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.

With every passing moment, Sarah’s life spirals further out of control—and with it, her sense of reality. Though she desperately clings to the lies she’s crafted to conceal her own secrets, Sarah Slade must wonder . . . was it all worth it? Or will this house be her final unraveling?




This was definitely not one of my favorites but it wasn't horrible!
Go into it blind for sure that might make it better for you. I feel like this has been done more than once and maybe that's why it wasn't as great as I was hoping. I loved the whole murder house vibe, I love me a good scare. Overall I liked the book just wasn't my favorite!

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Sarah Slade made a name for herself with a best-selling self-help book and an active online presence. To most, she's a successful therapist working on her next book. Her newest venture is buying Black Wood House, a well-known murder house, and put it back on the market fully remodeled. To her husband, she's delusional and he's looking for an out. Sarah soon finds the promotions and attention she was counting on with the remodel are not coming and there is very little chance she's going to escape the bizarre accidents, strange notes, and weird sounds in Black Wood House anytime soon. As she loses her sense of reality, Sarah soon starts to suspect her strange neighbors and investigate the whisperings of another woman lost to the house. 

Author Lisa M. Matlin sets up a story that leaves readers wondering until the very end if the source of weirdness is the house is human, natural, or supernatural.  Sarah Slade is set up intentionally as an unreliable narrator, meaning readers are never quite sure if what she's seeing is real or if it is all imagined after major bouts of drinking.  

The Stranger Upstairs is now available.

This was an interesting and unique story! It’s about a couple that buy a house to fix it up for content for their social media. But bad things begin to happen and their lives quickly spiral out of control!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for an honest reviews. All opinions are my own.

The concept of renovating a murder house drew me in! This was a great little mystery/thriller.

I did not jive with the writing of this book and the way events were presented to us. The tone also felt off to me on whether it was supposed to be funny or creepy. However, most of the time,

This book had its moments. There were parts that had me completely sucked in and invested and then by the next page I’m over it and I just don’t care. I found it hard to connect with any of the characters, but I still wanted to know not just what happened, but the how behind it.

Got to love a good murder house story! This one was an interesting mix of thriller and mystery, with a strong and clever twist at the end. The writing really made the creepy and eerie house come to life and the pacing was a good combination of scary bits mixed with on the edge of your seat reveals/plot.

This one had all the workings to be one of my favorite reads of the year, but there were a few things that kept me from loving it. I love the concept of a marriage crumbling inside a newly purchased murder house, but I didn't feel the tension I was meant to feel. It all just kinda fell flat. It was a middle of the road read for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book.

I saw a lot of chatter about this one online so I was excited to read it. I didn’t think it was great but it also wasn’t bad. There is a pretty satisfying twist at the end but overall I could’ve taken or left this one.

⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Stranger Upstairs
By: Lisa M Matlin
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group Bantam
Pub Date: 9/12/23

I’m just not sure what I think about this one. I can’t decide if it’s a mystery or a thriller more than likely a combo of the two. When a social media influencer and her husband buy a house they really can’t afford things start to go horribly wrong. Not only does the house have its secrets but so does the couple who bought it. This house has claimed the lives of at least 3 people and possibly a 4th. You spend a great deal of time wondering about who's coming in the house to torment Tim and Sarah but you will eventually learn that nothing is as it seems. It was definitely interesting enough to keep you wondering what was really going on. Thanks to Random House , NetGalley and Lisa M Matlin for this ARC.

This was a thrilling read that kept my heart racing, and my mind! When Sarah Slade purchases a house where a murder occurred, she never imagined the journey it would take her on.

The Stranger Upstairs by Lisa Matlin is a great debut psychological thriller. I'm very impressed, particularly for a debut. I look forward to reading more from Lisa Matlin.

When you see houses for sale for a long period of time it could be because it is a murder house. Would this impact you purchasing it? Black Wood house, built in 1889, sits on 400-acres of land. One dreadful day, husband and father, Bill Campbell brutally murders his wife and ultimately himself. The house is left untouched for forty years. Bestselling author Sarah and her bartender husband decide to purchase and flip the murder house. Imagine the potential profit and all the social media fame! At least, that's what Sarah hopes for. Instead, she is met with secretive neighbors, strange incidents, suspicious noises, a less than perfect marriage, and secrets resurfacing from her past. Sarah is a therapist who looks like she has her act together but she has her issues too- besides marital problems, she shops too much, and drinks too much-among other things. Sarah is trying to escape events from her past and keep her disintegrating marriage from unraveling further. The more she tries to control her husband and her new home, the harder they both seem to rebel against her. It’s as if the house resents her as much as Joe does. The ending reveal was such a clever switch up from the readers expectations based on how the story plot points. Good debut. 3.5 rounded up. Thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley.

This is we my first book by Marlin. The plot of this book is right up my alley. A murder house with a crumbling marriage the mystery of what’s living up stairs.

There were times when I felt like I really loved Sara’s character. The way she described her thought process in great detail. There were other time where I felt like this was like every other mystery I had read and I just wanted to throw my book! But in the end it was not like any other mystery book I have heard.

Very interesting plot twist. Not sure I cared for it so much and where the story line went after.

However I did love the Suspense and of who Joe was and what was he capable of.

The Stranger Upstairs is Lisa Matlin's debut book, and she did a great job bringing the creepy factor! The setting of the Black Wood House was eerie, and the narrator was unreliable, which kept things interesting. There was a twist at the end I didn't see coming. I didn't overly love this one, but I didn't dislike it, either. 3 solid stars.

Thank you, Random House Publishing- Ballantine, and Net Galley for a copy in return for my honest review.

this book was really good and also thoroughly scared me for the last 20%. i was so intrigued the entire time and desperately needed to understand the crime. literally only 1 out of ~10 predictions was right and that made it even more fun and shocking. unpacking every piece of this story and realizing just how much i was fooled made this such an enjoyable read. i may have been scared, but this plot unraveled in such a well done manner and had me on the edge of my seat.

The type of book that was a right book, wrong time for me. I can see why others may have enjoyed this book, but for me it was just okay. It didn't grasp me the way I thought it would have. Again, doesn't mean its a bad book, I just didn't have the right attention for it.

This book had a bit of everything I hate about horror movies. That said, I still read the entire thing even though I was scared through at least the first half of the book. Haunted houses, things popping out at you, creepy messages, an attic, murders... you name it. If these things are things you like, then this book is for you. And of course, it had that ending that left me creeped out all over again. Thank you, NetGalley, for the eARC. 4 stars.

Oh man did I think the synopsis of this sounded amazing. I hit that request button so quickly and looked forward to reading this. This excitement ended pretty quickly, though. I couldn't stand Sarah, hated her. I hated her character so, so much. I hated her as a therapist. I hated her blog, I hated her self-pity parties. I HATED THAT THIS WAS NOT PARANORMAL.!

Would you ever consider buying and living in a murder house? The main driving question in this twisty novel remains. I did not see the plot twist of what was upstairs coming, and it was a bit of a let down if I'm being honest. I did enjoy this book overall and liked the main character - I was rooting for her!
Thankful for the ARC!