The Origins of Monkhouse

Monkhouse doesn't exist on any map. But if you've walked the coastline of North East England — past crumbling priories, across windswept headlands, through villages where the sea mist rolls in without warning — you've already been there.

Built From Real Stone

The town of Monkhouse was born from dozens of real places stitched together into something new. There's a bit of Tynemouth in its clifftop ruins. A touch of Whitby in its winding streets. The isolation of Holy Island when the tide cuts you off from the mainland and the world goes quiet.

I wanted a place that felt ancient and unsettling — somewhere with layers of history buried beneath the surface, where every old building has a story and every story has a secret.

The Name

"Monkhouse" came from the idea of a place built around a monastery — a town that grew in the shadow of something sacred, long after the monks had gone. The name carries that weight: religion, silence, and things left behind.

The Atmosphere

What makes Monkhouse work as a setting isn't the buildings or the geography. It's the feeling. That sense of being watched from a window you can't quite see. The fog that rolls in just as you're trying to leave. The way the locals know more than they're saying.

Every thriller needs a place that feels like a character in its own right. Monkhouse is that place — patient, watchful, and full of buried things.

Finding Your Own Monkhouse

If you ever visit the North East coast, keep your eyes open. Walk past the tourist spots. Find the quiet lanes, the ruins no one talks about, the stretches of beach where the only footprints are yours.

That's where Monkhouse lives.