Solace House by Will Maclean: audiobook vs book, which should you choose?

Short answer: for the Solace House audiobook vs book choice, we say read it on Kindle (75% confidence, leaning). Sebastian Humphreys and Greg Wagland read the unabridged recording in 16 hours 12 minutes. A cipher hidden in the verse that opens each chapter is central to the plot, and it works through the first letters of printed words, which points to print. At 512 pages it is a long book, the one confirmed point for audio. Who reads which part is not confirmed, so the two narrators do not count as a cast.

Confidence 75%, which puts it in the leaning band. Bands run from close call at 50 to 64, through leaning at 65 to 79 and clear at 80 to 94, up to clear cut at 95 and above.

What this book actually is

Solace House is Will Maclean’s novel about eight students hired in the summer of 1993 to clear out a Victorian mansion. In the hoarded rooms they find a set of journals with coded instructions for reaching a parallel realm. Alex Lane tells the story in the first person.

Kirkus and Publishers Weekly both describe it as horror. It came out in the UK from Atlantic Books in May 2026 and in the US from Grove Atlantic in October 2026. What the cipher spells is not covered here.

The case for reading it

Every chapter opens with a four-line verse, and a cipher hidden in that verse, built from the first letters of printed words, is central to the plot (Simon Pearson, The Bookish Elf, Book CLB). In print you can see the letters and check back. That is the reading criterion that decides this verdict.

Simon Pearson finds the later sections demanding, though PopMatters calls the book easy to read, so the prose does not count either way.

The case for listening to it

At 512 pages it is a long book, the one confirmed point for audio. Two narrators share the recording, but no publisher or critic says who reads which part, so it does not count as a cast.

At 16 hours 12 minutes, it is about 10 hours 48 minutes at 1.5x.

The audiobook in detail

Simon & Schuster Audio publishes the unabridged recording, read by Sebastian Humphreys and Greg Wagland, at 16 hours 12 minutes on Audible UK (13 October 2026). It had no ratings yet when checked on 27 October 2026.

An earlier UK listing from W. F. Howes, licensed from Atlantic Books (7 May 2026, 16 hours 10 minutes), has the same narrators and 4.6 from 47 ratings. Whether the two are the same performance is not confirmed. No PDF companion is listed.

Who should ignore this verdict

Lean towards audio if a long horror novel is easier for you to finish by listening.

Make sure you have the right book: Joy Ellis has a different novel with the same title.

Read differently from most people? The app, coming soon, will let you switch off any of the thirteen checks. Get notified →

Related verdicts

Different verdict

The Secret History

A single voice and a 640-page print edition point to audio; prose critics argue over and a critic who found the reading monotonous point to the page.

Opposite verdict

Rebecca

One viewpoint and one narrator on a long book (448 pages); nothing confirmed points towards reading.

Same verdict

Wuthering Heights

A jumping timeline, similar names, dense prose and a genealogical table, against praised narration, Yorkshire dialect and a long print edition.

DraculaBram StokerDifferent verdict

Dracula

A long book (over 400 pages) pulls towards listening; the notes and introduction in the print edition pull towards reading.

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How we decide

The thirteen questions behind every verdict on this site.

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