"The walls of the house were bleeding again. This sort of thing could be expected; it was, after all, September. The bleeding wouldn’t have been so bad if it hadn’t been accompanied by nightly moaning that escalated into screaming by the end of the month like clockwork.”

Bam.... isn't this just the perfect tense and creepy way to start a horror book. I was definitely intrigued starting this darkly humorous, creepy, and dark but fun horror book.

I would say that this book has everything that horror lovers want..... blood, gore, ghosts, blood dripping down the walls in the house, demons, and oh so much more.

But, there is a catch this only happens in the month of September....

Margaret and Hal find their dream house in this creepy victorian gothic home. Each year in September, ghosts are seen, objects moved around, and ghosts come to life. Even a demon like monster Master Vale is seen in the basement.

One day Hal all of a sudden disappears and Margaret has no idea what happened to him. But, she never goes down to the basement because of this Master Vale.

The story unfolds into an interesting ending. I had it figured out to a point on the psych side and the clues that are given about Margaret and her mental health... but then it just took a turn I wasn't particularly fond of.

I wanted more and I wanted it to be more creepy then it was. Although, I loved the strong mother/daughter aspect at the end trying to find the truth about Hal.

Overall, wasn't a bad gothic novel.

4/5 stars

Thank you to Berkley for my arc

Y'all know I can't resist a haunted house novel, and this debut by Carissa Orlando delivered in spades. Margaret and her husband Hal finally bought the beautiful Victorian house of their dreams--so what if there have been several brutal murders in it? It's an *old* house, after all. And, ok, there are ghosts, but only a few of them bite. The walls drip blood, but only in September! In this market, are these really dealbreakers? What starts as a funny ghost story unfolds into a bracingly tense family story and look at the myriad ways we learn to cope with the harm caused by the people we love & how impossibly difficult it is to watch someone stay in a situation no one deserves. Orlando reveals the dark, violent heart of her narrative so slowly that I, like Margaret, couldn't quite understand how things had gotten so bad, so quickly. By the end of the novel (which builds to a bloody crescendo that had my nerves completely fried), I was in tears and in absolute tatters. Just a stunner of a novel that I'll be thinking about for many years!

“The walls of the house were bleeding again. This sort of thing could be expected; it was, after all, September. The bleeding wouldn’t have been so bad if it hadn’t been accompanied by nightly moaning that escalated into screaming by the end of the month like clockwork.”

Have you ever started a book that you couldn’t stop compulsively reading, but at the same time tried to savor it so that it would last just a bit longer?

This is that book.

Darkly humorous, yet creepy and terrifying, The September House is expertly plotted and frighteningly addictive. This book has everything readers seek from a gothic horror novel. A creepy house, ghosts, demons, a priest, killer birds, and oh so much blood….

But just in September.

Margaret and Hal buy their dream house, a 19th century Victorian with a turret and wrap around porch. Every September, objects move around the house and mutilated strangers appear pointing at the basement saying, “He’s down there.” The walls weep blood and constant screams can be heard.

Everything returns to normal for the rest of the year.

Margaret is used to being the caretaker. After all, she learned how to survive an abusive marriage. “There are rules to these things. Everything is survivable.” Then the couple encounter Master Vale, the demon-like man in the basement and Hal disappears. A month after his disappearance, Margaret’s daughter Katherine comes to the house to find her father. But did she have to visit in September?

Orlando explores themes of abuse and survival in this stellar debut. Hichcockian and deeply disturbing, The December House is one of my favorite gothic novels of the year.

5/5 stars

Expected publication date: 9/5/23

Trigger warnings: Domestic abuse, alcoholism

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley publishing for the ARC of The September House in exchange for an honest review.

This book was the definition of “unreliable narrator” which is exactly what makes it so engaging. There were long stretches of moments with imperfect characters that could change your point of view within a few sentences.

4.5 stars. Have you ever ready a cozy horror novel? Well you should. And it should be this one. I literally don't know how else to describe The September House!

Read this if you:
👻 had (have?) a crush on Casper the Ghost
🩸 can handle a decent bit of gore in your books
🧘‍♀️ wouldn't *immediately* look for your partner if s/he disappeared and gave you a nice chunk of alone time

Just me and Margaret on that last one? 😅 ...well anyways, husband Hal takes off and leaves Margaret to fend for herself in their beautiful but haunted Victorian home, and Margaret refuses to budge. So what if the stairs are covered in blood and the little dead children won't let her sleep? September is just one month, and the house is much quieter the rest of the year. Except now, Margaret's daughter has decided she wants to come stay, and it'll be quite a task to keep all the ghastly goings-on under wraps while she's here.

This book is SUCH a fun ride!! I couldn't put it down. At first, I wasn't really sure what I was getting into — a horror novel with such a light tone and almost heartwarming vibes? Confusing. But it works! I will say, some metaphors clicked for me about halfway through the book that made me go OH — it's a bit of a dark realization, so don't think this whole story is all helpful ghosts and plucky women. The end scene was my favorite. Loved every bit and highly recommend this one for a perfect fall read!!

Thank you to Carissa Orlando, Berkley, and NetGalley for my advance digital copy.

A classic haunted house story with a lot of campy and satiric vibes. Fans of Grady Hendrix will love this book!

What a fantastic read! I will be recommending this to every patron who wants to read horror this fall.

I started this book on a train ride and finished it by the time I reached my destination. It takes a lot for a book to keep me reading these days. Orlando masterfully crafts a terrifying story that kept me on the edge of my seat. This is the kind of horror I want to see more of.

Margaret has always believed in following the rules. If she follows the rules, everything will be okay, and those rules apply to both the living and the dead. Four years after moving into their ideal Victorian house, which turned out to be haunted, she knows which ghosts to avoid and how to avoid them. Her husband, Hal, couldn't take it any more and left in August just before the beginning of their fourth September during which the paranormal activity escalates to excessive levels. Now it's mid September, Hal is incommunicado, and their estranged daughter, who has never been to the house, is coming to visit. Margaret doesn't know how to explain much less keep her child safe from the specters' violent antics and really wishes she would have held off her visit until October.

This is seriously one of the best books I’ve read in ages! It starts off feeling like a quirky haunted house story where the main character is just so willing to roll with the annual September hauntings. She believes you get used to anything. The writing is utterly compelling and it’s so hard to put down. But without getting into any spoilers, this ends up being an incredibly moving, if gory, story. I jumped out of my seat at the end in triumph being so moved by the ending.

An odd mix of humor and cheesiness, with a character more off-putting than any haunting. There are some interesting twists and nicely scary scenes - and some serious discussion of domestic violence. But the good parts are watered down by the overall “cozy mystery” vibe.

Ms. Orlando almost lost me at about 30%, but holy smokes, I'm glad I stuck with it. The September House is a haunted house novel unlike any I've ever read before. I was emotionally invested in Margaret and the events of the story. For me, the ending was just right, and absolutely killer.
I can't wait for Carissa Orlando to write another book. I'll be all over it like fat black flies in a murder basement.

An amazing read. This book delivers the chills while also dealing with serious topics like coercive control. The added benefit, it does a great job of slowly revealing the dangers and warning signs of abusive relationship and the struggle to find yourself after escaping the situation.

This was a wild ride of unexpected plot twists. From the first page to the last, readers will be frantically flipping to see what happens next.

This novel started off really good. Different from other haunted house novels, the couple moves into the house and instead of us gradually learning about the house - BAM! The novel jumps 4 years and all the hauntings and physical manifestations have been happening and the husband is gone. Gone where? Dead? Run away? Not for the faint of heart, there are a lot of gruesome going ons. But it was fine - there was a great pace to the story. The last quarter of the book just ruined it for me. It got to be way too much out there, way too much gore, and never ending conflict. And the ending was beyond silly.

This was a great horror novel! I would definitely recommend as we lead up to spooky season and actually found it to be a bit campy, which I also loved.

I read this book in 2 days; hands down the best book I've read this year.

It hooked me from the very beginning. Old Victorian house, check. Isolated location, check. Multiple deaths/murders in the house, check. Let's goooooooo.

The author wastes no time introducing the ghosts and creepiness of the house which I love. Literally chapter one and you are meeting 3 or 4 of the ghosts. Fredricka is my absolute fave and if the author would like to write the story from her POV, I wouldn't be mad about it. So much other stuff happens in chapter one: Katherine, the daughter (super annoying and abrasive), comes home to help find her dad who is missing. Margaret, the main character is kind of like, huh, yeah, it's been a month already that he's been gone, fancy that. I mean, it's true that he did want to leave the house, but her attitude was pretty nonchalant. She freaks because it's September and the house is doing it's thing and she doesn't want Katherine to witness all the goings on.

The usual crime/horror movie tropes ensues: exorcism, they can't do a missing person report because he is an adult, mom & daughter go on their own investigation, no-one else can see ghosts, wife is first suspect!!, am I going crazy??

I'm not really sure how to explain this without giving too much away, but towards the end, there is a part that involves people and contortion and such. Now I love all horror movies, slashers, ghosts, etc. and I play horror video games as well, so I don't really get scared/grossed out. But this; I couldn't read this part, for some reason I had to skip over it. The detail was just too much. I still thought it was cool though.

Overall, this book was great, I wish Katherine could have been turned down a notch. It would have been cool to get a little more backstory on all the ghosts; there are some we never learn anything or just a whisper about like Elias's mom (which I think is important). I hope we hear more from this author in the future.

Thanks to Netgalley and Berkley for gifting me an early copy. Below you'll find my honest review.

I am absolutely floored by the quality of this debut! I will definitely be keeping an eye on Orlando's career and reading her future novels.

This one is a horror novel, yes, but it's one of those that you're never quite sure what's going on - is it in her head, is it real, are we even following actual events - all of those usual questions involved with a psychological horror story.

I won't spoil the truth, but I will say, regardless of whether they exist or not, Orlando has created some amazing secondary characters in the forms of the spirits, including the supposed antagonist of the novel. Then she goes about setting up the "is it real or not" angle perfectly. It made the book really hard to put down, as it was compelling.

Highly recommended for horror fans. I will definitely be on the lookout for news of subsequent novels from Carissa Orlando, as this one was a gem!

"A woman is determined to stay in her dream home even after it becomes a haunted nightmare in this compulsively readable, twisty, and layered debut novel.

When Margaret and her husband Hal bought the large Victorian house on Hawthorn Street - for sale at a surprisingly reasonable price - they couldn't believe they finally had a home of their own. Then they discovered the hauntings. Every September, the walls drip blood. The ghosts of former inhabitants appear, and all of them are terrified of something that lurks in the basement. Most people would flee.

Margaret is not most people.

Margaret is staying. It's her house. But after four years Hal can't take it anymore, and he leaves abruptly. Now, he's not returning calls, and their daughter Katherine - who knows nothing about the hauntings - arrives, intent on looking for her missing father. To make things worse, September has just begun, and with every attempt Margaret and Katherine make at finding Hal, the hauntings grow more harrowing, because there are some secrets the house needs to keep."

Why don't they got to an Airbnb for September?

I have really been enjoying Horror lately and The September House was a great one. Margaret and her husband Hal have moved into a wonderful Victorian house and everything is good 11 months of the year. But every September things change and it is all because of what is in the basement. Margaret is determined to stay and survive what comes each September, but Hal has had enough. Unfortunately when Hal's disappearance alerts their daughter Katherine that something is wrong, she decides to come for a visit during a very bad time. Because it is September. While Margaret is determined to keep the hauntings hidden from her daughter, Katherine becomes more and more alarmed at what she believes is her mothers mental state and what could have happened to her father.
The author has made Margaret a sympathetic character. She keeps the reader on their toes as to what is happening in the house and why. I love when an author can keep me off balance. As the story progressed and we learn more about Hal and where he is, I questioned what was happening in the house. I was hooked the entire way through this story. I am excited to read more from this debut author, Carissa Orlando.

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for the advanced reader copy. This is my honest review.