The September House by Carissa Orlando
Pub date: September 5, 2023

This is a page turner that was an absolute delight to read. Well-written, multi-layered and complex; it’s a showstopper of a debut!

When Margaret and Hal find the Victorian home of their dreams, they can’t believe they can afford it. That is, until September rolls around and the wall begin seeping blood. It’s just a bit at first, a little seeping here, a little dripping there but before too long, it’s all out chaos complete with spooks that do a little more than go bump in the night.

Margaret loves her home and if it comes with a bad month once a year, she can live with that. Hal, not so much. This is where the intricate nature of the story comes in. Secrets and family drama play into this eerie story beautifully.

Darkly humorous (seriously) with a complex and twisty plot! I can’t stop recommending this one!

My thanks to Berkley Publishing for this gifted DRC!

A perfect read for spooky season! I alternated between the audiobook and e-book and enjoyed both formats but the audiobook narrator especially was phenomenal and really helped set the atmosphere. The dark humor tone in the beginning was unexpected but I felt like it got more frightening as the story went on and really made you wonder what was really going on. It was unsettling, surprising and grisly and I couldn’t put it down! 4.5⭐️

SERIOUSLY OBSESSED with this book. I don't want to give anything away because it'll literally ruin the whole book but...woah. It's a ride.

#bookhangover

Thank you to Netgalley for my arc!

The September House was the perfect book to start this month with. It is equal parts spooky, gruesome, and dark humor with a splash of family drama. It is an exceptionally fun read that is unsettling enough to be a Spooky Season must-read.

I have posted this review on Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cw3KCgBgrUH/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Goodreads

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5815643147

And Amazon.

This book was a WILD ride! It was creepy and definitely had me looking around when it was dark.

I found myself questioning everything and not knowing who to trust. And I loved every minute.

Cannot give much more info without spoiling, but highly recommend for spooky season!

Many thanks to NetGalley, Berkley Publishing and Let's Talk Books Promo for an ARC and allowing me to be a part of this Berkley Buddy Read!

Step inside The September House, if you dare.

Let's divide this up:

The first third was fun, eerie, and creepy.

The second third was a little dragged out/repetitive for me, but still good.

The final third was fasten-your-seatbelts wild!

I love that this was much more than a haunted house story. We have character depth and plot complexities that add an emotional layer to the horror.

And now I will be watching my walls closely, just in case!

*Thanks to Berkley Publishing for the free copy!*

“The September House,” Carissa Orlando’s debut novel, offers a delightfully dark, entertaining, and unique reading experience. I can't believe this is a debut!

Margaret resides in her dream home, but things have taken a sinister turn, especially during the month of September, which brings forth unrelenting horrors. Margaret is determined to stay in the house but her husband Hal cannot deal with the relentless nightly screams of spirits and unexpected encounters with the ghost of a young boy who bites. Fed up with this weird living situation decides to leave.

Enter Katherine, the daughter. The sudden departure of her father surprises Katherine who had never visited the home her parents had occupied for the past four years. She is determined to uncover the reason behind her father’s departure.

This is a highly engaging and spine-tingling read that keeps you on the edge of your seat, making you want to keep the lights on at night. Margaret’s character is particularly compelling, with her jaded attitude and inner monologues toward the paranormal occurrences in her home adding depth to the story.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for sending a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What a book. First, a haunted house. Second, Margaret is an unreliable and broken narrator who slowly unravels her history and relationship with her husband, Hal, as the story goes on. This left me questioning if her view of experiences truly matched reality. Third, there is a bit of a mystery regarding her missing husband. This all blends in one crazy ride.

Margaret’s lack of concern and continual complacent reaction to the haunting and Hal’s disappearance hint heavily at her past and her pain. When her daughter Katherine arrives in a rage eager to locate her missing father, readers become aware of the level of trauma within the family. Margaret eventually reveals more of the reality of their past and the history of the house. I think this really worked in the books favor. As some of the information is easy to gather through examination of Margaret’s behavior and reactions, readers do not receive a true view of what is truly happening until much later. Once the book comes to a semi climax, I questioned Margaret’s mental state. Then it turns, just as everything was tying up. Reality crashed hard against the assumptions presented in the book eventually throwing readers into a horrific scene and battle.

The ending did not disappoint. I found myself cheering for the characters and the hope that resonated through the ending. Overall, the book is very well written. The author’s choice to reveal information about Margaret, her family, and the house worked well to create the atmosphere of the book. The characters are also well developed. Furthermore, they show growth through the book. In the end, there is resolution to the haunting and hope of healing for both Margaret and her daughter.

I really enjoyed this book. I loved that the haunting was somewhat in your face, while the other parts of Margaret’s life remained a bit of a mystery. The author craftily doles out pieces of information bit by bit which kept me questioning the narrator and the situation. In addition, Margaret’s ‘I’m fine. Follow the rules. Everything can be survived’ left an unsettling feeling while also pulling the focus from the horror and moving into some strong character and story development.

This was a VERY slow paced book and I didn’t really care for any of the characters. The missing husband was an abusive alcoholic, the daughter is obnoxious and Margaret’s determination to stay in a haunted house that is causing her physical harm was unreal.
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BUT the last 20% was SO good! That’s when the action really started! I thought I had predicted one twist but I was so wrong. I wish there was more action throughout the book but it definitely ended with a bang.

I received this from the publisher. I enjoyed the story, Olof and characters. I thought it was completely unique and thought the ending was quite interesting. For me the ending was a little long but in understood why each person had their part to play. I will put a warning that most if the end is very gross horror. So if you don’t like descriptive gross stuff you might want to pass on this one.

This booked grabbed me from the very first pages. Margaret and Hal bought their dream house but find that every September it becomes their worst nightmare. For 30 days blood pours from the walls, birds fling themselves at the house in suicidal mania, the “pranksters”, ghosts of murdered children, torment them but as of October 1 everything is fine. Margaret, the narrator, adores the house and as such has set up all sorts of mental rules that help her deal with the yearly trauma. Hal has left. Now Margaret’s daughter has come for a visit as it turns out Hal is missing and Margaret’s rules begin to break down as she tries to shield Catherine from the danger. This was a masterpiece in psychological thriller/horror. Margaret’s dry humor was perfect. I also listened to the audiobook so I could keep reading in the car and the reader had the perfect voice. Great for fans of Grady Hendrix !
Thanks Netgalley for the ARC and Libro.fm for the ALC. My opinions are my own.

I added The September House to my spooky TBR months ago, and was even more excited for this campy horror debut, after watching the Booked With Berkley: Monsters and Mayhem event.

I buddy read this with my husband, who is not a reader and this was a very big deal in our house because we have been married 16 years and this is the first book that held his interest and he loved it! Spoiler alert: so did I.

It was the perfect haunted house story that I have been wanting for years!

WHAT TO EXPECT
-such a fun ride!
-reminded me of the tv show Ghosts
-solid creepy hauntings

🎧I paired the physical book with the audiobook, and loved the narration just as much as the book. I thought narrator Kimberly Farr was great, and that she played the voice or Margaret perfectly.

*many thanks to Berkley, PRH Audio and Netgalley for the gifted copy for review

**4.5-stars rounded up**

The September House, a debut novel from Carissa Orlando, is delightfully dark, entertaining and unique. Perfect for fans of Rachel Harrison and T. Kingfisher. I was blown away and completely impressed by this!!!

Having received a copy of this month ago, by the time I got around to it, I had forgotten what it was about. Instead of re-reading the synopsis, I decided to jump straight in. That was a great decision and I highly recommend going into this knowing as little as possible. Clear your mind and just dive in. You won't be disappointed.

In fact, I am so committed in this belief that even I, the over-sharer that I am, am going to say as little as possible about this plot. I will say that it follows a woman, Margaret, and you get told the story fully from her perspective.

Margaret is living in her dream home. From the curb, it's enviable, but things have slowly gotten out of hand. Mainly in September. Septembers are hell. Fed up with the living situation, Margaret's husband, Hal, leaves.
Surprised by her Dad's sudden absence, their daughter, Katherine, who has never visited the home her parents have lived in for the past four years, decides to pay a visit. She's determined to figure out why her Dad left.

Katherine is suspicious as heck. Why would her Dad just leave, and why won't her Mom provide her with any substantive information? What happened?

I absolutely love how Orlando chose to write this story. Being inside Margaret's head as you learn the truth about the house and the things happening there was completely engaging. I was surprised how quickly it kicked off, dropping us right into the heart of it.

Additionally, I loved Margaret's narrative voice. There was such nuance to it; it was funny, charming and completely heartbreaking at the same time, as all is revealed. The introduction of Katherine into the house was an absolute delight as well.

I always find mother-daughter relationships interesting, but this one felt particularly well done. They are completely different people and at first, I thought, 'well, I can see why they really haven't visited much in the past four years.'

Katherine can seem a bit abrasive and honestly, at times, Margaret's a bit doormat-ish for my tastes, but as the story evolves, and you learn their history, the true nature of their relationship was laid bare. I was moved by it. Their relationship felt real to me. I became completely invested in them. It's funny, even with all the horror elements, the truth behind Margaret and Katherine's lives was the thing that almost broke me.

So yeah, the horror. Let's discuss. This is a Horror novel, after all and boy, did Orlando impress me with her grasp of horror imagery and her ability to bring it to the page. If this is Orlando's debut, I cannot way to read her next book, and her next and her next, and so on and so forth, for what I know will be a long and successful career.

If you love haunted house stories, but are looking for something fresh, powerful and also slightly humorous, you absolutely, positively, definitely need to pick this up.

You might be wondering why I didn't give it a full 5-star rating if I am swooning about it this much. My only slight nit-pick criticism is that somewhere, around the middle, there were times it felt slightly repetitive and dragged just a wee bit for me personally. Nevertheless, a sensational debut. I am super stoked to read more from Carissa Orlando. I hope she stays in this lane, the deep, Cozy Horror vibe of this story is something I always enjoy and seek out.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Berkley, for providing me with a copy to read and review. This will remain in my mind for a long time to come!

Thank you, Berkley for the gifted copy.

Margaret and Hal find the perfect house. But every September, the walls bleed, the ghosts or "pranksters" come out in full force, and it's basically a month of complete chaos. Yet, Margaret refuses to leave. Hal disappears after 4 years of Septembers, and their daughter shows up to try to find out what happened to him. Little does she know that she's walking into a situation beyond anything she's ever anticipated.

So. This book. I...have no words. I spent the first 1/4 of the book thinking holy crap, this house is definitely haunted, and get out now. Then the next 1/2 trying to figure out if the house is actually haunted or if Margaret was hallucinating everything. THEN, the last couple chapters like HOLY SH*T, this is BONKERS.

And I kind of loved it.

There are parts that are pretty gory, and parts that made me roll my eyes a bit, but that's the fun of this book. It's creepy enough to gross you out but still entertaining in a way that's dark and addicting. I wish I had saved this for October!

The September House kicks off with a bang, introducing readers to the horrors of Margaret’s dream home. I loved how Orlando gave pieces of the origin story for what happened in the house as well as Margaret and Hal’s life together in the start and slowly started to unravel more as the novel progressed. The hauntings were each described so vividly that I could picture them in my mind clearly. Let’s just say, there are a few I would never want to meet!

Margaret is an interesting main character who I clicked with from the start. Her motivations to stay in the house and her methods for dealing with her situation all felt very thought out and realistic. Would I have done the same? Not a chance, but it was a creepy fun journey to experience.

The pacing of The September House is overall pretty fast, but I did think it lagged near the start of the second half. Orlando used this section to give the reader a grand reveal of sorts that for me took a bit too long, but the story picked back up and delivered an ending that salvaged everything for me.

This book is one that will keep you guessing and depending on your stomach for horror stories, potentially also keep you grossed and creeped out. At several points I thought I knew where the story was headed and then Orlando would pivot away from my hunches. If you’re looking for an entertaining haunted house story for your spooky season TBR, I definitely recommend checking this one out!

A huge thank you to Berkley for my gifted copy!

This was one of the most compelling horror books I've read in recent years. I loved the concept of the main character being the only person experiencing the events (apart from her husband who is MIA) and not knowing whether she is a reliable narrator until the very end. Best of all, the ending lived up to the rest of the book!

Margaret and Hal are a long-married couple who buy their dream house, but it turns out to be haunted by a collection of ghosts who Margaret refers to as pranksters. A particularly charming one is Fredericka, the maid who is constantly rearranging things. Less charming is Elias, a child with fangs that he uses on the unsuspecting. Each September, things get even weirder when the walls drip with blood and the noises start. And there is something much worse in the basement. Margaret is determined to stay in her house, but Hal gets fed up, leaves and becomes unreachable. Margaret doesn’t seem all that concerned, but Hal and Margaret’s daughter Katherine insists on coming to the house (which she has never visited), to spearhead the search for Hal.

The blurb for this book describes it as “layered” and I definitely agree. I was expecting a scary story, but it was very lighthearted in the beginning. Margaret’s decisions, both before and after they bought the house, just seemed inexplicable. I almost stopped reading the book because I thought that the story would be too cute for me. However, gradually the books digs into the backstory of the marriage and Katherine’s estrangement from her parents. Another layer to the story was Margaret’s reasoning ability. Finally, there was a full out scary horror story. The ending was very exciting. The book wound up surprising me. 4.5 stars

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

One of the best books I've read this year. Possibly my favorite Haunted House book ever. An intriguing story that kept me guessing the whole time. If you love ghost stories, this is a must read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for the eARC of The September House!

A really solid haunted house story that felt like a movie because the writing was so descriptive. It has great twists, solid character growth, and a stellar ending!

Everything you could want in a horror story!

I was riveted to this book until the last page!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wow this book is soft horror at its best. I loved these characters and was rooting for the main character the whole time. Definitely cannot wait to see what this author creates next.