D&D 5E Is CoS suppose to be very difficult for players?

[Solovar]

Hi everyone,
We started playing CoS, 5 players, went threw the death house and made it out alive except 1 chose to make another character. Once level 3, we went to the bravoria and went to the church for the burial part. 2 of us did not survive the fight which was almost impossible, in a way the DM played it wrong and it was cool, we just remade 2 other characters. The way I took is I didn't want to go to the effort of coming up with back story ect because I was saying to myself, he might end up dying, so it felt pointless. So I decided to make the same class because I always wanted to get a feel for the paladin.
I might not have went with the good frame of mind about it. The session we had yesterday, it was a random encounter and we faced 5 dire wolfs. I did heal 4 of the characters from 0 to back on their feet. However, after a while I ran out of healing, 2 characters died, so they need to make another character.
My wife plays with us and is the only one that did not die. She said we need to make a character that will not die. This is how I am feeling about the game so far, I find it hard to get into my character because of all that.
Also it would seem that if we die, the DM gives us this option that we have special abilities which only our cleric knows because he decided to go with that option, all the others decided to go with remaking characters.
My question is: Is the adventure always this hard?

 

[robus]

It is much more of a sandbox so players can definitely wander into dangerous territory. If the DM plays the monsters and NPCs aggressively you will die. Frequently!

So the question really is: is the group having fun? If yes - great!

If not there are a few things the DM can adjust to recalibrate the adventure to the players liking. Such as: telegraph danger ahead, don't run every combat as a fight to the death, let the PCs escape to live another day (when they get into unexpected hot water).

 

[Helldritch]

I am running CoS right now with one of my group.

None have died so far but it has been a very close call in many instances.

Here are my pieces of advice to succeed in CoS without spoiling the fun.

1) Ennemies are around you. Put sentinels, at least two, especialy if you sleep at night.
2) Listen to the NPC's. They can help you understand a lot of what is going on.
3) Keep an open mind. You don't have to slay everything outright. Fleeing is an option.
4) You are in an undead heavy area. Have clerics and paladins at the ready.
5) Be ready to defend your weakest members. The DM if he plays properly, will target them first.
6) Some spells will help you a lot. And I really mean a lot. Protection from evil is one of them. Many think of attack. But to attack, you must keep your mind sane. A vampire can dominate you easily. Protection from evil will prevent that. I have had Strahd dominate a player to fight his friends. A simple protection from evil shut me down. Now the cleric always have this spell prepared.
7) Never travel during the night unless you have to. Be prepared to be attacked at night. Always be polite with everyone.

I hope this will help.

 

[Tony Vargas]

My question is: Is the adventure always this hard?

No, party composition, DMing style, player skill/system-mastery/etc, can swing the perceived difficulty of a published adventure all over the map.
That said, CoS is going for a bit of a horror-story vibe, and making it deadly up-front is a way to establish that the PCs should be scared.