman orders the butler to clear frightened onlookers out of the ballroom, as he continues to watch and document the ritual, runes, and songs, for whoever may need them. And he’s there when the first spirit comes through the circle as if climbing out of a hole.

The story then skips to the present day family of Thornes, a dying father, Thaddeus Thorne, second wife, Fletcher, and Elegy daughter of his first wife. Thaddeus and Elegy manage the collection. Someday the sole control of it will pass to her, but until then, she controls it with will power and by singing very old songs from the Francis James Child collection. Elegy and her father live on the second floor, her stepmother lives in the attack, and the ghosts are kept out of bedrooms by the use of runes painted around the doors. Due to the terms that hold the collection there, the living must wear what is in the house, or in the case of brides, brought into the house at the time of marriage.

They are by no means poor. They came through the centuries with plenty of real estate, and currently own lucrative chunks of New York City. Which is a good thing, since several of the ghosts are capable of mischief and some are even deadly. The mischief of one young ghost causes the kitchen to be flooded, and there is a need for restoration, especially in time for Fletcher’s birthday party. Their preservationist is called, and he brings his gorgeous son a few years older than Elegy, and brought up on the West Coast. Sparks fly, on both sides. However, it’s a romance Elegy believes is fated to go nowhere, since he’s only there to help his father while he’s been ill. Elegy must stay, forever tethered to the house and collection. Elegy has friends, Floss Holcroft and Hugo Prescott, from equally wealthy families. They have even been introduced to one of the spirits of the house, to prove that it is haunted. Elegy is engaged to Hugo, in a marriage of convenience—to produce another heir for the Thorne collection, and an heir for her in-laws. The pair aren’t thrilled, but are still friends, since it’s all because Hugo is gay. And he’s the only one whose family wants to be married to a Thorne.

Unintentionally I managed to pick up three titles that would come under the heading of “haunted house”, The Manor of Dreams by Christina Li, The Dark Door, by Kate Wilhelm, and The Spirit Collection of Thorne Hall. Of the three, I found that the last was the most unusual, and the most fun. The author combines the tension of haunting with the commonplace occurrences of everyday actions with ghosts, such as playing cards. While every family can be stressful, the burden of controlling the collection has soured Thaddeus, who views Elegy as a disappointment. Elegy’s romance with Atticus, son of the Preservationist Jeremiah gives her the hope and the inspiration to hope for life beyond the collection and Thorne Hall.

The Spirit Collection of Thorne Hall, by J. Ann Thomas, c 2025, hardcover ISBN 979-8-89242-022-8, Alcove Press