Sarah Slade and her husband Jose Cosgrove decided to leave their home and buy a home far away from everyone and everything they knew. They just don't buy any house it the famous Black Wood House where a man murdered his wife and tried to kill his daughter. Why would anyone want to buy this house that is associated with a murder.

Sarah and Joe are not who you think they are. They both have many secrets that they are hiding and buying this house is a new life for them. Only once they move into this house their lives have changed and not for the better.
Sarah is an media influencer and Joe a bar tender. they figured they would renovate the home and sell it at a great profit. Sarah would let everyone know on social media how the renovations were going., Yet something started changing. Joe was never around or he never came home from work Sarah was left alone just with her cat Reaper. The house was trying to tell Sarah something but what.

I am not a true fan of horror thrillers but this one kept me glued to each page. What was the house trying to tell Sarah? Notes pop up everywhere at the house and at Sarah's job. Reaper is taken sick and they think its poison Who is trying to drive Sarah crazy? Over time Sarah is losing it and everyone around her knows. Even her friend from work Emily tries to help. Sarah has never had a real friend and suddenly she feels Emily is hurting her.. She loses her job, her husband is probably cheating on her and she feels she is losing her mind. There are so many twists and turns in this book i needed to find out more and more.

Ms. Matlin you truly did write a roller coaster of a book. You truly converted me to read more books like this one.. I truly felt sorry for Sarah thinking someone is truly out to get her. The community of Beacon did't want her there, everyone including Joe was against her, except for poor Emily who truly tried to help her. I will say I didn't see the ending coming, but once you found out all of Sarah and Joe's secrets the ending truly made sense.. Any one who reads this will truly be sucked in from start to finish. One thing I will take away from this book is that you cannot always run from you past and try to rebuild yourself into someone you aren't.

Thank you NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group, Ballantine for the ARC copy. I would highly recommend it.


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really good book and kept me on my on my toes of what would happen. really enjoyed the characters and their journey and would read this author again.

This. Book 🤯 Wow. I was sucked in from page 1 and thinking THIS IS CRAZY from 16% 😂 So so good and I’m so impressed that this is a debut novel! Amazing 👏

Thank you NetGalley and Bantam for this advanced copy!

When I said I DEVOURED this book!!!

Loved it. I LIVE for an unreliable, chaotic main character, and this one DELIVERED.

And the element of the unknown???? GIVE ME MORE.

I loved the authors note at the end, too. Brava, Lisa!!

I went into this book blind, and I was not disappointed. This gave me the creeps at times and had me on edge. I read this in 24 hours because I could not put it down and I sure did not see that ending coming. Thank you Netgalley, Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Wow! Lisa Matlin completely knocked it our if the park with her debut novel, “The Stranger Upstairs.” It was the perfect haunting blend of thriller and horror. The tone of the book was ominous and there were plenty of twists and turns to keep you sucked in. The book was bone chilling good. It had the right amount of creepy to make you hyper aware of things that go bump in the night. It reminded me a bit of the haunting of hill house! I started this book and did not move until I finished it! Fabulous. Mesmerizing. A spooky season must!

10/10 would recommend.


Thank you so much to Lisa Matlin, NetGalley and the publishers at Bantam for the incredible opportunity to read this book for my honest review.

Wow, this book was quite a pleasant surprise! It gave me the haunted house vibes I love, reminiscent of Amityville, as well as some unexpected twists! I read it in one sitting!

4.5 stars / This review will be posted on goodreads.com today.

Holy moly! I did not see this ending coming. And that’s as much of a spoiler as you’ll get from me.

Sarah Slade is a published self-help author and therapist. When she finds a giant gothic house for sale in a very exclusive community, she can’t help but convince her husband Joe that they are going to buy it.

Buy it, fix it, sell it. After all, she has oodles of Instagram followers and the house has a history. A very dark history, but that only makes it more desirable, right? So what if it is a murder house. So what if the previous husband bludgeoned his wife to death in her bed, attempted to bludgeon their daughter, and then committed suicide. This is her turning point. A way to move forward.

But the house is very dark, and very unhappy to have new residents. As are the people in the town of Beacon. Something is wrong with the town and the house and it won’t be long before Sarah finds out that this wasn’t her best move.

I never ever expected this one to end up how it did. It was a read-in-a-day novel, because the only reason I put it down the night before was cause I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer. Honestly, finished in fewer than 24 hours. This story kept me so entertained and wanting to know what was next. It was spectacular.

Congrats Ms Matlin on your debut novel. If this is just the start, you have great things ahead.

What a thoroughly creepy story! I get goosebumps just thinking back on it. I kept thinking about Amityville Horror the entire time I was reading it. However, it never crosses that far into the horror genre. Make no mistake - it does ride that line between thriller and horror.

It’s completely atmospheric, though the pace never gets sluggish as often happens in atmospheric tales, and it’s set in a small rural community in Australia, which I found fascinating. I loved the unreliable narration provided by Sarah. I never knew what was caused by her mental health issues and what indeed took place. That feeling of constantly feeling off balance propelled me quickly through the story. Also, I want to note that the author handles mental health issues authentically. I appreciated what she shared in her author’s note at the end.

The house, Black Wood House, is a character in its own right. It’s an old Victorian where a murder/suicide once occurred. It seems to anyone venturing near that it’s telling them to stay away, and if they don’t, it tells them, “You’re going to pay for that.” Have you felt that chill up your spine yet? Mysterious things happen in the house that no one can explain.

The Stranger Upstairs is the perfect fall read, especially for readers like me who do not enjoy true horror stories but are comfortable with creepiness.

Are you looking to dive into a book full of mystery, horror, and thrills? Then grab this debut novel and buckle up for a haunting, dark, and twisted ride.

The Stranger Upstairs by Lisa Matlin grabbed me from the first page and did not let me go. The author did an amazing job at writing a fast paced, page turner. At times, the frenetic energy was so ramped up that I had to take a breath and say, "You are not anxious. It's the book!"

Grab this novel sooner rather than later. But be aware that you may want to consider reading this one in a safe place with the lights on.

Thank you, NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for this eARC.

The Stranger Upstairs is Lisa M. Matlin’s debut novel, and man it was good!

Sarah Slade is a widely known therapist best known for her bestselling self-help novel, Clear, Calm, and in Control. Ironically, it ends up appearing that Sarah is none of those things.

Sarah is struggling to write a follow up to her bestseller, her husband Joe are having marital problems, and they are struggling financially. So what does Sarah do to fix these problems? She convinces her husband that buying the towns infamous Black Wood House, aka the scene of a gruesome murder suicide. #murderhouse

Sarah thinks that fixing up the Black Wood House and publicly blogging it as she goes is the solution to all her problems. However, the house has other plans for them.

I definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for a dark and twisty thriller. It was a good quick read with a great twist. And props to the author for creating a main character that I hate as a human being, but can’t get enough of reading about!

A couple move to an empty old house where prior murders have occurred. They plan to remodel then sell the place for profit. The book isn’t just a suspense or scary. It is gruesome. There is mental illness and a terrible unexpected ending. This is a book that you try to forget it was read.

Holy moly did that just take me on a wild psychological ride! Twist after twist that I did not see coming. Fantastic debut novel and great for the upcoming fall/spooky season! Lisa M. Matlin is a writer to look out for. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and highly recommend it!

This is Lisa Martin’s debut novel and it’s the perfect start to spooky season. What’s spookier than a haunted house. Don’t let the pretty cover fool you because it’s dark and twisty inside. This was a fast paced read for me. It gave me The Watcher vibes. There were a few times it felt like it drug out a little bit but the ending had me totally fooled. Thank you so much NetGalley & Random House Publishing Group for this ARC

Sarah and her husband Joe buy the Black Wood House that a murder had occurred there back in the 90’s. A man had killed his wife while she was sleeping then attempted to kill his daughter Janet but luckily she escaped. Joe was not real enthusiastic about buying this house but Sarah was positive she could make a fortune off of the renovations. Sarah was a therapist and her Joe was a bartender.

The residents of this town was definitely hiding what had happened to the owner just before Sarah? When she would ask everybody just clammed up! Now her cat is really sick and she is missing hours and days of her life? She is hearing footsteps in the attic, she receiving notes and there are footprints in the dust in the attic.

The twists and turns and who can you trust will keep you wanting to read just another chapter!

I received this ARC from Netgalley for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Sarah thinks Black Wood House will save her marriage to Joe and revitalize her career as an influencer. But the house, a house where there was a grizzly murder, has been empty for over 40 years for good reason. Know that the house is a character in its own right in this creepy novel that might make you wonder more than once about Sarah's mental health, Things go wrong almost as soon as the work starts and they amp up. No spoilers from me but know that her plan to renovate and flip- well she's got to rethink that one. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Matlin does a good job of creating and maintaining the tension- making this a page turner,

The Stranger Upstairs follows a social media star as she buys a murder house in hopes of renovating it. Not everything is as it seems and things start to unravel to reveal many dark secrets and twists.

I think this book was a really great debut! The writing was great and the twists were mostly unexpected. (I saw a couple of them from a mile away.) The obvious twists did not take away from the overall enjoyment of this book. I loved how there were newspaper articles between chapters from the future that hinted at certain things but just enough that you knew something was coming but not totally what it was. It was really fast-paced and I just kept wanting more.

I will say that there were a couple of tropes in here that I don’t particularly like. Like when the bad guy wins in the end (i won’t say much else about that since it’ll be a spoiler.) and also I hate when a book seems paranormal but then isn’t? This book kinda had a hard time deciding if it wanted to be paranormal or not. Those things made me bump it down to a 4 but overall i still really enjoyed it.

Thanks so much to netgalley and Random House for the arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This book was incredibly read-able but absolutely bonkers. I was pulled along by the story and compelled to find out what was happening while being simultaneously horrified. It’s a good one for thriller-lovers if you are OK with a strong dose of off-kilter at the same time.

Thank you to the publisher - I received a complimentary eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This debut horror/thriller/domestic suspense was a great first book. Originally when I got this book I was hoping that this book would be a lot of fun, but novels that have had a social media influencer haven't quite made their mark so I went in a little nervous. Although I will say I was pleasantly surprised and enjoyed this book quite a bit.

Sarah Slade and her husband decide to start over and move to the Black Wood House, an infamous house where a murder-suicide took place many years before. She decides to move into the house and blog about her fixer-upper to make money since she hasn't been able to write another novel. Although slowly as time continues she begins to realize something different about the house and how it affects those inside the house and the neighborhood around her. Sarah starts to unravel as her marriage fails, the house is proving to be more difficult to fix, and secrets of her past begin to surface.

This book was fast-paced and had a lot of fun and interesting elements to the story. There is a mix of supernatural possibilities and reality, which seems to be a common theme this spooky season. That mix allows for the reader to question what is happening and what side of things they will be leaning towards.

I can't wait to see what else Lisa Matlin will write - fully recommend for the spooky season.

I started out thinking this was a horror story similar to Amityville Horror. Towards the end it takes a surprising turn. I doubt anyone would guess what was really going on. If you do you should be playing the lottery. It kept me interested. At one point I thought Sarah was schizophrenic. The author does a great job keeping you guessing.