I really couldn't get into the main character or the story with this one. Not sure if it's just me. This was a hard pass.

Unfortunately, this one just wasn't for me. The writing style was not what I expected and I did not really enjoy.

The premise was amazing, I love a good horror/thriller and the blurb alone had me so excited. The book definitely didn’t disappoint as the story is as chilling and scary as it sounds.

I read this book until 4am and definitely contemplated keeping my bedside light on when I finally went to bed!

I would like to thank NetGalley, the publishing house, and the author for allowing me an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

3 stars. Maybe 3.5 stars. It was a good story. I was slightly unclear throughout the story whether the main character, Alice, had some kind of psychosis with the voices she heard, or was it the "ghost", or were they normal conversation inside her head?
It was alright. Probably won't remember it after next week

I love horror that includes houses that are not all that they appear to be. Usually, these houses have a backstory, are isolated, in disrepair, and off in its architecture (like the house in Shirley Jackson’s Haunting of Hill House). The family—or people—who move in also have a backstory, are isolated, in disrepair, and off in their architecture (like the family in The Shining by Stephen King). Then, you have a female character who has some quirk or mental illness; something that makes her susceptible to the influence of her family and the house (like Eleanor in The Haunting of Hill House, the governess in Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw, or the young woman—Miri—in Helen Oyeyemi’s White is for Witching). In One by One by D. W. Gillespie, we get all of these, which made this reader happy.

We experience the story through Alice. She is described as absentminded, prone to daydreaming; she also has conversations in her head that include different voices. She is a ten-year-old child whose father has decided that the family will be moving. He is a man of dreams and unfinished projects; a calm, and loving father. He has tied his worth (self and money) to this disreputable house; one cannot fail to see how desperately he needs his family to see and believe in his vision. That if they fail to, he will fall apart. Alice sees this; she is the closest to him in temperament. Her mother and surly fifteen-year-old brother are more reserved; they expose how close he is to falling apart. As he does, the family does.

Can Alice deal with the unexplainable events occurring in the house and on its grounds? Is there a supernatural being speaking to her? Can we rely on her as a reliable narrator?

I am quite pleased with how this story evolved. There are twists that make this book different from others, it kept my attention, and moved at a fast pace. Overall, the writing is good. It could have used a few less similes, and at times, the writing did not match that of how a child speaks or thinks. I would recommend this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Flame Tree Press for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I put this off for so long and I'm really mad at myself.. It was spooky, had a nowadays popular gothic vibe to it and interesting twisty family mysteries.

Spooky old houses have been done before, and for that reason I'll be taking stars off out of this review, and yes that might be a little harsh, but it isn't only for that reason. I couldn't get fully interested in the characters, so I DNF it around halfway. I'm truly sorry. The writing was done well though.

Behind the wallpaper of the house her family just moved into, a young girl finds a drawing of a stick figure family -- mother, father, son, daughter, dog. Not long after that, the family cat goes missing and an X appears over the family pet in the drawing.



Creepy old houses absolutely appeal to me, especially when there seems to be something sinister and/or ghostly involved. Parts of this book really worked for me, like the "tangle of hallways" and Alice's discovery of an old diary and her fear of reading further. Other parts definitely fell flat.

What a great book! I enjoyed this one from start to finish. I always love movies and books about spooky old houses, and this one did not disappoint.
It was a slow burn, but from very early on you just know it is going to be good. It made me feel tense and on edge, and kept me guessing til the end.

A really fab read. An original storyline and one that really grabbed me. Thoroughly enjoyed reading this and can't wait to read more from this author.

This is one of those books you cannot stop reading, I started this in an afternoon and could not stop!


I was left at just after midnight heart racing from the twist and shocks and genuinely felt so creeped out I worried about sleeping that night! for this alone this book was fantastic!


This story revolves around 10 year old Alice and her family, parents with issues and an older brother just in to his moody teenage years and how they move in to an old house.


An old drawing on a wall, a found diary, and creepy goings on , why are the family changing, why the anger, what is watching? ghosts or real life what could be more scary?


The house itself felt alive from the beginning each description felt real yet slightly off, you know something is happening just not what!


I felt like I had fallen in to a classic horror/supernatural mystery i am who cannot fail to feel the creepyness of a place unknown, an old house, the sounds it makes but do not be mistaken this tale is so much more! the twist, the reason WOW!! I was blown away, the authors writing kept me hooked all the way though and i cannot wait to read more fro him.

4 Stars!

Flame Tree Press has definitely become my favorite publisher for horror fiction. It seems as if they keep putting out good novels by authors that I am familiar with as well as ones that are new to either me or the genre. D.W. Gillespie is an author that I am not all that familiar with but was happy to receive a review copy of One by One from Flame Tree Press to read and went into it with the hope that I would get another scary and suspenseful read.

The Easton family was going through a rough time. The parents seemed to be on the verge of divorce and the two children were often listless in school and life. When Alice’s father found an old house that the family could by for well below market value, it seemed as if this could be the change the family needed to turn things around. It was a chance for a new beginning. Not all new beginnings, however, lead to good things.

One of the odd things about the house was the crude drawing of a family on one of the walls. The family was a mother, father, son, daughter, and pet. Then the cat went missing and a line was scratched through the pet on the drawing. No one except for Alice suspected that there was something going on. Then Alice discovered the journal of the girl who had lived in the house before and the dark secret that lay within the walls began to surface. Alice was left to try to unravel the mystery from the past as her family began to crumble around her as only the house’s twisted history would be able to provide the clues the family needed to survive.

I was not familiar with Gillespie’s work so I was not sure what to expect but I trust Flame Tree Press so I was expecting a good read. I am happy to say that I was not disappointed. The book does start a little slowly and builds on a low simmer so my attention did want to wander some in the first half. It seemed a little mundane as well as a bit formulaic at first with the oft used setup of a troubled family moving into a new house in the hope of leaving the past behind only to find something sinister awaiting them. The book does follow this formula quite a bit and I was wondering where it was heading through the first half of the novel. Gillespie was building the story, though, and the groundwork laid at the beginning of the book paid off in spades once it came time for the action to kick in.

Once the cat, Baxter, disappears, the pace of the story picks up and Gillespie does not take long to kick the novel into high gear. There is a lot of tension more than action in the second half of the novel but it is very strong horror. The narrative is chopped up a bit as Alice goes back and forth between the present and the journal she found but Gillespie ties all of this together seamlessly so that at no point did I feel lost. The events of the past closely mirror those of the present so that both unravel at the same time leaving the reader to try to solve the mystery along with Alice. Being a horror novel, it is easy to figure out how this is going to turn out but it is still one hell of a ride getting there. While I would have liked to have a little more originality to the premise of the novel, Gillespie’s writing ability carries the story through and makes this a tense and entertaining novel that is sure to haunt the reader’s dreams.

I would like to thank Flame Tree Press and NetGalley for this review copy. One by One is available now.

Alice is 10 years old. Her family is moving to a “new” home that is a fixer-upper. Alice is excited to have a house to explore. When she pulls off a loose strip of wallpaper, she discovers a drawing of a that is made up of drawn stick figures that matches her family. It scares. her. The rest of the family ignores it. As her dad’s behavior changes, she worries that it has to do with that drawing on the wall. Her mom and big brother don’t think that is why her dad’s acting different. When her dad disappears, she sees that a large black x has been drawn over his figure. As time goes by, she ends up alone in the house. Will Alice survive or disappear?

The suspense and creepiness continues to grow throughout the novel. As I read the story, I would get hints of what Alice thought was happening. It made the story only more creepy. This is a new author for me. I am so glad I got to read this author’s story. I’m definitely will be on the lookout for more books from him.

Oh my, I really loved this book. It's dark and twisted and it plays on the "isolated old house"-trope very well. I really liked Alice, because even though she's young, she sense that there's something terribly wrong, but no one believes her.

Thanks to NetGalley and Flame Tree for supplying a review copy.

This was my first time reading D.W. Gillespie and it won't be my last.
ONE BY ONE is part thriller, part mystery, and part ghost story.
When Alice and her family move into a new home, they discover a crudely drawn painting on one of the walls. It's a stick figure family nearly mirroring hers.

Alice sees something near her room the first night they stay and that's where it all begins.

One by one, X's appear over the family pet, and then her family members. Those that have been X'd disappear. A diary from a girl named, Mary, holds the key to it all.

What is going on? What is the truth? And will Alice figure it our before it's too late?

This was a great introduction to Gillespie. He proves a strong writer, his prose are filled with a richness and fullness that easily equals others in the upper-indie echelon of the current horror genre.

My complaints are very small. The story slowed a just a bit for me in a couple of spots, but quickly revved up again. My other issue was that the story is all told form Alice's POV, yet the use of her parent's names (Frank and Debra, instead of mom and Dad) time and time again had me confused early on. Once I got used to it, I trained my mind to read "mom" and "dad" in those spaces instead. Minor bother, but worth it in the end.

All said and done, ONE BY ONE is one of my favorite reads of 2019. 4.5 stars!
I expect big things from D.W. Gillespie in the future.

Such a scary read that I almost didn’t make it through it all.
This book was recommended to me by a fellow blogger friend who told me it terrified her, she is someone who watches horror movies for fun so that speaks volumes to the scare factor in this book.

It’s the perfect read for those that love horror and want a good scare. Definitely recommend reading at night, if you dare!

I found this story super creepy throughout most of the plot. Family moves into an isolated house where an unexplained death took place and bad things start to happen. however, I was disappointed with the last several chapters as the story moved from ghosts to psychological suspense.

Stories about haunted houses never get old for me. I’ve read a bunch of them. What I look for to make the story is the characters and the nature of the haunting, what’s behind it.

One By One is told from the perspective of Alice, a ten year old girl, and that makes it even creepier. It begins on the first night they stay in the new house. A strange building with a secret past and a chilling drawing on the wall of a family that eerily resembles theirs. Her terrifying experiences in the house are brushed off as flights of fancy or nightmares by her parents. She’s even accused of doing some of the weird things that happen. Her older brother is no help. He just shuts himself in his room, listening to his music. But soon enough, it becomes apparent that something in the house is behind it. But what? And why? Figuring that out might be the only way they survive the house.

This story had eerie vibes right from the get go. I was hooked. Couldn’t wait to read on and see how events played out. The more into it I got, the darker and more mysterious it got. It takes a lot to make me wince and I did that several times. And to pull the wool over my eyes so completely. That was something. I looked up from the book, wanting someone to talk to about what just happened. No one but the dog was around. Darn it.

Calling all horror fans. A great story awaits you.

This is an interesting book with as much, if not more, mystery as horror. It succeeds well at leading the reader through a narrative with no clear future ahead. I would class this as a slow burn, rather than a faced paced thriller.
I did find it a bit hard to connect with the main character, mostly due to her age. If she had been a few years older I think maybe it would have sat better with me, but that could well be a personal thing.

I read One by One in a two-day crazy haze of nightmare-fueled goodness. Gillespie is taking the haunted house trope to the next level.

Gillespie builds excellent, creeping tension throughout. Every time I thought I had a handle on what exactly the supernatural disturbance was and why it was manifesting, a new revelation would come about, shuttling the story down a new dark and creepy rabbit hole.

Don't be fooled, however, yes there are lighthearted moments that allow us time to come up for air but The Nightmare Room is very much full of nightmares, both past, and present. When the horror starts, it is relentless and you will be reading with knots in your stomach. Grief is also a driving force behind One by One. There is an echo of it throughout the story, escalating into a rather emotional climax. It is the grief we face for our loved ones, coupled with the grief of one's lost childhood. One by One is a great metaphor for childhood trauma and the monsters that hang around long after.

I recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys ghost stories and a slow, unnerving burn.