Every time I ask my high school writers what kind of writing mood they're in this fall, they say "horror" or "hauntings." when WHEN GHOSTS CALL US HOME perfectly fits this and I have recommended it repeatedly since it came out on October 3, 2023. It is a total vibe!

When Ghosts Call Us Home by Katya de Becerra is the ultimate Halloween read. It’s like a dark chocolate pumpkin spice latte for your literary soul. In the world of spookiness, this book is a top-tier attraction. The eerie atmosphere surrounding Cashore House, the creepy happenings, and the whisper of ghostly memories all blend to create an experience akin to being alone in a haunted mansion.

The plot kicks off with Sophia, a young woman who ventures back to the mansion that her family was renovating when she starred in her sister Layla's amateur horror film, "Vermillion." The suspense builds as she seeks answers to Layla's mysterious disappearance. What truly makes this story a gem is the way it blurs the lines between young adult and adult fiction. The writing is poetic and vivid, setting the tone for an otherworldly adventure. I was hooked from start to finish, feeling that shiver down my spine as the story unraveled. It reminded me of classics like Shirley Jackson's "The Haunting of Hill House" but with a modern twist.

While this is technically a young adult book, readers of all ages can relish the eerie joy it delivers. It's the perfect Halloween treat that offers spooky mysteries, deep sibling bonds, and a dash of found-footage-style horror. If you're searching for a captivating read that lingers in your thoughts long after the final page, "When Ghosts Call Us Home" should be on your must-read list.

Big thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for the chance to review this book pre-release. I absolutely loved this book, it was exremely well written, and that is no small feat for a found-footage styled novel. Ms. de Becerra did a phenomenal job balancing the descriptions, as well as the overall atmosphere of the story, it kept me consistently uneasy, and uncomfortable in all the ways I want from a horror story. A more formal review will be available on my IG/TikTok and Goodreads.

5 Reasons to Read

Atmospheric Setting

Who wouldn’t be intrigued by a castle like mansion sat upon a cliff overlooking the ocean? I mean…and the rooms in this mansion take this atmospheric setting to a whole other level.

Mysterious Disappearances

Sophia’s sister Layla disappeared two years ago. It wasn’t enough to have a celebrity sister, who in turn used her to create one of the most haunting films, but a screen shot of her sister popping up in the forums leads Sophia to take matters into her own hands.

Hauntings

The question remains, is Cashore House haunted or were Layla’s props just feel all too real? When Sophia returns to the house the ability to differentiate between what is real and what isn’t starts to blur all over again.

Secrets

The reasons behind Sophia’s host, the director and ticket back to Cashore house, are a mystery in themselves. Not only has he set the house up exactly how it was when Sophia lived there, but he’s wired it to capture all her reactions. He’s also brought along his son, Arthur, who is just a couple years older than Sophia. Sophia has her own reasons for being there but what about the motivations of everyone else playing a part in this game?

Sisterly Love

As someone extremely close to her sister, any story based around the love two sisters has for each other is immediately on my list. I would do anything for my sister, just like Sophia is doing for Layla.

I REALLY enjoyed this book, but first and foremost I feel the need to note that while it's billed as Haunting of Hill House meets found footage it's not really found footage. Aside from two or three instances the story is told through the POV of the main character, not video footage of any kind, especially not found video footage. Even though I went in expecting that element of it I still think this was a really well done story and overall does meet that Haunting of Hill House vibe expertly (at least so far as the TV show goes, I can't say anything about the book, since I haven't read it). Sophia was an interesting main character, and I loved following someone who is basically famous for something they did as a child and don't really care about. In fact the whole movie element that was added to the book is an interesting one, because it's so common for kids to be part of horror movies but we never really stop to think about what it must be like for them. I was also very impressed with how de Becerra managed to make Layla, the sister, such a major character when we actually saw very little of her. I think so often scary stories have kids/teens doing stupid things for dumb reasons, but the entire time Sophia was doing all of these things for her sister, and that made it more believable. The other thing I think the author excels at is the sense of atmosphere. To begin with you wonder if maybe things aren't just being manipulated in such a way that there's a logical explanation for it, but as the story goes on you begin to wonder if it's actually real or if Sophia is just losing her mind. I think, aside from the slight misbranding of the story, the only thing that I was somewhat iffy on was the romance aspect. I'm a very firm believer that horror doesn't need romance, especially YA horror, but I found that this time I didn't actually mind it all that much. Could I have done without it? Sure, but I certainly didn't hate it as much as I sometimes do, so bravo for that de Becerra. I'll certainly do my best to hand-sell this to anyone I can, and I certainly hope that this book doesn't just fall into the cracks of all the other YA published this year, because I think it does pretty much everything it sets out to do very well. I'll be eagerly awaiting whatever comes next from this author, and I'll be more than happy to push this hidden gem on anyone who I think will enjoy it in the meantime.

When Sophia is 12, her 17-year-old sister, Layla, convinces her to film a horror movie in a creepy house their family is restoring. Not one to believe in ghosts, Sophia dismisses the otherworldly things she sees as nothing more than special effects created by her sister.

5 years later, the movie is a cult hit, complete with a fanatical following, and Layla has been missing for 2 years. In a bid to find her sister, Sophia returns to the house to film a documentary and soon realizes the ghost of her childhood may not have been made of nightmares and special effects, but a very real creature that is very glad she’s back amongst its walls.

Written in a first-person style that just pulls you right in, Katya de Becerra’s latest novel is creepy and mesmerizing. It will stay with you for days as your brain connects all of her expertly planted details and hints. Although I wasn’t a fan of the ambiguous epilogue, mainly because I personally hate those types of endings, the rest of the book held me from the first chapter to the last, and I can’t recommend it enough for anyone who loves tight, smart plots, layers of foreshadowing, and supernatural stories and mysteries that are so intriguing you can’t put the book down.

Rating: 4.4⭐️
Pub Date: 10/3 - Out Now!

Thank you to NetGalley and Page Street Publishing for a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

“Something is terribly wrong, more wrong than usual.”

When Sophia Galich was twelve-years-old, she starred in her older sister’s horror flick filmed in the house their parents were renovating - Cashore House. Five years later, when offered a role in a remake/documentary about the amateur film, Sophia jumps at the chance to visit the movie's location, which sparked a huge cult following that led to multiple theories of hidden meanings and messages, including a pact with the devil and a Path that could lead you to the film’s titular ghost, Vermillion. Sophia is hoping she can follow those supposed clues to find her sister, who mysteriously disappeared two years ago.

Even though it took me a while to read it because of real life, I really enjoyed this atmospheric novel that reminded me of The Haunting of Hill House. Through a weaving of her past, present, & experiences caught on film, we’re able to follow Sophia as she puts the pieces together & fills the gaps in her memory to figure out the tragic history of Cashore & what happened to her sister.

I do think the end was rushed a tiny bit; I wish we could have found out more about the exact details of what happened the day Layla disappeared.

However, overall, if you like found-footage, possession, hauntings, & a skeptic turning into a believer, I highly recommend this!

🎬🩰👻

I encourage YA horror readers to get ahold of this one ASAP! It pulled me in from the beginning. Between the mystery, a few early creepy happenings, and the feeling of foreboding, this book is a page-turner that I had a hard time putting down when I had to do other things. I really enjoyed the main character, Sophia, and her thoughts about the fandom for the movie her sister created. This is a book that I’ll recommend to all my teen library users that are always hunting for new horror reads.

A haunting thriller that explores family dynamics, sisterhood, and trauma, WHEN GHOSTS CALL US HOME is the story of a girl who’s searching for her missing sister and confronting the ghosts of the past. Told through the pov of Sophia, she was a fantastic narrator, unreliable at the best of times, and filled with pain and trauma from a very pivotal moment in the past that would ultimately shape her future. I adored the found footage aspect and that, combined with Sophia’s unreliability, made it very difficult to try and predict where this story was headed. There are also quite a number of twists and turns, which definitely kept me guessing until the very end. ⁣
⁣
Perfect for fans of haunted houses, found footage, and books with loads of suspense and tension, this story is very atmospheric and eerie, and will certainly deliver a chill or two. Definitely add this one to your spooky season. ⁣
4 stars. Thanks so much to @tbrbeyondtours and the author for gifting a copy for review.

ARC provided by NetGalley & Page Street Publishing.

Actual Rating: 3.5 ⭐

Content/Trigger Warnings: Occult themes, blood, trauma/PTSD, deaths recounted, grief, panic & anxiety attacks, hallucinations, scene of drowning, loss of a parent (heart attack, in the past), manipulation

"Cashore is alive, but it is not life as we know it. It is the life of a building burdened with secrets of both the living and the dead."


I giving this a low four stars. Look, I love a good story about a haunted house especially when the haunted house has multiple layers to the haunting. Top that with a mystery and I'm sold. However, trying to decide on my thoughts and feelings for this book were a lot more difficult than I thought they would. There was so much I loved, but there was a lot that missed the mark for me as a reader and things that felt very predictable, too. Without any further delay, let's dive into my thoughts.

The thing I loved most about this book was the way trauma was looked at in this book. There's so many layers of trauma and grief, but the author shows a lot of the things that come along with the trauma like anger, severe anxiety and panic, grieving for the person you were before the trauma, memory loss, and the biggest thing is the flashbacks. We see so much of the flashbacks and how serious they are from Sophia's perspective and in a way, her whole trip back to Cashore house almost feels like a form of exposure therapy for her trauma. I loved the way Sophia considers herself a haunted house, being haunted by ghosts and I think that was such a beautiful, perfect way to describe what it feels like to live with trauma, at times. I think the way the the author took the trauma and grief was handled really well. I also have a lot of appreciation for the author showing the various emotions and the other elements that come along with suffering from that trauma. One thing I will say though, there were moments where I had some mixed feelings because it felt like certain scenes were forcing the flashbacks to be triggered in Sophia and those few moments really had me feeling some mixed feels.

"Over the years, I've learned that -for the most part- our ghosts stay silent. But there are times when our busy, exhausting world quiets just enough for the ghosts to emerge."


The other thing I really loved about this book was the atmosphere and the way some of the scenes were described. How eerie and chilling they were. There were some that I wasn't expecting and they caught me off guard so much. The end of chapter 27 and chapter 28 had me stunned. It lives in my brain rent free from now on. There were so many scenes like those chapters that stood out and really made the book for me. There's another scene that's near the end of the book that made me think of Moana, when she is returning the heart of Te Fiti. There was also a moment that reminded me of one of my favorite movies, Ghost Ship that had me my full attention. These moments were written so well and just sucked me in as a reader, and I really loved them.

"Was I indeed a living imposter crashing the Midnight Reverie, or did I deserve my own place among the ghosts? I fear I'm about to find out."


Despite loving so much and taking five whole pages of quotes, there were things that just didn't work for me. The biggest one was the romance. Yup, that's right there's a romance in this book and there's a lot of focus on the romantic development. I just wish the book would have focused more on the mystery instead of throwing the romance element in. Speaking of genres, this definitely shouldn't be marketed as a horror. This is more paranormal mystery than horror or thriller. I was expecting more in terms of horror or at times I was expecting a more aggressive haunting, but we never really see that in this book. It misses the mark even more with how much emphasis was put on the demonic entity. I just expected more in that regard.

My other issue with this book is/would probably be the fact that the book feels like it's missing a lot of details and at times trying to do too much all at once. Don't get me wrong, I love the short chapters, but there were times where it felt like there should have been more details, more explanation, or just more exploration of certain things. I think that's why I kept expecting there to be more in the next chapter and there just wasn't too much, we were moving on to something else. That may be the reason why this almost felt like a middle grade to me, as well.


Overall, I did enjoy the majority of my time reading this book. This book definitely has some really great themes that were done really well and as I mentioned, five whole pages, front to back of quotes. There's a lot of love there for many things this book did. I just wish we had more. I'll definitely be looking into more books from this author in the future. I think many paranormal readers are going to enjoy this book and become obsessed with Vermillion, and Cashore house. Just an all around fun book for the autumnal season!



The quotes above were taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication.

All thoughts, feelings, experiences, and opinions are honest and my own.

I basically immediately loved it. It was like it was written for me, honestly. I’ve said this a lot all over my blog but I really like good sibling relationships and I liked this one in here. Even though it did feel at times like they weren’t so close – because their interactions were told to us in flashbacks – but it was still done really well. I didn’t feel like they weren’t good sisters just because they didn’t see each other.

I liked Sophia and Arthur’s relationship – I liked seeing that progress and I thought they worked well together. I can see them staying together for a while. But also I felt like the story/plot, even Sophia (as a character – her development), would’ve stayed the same without the romantic subplot.

The plot worked well. I liked the flashbacks paired with the present. It reminded me of a favourite movie of mine (Oculus). Some books or writers aren’t able to successfully shift between the past and the present. But de Becerra did it well. There wasn’t too much of the past and they tied in well to the present scenes.

I loved the spookiness. Something I always like in books is the feeling of something’s wrong/off and then seeing things happen in your environment. I love haunted houses in media because it gives that to me – weird things start to happen and then piles up until really bad things happen.

I liked the little bit of mixed media that we got – a forum relating to the film – of course I would’ve liked to see even more but that’s because I love mixed media. I thought the angle of Sophia going back to the house to film a follow-up sort of project interesting. It reminded me of another movie called The Veil. I would’ve liked some more behind the scenes showing of the film – maybe “this is how we would do this” but I understand they wanted to keep Sophia in the dark.

The horror in this book felt more atmospheric than terror to me. I really enjoyed the author’s writing style, it sucked me in from the first couple of chapters. Very atmospheric world-building – Cashore House and the beach were very vivid.

"But I do believe in the power memory holds over us; I believe in ghosts as remnants of powerful emotions we have experienced. Over the years, I’ve learned that—for the most part—our ghosts stay silent. But there are times when our busy, exhausting world quiets just enough for the ghosts to emerge."

I can definitely see the cult following of Layla’s film being a reality. Fans finding and seeking a deeper meaning – especially as the footage is not in the order it was filmed in. Stirring in supposedly hidden messages, demonic rumors and Layla’s disappearance equates to a powerhouse cult film with rabid fans. Vermillion hasn’t done either of the girls any favors and has left them both changed and haunted. I really liked Arthur & his relationship with Sophia, it was a surprising element that was wholesome in the circumstances. His dad on the other hand was a whole different story – not a fan.

The sister dynamic was definitely something I enjoyed and related to – especially being the youngest. The age gap between my sisters and I was wider than that of Layla and Sophia but I definitely felt that little sister modeling and following after the older sisters vibe. I give Sophia a lot of respect for returning to the very place that has haunted her existence for so long to search for her sister.

I would greatly recommend this book for those who love books about haunted houses, ghosts, cult/found footage films, and unreliable narrators. I would love to thank TBR and Beyond Tours for choosing me to participate in this tour, Katya De Becerra & Page Street YA for the chance to read this atmospherically haunting book. After reading this book I plan on checking out Katya’s other two books – I’m a fan. All opinions are my own.

Book Review

Title: When Ghosts Call Us Home by Katya De Becerra

Genre: Young Adult, Horror

Rating: 3.5 Stars

I didn’t really know anything about When Ghosts Call Us Home before getting into it but I was intrigued by the cover and synopsis. It is essentially a young adult horror novel that combines the setting of The Haunting of Hill House with the found-footage horror genre. This description is incredibly accurate but I wouldn’t have labelled it as horror, it more represents the paranormal genre rather than horror. We are following Sophia’s search for her missing sister, Layla, who is five years older.

When Sophia was 12, Layla created a horror movie similar to the Blair Witch Project and it showed Sophia being terrified to an extreme degree but doesn’t answer the question of why Layla did this. Obviously, there is a lot of love between the sisters otherwise Sophia wouldn’t be looking this hard for her sister and this obsession leads Sophia back to the place Layla filmed her movie, Cashore House. It’s also the place where Sophia developed mental and emotional problems and where Layla went missing two years before the start of the book.

From what we know about Layla at this point I really disliked her but the only version of her we are presented is from Sophia. These versions of Layla are contradicting but because Sophia is so loving in her thoughts towards Layla we are compelled to give her a second chance but we doubt whether Layla was sincere towards her sister or whether there is something darker going on. So diving deeper into the mystery elements, Layla went missing at Cashore House from her college dorm and Sophia decides to get to the house by helping a director with a reenactment to bring his career back to life. However, we mustn’t forget that this is essentially a haunted house novel.

Sophia is completely uncomfortable from the beginning of filming but it does begin to bring back memories but then there are some extremely strange twists and turns that completely took me by surprise and not in a good way. Another thing that felt unnecessary to me was the romance as it didn’t need to included and felt extremely shallow despite the love interest being an interesting character. This was an issue with most of the side characters as they felt severely underdeveloped compared to Layla and Sophia.

My biggest issue with the book overall was it was very disjointed and strayed into several different genres without deciding on what it wanted to be. It was a part mystery, part paranormal thriller and part cult story without committing to any of the narratives it presented. While I did enjoy the atmosphere and the core of the story it felt underdeveloped and rushed in places. Overall, I felt that When Ghosts Call Us Home had some really strong elements but it lacked a sense of direction and that let it down.

This is a perfect spooky read to begin (or just spend) your October with!

A YA horror, this is for fans of Joe Hill (like, Locke and Key vibes), Erin Craig, The Haunting of Hill House, and the Blair Witch Project.

How much does it age me that I remember watching that and being terrified as a teenager?

And it all came rushing back, because Sophia and her sister filmed a found-footage cult hit about a haunted house… then Layla, her sister, disappears.

Sophia is determined to get her back, but what she thinks happened years ago may not be completely true.

This is filled with surprises and twists and turns, from a ghostly website to memories you can’t quite trust.

The creepy and cool world building was well executed, while this book was rooted in love- a sisterly bond and a sweet romance that helped me, a romance reader, not lose hope in some seriously strange situations these characters faced.

This book has excellent crossover appeal- I think you’ll like this if you enjoy horror or thrillers, YA or adult, or if you’d like a book to get you in the mood for spooky season!

I may reconsider entering strange coastal mansions from now on, though..

When Ghost Call Us Home was incredibly atmospheric in the most spookiest way. The cover of this one incapsulates the feeling of this book perfectly, beautifully haunting but forever watching. It also contained one of my favourite tropes of an unreliable narrator. Because our main character Sophia was a child when she starred in her sisters horror movie she is unsure of what was real and what was special effects, she can only go off what was told to her and her foggy memories. Everything from the writing, the on page dialogue, the location was just perfect for this fall spooky time. You don't want to miss out on this one this Halloween session.

I would like to thank TBR Tour's, the author and netgalley for my copy of When Ghost Call Us Home.

Despite some minor complaint, I highly recommend When Ghosts Call Us Home! It’s one of the few books that actually got me stay up all night to read and got too scared to sleep afterwards. It has fantastic atmosphere and lore, and it is certainly full of twists that got you at the edge of your seat!

This cover is amazing! It’s one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. I’m a big fan of found footage horror movies so this was an interesting and unique concept. I thought some parts of it felt unrealistic, however. Would so many people flock to a teenager girl’s probably not that great home made horror movie? Enough for a cult following and a website dedicated to her? If you just forget about those thoughts, this was very engaging. I love a good horror book for Halloween and spooky time, so this is a great one if you want to get into the spirit and like found footage or books about haunted movies/houses!

If you can imagine a mash-up of Hell House and the Insidious franchise you’ll have an idea of where this book is going. Sophia is a seventeen year-old searching for her missing sister at the scene of the latter’s disappearance. Five years ago Sophia was the reluctant star in in her sister Layla’s DIY online horror flick. After becoming an overnight sensation Layla mysteriously vanishes.

There are occult happenings galore, a cute boy and lots of creepy fun to be had for Sophia as she ventures back to Cashore House with a documentary film crew in tow. This is a great novel. If vengeful ghosts and arcane rituals are your thing you can’t go wrong.

I loved this spooky haunted house book!
I have read a lot of horror in the last month or so and this is at the top of the list. When Ghosts Call Us Home was creepy, and had me jumping at every sound. It sucked me in from the first page and didn't let go until it was all over. This story had me totally immersed, and I felt like I was right alongside Sophia as she returned to Cashore House trying to figure out once and for all what happened to her sister, and if she could be saved.

I loved all the descriptions of the film Vermillion, and how it has its own cult following with the fans calling themselves V-heads. Some have seen the secret messages in the movie and are traveling the path. What exactly the path is and what happens when it reaches the end is something Sophia is finding out, and while it might be more than she has bargained for, she will do anything for her sister. Sophia must relive her past, and see it in a new light, realizing that the famous film may have actually been real and that as Vermillion had let her go once, she might not make it out again.

I haven't stopped thinking about this since I finished it, I loved the ending and want to come back to this world again. I will be going to preorder a physical copy as soon as I finish writing this review.

𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄
🏚 The Haunting of Hill House
🎙 Unreliable narrators
👻 Paranormal horror

- 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐓’𝐒 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓
This book does have a very similar vibe to The Haunting of Hill House but as the story progresses, it becomes its own very unique story. When Sophia and Layla were younger, they stayed at the Cashore House while their parents renovated it for a client. While there, Layla filmed a horror movie starring Sophia that ended up going viral. A few years later, Layla goes missing and Sophia is sure the house has clues to what happened. She agrees to a director’s offer to go back to the house and film a sequel and while she’s there, she realizes that the original movie may have been more real than anyone realized.

- 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐈 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓
This book scared the absolute crap out of me and gave me nightmares, but I still loved it. The writing was beautiful, the story was unique, and I couldn’t put it down. The ending threw me for a loop and I still have a ton of questions. I wish I could actually watch the movies that were filmed in this story, but maybe one day this will be adapted into its own movie. One can always hope. 4/5⭐.