thank you Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for the free e-book! ଘ(੭ˊᵕˋ)੭* ੈ✩‧₊

4☆ for Let Him In by William Friend.

okay WOW. admittedly what drew me in was the cover of this book. whilst the title felt a tiiiiiiny bit cliché, the art is beautiful and definitely set the tone in for this book - round of applause for the artist please 👏🏻

now to the story. i knew i was i gonna like it when i realized it had so many elements i loved: possibly haunted house? check. creepy twins? check. some psychology sprinkled in? check check check!

the book follows Alfie, a recently widowed father and his twin daughters that start seeing a man (is it really human though?) around the house. Alfie is in over his head obviously and he asks his late wife's sister Julia, who's a therapist, for help. but obviously this is a horror book and things are not as simple as they seem. i won't be saying anything more than that as i personally thoroughly enjoyed not knowing much going in - so believe me on that one.

as far the horror goes: i loved it. this is not a Scary™️ book per se. it has no jump scares, no gore, basically nothing that was written simply for shock value. Let Him In is an atmospheric, psychological horror novel that takes its time getting under your skin. let me say that again: that book is not fast paced. whilst i disagree with some comments calling the pacing slow, it's definitely not quick. i think it was the perfect pace for this genre of horror.


i really enjoyed Friend's writing style and was definitely hooked by the story pretty early on. obviously the book's main theme is grief and how people deal with it, and i found this book's takes on it really interesting - specially people's relationship with religion and faith. (disclaimer: this book does not push any religious beliefs onto the reader so you're safe to proceed ^.^)

perhaps my only gripe with this novel is the ending. a lot are confused by it but i think that was Friend's goal perhaps? i personally drew my own conclusions and found them pretty satisfying (and thats on being delulu). however my only issue is that some questions were actually left unanswered by the end - and not in a vague sorta way, but more like a plot hole way. like .... are we not gonna address that? at all? i will refrain from mentioning them in this review as to not spoil anything for anyone but AHEM! mister William Friend, if i could have 5 minutes of your time and ask some questions, i would definitely sleep better at night.

anyway. overall, i really enjoyed this book and it would be an amazingly creepy halloween read for fans of atmospheric horror!

This book will make you uneasy and give you the creeps. Alfie has recently lost his wife. Their house was previously owned by his in-laws and he knows of two deaths that have taken place in the house. One of those deaths was his wife.

Now his young twin daughters are obsessed with a man who visits their room at night and he's always around. They also believe that he's can become all sorts of animals and they describe their encounters with the animals. There are also physical manifestations to their bodies.

Alfie begs his wife's twin sister, a physiologist to help him with the girls. They will not shake their belief in the Black Mamba, their name for the man.

Scary, dark, and it pulls the reader in. You will want to know how it ends.

LET HIM IN was a creepy, atmospheric, psychological thriller that really immersed you into Hart House and the family that inhabits it. It's an interesting blend of THE SHINING, THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE, and THE WHISPER MAN/SLENDER MAN. I liked that Black Mamba was first seen as the vehicle for grief and mourning; a way for the twins to cope with the death of their mother. But when you start to see the smaller pieces of the puzzle come together between the religious/spiritual elements and Julia's childhood, you realize BM is real. Alfie wasn't my favorite character. He definitely took on man-child, misogynistic characteristics (like finally understanding that motherhood is constantly cleaning up, doing the same tasks over and over and over). I think in some ways he took Pippa for granted. It was a matter of convenience that she had a twin. The twins running in the family was also an interesting element. The writing was really immersive but sometimes inconsistent. Overall, though, this was a great read for spooky season and fans of horror.

This book started off wonderfully frightening. Twin daughter seeing a spirit in their room after their mother dies and the father is left coping with raising twin daughter who now have an invisible friend who starts controlling and taking over the little girls time. The sister in law is a psychologist and tries to help the girls while trying to to cope with her own trauma of growing up in her childhood home and her sister’s death. It’s never seams clear as to what or how the mother dies, but just that they all fear the spirit known as the black mamba. The spirit starts to demand that the girls call him daddy instead of their real father.

Rating: 2.5/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️✨
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Look at the cover of this book - it screams HORROR. I literally am obsessed with the cover. But unfortunately it didn’t hit the mark of horror for me. It was more like a symbolic book on grief and what it can do to the mind of all ages while simultaneously a back mystery/story about a sort of religious cult type thing? Honestly, I’m not completely even sure I got that right lol.
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Creep factor was at 100% for the twins who could see Black Mamba, but Black Mamba could transform into so many different things, I just wanted him to do something more sinister - that would have given me that horror feel. Alfie was weird with his jealousy issues and what happened in the end was just weird to me.
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The story, I felt, had pretty decent pacing, I just kept waiting for something more to happen, something super scary - which I understand is totally be a me problem. I found the writing to be pretty decent as well! I liked that this one was written in a dual POV between Alfie and his sister in law Julia. I would have liked to have the twins POV thrown in too for some extra creepiness, but again, a me problem. The ending was pretty open ended in my opinion which is not my favorite, but I think it could spark some pretty great topics for a book club.
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I was able to listen to this one via audiobook and read. Let Him In is narrated by Jodie Harris and Jonathan Johns and they compliment one another great. They were able to bring that creep factor to life. Very well produced audiobook.
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While this necessarily wasn’t what I was looking for in a horror, I definitely think William Friend is someone to keep an eye out for. I will be looking forward to following his work. Let Him In will be released on 10/3!
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Huge thank you to Netgalley, Dreamscape Media, Poisoned Pen Press and William Friend for my ALC and eARC in exchange for my honest review!

Let him in is a story about two little girls with an imaginary friend, Black Mamba. At first they are scared of him and then he becomes a friend. After the death of their mother, they come to trust Black Mamba but things aren't what they seem.

This book had me hooked from the beginning. I wasn't sure where it was going to take me. I'm still not sure after finishing it what the author was trying to achieve. It definitely had that thriller, what is going to happen next vibe. Where he let me down was the ending. Was he real or fake? Was it a demon or imagination? I have so many questions I don't know what to think. He also left some scenes open without resolution. What happened to Alfie in the basement? I wish the author had tied up these loose ends.

Thank you netgalley for an ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

This book is very reminiscent of The Haunting of Hill House. This was such a good, creepy way to show just how different each person is affected by grief. I loved the twins, they made me feel so uneasy SO MUCH. This story was wild and the perfect, quick read to start October!

In the beginning, I was really intrigued with this book. The story follows a dad and his two twin daughters who have recently lost their mother. The girls start to see what is portrayed as an imaginary friend. Things start to get really weird when odd things start happening around the house. Eventually they start calling this 'imaginary friend' Black Mamba. They end up treating Black Mamba like a father figure which of course freaks their dad out and he enlists the help of their aunt (who was their mothers twin sister) because she is a therapist and she starts connecting their weird stuff to things that happened with her and her sister when they were young and it gets a little weird.

I was a little disappointed with this book. To me it didn't seem to have a good ending or really much explanation. I feel like the story should have had a descent resolve or gone in a different direction but I don't feel like I got either with this book.

Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

I recently had the pleasure (and the chills) of reading this psychological thriller that left me breathless and sleepless. It was an absolute rollercoaster of emotions that kept me glued to its pages, finishing it in just two days.
The author masterfully crafts a narrative that delves deep into the darkest corners of the human psyche, leaving you questioning the thin line between sanity and madness.
I really felt for the characters and I found myself empathizing with their struggles, fearing for their well-being, and second-guessing their every move. The suspense in this novel is relentless. It's not just a jump-scare kind of thriller; it's a slow burn that creeps up on you, making every shadow and every creak in your house seem like a potential threat. The psychological twists and turns are mind-bending, leaving me questioning reality alongside the characters.

Okay this book was so creepy. I really wanted to like it but it was just weird and very confusing.
It was like the author was trying too hard. It was almost comical where I think it was supposed to be a thriller.

The characters were one dimension and so unbelievable.

Just didn't work for me.

This had some creepy moments and some real potential. Unfortunately some of the threads didn’t weave into a solid whole. The house is haunted….or not. Religious/cultish/occult ties that did or didn’t factor heavily. Grief, seeking to return those who have passed. Demonic possession….or not. The chilling, yet predictable end twist would have packed more punch if the other plot elements had been more satisfactorily answered.

This is a cracking, creepy story about twin girls and their father who are grieving the death of the girls' mother. Naturally life is hard for the little family but things become even more difficult when the girls (Cassia and Sylvie) start talking about a strange man in their bedroom at night that only they can see. They even give the entity a name 'Black Mamba', and begin to claim that 'he' can change into different animal forms. Is it just an imaginary friend that the girls have conjured up as a way of coping with their mother's death or could it be something more sinister? After all, the family home does have a rather disturbing history...

Not exactly a horror novel, but this book is certainly unnerving at times and the ending is fantastic. Highly recommended.

This one was so good! This was William Friend’s debut novel and I’ll be adding him to my list of must watch horror authors.

Cassia and Sylvie are fraternal twins from a long line of twins. They’ve recently lost their mother and are dealing with terrible grief along with their father, Alfie. Their mother was also a twin, and Julia, their auntie, is trying to help the family as much as possible. But a terrifying, shape shifting imaginary friend, Black Mamba, is making everyone question everything they thought they knew.

This whole book was shrouded in mystery. The mysterious religion that Julia and her dead twin, Pippa were brought up in. The mystery of their father and cousin’s death. Even Pippa’s death. I found the whole thing intriguing and I loved that not all the answers were tied up in a bow at the end.

Sincerely chilling. Fear of the unknown is the greatest fear of all.

Lord this was creepy. Not in an over-the-top, gory movie kind of way, but in a way that makes you look twice at the pile of clothes on the chair in your room. It’s a haunted house/possession flick wrapped in a swaddle of family trauma, with the grip of a suspense thriller. I found it un-put-downable and found myself reading til 4 am simply because I was too creeped out to sleep.

I'll shelve this as horror because that's what it's marketed as, but I think this will need a massive marketing push, for horror, even gothic horror, it struggles to be. It's a character study with dark undertones, and slightly Gothic in nature. But there is where I have issues with what is termed Gothic horror. Is there a spectrum for Gothic horror and, if so, how wide is the range? Because I'm finding quite a few Gothic horrors I read lately struggle to draw in horror elements.

Putting those things aside, the writing style of this book worked well, and it read like a dream. The value of an effortless read can't be underrated. But, the style needs to be backed up by substance that matches the package. And that's where the issue is for me.

One of the things I always look for in a Gothic horror is character reaction to occurrence, setting, or other characters. Reactions need to not only draw you into the scene, but they must also drive the suspense and tension. Of all horror sub-genres, Gothic horror relies on this more than most. And this is where this book failed to deliver. The reactions of Alfie in this story are muddled and dull. Water colour rather than oil painting. It makes you think, so what? But you should be thinking, wow!

The standout in this book is how the twins are written. They're not perfect characters, but they are the highlight and bring some level of creepiness into the story. Still, it's their actions that do this, and this type of horror needed a strong reaction by other characters to really hook me into the story on a deeper level.

A strong debut. Worth a read of you value well-written stories. For those who don't generally enjoy horror, you can still read this since the horror is not strong.

Thanks to the author, the publisher, and Netgalley for providing a copy of this story to read for a honest review. All comments are my own

A slow build up of creeping feelings, eyes watching your every move, and two kids who fall for a demon, put that together and you have this masterpiece. Creepy, dark, and scary.

The perfect way to kick off spooky season! Let Him In is a quick read horror story. I would consider it more of a psychological thriller with some scary elements. Think Alex North meets Stephen King.
Creepy twins that are so in sync that it makes the book unpredictable. The twins suddenly have a new presence among them, “Black Mamba” who only they can see and communicate with. -(No we aren’t talking about Kobe here. Even though as a sports fan it was hard not to picture Kobe as a creepy shadow lurking around the house. )- His demands leave their widowed father, Alfie frustrated and scared on what to do as the twins seem to be pushing him away. As the story unfolds we learn the backstory of the house they live in, previously his deceased wife’s childhood home. I do wish it was a little longer so we can get the backstory on Black Mamba and how he originated but I guess that’s part of the unknown that keeps me thinking about the book.
Thank you to Net Galley, Poisoned Pen Press and William Friend for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Alright so this book was definitely creepy, dark and kinda interesting, which I totally liked. Butttt it wasn't for me. It was slow and repetitive and there was just something missing . But it did have a good ending. Don't get me wrong, The author's writing was awesome and the story was good and I will look out for more of his books when they come out. Oh and we can not forget that awesome cover. It's perfect for this story. So this book was just okay for me but perfect for the spooky season for sure.

Such a good creepy book, a perfect spooky season-read.

This book made me feel so creeped out, I just couldn’t stop reading it.
The concept of ”young children talking to imaginary friends that may or may not be ghosts” - is one that really gets to me. I was lying in bed in the dark feeling really freaked out at times!
The setting of the old house gives a slightly gothic vibe to this book, which I really loved.

I requested a copy of the ARC from the publisher, Poisoned Pen Press, on NetGalley and was approved in exchange for consideration of a review. All opinions discussed are my own and are subjective to myself as a reader.

"The supernatural, I know, does not exist. But Black Mamba and his intrusion into our lives--this poison flowing through our family's blood--can't be just a product of my daughters' minds.

Someone has gotten into this house."


William Friend combined some of the creepiest elements to create this haunting debut novel that centers around a recently widowed father and his twin daughters.

I don't know about you, but any type of horror or supernatural tale involving children always creeps me out. Kids in general can say things that make your skin crawl. Throw in the extra bonus of featuring twins and you really up the ante. I've been fascinated with twins ever since I was a youngster and I believe there is a phenomena surrounding them and the author really plays into that. To make things even more interesting, I could never decide if the house was haunted itself or it was being haunted. Or was it just the imagination of the characters? Perhaps a manifestation of their grief for the loss of the mother/wife? To really seal the deal, there were even religious/occult elements teased that added a bit of mystique.

Alfie and his daughters, Sylvie and Cassia, struggle to return to normalcy in the months following the death of their mother, Pippa. The twins wake Alfie up one night to tell him there's a man in their room, which sends a jolt of adrenalin through his veins and he searches the home. Night after night, this same thing happens until Alfie no longer even wakes up fully, just lifts the comforter for the girls to crawl into the safety of his bed.

The nightmares fade and give way to something else - an imaginary friend the girls call Black Mamba. Their aunt tells Alfie it's a coping mechanism, Black Mamba is filling the gap left by the death of their mother. I had an imaginary friend as a little girl - I bet you did too. Did yours ever physically hurt you? Refuse to leave? Say they were going to take you away from your home...permanently?

The author did a fantastic job of creating atmosphere and suspense. As I mentioned above, I could never put my finger on what was going on exactly, but I couldn't stop turning pages, trying to find out. This pacing combined with the easy flow of the writing style and its building dread made it possible to get lost in this book - I bet a lot of you will read it cover to cover in one sitting. (I tried, but I'm old and while I'd love to stay up late reading, my body takes that choice away, lol)

I really enjoyed my time spent with this one and look forward to what William Friend creates next!

The quotes in this review were taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication.