Thank you, NetGalley and Atria Books for the book for review. This book was creeeepy is such a good way. This debut thriller is about the Octagon House and those who dare to enter. Decades ago a man killed his wife and two young daughters there, a shocking, gruesome crime that the sleepy upstate New York town tried to bury. One summer night twenty years, fourteen-year-old Clare and her best friend, Abby and Clare ventured into the Octagon House. Clare came out, but part of Abby never did. Twenty years later, Abby is drawn back to the house and all that resides there. Clare receives a call that Abby tried to kill herself inside the Octagon House and is now in a coma. Clare is taken back to that town she left and that night when they both went to the house. Can Clare save her friend and herself from whatever… or whoever… is still in that house???

**An Unforgettable, Haunting Tale of Secrets and Shadows**

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Jennifer Fawcett’s *Beneath the Stairs* is a chilling and masterfully crafted novel that lingers in your mind long after you close the book. Blending psychological suspense with a touch of the supernatural, this story is as gripping as it is unsettling.

The novel’s eerie atmosphere is one of its strongest elements. Fawcett’s vivid descriptions bring the sinister old house to life, making it a character in its own right. Every creak, shadow, and hidden corner feels palpable, adding to the tension that builds steadily throughout the story.

The characters are deeply layered and compelling, particularly the protagonist, who is drawn back to her hometown to confront long-buried secrets. Fawcett brilliantly explores themes of memory, trauma, and the lasting effects of childhood friendships. The relationships feel authentic, adding emotional depth to the spine-chilling plot.

The pacing is spot on, weaving between past and present seamlessly. Each revelation peels back another layer of the mystery, culminating in a conclusion that is both satisfying and thought-provoking.

*Beneath the Stairs* is more than just a ghost story—it’s a poignant exploration of guilt, grief, and the darkness we carry within. Jennifer Fawcett has delivered a novel that will appeal to fans of psychological thrillers and gothic suspense alike. Highly recommended for those who love a story that is both deeply human and profoundly haunting!

Beneath the Stairs

There are some places people should not go, much less revisit. Claire and her friends should have never gone into the abandoned, derelict, octagon-shaped house in Sumner’s Mills as young teens. Something happened then that may have something to do with her friends’ Abby’s suicide attempt twenty years later. When Claire looks into this she also finds herself looking into some dark places within her own memories.


This chilling thriller will keep you up late at night reading until the last page, and then you may have to sleep with the lights on.

Few in sleepy Sumner’s Mills have stumbled across the Octagon House hidden deep in the woods. Even fewer are brave enough to trespass. A man had killed his wife and two young daughters there, a shocking, gruesome crime that the sleepy upstate New York town tried to bury. One summer night, an emboldened fourteen-year-old Clare and her best friend, Abby, ventured into the Octagon House. Clare came out, but a piece of Abby never did.

Twenty years later, an adult Clare receives word that Abby has attempted suicide at the Octagon House and now lies in a coma. With little to lose and still grieving after a personal tragedy, Clare returns to her roots to uncover the darkness responsible for Abby’s accident.

Creepy. I love the haunted house trope. This was well-written and kept me reading from the beginning. I think the three different timelines were a little much, but the author pulled it off in the end. I like that this book was about friendship. I haven't read any other psychological thrillers that have that as a focus. Great read! 4⭐

I received an advanced complimentary digital copy of this book from Netgalley. Opinions expressed are my own.

3.5
Thank you to Atria Books for providing me an ARC copy via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review!
I really enjoyed this book, and I am not sure why it does not have great reviews. I will say it was a slower book and went into lots of detail that people may think was unnecessary. I however, loved all the back story of the characters. I felt I was really able to connect to the characters and understand their point of view. This book had lots of emotions throughout and I loved the back and forth between the past and present. Especially since it went back to the previous people who lived in the house during tragedy. It took me a little longer to read this book than normal, I think just because the beginning was slow. But I feel like it paid off in the end. I am still left with some questions regarding the house, but they are questions I can live without having the answers to. Overall, I did very much enjoy it!

4 star read! A women returns to her home town where her friend attempted suicide in a haunted house that was ironically the same house that altered her life 20 years prior. I was drawn to this book because of my own personal fear of what is under the stairs. This book ended up leaving me in awe of the balance of thrill and grief. This story was well done.

Beneath the Stairs by Jennifer Fawcett was spooky and darkly atmospheric! I found myself entranced from beginning to end!

Clare returns to the town she left behind, feeling safe that the secrets of her past were behind her. But when she receives word that her childhood best friend, Abby, is in a coma after another bizarre encounter at the house dubbed "The Octagon House," she knows she must return. She has to find out why Abby would return to the house that changed their lives so long ago.

For me, this book contained all the ingredients of an enthralling read: an abnormal house that was the location of a brutal murder; a house that seems to seep into the mind of some who enter, forever calling a select few back to it; a basement with a creepy doll at the foot of the stairs; a basement door that suctions closed once you enter; a girl deemed insane after entering the house; and teenage love that is revisited now that the characters are adults.

While it appears this book was originally released in 2022, I highly recommend checking it out if you haven't already done so! This was deliciously creepy!

Honestly was a super slow read, I really wanted more story with the house and everything that happened in the past and what caused everything but when the reveal came it just kinda fell, overall was a great concept and would love a more detailed story about the house, the ghosts, and everything else pertaining to that. Felt like there was too much filler.

Man, Fawcett can WRITE! She is the master of setting the scene, which is vital for creating the powerful and creepy setting that the plot revolves around. The characters, especially Clare, were well developed and easy to connect with and like. I liked the premise of this one, but the "twist" fell a little flat for me. To be fair, I do read a lot of thrillers, but adding more rising action could have made it more dramatic and shocking. Thanks so much for this ARC!

As teenagers, Clare and her friends had a life-changing experiencing in the Octagon House, a nearby abandoned home with an extremely violent history. Beneath the Stairs follows Clare as she returns to her hometown after learning that Abby, one of her childhood best friends, was found unresponsive in the Octagon House, several years after their first terrifying encounter with the home. Hoping to save her friend, and herself, Clare begins digging into the Octagon House: its history, its owner, and its extremely creepy basement.

Atmospherically, I really enjoyed this book. I thought Fawcett did a great job setting the dark, dreary, unsettling scene. I could really envision the dilapidated Octagon House, and I was invested in uncovering more of its story. As a whole, however, this one was a touch underwhelming for me. It felt a bit too drawn out at times, as if intending to add to the suspense, but I don't believe that was particularly successful. The climax of the story, including the "twist," fell short for me, feeling a bit too low-stakes in comparison to the rest of the story. The ending lacked a strong resolution, and while I don't always mind something of an open ending, this specific one was disappointing given the message of finding closure and moving on that had been prominent throughout the rest of the book.

Overall, Beneath the Stairs was a very solid middle-of-the-road thriller. I liked it and would recommend it to others, but it didn't necessarily wow me in the same other thrillers have managed to do. Still, I think this was a solid debut from Jennifer Fawcett, and nothing about this book deterred me from having interest in her future releases.

There was a lot of rambling in this book which took away from the potential it had. I wish I would've liked this book more, but it fell flat.

Deep in the woods of Sumner’s Mills there lies an abandoned Octagon House. As with all local lore this house is the town's haunted home that no one dares enter. That is until one night Clare and her best friend, Abby, sneak inside the home daring to go where others are too afraid to go. But something happened to them inside that house. It is as if something or someone had devoured a part of their soul.
Now all grown up, Clare discovers that Abby returned to the Octagon House searching for what was lost which has put Abby in a coma. Clare must find out what happened to her childhood best friend. Does this house have a hold on anyone who enters it, or does it have something to do with its haunting past?
Overall rating 4/5
I was pleasantly creeped out by this book and was dying to find out about the history of the house’s origins. The forced love story bogged down the pace of the book in my opinion. I was also craving more haunting moments within the house. Or more of the dynamic between the little girl and step aunts interactions before the incidents. I do appreciate the backstory of the house which made a full circle moment explaining what was happening to Clare and Abby in the present.

*Thank you to Jennifer Fawcett, Atria Books, and Netgalley for the ARC copy. I am freely leaving my honest review.

Quote: “Fear is real. Even if what you’re afraid of isn’t, the fear is.” Lori

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3/5)

Thanks to Atria Books and Bibliolifestyle for giving me the chance to win a copy of this book in their giveaway.

💕What I liked 💕

💀 Creepy atmospheric vibes
💀 The idea of the octagon house
💀 The draw to the house
💀 Then detailed description of the house

😐What I didn’t like😐

👎🏻 Too much of a slow burn for me
👎🏻 Too many varying plots and unnecessary
👎🏻 I got a little lost in the wordiness

🅞🅥🅔🅡🅐🅛🅛 🅣🅗🅞🅤🅖🅗🅣🅢

This was a decent story, a good concept. The house was perfectly described, I almost felt like I could SMELL the house. It would make a cool scary 🎥. This one just wasn’t for me, as I’m not into books that are categorized as a slow burn. So it wasn’t bad or anything, just not my favorite.

BENEATH THE STAIRS  is a horror story for tweens/young adults. I received the uncorrected proof, and there were very few errors. To me, the story was predictable but well written.
One day, Abby and Clare get the fright of their lives while visiting an old, decrepit, octagonal shaped house in the woods. After lying to their parents, they go to a party in the woods near the same house. The choices they make that night affect them the rest of their lives. They will face psychosis, mistrust, miscarriage and death before the end.

The story pulls readers in with back stories that set the tone, while pushing multi timeline characters into events that follow through to the present. When Claire's life seems to have fallen apart, a call from her childhood friend's mother will bring her back to the home of her youth and stir emotions she thought had died many years ago. Sounds great, but there are so many characters pulling attention away from the core story, it just gets lost along the way. Jennifer Fawcett does bring the story back to the plot and give it a great follow through but the detour leaves a few questions at the end.

If you love creepy abandoned mansions and mystery, this book is for you. Clara returns to her hometown to help her friend Abby. They must unravel the mysteries surrounding their childhood trauma and the mansion. I loved the alternating timelines, it really added to the story.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys an eerie creepy novel.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for this ARC.

This book gave me the creeps.

At one point I could feel my heart beating and goose bumps rising.

I need more books like this!

it started really good, page after page made me very interested in the story but then int he middle of the book it stopped being interesting, it just dragged a lot, random stories which I did not liked, plus it made my head hurt with all the random stories going back and forth I could not catch up it was a too many flash backs it felt like a was reading four to five different stories in this same book you really have to remember or else you will get lost it made my head hurt trying to remember where the story was going, I do have to say that the last part of the book was getting super good and it was very fast ending, the begging of the book was dragging and the end super fast. over all I did enjoyed the ending but this book I would not reread.

What I surprisingly enjoyed most about this book is that this is, despite the mystery and creepy elements presented in the house, a story heavy on drama and grief and discussion of suicide.
To be honest, in my opinion the most interesting chapters were the one focused on Clare's struggles, drama and traumas regarding her best friend and the house they once visited, other than the creepy vibes.
I went for this for the mystery but stayed for the drama.

"Beneath the Stairs" by Jennifer Fawcett is an enthralling and chilling debut that masterfully blends psychological and paranormal elements. The story follows Clare as she returns to her hometown to uncover the dark secrets of the haunted Octagon House after her childhood friend, Abby, attempts suicide there. The narrative's eerie atmosphere and rich history of the house kept me hooked from start to finish.

Fawcett's writing is captivating, with well-developed characters and a plot that expertly builds suspense. This book is a must-read for fans of haunted house stories and psychological thrillers. Highly recommended!