Well that was creepy!
I admit Let Him In started off slow, but it laid the foundation as we got to know the characters and what they were going through. Alfie lost his wife, Pippa, and his twin daughters were also struggling with the loss as they created an imaginary friend who comforted them. His POV accompanied Pippa’s twin sister, Julia, who was also struggling with the loss of her twin and her moms deteriorating health.
The book used grief, the setting of the Hart House, imaginary friends, and the beliefs of Pippa and Julia’s mother to create a fantastic horror novel that felt creepy and atmospheric.
The ending was fantastic… no spoilers, but I really loved the way it ended!
Overall, this one was worth the initial investment and I couldn’t put it down once I pushed through the beginning, so I definitely recommend it if you’re looking for a good read this spooky season.

Alfie, grieving the loss of his wife, is now left to care for his twin daughters by himself. One day the girls see a black shadow which eventually becomes their new friend, Black Mamba who brings dark consequences and Alfie is left to figure out if it’s just make believe or if something sinister is at work. Are the children just dealing with the loss of their mother in their own way, or is there more to it than that? Is is paranormal, supernatural, God or demons? Alfie calls upon his sister in law, who also happens to be his late wife’s twin, and is also a psychologist, to come and talk to the girls and to try and get rid of Black Mamba but soon Alfie is also having visions at night and questioning the dark forces at play because whatever this “friend” is, he doesn’t want to leave and Alfie is going to have to face his past and the past of the Hart House in order to be set free.
The idea of Black Mamba and mythology isn’t something I’ve read a lot about so for me it was fairly unique and I wish it had been executed a little better. And the religion aspect should have been flushed out more. But the author does have an interesting writing style and I will look for his future work.
Thanks to the author Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for this Earc in exchange for my review.

This horror novel follows Alfie and his twin daughters - Sylvie and Cassia - 9 months after his wife's accidental death. What starts as an assumed nightmare of the twins seeing a man in their room evolves into a shared imaginary friend, Alfie reaches out to his wife's sister, Julia. Psychologist Julia initially sees nothing out of the ordinary about the girls' behavior but as she spends more time with the grieving family, memories of her own childhood start surfacing. As the situation with Alfie and the girls start escalating - including hallucinations and physical danger - this friend might be more than imaginary after all.

TW/CW: death of a spouse, death of a parent, suicide, child endangerment, child neglect, domestic violence, miscarriage, grief

The atmosphere of this whole read is spot on. The book opens with heavy grief and even the creepy stuff gets circled back to grief. Yeah, the girls and their imaginary friend are a little weird and something feels off, but they're just grieving the way children do. Or that Alfie is overly sensitive due to his own grief. This is reflected perfectly with the family being basically self-isolated in this old and grand home. As we learn more about the backstory of the home and the events that happened in the past, we can't help but see how that could be impacting the current day story. I'd categorize this read as a pretty quiet, creepy read. We do have some moments of action, but for the most part we're in solid creepy kid story territory.

The horror elements were so delicately balanced, I was surprised that this was a debut. I think it would have been easy for this type of story to get over the top with the horror. And while that might have worked very well also, this sort of more subdued, gently escalating horror was great. Creepy kids are almost always a win and them being twins really was the cherry on top. I liked how we get a mix of them being their usually creepy selves - like seemingly able to communicate telepathically - but then the line gets crossed and now there's maybe something supernatural going on. It felt like the type of horror that I could very well imagine happening in real life where it is just unsettling and strange enough that it makes you wonder but if you aren't a believer in the supernatural/paranormal then you also can come up with explanations for the events.

As far as characters go, this felt very much like a snapshot in time. The majority of the story takes place over a 3 day span, but we do get some flashbacks as well. This short time span didn't give a whole lot of time for much character development. We also see the characters being stagnant due to grief, which also doesn't change a whole lot over 3 days. Friend does a good job of giving us details of these characters through their actions and reactions with other characters. We alternate POVs between Alfie and Julia so we do get their internal dialogue during their chapters. What I absolutely loved is that the children actually read like children. They weren't overly precocious or intellectual for their age and the creepy kid factor then hits that much harder when the kids read as realistic.

I think the ending might be a hit or miss with readers. I found it toeing the line of being frustratingly ambiguous in the same way that the ending of Inception was. We spend this whole book following these characters and seeing the escalation of something that may or may not be supernatural. Then it just sort of ... ends. We do get a epilogue that flashes forward a few months and I found that to also end on sort of an ambiguous note. I think what saved this ending for me was that we have enough textual evidence to support the reading in either direction. I'm certainly swaying in one direction but I can absolutely see the argument for the other reading being the 'real' ending. I also found this ambiguous ending to work well as this theme of trying to figure out what is real or not comes up a lot throughout the book.

Overall, this was a great atmospheric, creepy read. The horror elements were balanced well and the ambiguous ending was pulled off well.

Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press. Expected publication date is October 3, 2023

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this opportunity to read rate and review this arc which will be available October 3,2023!

Recently widowed father, Twin daughters and an imaginary friend named Black Mamba. It starts off creepy and never ever stops. The writer has got the creepy kids trope down pat and add in constant tension and terror and you the perfect book to add to your spooky season tbr. I had to read this during the day. It had me jumping at shadows!

4.25 stars

This was a bit of a mind f**k. I’m still a bit unsure of what even happened.

Alfie is raising his twin daughters alone after the death of their mother. Recently, they have been coming in his room at night talking about a man in their room. They call him Black Mamba.

Julia, their mom’s twin sister has been somewhat absent from their lives since her passing, but she arrives to see how they are all doing. Clearly, things are not going great. And the increasing presence of the twins’ imaginary friend is putting a strain on things.

When Black Mamba becomes more demanding and bad things start happening, Allie and Julia have to figure out what is really going on. And it’s not good.

There were so many layers to this horror novel. There is borderline religious trauma, supernatural horror, the very creepy twin vibe, and a very unsettling psychological thriller element that had me in circles!

I thought this was fantastic. I love the creepy overall feel I got with this. I didn’t know what was really at play here and I’m not sure I fully get it upon finishing it. All I can say is that it made me uncomfortable to look in the shadowy places in my house.

YO... what a weird one. Always trust little kids who say they see things... Those effers are spiritual masterminds I SWEAR. I jumped when I got audiobook access to Let Him In from Dreamscape Media, and I'm also very thankful to William Friend, Sourcebooks Landmark, and Netgalley for granting me digital access as well. Let Him In is a psychological/paranormal horror that will keep you guessing and wondering what's real until the very end. This baby is projected to hit shelves on October 3, 2023, so get those pre-orders in NOW!

After the sudden death of Pippa, her widowed husband and twin daughters are left in shambles, grieving the way they need to, and for Cassia and Sylvie that means co-depending on their new imaginary friend, Black Mamba... who comes to them in many forms. At a loss, Alfie calls upon Pippa's surviving twin sister, Julia whose a therapist and specializes in these behavioral lapses.

For a short while, Julia moves in to help Alfie out and care for the girls, but what she ends up discovering is deeper and darker, and way more dangerous that an imaginary play friend, there are roots to curses, seances, and dark history that aims to hurt all in its path. Can Julie and Alfie put a stop to this malicious force before it takes more lives?

This title has been selected for coverage in Fangoria Magazine's Nightmare Library column (October 2024 issue). Please reach out to the reviewer directly for more information.

For those that know me, they know that I’m a sucker for a good horror story and this one did not disappoint. It was very reminiscent to me of Haunting of Hill House (one of my favourite stories of all time), so needless to say, I was always going to enjoy it for that reason I think. This book dealt with the theme of grief very well and had a very creepy vibe throughout that kept me on my toes. There were definitely questions that were left unanswered by the end, but I’m hoping a sequel book is in the works. Overall, a good book!

Alfie wakes up one night to his daughters standing at the foot of his bed with 7 most terrifying words "Daddy, there's a man in our room.."

First time reading from this author. This book was terrifying being a twin mum myself 🤣..
A haunting read with suspense. Written in dual POV

Sadly I am going to give this book a 3.5 stars as some aspects of the book I enjoyed and found dark and enjoyable, but most of the book I found fell flat and hard to keep my interest there..
Will definitely keep out for this authors future books as the next could be more up my street. This book just wasn't fully for me.

Want to thank @NetGalley for allowing me to read this Advanced readers copy of @letmein
Book comes out 3rd October 2023.

This book took me a while to get into. But once I did it read beautifully. I love the ending and all the questions it left me with. I would recommend this book for those that enjoy filling in the blanks with your own imagination.

Thank you to Net Galley and William Friend for an ARC of this atmospheric chiller of a book.

So, I know people are talking about the cover. It's brilliant and it certainly made me want to pick up the book. I think it's a good match for what you'll find inside as well.

I want to say this book is about grief, but is it? Maybe? Maybe not? It certainly addresses grief, however.

I found the characters to be realistic and well drawn, especially the twins. They were epically creepy at times, and very easy to picture.

The book builds atmosphere quite well and was a quick read once I got into the swing of things. Why 4*? The ending. It was a little muddled and ambiguous. I wanted something more defined, something bigger maybe.

Overall, this was well written and enjoyable and I'll certainly pick up the next Friend when it comes out.

If The Babadook and Alex North's The Whisper Man had a love child, it would be William Friend's debut novel, LET HIM IN. This book has been getting a lot of buzz since its 2022 release via Atlantic Books in the UK, but we are getting this book on the stateside via Poisoned Press this October! The story dives into a family grief-stricken after wife and mother, Pippa, died unexpectedly, leaving her husband Alfie to raise their twin daughters alone. He does rely on Pippa's sister, Julia, and their not-so-amazing grandmother (Pippa's mother), but Alfie is trying to navigate being a single parent for two girls. The story begins to raise eyebrows when Alfie's daughters invent an imaginary friend that quickly becomes a big presence in the family's lives. They communicate with him, he watches them while they try to sleep, and they claim that this friend will take them away. Alfie starts noticing that this imaginary friend of theirs is beginning to take a sinister turn, and must resolve whatever is going on in their home immediately.

This book is so fast and fun! What a killer debut novel. It preys upon grief and tragedy, but the story is very psychological at its heart. I'm loving these speculative stories lately where readers will have to interpret things on their own, which will cause for very conflicting opinions. I read this book in one-sitting because I couldn't put it down. This book will be PERFECT for Halloween as it's bingeable, sinister, and fast-paced. LET HIM IN has the perfect ingredients for a great horror novel. I look forward to reading what William Friend has up his sleeves for readers next.

A super-dooper creepy story that will blow your mind!

Alfie and his twin daughters are living in Hart house and struggling after the death of his beloved wife Pippa.

When his daughters begin talking about a man, Alfie thinks the twins have created an imaginary friend to cope with the death.. The mysterious friend however becomes frightening as the girls set a spot at the table for him and mention him more and more.

It's a psychological thriller which allows for more than one interpretation - my favorite style of horror! Friend hit it out of the park with this October debut. #poisonedpenpress #LetHimIn #willimafriend

🚨MUST HAVE for your Spooky Season TBR 🚨: “Let Him In” by William Friend

BOOK REVIEW: 🖤🖤🖤🖤/5

Alfie recently lost his wife and is struggling to raise his twin daughters solo. They live in Hart House, a gothic old home where his wife grew up living and two mysterious deaths occurred. The house itself holds onto to horror stories of its own … and so it continues … 🏚️

Night after night his daughters rush into his bedroom at night terrified saying that there is a man standing in their bedroom. After no evidence of an intruder is found, Alfie figures these nightmares are a result of their loss and grieving of their mom. The nighttime visits randomly come to an abrupt stop and Alfie figures they have moved past from their fears.

BUT now the girls have a new “friend” called Black Mamba. And HE does not want to be seen by or heard from their father. Sinister things start to happen and the girls point their fingers at Black Mamba. He has become a protective figure to them and is trying to put a wedge between the twins and their father. Alfie seeks help from his deceased wife’s twin sister to try to break the influence this imaginary friend has over his daughters. But here’s the kicker … Alfie’s wife had a VERY similar kind of “friend” as a child growing up in THAT house! Is history repeating itself??

EEEK🫣!! I read this in under 4 hours and absolutely loved it! It was haunting, chilling, dark and EXACTLY what I was looking for … a creepy read that kept me on EDGE the entire way through!

For fans of Hidden Pictures, The Whisper Man and The Haunting of Hill House, this spooktacular DEBUT novel is for you!

Thank you kindly to William Friend, @poisonedpenpress @netgalley for my advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review! This book releases on October 3, 2023!

Really enjoyed this book. Mysterious, spooky, and mind bending, I thought is showed the twin relationship in an interesting way that made me feel like I was witnessing the family dynamic in real time. I expected the book to be scarier but ended up enjoying that it had more to do with trauma, religion, getting older and healing.

This was a chilling gothic tale. It kept me hooked throughout the story. It had all the ingredients of a great horror novel. The ending was a little ambitious where I questioned what I just read and was like what just happened. I also think the author could have explained more about the rattle, house, and Julia and Pippa’s dad. Many questions, but it still kept me hooked.

Alfie's wife has recently died. He now has to raise his twin daughters on his own. When the girls claim to see a shadowy figure in their room, and Alfie can't find anything, he assumes its a result of their loosing their mother.

as the gilrs behavor becomes stranger, Alfie calls on his wifes sister Julia, who is a psychiatrist for help. When the girls feel their imaginay friend is more important than their father, things become very strained. At one point the girls lead Alfie to the basement where it appears that something is going on with the floor. Shortly after you need to decide if the "friend" the girls called black mamba, is real,a maade up friend or really Alfie.

Unfortunately this fell very flat for me. At first I enjoyed the pacing and change of POV from chapter to chapter but as the story continued I just felt bored. I also could not stop thinking of the “Black Mamba” as Kobe Bryant so that didn’t help.

This had a lot of potential but I feel like it took to long to get to the point and when it got there I was underwhelmed. Had some creepy moments and anything with kids seeing ghosts freaks me out so in that regard it did what it needed to do, but apart from the moments in the evenings when weird things were happening I was very disconnected from the story.

I don’t know about this book, it was just weird, I couldn’t stay interested in it at all! Just the thought of something coming into a kids room that can change into multiple different things just wasn’t the right fit of a book for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for the early read. This one was a DNF for me....

From what I finished of this one it wasn't bad. I just couldn't get into this one.