Hearth of Darkness
If your home had a dark past, would you want to know? A true story
Published on 30. October 2025
Book
Hardback
256 pages
978-1-78396-915-9 (ISBN)
Description
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A TALKSPORT BOOK OF THE WEEK
TIME OUT 'BEST BOOKS OF 2025'
'Captivating. What begins as a modern horror story slowly reveals itself as something more ambiguous and, ultimately, heartening. Blake is a very winning narrator.' Julie Myerson
A haunting blend of true crime, psychological thriller and paranormal investigation.
The doorbell rings in the middle of the night with no one there. The shower turns on by itself. So does the radio. Some rooms always stay colder than others, no matter how high the heating is turned up.
Maybe it's all down to an overactive imagination, or settling into an unfamiliar house. But what would you do if you saw shadows where there shouldn't be any? If slugs started to fall from the ceiling? If you constantly felt something eerie following you around?
Matt Blake tells the powerful true story of discovering that his new home - meant to be a refuge for him and his four-year-old daughter after a painful divorce - was once the lair of the E17 Night Stalker. Now he must unravel the house's frightening secrets.
Can a place be haunted by a dark history? And how does a rationalist who doesn't believe in religion or ghosts make sense of the paranormal?
Hearth of Darkness is a razor-sharp exploration of how the chilling events of the past can ripple into the present, and of our innate desire to feel safe and find peace at home.
For fans of investigative writing, domestic noir, and those fascinated by the horrors that lurk behind closed doors.
'Expertly crafted and blisteringly honest ... I was drawn in from the very first sentence.' Manni Coe, author of brother.do.you.love.me
A TALKSPORT BOOK OF THE WEEK
TIME OUT 'BEST BOOKS OF 2025'
'Captivating. What begins as a modern horror story slowly reveals itself as something more ambiguous and, ultimately, heartening. Blake is a very winning narrator.' Julie Myerson
A haunting blend of true crime, psychological thriller and paranormal investigation.
The doorbell rings in the middle of the night with no one there. The shower turns on by itself. So does the radio. Some rooms always stay colder than others, no matter how high the heating is turned up.
Maybe it's all down to an overactive imagination, or settling into an unfamiliar house. But what would you do if you saw shadows where there shouldn't be any? If slugs started to fall from the ceiling? If you constantly felt something eerie following you around?
Matt Blake tells the powerful true story of discovering that his new home - meant to be a refuge for him and his four-year-old daughter after a painful divorce - was once the lair of the E17 Night Stalker. Now he must unravel the house's frightening secrets.
Can a place be haunted by a dark history? And how does a rationalist who doesn't believe in religion or ghosts make sense of the paranormal?
Hearth of Darkness is a razor-sharp exploration of how the chilling events of the past can ripple into the present, and of our innate desire to feel safe and find peace at home.
For fans of investigative writing, domestic noir, and those fascinated by the horrors that lurk behind closed doors.
'Expertly crafted and blisteringly honest ... I was drawn in from the very first sentence.' Manni Coe, author of brother.do.you.love.me
Reviews / Votes
'Captivating. What begins as a modern horror story slowly reveals itself as something more ambiguous and, ultimately, heartening. Blake is a very winning narrator.' Julie Myerson'Expertly crafted and blisteringly honest ... I was drawn in from the very first sentence.' Manni Coe, author of brother.do.you.love.me
'Well written and well researched' The Society for Psychical Research
'With Blake as a likeable narrator who interrogates himself as much as the poltergeist-expungers who peddle their wares at him, what could have been a straightforward ghost story turns into something more meditative and quizzical, and is all the more engaging for that.' Esquire
'In his highly readable and self-deprecating memoir, [Blake] recounts his obsession with the house's past and his efforts to get to the bottom of the phenomena.' Mail on Sunday
'My book of the year is this non-fiction thriller from British investigative journalist Matt Blake. The concept is enough to send a chill down the spine of just about anyone: what if it turned out that your home had a disturbingly dark history? ... Fear and confusion hang over this book like a cloud, but in the end it's Blake's masterful conveying of emotional truths and familial love that makes the biggest impression.' Time Out, Best Books of 2025
'The book is well written and researched; the content is intriguing.' Fortean Times ?????
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Dimensions
Height: 224 mm
Width: 145 mm
Thickness: 27 mm
Weight
396 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-78396-915-9 (9781783969159)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Matt Blake is an award-winning journalist who has written for the Guardian, Daily Telegraph, Grazia, Esquire, and Men's Health, and is a former crime reporter for the Daily Mirror and Independent. During his journalism career, he has covered everything from gang murder and police corruption to terrorism and serial killing - reporting from crime scenes, doorsteps, and courtrooms on some of Britain's most high-profile criminal cases. He once unknowingly interviewed a murderer in his own front room. His story House of Horror, which appeared in the Guardian and formed the basis of Hearth of Darkness, proved an international success, garnering more than half a million reads in its first week of publication alone. Hearth of Darkness is his first book.