I’ve seen plenty of characters contemplate the price they’re willing to pay to achieve their ends, going all the way back to Odin plucking out his own eye for wisdom. Characters who pay these kinds of prices are heroes or legends; they do what we often can’t bring ourselves to do. Before I read Johnny Compton’s terrifying novel, The Spite House, I don’t think I’d ever seen a story that asked the corollary question: what price are we willing to make others pay so that we can have what we want? This book is full of selfish characters. Some are flat-out evil. Others (possibly even scarier ones) are convinced that their selfishness is justified by whatever “good” they want to achieve. Oh, and all of this takes place in a house so haunted that I couldn’t help but compare it to the one in Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House.

We don’t know why Eric Ross and his two daughters have fled their previous lives in Maryland for an under-the-radar existence on the road. All we know is that the stakes are high enough that they have to keep their profiles so low that Eric has trouble making enough money to keep them fed and sheltered on their way back to his grandfather’s home in Odessa, Texas. That pressure leads Eric to answer an absolutely bonkers job offer, to stay in a potentially haunted house in Degener, Texas and report back any signs of the supernatural to its owner. The payout is big enough to tempt Eric to ignore the red flags and apply.

Meeting with Eunice Houghton, the owner of the Masson House and a good chunk of the town of Degener, reassures Eric and his oldest daughter, Des, enough that they agree to the job. We readers know, however, that Eunice isn’t being honest about the Masson House’s full history. She certainly doesn’t tell Eric what happened to the last two people who stayed in the house. Instead, she tells Eric a bit about how the strange spite house came to be built and a little about her family’s curse, which has roots back in the American Civil War. Unfortunately, the supernatural shenanigans start the very first night the Ross family stays in the spite house. The only character who isn’t frightened out of their wits for most of the book is Eric’s youngest daughter, Stacy—but then, she has a very good reason not to fear death.

At first, The Spite House keeps its cards close to its metaphorical chest. I actually thought it waited a little too long to start revealing what was really motivating Eric and Eunice. But once the secrets start to spill, the pace really picks up. And what secrets they are! I thought I had a good handle on what to expect but The Spite House defied every one of my expectations. Aside from my quibble about its initially slow pace, I was completely hooked by this novel. I blazed through the last third of the novel because I had to know who would survive the big climax and what price the characters would have to pay for their survival. Also, a big part of what kept me reading was a kind of horrified fascination with how far the characters would go to achieve their goals. Rational behavior goes straight out the window for most of the major characters, especially Eric, in part because everyone has justified their own actions so well that they never stop to really consider the harm they might be doing to the people caught in their wake. I just couldn’t look away from this big, haunted car wreck.

This is such a creepy read that it gave me goosebumps. Eric and his two daughters are running away from something. What it is, is not clear, but his own past is steeped in the supernatural. He then gets an offer he can’t refuse: live in a haunted house for a lot of money. Eunice, an eccentric millionaire, needs someone to record the paranormal activity in the Masson House, a mansion that looks “wrong” and where horrible things have happened. For anyone thinking how Eric should know better than to drag his two daughters into a haunted house, be assured that the plot explains it in such a way that it makes perfect sense. The pervasive feeling of uneasiness is impossible to ignore and the titular Spite House is described in such a way that it’s easy to imagine. There is an abandoned orphanage nearby, spooky hallways, shadowy corners where anything could be hiding and… I don’t want to get into spoilers but it is really, truly scary. Most of the characters are very likable, especially Eric and his daughters, so it’s easy to root for them. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys being scared and doesn’t have a heart condition.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, #NetGalley/#Macmillan-Tor/Forge, Tor Nightfire!

2.5 stars

This book started out incredibly strong, but then lost me somewhere in the middle. By the end, I was ready to be done with it.

I liked the concept of the book, but felt like there was too much being crammed in.

Eric and his two children, Dess (a young adult) and Stacey (a small child) are on the run. You don't find out why until midway through the book. When you finally get that answer, it is kind of a head scratcher. Even taking the explanation at face value, it doesn't make sense to me that they are essentially living as fugitives. Eric needs money, so he accepts a job from eccentric, old Eunice, who agrees to pay him a ridiculous amount of money, if he stays in a haunted house she owns and documents his experience. There had been others in the past, but all went crazy and didn't complete the assignment. Apparently, Eunice is trying to prove the house is haunted, so she can bring in her old friend, a paranormal expert and disbeliever, to analyze the house.

The whole plot of Eunice's friend being at her beck and call to fly in at a moment's notice to document the house as soon as she has enough evidence didn't make sense to me. Why wouldn't he just come in and do it for her in the first place? And what was the real end game?

The whole backstory of Eunice's family curse, mixed in with the curse of the house was lost on me. Again, I believe that way too many stories were trying to be stuffed into a small space with this one.

There were also way too many unnecessary POV's. I am a fan of multiple POV's but when we get into POV's of the housekeeper and local reporter for no reason, it just gets messy.

The last thing I will say is that I completely did not understand the ending. I won't discuss it here due to spoilers, but with so many unnecessary explanations and story lines, I felt the end could have done with a better explanation as to what was going on.

Overall, I didn't hate the book, or the concept behind the book. I just think it could have been cleaner and told a clearer story.

This was an honest review in exchange for an advanced copy on Netgalley.

If you want a creepy ghost story, look no further. This is a multiple POV storyline that slips in important details like it’s the color of the sky. I was just bee-booping along and then had to go back and reread the last couple of sentences multiple times because I couldn’t believe the little nugget of gold that was just dropped out of nowhere. I can definitely say that I didn’t see some of the twists coming!

Have you ever felt rage and resentment and spite overwhelm you? Imagine building a whole house to literally spite others and pour all of those feelings into it. Is it any wonder that dark energy seems to pour out of it? But the owner wants someone to take careful notes about what actually happens there, before she brings her friend (a notorious ghost debunker) over to check it out. And Eric and his girls are living life on the down low and could really use the massive amount of cash she is offering to do this. Will the darkness overwhelm them?

"A terrifying Gothic thriller about grief and death and the depths of a father's love, Johnny Compton's The Spite House is a stunning debut by a horror master in the making - The Babadook meets A Head Full of Ghosts in Texas Hill Country.

Eric Ross is on the run from a mysterious past with his two daughters in tow. Having left his wife, his house, his whole life behind in Maryland, he's desperate for money - it's not easy to find steady, safe work when you can't provide references, you can't stay in one place for long, and you're paranoid that your past is creeping back up on you.

When he comes across the strange ad for the Masson House in Degener, Texas, Eric thinks they may have finally caught a lucky break. The Masson property, notorious for being one of the most haunted places in Texas, needs a caretaker of sorts. The owner is looking for proof of paranormal activity. All they need to do is stay in the house and keep a detailed record of everything that happens there. Provided the house's horrors don't drive them all mad, like the caretakers before them.

The job calls to Eric, not just because there's a huge payout if they can make it through, but because he wants to explore the secrets of the spite house. If it is indeed haunted, maybe it'll help him understand the uncanny power that clings to his family, driving them from town to town, making them afraid to stop running."

Think how bad things must be to accept this bargain?

The idea of a Spite House is very interesting. When so much anger gets channeled into a house, does it begin to absorb the negativity?

The story begins with Eric Ross and his two daughters Dess and Stacey on the run. We know they are in hiding but we can't tell what from. Both Eric and older daughter Dess are primarily focused on keeping Stacy safe.
When Eric finds an opportunity which will solve his financial problems and give the family security they need, he jumps.

The Masson house in Degener TX is haunted and the owner, Eunice Houghton needs someone to stay in the house and gather proof. But there is much more to the story of the house then the owner has told him, like what exactly happened to the couple who was staying there before him.

The story is a good southern gothic horror. The atmosphere was dark and house was a perfect setting for the ghostly events that transpire. The overlapping stories of Eric Ross , Eunice Houghton, and Peter Masson, the man who built the Spite House was interesting. As the story progresses, layer upon layer is added until the reason the house is as it is becomes clear.

I enjoyed The Spite House and it successfully gave me creepy feelings, especially the ending. The story of Stacy was remarkable. While the story may not have answered every question, I think that fit well with the story and the overall feel of the book was spot on.

Thank you Macmillan Tor/Forge and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy of the book.

Eric and his two daughters are on the run and they need money. Eric gets cash under the table doing odd jobs as they travel, but he needs something more stable to get them through until they reach their destination.

When he sees an ad offering a big payout and a free place to live, Eric thinks this may be the job he's been looking for. It doesn't matter that the job is to live in one of the most haunted houses in Texas, and record any experiences. How hard could that be? It also gives Eric hope that he might be able to explore and explain a strange ability people in his family share.

I had high hopes for this story to scare the socks off me. It started off being so spooky that I wouldn't read it at night, but by the end it had lost its steam. That's not to say that I didn't enjoy the book. It was a great story and Compton does a good job of teasing the audience with the family secret and why they are on the run. But it only rates a 7 out of 10 for being spooky/scary/thriller.

I just reviewed The Spite House by Johnny Compton. #NetGalley

The Spite House by Johnny Compton was a nightmare fueled, paranoia inducing ride through the lives of a family on the run. I’d say it caused me nightmares, but it’s well known that there are no dreams in The Spite House.

Eric, Dess and Stacey are on the run. For a good part of the book, the reader is kept in the dark about why exactly the family is running. Eunice, a rich landowner, puts out a call for someone to stay in one of the homes she owns and document any and all supernatural activity. Eric, desperate for money to start over with his two daughters, agrees to the job. But it almost feels like more than coincidence. Like The Spite House drew this particular family.

That’s where the typical haunted house tropes end. This was a unique take on haunted houses. I truly loved the main characters of Eric, his older daughter Dess and the sweet Stacey. It was all the more harrowing to watch the Spite House pick apart their sanity.

Great read, full of terror and desperation.

The Spite House got off to a slow start for me but did gain serious momentum a quarter into the story. From that point, the book moved forward at an unrelenting pace.

Questions about the afterlife, generational curses and gifts, paranormal abilities, echoes from the past and a house full of dark secrets made for a complex story with a lot of different characters and plot threads of which to keep track. I was satisfied with the ending and the resolution provided, but I can see how some readers will be left wishing for a few more answers.

Overall, I enjoyed this haunted house story and its touches of southern gothic. This was a subtly creepy tale with a slowly escalating sense of dread and foreboding that will appeal to fans of quiet horror with grim, dark undertones.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for providing me a copy to read and review.

What initially made me want to read The Spite House, was it’s creepy cover! This book is also labeled as southern gothic horror, and I was ready for a good, scary, creepy read. However, after reading this book, I think The Spite House may be marketed wrong. Instead of southern, gothic horror- I think this book should be labeled as southern fiction with a paranormal/gothic twist.

In this book, we start off with Eric Ross on the run with his two daughters, Dess and Stacy. The three of them are living out of motels, and Eric has been looking for ways to make money and stay under the radar. Lucky for Eric, he one day finds an ad in the newspaper for a caretaker of a spite house in Degener, Texas. This spite house is known to be haunted, but if Eric can stay the duration and make it out alive he will be paid a substantial amount of money to provide for himself and daughters. It’s an opportunity he can’t refuse!

While Eric is staying at the spite house (also called the Masson House), he learns a great deal about the history of the house and why it was built. He also learns who built this house, and why they built on this particular piece of land. There was a lot of history to be learned about the residents of the spite house and those surrounding it, both past and present. However, there are still many questions that I feel are left unanswered. Many issues did not seem to get resolved for me…

I want to commend the author as this is his debut novel. The writing is very good, the storyline is decent, but unfortunately this missed the mark for me in being a horror novel.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Macmillan-Tor/Forge, and the author for an ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. Publication date is: February 7, 2023.

I love a good, old fashioned haunted house story and "The Spite House" by Johnny Compton did not disappoint! There are so many layers to this one! I was completely enthralled by this story and read it straight through from the first page to the last; I just couldn't put it down! The story is creative and unique; I've read hundreds of horror novels but never one quite like this. The supernatural elements sent chills down my spine and the complex and mysterious mortal characters kept me guessing. There are several unexpected plot twists that left me reeling.

This is a very strong debut novel and I look forward to reading more from Johnny Compton. Five stars!

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the privilege of reading an advanced digital copy of this chilling book in exchange for my honest review!

This is a book I have been highly anticipating and it lived up to my expectations and more. I am so thankful to have been able to get this ARC. I am deff going to purchase this so I can have a copy on my shelf.

“Hadn’t Stacy inadvertently suggested that a couple of nights ago? She’d said the house was skinny because it hadn’t eaten enough. What else would a house like this feed on but lives?”

🅀🅄🄸🄲🄺 🅁🄴🄲🄰🄿
Eric finds a job offer to live in a house and write down all the ghostly occurrences in order to receive a life changing payout for him and his two children.

🄵🄸🄽🄰🄻 🅃🄷🄾🅄🄶🄷🅃🅂
Thank you to @NetGalley for this copy of #TheSpiteHouse in exchange for my honest opinion.
WOW. I’ve seen this book floating around, and it’s one people have been saying to keep a look out for this upcoming release. I was lucky enough to receive this eARC and was NOT disappointed. This haunting story has secrets, twists and turns.

Eric and his family are running, from what we don't know. Only that they don't stay in one place too long, he takes cash-only jobs, and if anyone shows too much interest, they are off to the next place. They are running low on funds when Eric spies an opportunity in the paper. They are looking for someone to catalog their paranormal experiences and the payout is big... so big it could set Eric and his family up for a good long while, and help them put down some roots somewhere permanent.

The activity begins almost immediately, and Eric quickly realizes that his daughters aren't safe, however, he needs something from the house beyond the money, and he isn't leaving until he gets what he's come for.

The house is spooky AF, ghosts are everywhere, and the woman who owns the house is keeping secrets about the house and what happened to the others that came before Eric.

I loved the relationship between Dess and Stacy, the spooky vibes were A+, and I totally wish this book were longer. I can't wait to read what Johnny Compton comes out with next.

3.5 stars - I thought this was a fresh angle on a haunted house story that was pretty successful and entertaining on the whole. I wish there hadn't been so many POVs... keeping it tightly to Eric, Dess, & Stacy would have been more suspenseful I think. Still, this felt genuinely creepy in a lot of places and I liked the ultimate progression of the reveals and scares

Genre: Horror

Synopsis: A father leaves his home and his wife in Maryland to move to Texas with his 2 daughters. Eric found a well-paying job to live in the Spite House. The homeowner warned him of the haunted house and that all the previous people hired had been too spooked to stay. His objective was to stay at the house and report all paranormal activity back to her.

The narrator (Adam Lazarre-White) made my listening experience pleasant. His deep and definitely matched the vibe of this book. 2 thumbs up.

The cover in itself got me- it gave me the creepy Haunted on Hill House vibes. The book was very easy to listen to. The first 25% of the novel was plot and setting so hang in there. When the family finally gets to the house is where the action begins. Chapters are a mixture of long and short chapters. The story is told by multiple characters of the novel (similar to the Paris Apartment). A few of the scenes creeped me out but I did really enjoy it.

Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC copy of this novel.

What an exciting take on a haunted house story that is full of interesting characters, an intriguing mystery, and a lot of heart! This is a quick read, but it is well-paced, and it doesn’t sacrifice character for brevity. The characters are intriguing and have depth, and the core relationship at the heart of the story is believable and feels both desperate and real. The story itself, this particular take on what haunts a house, and why and how, feels fresh and exciting, exploring not just legacy and trauma but also what it means to hold onto certain stories of the past, certain emotions and ideas of who you are. The writing itself is refreshing and direct. Nothing too flowery or poetic, but everything feels natural, nothing forced or hackneyed, and it was a delightful and compelling read in that regard. The writing pulled you along and allowed you to be there, with the characters, without feeling anything heavy-handed. The structure, where each chapter swapped to different POVs, including occasional POVs outside of the three primary characters/family members, was great. It kept the story moving, allowing for various build-ups and opportunities for tension building, while also letting the story feel well-rounded.

Throughout the story there are reflections on social justice issues, that are almost incidental insofar as they are a normality for the main characters, not the primary antagonists in the story, which I really enjoyed. With a story that is centered on a Black family in contemporary America, of course racism, personal and structural, is an implicit character, always lurking in the background. Nothing feels preachy or message-y about this story, but there are enough small touches, or flourishes, that remind you that the certainty of safety is different for different people.

The one thing keeping this from a five-star read for me, and this may seem to contradict my praise for its pacing, is that I wanted there to be just a little more. There are so much depth in the premise, and so many ideas set up, that I would have liked to luxuriate in this world longer. The pace and intensity does help emulate the characters’ sense of anxiety, but I felt like there was room to play with some of the mysteries, add more set-pieces and scares, and really just take a little more time in the fears, inherited and otherwise, that are flowing through the different characters. This was a short enough read that I feel like there could have been an additional hundred pages before it started feeling bloated or dragging, especially since the jumping POV allows for a structural dynamism that just allows more avenues of exploration. I wasn’t disappointed with the conclusion, what was left unanswered or where various characters ended up, I just felt like there could have been a lot more happening before they got there and finished the book feeling a little wanting. That said, I would rather a tight novel that gets in and out and leaves me wanting a little more than one that tires me out and makes me lose interest in the characters before the third act. So, I enjoyed this story, and I heartily recommend it for anyone, especially if you enjoy the haunted house subgenre.

I want to thank the author, Macmillan-Tor/Forge, Tor Nightfire and NetGalley, who provided a complimentary eARC for review. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Wow, somewhere between a southern gothic, a haunted house trope, and a story about grief & trauma, lies The Spite House. I grew up in a town with its own spite house, so the title alone intrigued me. I am so pleased I picked this one up. Johnny Compton is a fantastic writer, with a unique voice in the horror genre. His take on a haunted house, and how it becomes haunted, is a fresh take on the subgenre. With its paranormal investigation and the "did that or did it not happen" moments, it felt like a descendant of The Haunting of Hill House (my favorite book).

I loved his descriptions of the house and its otherworldly inhabitants. His take on generational trauma and the physical manifestations of grief isn't something I have read in other horror novels. It makes you question just how much is passed down to us from our ancestors, and if there is ever a way to break the curse of generational trauma.

While there are certainly elements I enjoyed about this book, I was left feeling so-so at the end. It was an enjoyable read, don't get me wrong! I liked that it had elements akin to Haunting of Hill House, which I absolutely adored; the idea of a spite house unwilling to let those that enter, leave. However, the back and forth between characters took me out of the story too much; I think I may have preferred the book to be solely based from Eric's POV. I think perhaps it would have created a more cohesive story. I still think that this book is worth your time and I am definitely interested and looking forward to reading more of Johnny Compton's work.

Eunice needs to know the secrets of death; even if it puts others in harm’s way. As a child, she saw her aunt Val die an excruciating death while exclaiming, “You can’t have her!” Since then, she has become obsessed with finding evidence of the paranormal, to converse with the dead. She wants to know what lies beyond death, and believes that Masson Mansion—also known as the Spite House—is the gateway.

Jane and Max Renner are paranormal experts hired by Eunice to document any ghostly activity at Spite House. They are not the first, and, most likely, they will not be the last. Jane begins to experience the affects of the house almost immediately. After several weeks, her husband finds her laying on the floor unable/unwilling to move. As he tries to pull her out of the house, she states that something—or someone—has taken a part of her and refuses to give it back: “I can’t leave me behind.” When they finally make it through the door, her husband hears a scream coming from the house that sounds just like Jane.

Eric answers the advertisement for a new caretaker at Spite House. He and his daughters are on the road either running from or running to something. This is the kind of job for a man who wants to stay hidden. As they have their first look at the house, eighteen-year-old Dess describes the house as gaunt, gray, old, and sickly. Her seven-year-old sister, Stacy, observes that the house looks hungry. Are they describing a house or a human?

This is a tale on the lines of gothic ghost and haunted-house stories made popular during the mid-to-late 1800s. The exterior of the house—reminiscent of the façade of Shirley Jackson’s Hill House—is visually off-kilter. There are unexplained voices, footsteps, and doors that open and close without explanation. The walls are soddened with the sins and obsessions of the dead, affecting the inhabitants. The house, an almost living and breathing character, acts on its own volition.

This is Johnny Compton’s first novel, and I appreciate the parallels he draws between the African American family central to this story, and the events surrounding the house, town, and people. I highly recommend this scary book.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Tor Nightfire Publishing for the opportunity to read and review this book.