My thanks to Random House/Bantam, Lisa M. Matlin and Netgalley.
This freaking story! I mean, seriously! This was all sorts of messed the eff up!
My first thought upon reading this was "whatthehell?influencersaremessedup!
Yep! Truly. That just about explained my thoughts. After that? Well, it was mostly a lot of "who is stupid enough and so insecure of themselves to follow such needy people?
So yes, I hated the beginning of this book.
But, shit fuzzy! No lies, once I saw how this tale was going? This old woman was ALL in!
I ended up loving this very strange story, and yes..even the influencer! Still have no interest in people like this, but what a compelling story.
This author is now on my book radar.
As usual, no hints from me. Just read this! Seriously, I loved it!

🪦🏘🪦
🔨Book Review🔨
4🌟🌟🌟🌟
📚81/100
📖The Stranger Upstairs
💫Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Thriller
✍️Lisa Marlin
🪦🔨🏘🔨🪦

📝Synopsis 📝
Sarah a social media influencer and therapist, and Joe her bartending husband decide to purchase a Murder House. The plan is to renovate it, sell it, and make money off of it. She decides to post her progress on social media, but her marriage and life at the house is starting to fall apart. Her neighbors aren’t happy she bought the house. The more time she spends alone in the house, the more strange things begin to happen👻

💭My Thoughts 💭
This was such a good Spooky Season debut novel that had me reading past my bedtime. The cover is gorgeous and vibrant. The story build up was great. I really didn’t like the main characters at all, but I definitely wanted to know what was happening to Sarah and more about her secrets. I also wanted to know what Joe was hiding. Even though Amanda wasn’t an active character, I was super invested in her mysterious disappearance. Another character I liked was Emily, and I was so bummed about her fate. I honestly didn’t like the ending and felt it was too rushed. I still would definitely recommend this read because it was full of suspenseful events and a great twist!

✨Thank you @netgalley and Random House Publishing-Ballantine for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

📌Publication Date:
September 12, 2023
✨✨✨✨
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This was a fast read with lots of secrets and unknowns. It felt chaotic, but intentionally chaotic. The main character Sarah Slayed, seems to have it all together… at first. As the novel progresses, we quickly see what an absolute mess she really is. Is she a reliable narrator? An unreliable narrator? We’re not sure… keep reading.

The setting it self is another character. Black Wood house, the murder house, is creepy! Dark hallways, strange smells, sounds coming from the attic, bazar happenings, and top it off with a blood stain from a 40 year old murder. The small community of long time residents, or descendants of past residents, that want Sarah and Black Wood house to go away feels secretive and stifling all at once. The cast is rife with suspects.

This book is for someone who loves a bit of chaos and creep factor. Twists, turns, and lots of secrets. The Stranger Upstairs was a suspenseful and creepy read that will keep you guessing until the end.

Don’t skip the author’s note. It was a great one. (pub date Sep 12).

Special thanks to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the digital ARC via NetGalley.

The Stranger Upstairs by Lisa M. Matlin is in the genres of horror, mystery, and mystery thrillers. It is a debut novel for the author. Basically, it is about a woman, therapist, and self-help writer, Sarah Slade, who buys a dilapidated house, a beautiful Victorian mansion. She wants to feature this remodeling effort in her blog.

The history of Black Wood House is not a great one, as the remodeling gets underway, there is a dark and gloomy 'presence' in the house. There had been a murder/suicide, thus called the Murder House. Her marriage to Joe is not on the greatest of terms he sleeps on the couch.

The house was built in 1889 and one day Bill Campbell decided to murder his wife and then himself. The house sits empty for 40 years who would want to buy a house like this? As she gets started on the renovation, noises can be heard, strange neighbors who seem to not want her there. There are strange smells, decaying wallpaper, etc. Everything you would wish for in a haunted house, right?

Well, Sarah was hoping that it would not be haunted as she does not believe in ghosts, there must be someone or someone in the town who does not want her there. She persevered even with the strange goings on. Even her cat Reaper is acting strange. Stares at things that are not there. she decides to take the 'murder room' as her bedroom.

Threatening notes are found around the house and the previous owner, Amanda, has disappeared. Other people had also owned the house but left quickly, Sarah wonders why and she does some investigating on her own.

The plot moves along rather quickly and the more into the book I got the more I wanted to get to the end. I love these type of stories, keeps you guessing, some things I found strange, like when the lights go out, instead os stumbling around in the dark, where was her torch/flashlight.

If you enjoy this kind of novel, you won't be able to resist reading this book.

I give it 5 stars!
I received a copy of the book from BOMC and Netgalley!

“A social media influencer with a secret past buys a murder house to renovate, but finds more than she bargained for behind the peeling wallpaper in this gothic psychological debut. Sarah Slade is starting over. As the new owner of the infamous Black Wood House—the scene of a grisly murder-suicide-she's determined that the fixer-upper will help reach a new audience on her successful lifestyle blog, and distract her from her failing marriage. But as Sarah paints over the house's horrifying past, she knows better than anyone that a new façade can't conceal every secret. Then the builders start acting erratically and experiencing bizarre accidents-and Sarah knows there's only so long she can continue to sleep in the bedroom with the bloodstained floor and suffer the mysterious footsteps she hears from the attic. When menacing notes start appearing everywhere, Sarah becomes convinced that someone or something is out to kill her-her husband, her neighbors, maybe even the house itself. The more she remodels Black Wood House, the angrier it seems to become.”

Will she make it out of the house alive? Or will she succumb to it?
WOW JUST WOW!!!!!! The Stranger Upstairs written by Lisa Matlin. This book was so dark, haunted, and just flat out creepy, but I loved every minute of it. The cover and the blurb were top tier, but once you read this book you will be absolutely amazed.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a good dark haunted story.

Thank you Netgalley, Lisa M. Matlin, and Bantam for allowing me to read this Arc for free in exchange for a free review.

**3.5 stars**

Sarah Slade, a social media influencer for her self-help tips purchases a 'murder house' and moves into a community that is tightly knit. It feels like the whole 'murder house' concept has been done before, along with it residing in a tight-knit community that is not accepting of the new homeowners, but Lisa Martin includes an interesting twist in this book that kept me engaged. (No spoilers until the end!)

There were parts of this book that I really, really enjoyed. The unreliable character had me second guessing not only her thoughts, but also her trust in people in the community. I kept thinking "would I trust her? would I think it was him that did it? or do I just not trust Sarah?" and THAT is key to a great mystery/thriller read in my opinion.

There were moments I figured out what was happening, but only ~right~ before they happened. I wasn't waiting for the ball to drop when I saw it fifty pages back. The book was great at being creepy and made the reader (at least me!) question, is it paranormal, someone else, or is something else happening?

The only thing that fell flat for me was the ending, which oftentimes plays a big role in how I feel walking away from a book. It felt rushed and I remember just sitting back and thinking "what, all of that, for that?", but I can be harsh on mystery/thriller endings in general. I still recommend this book for a quick thriller read!

I did see some reviews that found the audiobook more**cringey** which I could see as there are "sound effects" that are used in the book that might come off weird if a narrator reads those aloud. I read a digital copy of the book and enjoyed it through that platform.


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I loved the introduction of Amanda, and the idea that it seemed the community was hiding whatever happened to her. I felt like it kind of flopped with her just being on the roof? At least it is tied up, which sometimes we do not always get.

I thought something "worse" had happened in Sarah/Joe's hometown, but it felt like what was revealed fell flat? Like they didn't have to get new identities, it seems,,,,extreme?

How TF does Sarah just live in the woods and then escape with a whole new identity? I guess she has done it before, but like???

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Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Bantam and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was a great read and once I started it I couldn’t put it down. It had me guessing the whole way through. Highly recommend!
Thanks

Wow! What a ride! Thank you Lisa Matlin for delivering a shocking thriller just in time for spooky season! "The Stranger Upstairs" was a bit slow in the middle, but Matlin made up for it with an ending that blew me out of the water. Perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell. Definitely leave the lights on for this one.

The Stranger Upstairs is a slow burn thriller with a narrator (Sarah Slade) that is not easy to like. Sarah is a therapist and a social influencer. She is trying to get a larger audience on her social influencer blog.
She and her husband buy the Black Wood House, a house that has been empty for over 40 years. The history of this house is extremely scary- a husband kills his wife and tries to kill his daughter as well. He ends up committing suicide in the house.
Sarah and her husband hope to renovate this house and sell it for a large profit. Sarah definitely has more of an interest in this than does her husband. They begin renovations on this house, but it appears that the house does not want them to. Notes are left around the house, implying that there could be a supernatural effect going on. Sarah hears noises in the attic and believes that someone is up there. All of this become to much for her to bear (including the fact that her marriage appears to be breaking up), and she turns to drinking as a way of avoiding what is happening in her life.
Sarah is holding a lot of secrets. The author alludes to some of them but leaves you guessing on many ends. What happened to her sister? Why did she marry her husband, Joe? What is the house trying to tell her? Why are all the neighbors so hostile with her? What happened to the daughter who ran out of the house after her father killed her mother? What happened to the plumber?
As Sarah’s life begins to spiral out of control, the only person of reason is Emily, a co-worker.
While this book was a fast read, it leaves so many unanswered questions. The narrator is very unreliable and unlikeable. If you like thrillers that occur in haunted houses, then this book might be for you.
Many thanks to Random House Publishing and NetGalley for allowing me to read an ARC of The Stranger Upstairs exchange for my honest thoughts.

Therapist / social media influencer buys infamous Murder House to flip and gain profit and attention. What could go wrong?

This book was...wild. It was a really fast read and kept me on my toes until the end. What is wrong with this house and who is out to get Sarah?! Who is Lizzy? What is Joe's deal? WHAT IS GOING ON?!?! So many books I've read recently have been a slog, so this was a breath of fresh air. Loved it.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

I sat and read this in one entire day, speed reading through the chapters to see what would happen.
Is Sarah a female version of Jack Torrance, haunted by the ghosts of the murder house? Is this just a horror novel about a house with an evil soul? Or is something else going on? It doesn't take long before we discover we have a very unreliable narrator in Sarah, and this allows for many (MANY!) twists and turns to be uncovered through the story. The ending was serious and real-life scary and satisfying with just a hint of a horror film ending in the last lines.

There were hints along the way which helped me guess there was a different scenario going on here and made me wonder why no one was stepping in to intervene. But small towns are small towns (I live in one!) and I could see how the house situation in the book could cause other things to be overlooked. In the end, a very twisty-turny story with no plot holes that weren't logically and believably explained away.

The best part though may be the ending. No the OTHER ending - the Author's Note and <i>also</i> the Acknowledgements - yes, I read them and you should too! Lisa Matlin tells her inspiring journey in writing this story, and I was grateful that she was able to finish it. Her Acknowledgements were funny and relatable and made me wish we could be friends.

Many thanks to NetGalley for the ARC which hooked me immediately and kept me enthralled for an entire day. Definitely 5 stars, I would even read this book again.

Debut author, Lisa M. Matlin writes a psychological thriller that'll keep you glued to the pages.
The "Death House" it's called, the lovely Victorian mansion she buys to renovate and resell, flipping houses is all the rage now. She knows she can make a nice buck doing it. Never mind a murder took place here forty years ago and the neighbors know not to go anywhere near it.
That's them and not her though, she's a social influencer and A therapist and self-help writer, her blog posts about the renovations will boost her followers' numbers immensely.
Never mind the house has putridly stale air from being closed up for forty years, very few windows and they don't even open for a good airing.
I could visualize everything I was reading. The book is dark with a gothic feel to it. From sleeping in a bloodstained room to sounds in the attic, creepy notes found around the house and feeling sicker and sicker all the time. She's lost her mind; the evilness of the house consumes her. She's gone into such a dark place, is it possible for an escape without hurting herself or others? You can't read this without feeling creeped out. It will have you wondering when you're alone, what's that noise, is there someone here. I wouldn't advise reading this alone at night. Something is very wrong in Black Wood House, everyone knows it. Will she become its next victim? Looking forward to the author's next book.

Pub Date 12 Sep 2023
I was given a complimentary copy of the book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

Absolutely not, I was 2 chapters in and I cannot stand the main character, she just checks off all the annoying boxes for me. Her describing her life partner of 5 years as someone who needs an xbox set up and will either starve or make instanoodles if she doesn't make him food was the final, yep. nope. I can't hear any more about these people
obligatory 3 stars for a DNF

The Stranger Upstairs
By: Lisa M. Matlin

Sarah Slade is a social media influencer. She has purchased a murder house to renovate and shares her experiences.

Black Wood House was the scene of a horrific murder suicide. Throughout the renovation things start happening and she becomes convinced someone is out to kill her and her behavior changes.

A debut novel by Matlin and I look forward to more.
Thank you Netgalley for this advanced copy. I purchased the book with Book of the Month. ❓Would you purchase a house where someone was murdered??
#bantam, #thestrangerupstairs, #lisammarlin, #netgalley,#bookofthemonth, #bookstagram, #bookreview, #stamperlady50

This book brought me out of a major reading slump! If you enjoy dabbling in Riley Sager or Simone St. James novels then I feel you might enjoy this one.

Marlin’s writing was fluid and kept a good pace. I had hoped for a more developed background with her husband, same could be said for many of the other characters introduced in the story. I do appreciate all the misdirection as, for the most part, much of the story was unpredictable.

Overall, this was a solid debut. This had that entertainment factor for me and I would definitely pick up Matlin’s next book to see where she goes next.

Sarah Slade, a self help writer and therapist, purchases a "murder house" called Black Wood. She plans on renovating in and selling it. She sees lots of dollar signs in her future. She moves in with her husband, with whom she is having issues. Right away, things start going south. Everyone seems to dislike Sarah and the fact that she bought Black Wood. She inadvertently finds out that a single woman bought the house before her, but no one seems to know what happened to her.

Many other strange events begin happening. She start receiving threatening notes, and she swears she hears someone walking around in the attic.

Sarah decides to find out what happened to the previous owner, and what she finds out is shocking.

This is a great read, but I was left with several questions that I never really got answered by the ending.
However, I still really enjoyed the book, and it kept my interest throughout.

The premise of The Stranger Upstairs sounded really interesting but this one just didn’t work for me. There were parts of the start that were really interesting but much of the book dragged for me. The main problem for me was that I just did not like the main character or the supporting characters. There was only one character I liked and I hated the way things ended for her. There were also several parts of the plot that I felt needed to be tied in better. I didn’t hate this book but it there were too many things that didn’t work to say I liked it.

A great psychological thriller! The Stranger Upstairs by Lisa M. Matlin is a twisted and full of surprises murder mystery. Was hard to figure out who was the “good” or “bad” guys, very engrossing and unexpected. Thank you NetGalley, the author and publisher for the review copy. All opinions are my own.

This was a fantastically creepy read that is absolutely PERFECT for spooky season. It’s always a good sign when the neighbors come warning to beware, to leave, saying no one wants you here, and this proved to be the case here. Sarah Slade is starting over and bought Black Wood House at a steal, I mean, it was the scene of a murder-suicide, and she is looking forward to renovating and attracting followers on her lifestyle blog. Pretty soon though, things take a turn on all fronts and she realizes maybe the others were right about the house after all.

The audiobook only enhanced the experience for this one, I was hooked from the start and read it in a day as I had to know how it would end. I definitely recommend this one, it was overall such an entertaining read.

Thank you to Random House and PRH Audio for the copies to review.

What a fun and twisty debut thriller! I’m so glad Lisa quit playing drums and started writing. Her novel, “The Stranger Upstairs”, is told in first person from Sarah, who denies that she may have a drinking problem. She and her husband have gone deep in debt to buy the Black Wood House, the scene of a horrible murder/suicide. Her husband isn’t as positive about the project and there’s strife in the marriage that has moved to the new home with them. They also brought Sarah’s grumpy cat, Reaper.
Reaper is the first to alert Sarah that something’s not right with the house. He sits at the base of the attic access and stares. And the attic stinks horribly. The workers are not cooperative and workplace accidents are a common occurrence. The neighbors are rude and extremely odd in their treatment of the new neighbors. And Sarah knows she’s crazy thinking it, but she swears the house hates her.
Each day, things get worse, yet Sarah continues to go to the same bedroom where the murder/suicide took place, close her eyes and sleep. This is where you, the reader, start screaming at her to get out. But there’s another side of Sarah that is slowly eking through. A side we don’t especially like.
Each morning is a new day for bad news, and each night Sarah stays, going against logic, common sense, and our (the readers) nonstop warnings. The author has definitely set a stage for a page-turning, fast-paced thriller. This debut simply must be put on your “to read” list. Even the house says so…
Thanks to Random House Publishing Group- Ballantine, Delacorte Press for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. The publishing date was September 12, 2023.