Carissa Orlando

A woman is determined to stay in her dream home even after it becomes a haunted nightmare in this compulsively readable, twisty, and layered debut novel. When Margaret and her husband Hal bought the large Victorian house on Hawthorn Street—for sale at a surprisingly reasonable price—they couldn’t believe they finally had a home of their own. Then they discovered the hauntings. Every September, the walls drip blood. The ghosts of former inhabitants appear, and all of them are terrified of something that lurks in the basement. Most people would flee. Margaret is not most people. Margaret is staying. It’s her house. But after four years Hal can’t take it anymore, and he leaves abruptly. Now, he’s not returning calls, and their daughter Katherine—who knows nothing about the hauntings—arrives, intent on looking for her missing father. To make things worse, September has just begun, and with every attempt Margaret and Katherine make at finding Hal, the hauntings grow more harrowing, because there are some secrets the house needs to keep.

The September House

Grabbed the audio for this on sale, and Kimberly Farr does a fantastic job bringing the cast to life. 

This was unique and I’m so happy it was what I was looking for. It mixed all of the traditional haunted house tropes you’ve ever read—bleeding walls, moaning and screaming voices in the night, past residence remaining, spooky basement to avoid, bible pages tapped to doors, missing items, even kamikaze birds and more—with something that felt entirely new. It’s cozy and silly, even humorous at times, with the perfect mix of an older main character, but it’s also not without its darkness, featuring gory descriptions and haunting pasts. Margaret has finally, at long last, made it into her dream home. No way she’s leaving. So when some things start to get a little strange, it’s not such a big deal as long as she follows the rules. Her steadfast attitude that she will not be bothered was so enjoyable and fresh. Things crumbling around her? What a nice place, at least there’s an enviable wraparound porch!

While I also recently read Model Home, which didn’t exactly work for me, this was really more along the lines of what I expected from a new take on the haunted house. However, the two of them together did explore the darker pasts of their families, and what it means to be ‘haunted’. I was a bit shocked that Margaret only mentions the abuse of her husband quite a chunk into the story, as I figured that would be a huge part of your lives together, but I think overall it may have been to feed back into the character’s strength at remaining unnerved. 

What I particularly enjoyed was that all of these things are woven together with a fantastic voice. The author knew exactly what they wanted and they nailed it. All of the twists are manifested right from the beginning when you are told that the house is haunted. These things are happening, have happened, but get especially bad in September. It allows for those layers of funny and scary in a way I’ve not read before. 

The ending is a whirlwind of stress. I was listening on the edge of my seat. As it seemed the daughter started to unravel the house’s mystery in an entirely human way, I was really wondering if this would stick the landing. Luckily, twist after twist kept me guessing as to whether this would end in an almost psychological Shutter Island reveal or something more supernatural. And while this did take an almost too-neat turn for me, it did land well.

C. J. Daley 

Grabbed the audio for this on sale, and Kimberly Farr does a fantastic job bringing the cast to life. 

This was unique and I’m so happy it was what I was looking for. It mixed all of the traditional haunted house tropes you’ve ever read—bleeding walls, moaning and screaming voices in the night, past residence remaining, spooky basement to avoid, bible pages tapped to doors, missing items, even kamikaze birds and more—with something that felt entirely new. It’s cozy and silly, even humorous at times, with the perfect mix of an older main character, but it’s also not without its darkness, featuring gory descriptions and haunting pasts. Margaret has finally, at long last, made it into her dream home. No way she’s leaving. So when some things start to get a little strange, it’s not such a big deal as long as she follows the rules. Her steadfast attitude that she will not be bothered was so enjoyable and fresh. Things crumbling around her? What a nice place, at least there’s an enviable wraparound porch!

While I also recently read Model Home, which didn’t exactly work for me, this was really more along the lines of what I expected from a new take on the haunted house. However, the two of them together did explore the darker pasts of their families, and what it means to be ‘haunted’. I was a bit shocked that Margaret only mentions the abuse of her husband quite a chunk into the story, as I figured that would be a huge part of your lives together, but I think overall it may have been to feed back into the character’s strength at remaining unnerved. 

What I particularly enjoyed was that all of these things are woven together with a fantastic voice. The author knew exactly what they wanted and they nailed it. All of the twists are manifested right from the beginning when you are told that the house is haunted. These things are happening, have happened, but get especially bad in September. It allows for those layers of funny and scary in a way I’ve not read before. 

The ending is a whirlwind of stress. I was listening on the edge of my seat. As it seemed the daughter started to unravel the house’s mystery in an entirely human way, I was really wondering if this would stick the landing. Luckily, twist after twist kept me guessing as to whether this would end in an almost psychological Shutter Island reveal or something more supernatural. And while this did take an almost too-neat turn for me, it did land well.

Great book but check online for trigger warnings!  There are none in the book (not my copy at least) and it deals with some heavy topics

Jeanne L Collier

Ryan Mateyk

Started feeling a bit repetitive and wasn’t expecting it to have such a silly feel (it was essentially a novelization of the TV show Ghosts) but there were a few twists at the end that had me on the edge of my seat. Sufficient and creative gore too!!

Christian von Schack

I’m not sure I’ve read a haunted house story like this before! And it definitely tracks that the author has a PhD in Clinical Psychology. Idk if it needed the DV plotline, but I did appreciate the ways it blended trauma and healing into the story for all of the characters. And that the ghosts were pretty hardcore!

Amelia Hruby

This book delivers on the whole haunted house. If you want something creepy and don't mind some grusem moments then this book is for you. It kept me hooked and intrigued throughout I really enjoyed the ending and would read more from this Author.

Samantha King

A good haunted house story, but oh man was it gruesome at points. 

Guy Schmidt

The synopsis of this book was enough for me to pick it up..... and it was a roller coaster ride. Bleeding walls, weird noises and ghosts all set the atmosphere of this book. 

Saili

I love a good haunted house story, and this was so fun. There were so many macabre elements like bleeding walls, disfigured ghosts, and incessant moaning. I liked how it only seemed to happen one month out of the year so that alone made this story feel different from others I've read. I liked Margaret as a character. She was resilient and strong, and I admired the lengths she'd go for a prime piece of real estate. I found her relationship with Katherine annoying at times (but that could be because I didn't particularly like Katherine), but their mother/daughter bond grew on me by the end. I thought some of the plot was predictable and was a touch campy, but overall, I enjoyed this and think it would be a good read for Grady Hendrix fans.

The September House

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