Wow, this was one of the best horror books I've ever read. Margaret is determined to stay in her dream home, even when mysterious things keep happening around her and the ghosts in her house don't plan on leaving either. When her husband goes missing and her daughter comes home to help find him. Margaret struggles to hide her daughter from the resident ghosts and from making everyone think she has something to do with her husband's disappearance. I'm really glad this book didn't end the way it seemed to be headed. Clarissa Orlando takes you in one direction and then does a complete 180 and it was fantastic. This does get a bit graphic with descriptions, so keep that in mind if it's not your thing.

Just when you think you might have seen it all in haunted house novels, The September House delivers a uniquely eerie and dark experience, and I loved everything about this one.

The narrative unfolds through the perspective of Margaret, who is determined to stay in her dream house even after seeing the wall drip blood in Sept and is haunted by ghosts who have a history there. All of them are terrified of what is lurking in the basement. Now, you would think that Margaret would run for the hill instead of staying. This is what sets aside this story.

I initially struggled with why Margaret wouldn't sprint away at the first hint of the supernatural. Carissa Orlando brilliantly blurs the line between psychological terror and the paranormal while paralleling Margaret's refusal to leave an abusive marriage. Margaret follows the house's rules, which becomes a clever vehicle for paralleling domestic abuse, a theme not immediately evident. Her seeming passivity of the supernatural mirrors the real-world reluctance of individuals to escape abusive relationships and are willing to live by the rules of their abusers.

There is an unsettling feel to the story involving children used as a horror element that pushes the boundaries of what a haunted house story can be and overturns the typical haunted house trope. It is one layer to a much deeper level underneath while exploring themes of fear and different responses to it.

The September House skillfully checks all the boxes, adeptly utilizing the essential elements required to craft an enthralling horror page-turner while expertly turning familiar tropes on their heads.

A Traveling Witches read with my favorite witches!!

I loved this book! It was super creepy, twisty, and original. I loved how Orlando had so much of Margaret's internal dialogue. If keep me guessing at what was actually happening. I thought I had it figured out only for something to change and throw a wrench into what I thought I knew! Excellent story!

This is one of those books I hate to say too much about, as the reader really needs to experience it for themself. This book has a lot going on. A haunted house that is tearing a family apart and a woman that refuses to give in makes for an interesting premise. There has been a great trend in horror and thriller books lately of having middle aged women as the protagonist and I love it. This once overlooked and under utilized demographic brings experience, wisdom and a whole lot of I’ve had it and am am not going to put up with any more crap attitude that works really well in the genres.

Filled with gore and some genuinely eerie moments, it is also full of a dark humor that I greatly enjoyed. There are clues scattered throughout as to what is causing the hauntings and the big reveal and twist was one I didn’t see coming. A fun read that is perfect for spooky season. Thank you to @berkleypub and @netgalley for an arc of this book.

Thank you to Berkley Publishing for the advanced copy of The September House for review. 🖤

The September House is phenomenal! It’s is a frighteningly, fascinating novel about a woman who loves being a homeowner a lot! She loves her Victorian house so much; she is willing to live somewhat peacefully with its ghostly inhabitants. Truly, the amount of patience she has with the ghosts is shocking. In addition, the home bleeds every September like clockwork. Margaret accepts this as a part of everyday life. 🤯

However, Margaret’s husband, Hal, is not as patient with the inhabitants at his Victorian home, and he is currently unaccounted for. But, what makes the situation unsettling is that Margaret lacks concern for her missing husband. 😱

With no word from her father Hal, Katherine is worried. So, she makes the decision to visit her mother and search for him. She never visited her family in their Victorian home before; so, Katherine is unaware of the unusual disturbances. Margaret must keep her daughter from discovering the truth about her beloved home, because Katherine is visiting in September. 🩸

Hands down, my favorite character is the housekeeper, Fredrica. She is pleasant, helpful, and a ghost. 👻

This sounded like a really cool read but either I am just not enjoying horror much these days or this just wasn't what I hoped for.

I thought it was interesting that a woman wouldn't want to leave a place that one month of the year is very spooky, but then I also wondered why that same woman wouldn't want to find her husband. i

Then I guessed both of the twist, the first one I guessed about 25% into the book and the the other one about 70% into the book so when they are revealed I wasn't really surprised so that was a bummer.

For most of the book I was kind of board. I am at least happy that it didn't end how I thought it was going to with how things were going toward the end. The last 15% of this book was probably my favorite but even then I thought the end took forever to actually end.

2.5 stars but I will round up to 3 because of that last part at the end that I thought was cool.

Initial Thoughts
This was great! Margaret and Hal have bought their dream home but there is one little problem...the house is haunted. This story is told from Margaret's perspective and I loved her attitude. She doesn't run screaming when the walls are bleeding, instead she just starts working to get things cleaned up. I loved how unique this story was! There were a few surprises worked into the story and I loved that the story was able to keep me guessing until the very end. I don't think that I would have handled things nearly as well as Margaret did! I listened to the audiobook and thought that the narrator did an amazing job of bringing this story to life.

Review copy provided by the publisher. Full review to be posted soon.

A great ghost mystery by Carissa Orlando. This book grabs your attention and keeps it the whole way through as you try to figure out what is going on. There were some twists and turns, some I figured out and some that surprised me. A good, fast read. Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for an ARC.

This was chaotic and wildly entertaining. I do love me an exorcism and a haunted house. The writing was great and gave enough details where I was able to picture everything going on. I could totally see this as a movie!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for my eARC!

I'm not sure a horror book is supposed to be endearing and yet this one is. It starts where a reader least expects. The haunts and troubles are accepted and just a necessary evil for the main character. But, in the 4th September her husband decides that they can no longer stay there. He disappears. Their daughter comes to the house for the first time. And, the reader is left wondering how much the narrator can be trusted as she makes you smile and laugh. Perhaps not the typical haunted house, September House is still a must read.

When Margaret & Hal move into their beautiful Victorian home, their lives seem absolutely picturesque. But appearances can be deceiving...As every September brings unwanted visitors Margaret and Hal began to develop different feels about their dream house.

This was very reminiscent of the Murder House season of American Horror Story. There are ghosts galore from the first page. However, the pacing seemed to drop around the 30% mark and there was no real character development to be found. <spoiler>Hal's demise was evident relatively quickly and the only real question became "did the house do it or did Margaret?"</spoiler> This was a fun, chilling horror read but not one of the most engrossing ones I've tried.

The walls are bleeding again... that means September has arrived. Three years ago, Margaret and her husband Hal purchased a gorgeous Victorian home. The couple couldn't believe their luck—the home was impossibly cheap! After briefly touring the property, and only slightly ignoring the realtor's warnings, Margaret and Hal jumped in with an offer. The first few months were bliss for the pair, until September rolled around.
Each year, it starts small—moaning here or there, small blood drips from the wall, "pranksters" silently running about; however, as the month progresses, so do the horrors. Moans to screams, drips turn to pools, and harmless pranksters turn menacing. After the third September, Hal loses his will to stay. Failing to convince Margaret to join him, Hal runs off into the night.
Everything is perfectly fine until Margaret's daughter, Katherine, realizes no one has heard from Hal for quite some time. Against Margaret's best wishes, Katherine decides the only solution is to come to the house and help in-person.... during September. As Katherine's headstrong personality pushes the investigation forward, Margaret's worries come to light. Nothing is what it seems.
Oh man, where to begin? The September House was exquisite! There were even some parts where I truly felt scared for the characters, and other parts where I felt as though I was losing my mind. The choice to make Margaret both apathetic and unreliable was a unique one, making The September House like no other book I've read! I felt myself questioning the validity of everything Margaret was experiencing. Not to mention, Katherine wasn't the most likable character, so it was hard to trust her vision, as well.
Orlando also incorporates the past into the story very well. The chapters alternate between the present and the past Septembers, as well as Margaret and Hal's love story. The reader is only given a little detail at a time, so the feelings towards the characters are constantly changing. The house is so much more than haunted, and the paranormal is so much more intense than ghosts.
I also loved Orlando's ability to describe settings and appearances! Whenever I was interrupted while reading, it truly was like being ripped out of a world. I could picture every scene so vividly and all the characters were so fresh in my mind. Honestly, that's what made the novel the most horrifying—I truly could hear, see, and smell the evil Orlando was describing. This is a story that will haunt me for a while!

Ahh haunted houses, my favorite because there are SO MANY possibilities. Now, if my house was completely normal for 11 months out of the year, I think I’d be in the same boat as Margaret. I’m not going to be scared away so easily – have you seen all my books?

In all seriousness, though, bleeding walls and scary stuff in September wouldn’t be so welcoming. It would explain the killer deal, though, on the house. There are so many twists and turns throughout the book and a lot that I was not expecting. Which I love in my horror. You’ll find some gore in this story, but nothing too much to handle (at least for this extreme horror fan).

I loved this book so much! Major body horror - so it's not for the squeamish. The way that the main character has adjusted to living in a full on haunted house had me giggling a bit. The plot moved along at a nice pace, the writing was fantastic and you couldn't help but love most of the characters.

This book was damn near perfect! The dark humor was spot on, there was a perfect amount of gore for me, the twists kept me so intrigued I couldn't stop turning the pages, and the themes took me to a darker place than I expected. For this to be a debut, I was blown away by the writing. Clarissa Orlando is definitely an author that is going on my watch list - I can not wait to see what she comes out with next!

September House by Carissa Orlando is a spooktacular haunted house horror novel that is sure to keep one on the edge of their seat. This is gory, frightful & utterly delightful ride for any horror fan. The sense of foreboding is ever present, which makes this a great choice for spooky season.

There’s bleeding walls & screeching calls, The September House will haunt your falls.

This is perfect for fans that love…
👻 Horror
👻 Haunted Houses
👻 Paranormal
👻 Ghosts, Some Gore & A Bit of Dark Lore

I love a book that keeps me guessing, even to the point of questioning myself & this book achieves this undoubtably. This is a story that played like a movie in my head & I could totally see this becoming one. This is a story that takes the reader on an unforgettable trip with the main character in their yearly clockwork bleeding house.

The September House is the type of horror novel that sucks you into the story & has you finishing it in a day, which is what i did! I think the less that is known, the more interesting of a horror novel for the reader, so I am keeping this vague & recommending adding this on to your fall TBR ASAP!

Massive thanks to NetGalley & Berkley Publishingz for the gifted arc, which I voluntarily read & reviewed.


Content Warnings: This book mentions &/or contains gore, abuse, death & addiction.

One of the few horror books that I've read in a while that actually got to me, and it wasn't even fully the horror aspects, but the horror of how the main character was emotionally and psychologically abused by her husband to the point that living in a haunted house didn't make her feel any fear in comparison.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for a copy of this book to review.
The September House is horror with a little humor. I will recommend this title to fans of Grady Hendrix as the style feels similar. The great horror books feel real and Margaret felt very real. No cheap scares and a good blend of real and supernatural terror. Loved it. Will be buying an additional copy for the at home library.

Yes, this book was borderline silly and yes it didn't bring anything new to the genre but I did thoroughly enjoy it! I've been begging for an actual haunted house story for awhile and this author did deliver that. This has actual ghosts and paranormal activity and yes also a demon. iykyk.

The characters. Our MC was trash, i did not vibe with her nor did I like her much. But, I detested her daughter even more. A grown ass woman throwing an actual temper tantrum?!? That was way too much for me.
I loved the ghosts. They all had their own stories and personalities and that made them so much more developed and liked than the actual humans. Little evil vamp boy has my heart. And I really want more stories about just them because...love.

The plot was ok, I feel like any reader will understand very quickly what is going on with the basement and the missing husband. Margaret definitely knows where he is which is why she does what she does.

The authors writing was great, and I am definitely on board to read more of their work in the future!

Thanks to the publisher for an advanced copy of this hugely atmospheric and ghosty book.

A woman is determined to stay in her home after it becomes haunted. The house has lots of layers of ghost that appear really badly in September. The house has lots of secrets and you will enjoy this read as you discover each secret.