Just could not get into this book. I did not feel any connection to any of the characters and thought they were entirely annoying. To come into a foreign country and think that you can single handedly fix it is wild. It was such a slowly progressing plot.

I absolutely loved Christopher Golden's previous novel "All Hallows," so when I heard he was writing a new book, I was so excited to read it.

"The House of Last Resort" was not as scary a horror book as I expected it to be. It was fascinating and exciting in the sense that a couple would move their whole lives from the U.S. to Sicily. Even more fascinating was the fact that the house they bought for only 1 euro has such a dark past.

However, I couldn't connect with the characters. It was bizarre to me how much I disliked them. I also did not find the scary parts to be that scary.

I was expecting more from this novel, but unfortunately, it did not deliver the results.

Thank you Minotaur Books Publisher for the eARC copy. All opinions expressed are mine alone.

This had a decent creep factor to it. I liked the ending and had trouble falling asleep after reading.

<b>[TW: Language, death of parent, dementia, gaslighting, toxic parent relationships, use of c-word, death of family, gory scenes, blood]</b>

<b><big>*****SPOILERS*****</b></big>
<b>About the book:</b>
Across Italy, there are many half-empty towns, nearly abandoned by those who migrate to the coast or to cities. The beautiful, crumbling hilltop town of Becchina is among them, but its mayor has taken drastic measures to rebuild—selling abandoned homes to anyone in the world for a single Euro, as long as the buyer promises to live there for at least five years. It’s a no-brainer for American couple Tommy and Kate Puglisi. Both work remotely, and Becchina is the home of Tommy’s grandparents, his closest living relatives.

It feels like a romantic adventure, an opportunity the young couple would be crazy not to seize. But from the moment they move in, they both feel a shadow has fallen on them. Tommy’s grandmother is furious, even a little frightened, when she realizes which house they’ve bought.

There are rooms in an annex at the back of the house that they didn’t know were there. The place makes strange noises at night, locked doors are suddenly open, and when they go to a family gathering, they’re certain people are whispering about them, and about their house, which one neighbor refers to as The House of Last Resort. Soon, they learn that the home was owned for generations by the Church, but the real secret, and the true dread, is unlocked when they finally learn what the priests were doing in this house for all those long years…and how many people died in the strange chapel inside.
<b>Release Date:</b> January 30th, 2024
<b>Genre:</b> Horror
<b>Pages:</b> 304
<b>Rating:</b> ⭐

<b>What I Liked:</b>
1. Love a good house on the hill cover
2. Some creepy scenes

<b>What I Didn't Like:</b>
1. Dialog between characters is so cheesy
2. Don't like Tommy and Kate
3. Plot holes
4. Boring
5. Certain parts they would just ramble about the same stuff that didn't matter

<b>Overall Thoughts:</b>
<small><b>{{Disclaimer: I write my review as I read}}</b></small>

<u><b><small>--------BOOK ONE: SEPTEMBER ABOVE--------</small></b></u>

The book starts off oddly criticizing people for not being able to just move to another country. It was weird. People don't move for lots of reasons; family, jobs, etc...

This whole time though I kept wondering what do these two do for money because I'm 30 pages and it still hasn't been mentioned.

Confused with why the author threw in that Kate has body dysmorphia. It seemed so out of place.

I hate how the author kept saying it was a generational thing that didn't want to stay in one place and work. That is not even true. Why say that it's a whole group of people born within like 12 years that feel that way. I know tons of people that like and enjoy setting down roots in one location. Why not just have the characters say that it was how <i>they</i> felt rather than a whole group on hundreds of thousands of people. It just kept annoying me. Almost like the couple were so judgy of other people who can't experience what they are doing.

Tommy tells Nonna she can speak Italian when they come to her house, but earlier in the morning when she came to his house he was yelling at her to speak English. Which one is it dude?

They hear a door slam shut but she decides to just put on her tank top and doesn't put pants on, even forgoing her thong (rolls eyes) and then Winnie Poohs it around the house when they are worried someone is in the house. Why?? What??

Oh and Tommy saying he's going to check out the sound and the fuse box, but doesn't bring a flashlight. How was he going to see anything? Tommy then proceeds to make fun of Kate for having her phones flashlight but that's not ridiculous.

So Kate is a piece of shit. She has body dysmorphia, is jealous of Franca, and
While Tommy is amazing and has zero negative things about himself.

Kate and Tommy remind me of those people that started diet and they have to tell everyone about how much better they are. I found it completely annoying how they kept pushing moving to Sicily on their friends.

Why is generation used to much in this book?

Katie sleeps in a thong - 3 times mentioned. You know because thongs are so comfortable to sleep in.

Okay so now they want to take over the whole tourist catacombs thing and not get paid for it. Quit their jobs (still what are their jobs?) They all just assume that this town that is struggling has the money to fix the catacombs enough to make them safe.

Kate has to the most agreeable person. They don't have arguments. He mentions doing something and she says of course.

The introduction of sleepwalking in a book is so weird. I just read about this in which the character started sleepwalking in a new house.

{RANT} I am sorry but I absolutely hate Tommy and Kate. They go about complaining about how their friends were never going to move to Italy and they knew it all along because they didn't have the guts. Honestly what is the selling point to this town? Because it's a ghost town that's dying off and the mayor is selling off the houses for super cheap. But what is the privilege that they think their friends can just quit their jobs and move their families to this dying town to live. I just don't get where these characters minds are. They sound so entitled it's sickening.I was absolutely annoyed with them and if they were my friends with their high and mighty attitude I'd kick them to the curb. Just because they have the privilege and the "jobs" to move to another country doesn't mean that everybody else has that privilege. Not only that but it's not like he moved to some town where he didn't even know anyone because his family lives there. So it's not like he's starting fresh like he didn't know anybody there he already has a leg up because he's been there, and his grandparents live there. He's asking people to move there who don't know anyone there and have never been there. {END RANT} Sorry I know it's just a book but these characters I've run into people that think like this.

I didn't understand the point of the grandmother being upset with them moving into The House of Last Resort, but then getting mad when Marcello tried to explain to them the history. Why was she so upset that she mad it clear that she was but then not want them to know why it was a bad place?

I don't even understand why Kate is even having a reaction to finding out that exorcism were performed in the house. She starts off the book saying she doesn't even believe in ghosts or anything Supernatural so why is she so bothered by learning this information.house

After learning about the house they then decide that they're going to have it become a tourist spot with the catacombs, but that makes little sense since they tore out everything that made the house the exorcism spot so they would have to make it look that way again I guess.

Super happy that Kate stood up Tommy and told him exactly what happened.

<u><b><small>--------BOOK TWO: OCTOBER BELOW--------</small></b></u>
So we just jump right into them doing the work on the catacombs. Belinda (Kate's friend) calls and their conversation bothered me. Not once does Kate ask her anything and it's just Belinda asking Kate question after question. I know we have to move the plot forward but books that have surface level friendship feel so pointless and boring. While I applaud the author for having a Black character why make it a trivial friend we'll most likely never hear from again? She then tells Belinda that there are Black people in her town and if she moved there she wouldn't have to have the same issues she faces in America. How removed is Kate that she thinks that a Black person moving to a small old fashion town in Europe would be less racist. Kate reminds me of the person that says they can't be racist because they have Black friends.

We spend way too many pages going over and over Tommy's grandfather dying. They just keep talking about when he is going to die, back to Kate not wanting to see him, and then he does and we talk about it some more.

Nothing happens. The scary parts (two close togetherl) happened around 100 pages. So you're just stuck reading about things that don't even matter.

The grandma saw a rat come out of her husband and now she thinks he is possessed. So they are going to bury him in the catacombs. We get this whole backstory on how when he was 12 he was one of the people who was possessed and they brought him to the house to try to get him an exorcism. And like this whole scenario isn't weird enough they have to bury his grandpa in their house under the floorboards. Which this whole scene was really confusing when they were describing why this had to happen. I'm not sure why he has to be buried there. He can't just be buried in the catacombs.

When the comtracter redid the annex how did she not notice there were stairs there

I guess his knee and ribs aren't hurting that badly. He's just able to get up and walk down all these stairs with the dumbest reasoning ever. His theory is that if he goes up the stairs he more likely to be crushed in another tremor than if he goes underground. That makes zero sense.

So Franca is working with the demon and the demon, Alberith. Alberith can only jump from bloodline to bloodline. Seems like a dumb way to continue as a demon because what if that person can't have kids or never does then you just go back to hell and have to wait on a new body. I wonder if you're in hell you would know who to take next. Also what is wrong with a fresh start anyways?

Franca explains the whole thing to him and he asks if she will let Kate go to which she replies "<i>probably</i>." Um no. I don't understand why they don't even try to fight back. There are two of them and yes she has a knife but getting a knife out of a persons hand isn't that difficult. He has zero guarantee that she will really let Kate go because honestly why would she? So he is like okay I'll trust this random lady that lied to us to get me here and hope this time she isn't lying.

Of course in Kate fashion she has Patrick help her but only after getting Tommy out of the tombs does she even tell Patrick that his husband is injured. She even tells him he'll be fine but that's far from the truth, because she said that Rohaan was messed up and hit his head badly when they first crashed.

Have I mentioned how much I hate Kate? She gets mad a Don Pino because he didn't keep them away from buying the house or warning them. They didn't care. They heard about the house shortly (two weeks after moving in) but they didn't care and just wanted it to be a tourist spot. She the gets mad again at the priest when he tells her he's not an exorcism priests and he doesn't know the prayer needed.

No happy ending for Tommy and Kate. I am not bothered by this. They are horrible.

<b>Final Thoughts:</b>
I suppose when I read about what this book was I assumed that it was a book that dealt with a house that had a history that no one wanted to even come into the house, but that's not what this was. The grandmother puts up a fuss in the beginning and then they work on the house like it's nothing.

I was so bored. Nothing happens in this book and it's all just talking and talking. There are a few "jump scares" but for the most part it's just people talking about the house and things that could happen. You actually hear more about things that have happened then read about them happening in the now of the book. I struggled to finish this book. I almost dnfed so many times but then I got 215 pages into the book before I just skimmed the ending.

I left this book with lots of questions. If Franca knew the demon wanted Tommy why wouldn't they have just worked for her to kill the grandfather faster so he could get to Tommy. Why just keep waiting as his body fell apart? Why not just take his body when Tommy was young? Who opened the door to the Annex? Did Franca open the door? Why couldn't the rats get out once the door was opened? Couldn't the rats just chew through the side of the house - they're rsts and rats can chew through a lot of stuff.

This book is perfect if you don't like reading about anything happening but enjoy knowing things happened. Unfortunately for me I like being shown not told about it. The ending finally gives you some stuff that happens, but it takes so long to get to a point where anything happens.

<a href="https://www.instagram.com/horrorghoulreads/"><b>IG</a>|<a href="https://bookwordreview.wordpress.com/"><b>Blog</b></a>

Having DNFed both of the other books I tried to read by this author, I was wary going into this one, but the premise just sounded so good. I have to give credit to the fact that this one actually kept me engaged for the most part. Yes, it was a slow build (at least for the majority of the book), but the moments of tension and creepiness were enough to keep me interested and wanting to know what was going to happen.

I do think the slow build kind of falls apart when we very suddenly reach the climax of the story. It felt abrupt and kind of over-the-top and cheesy. So, in the end I found this to be entertaining, but not at the top of my list if I were recommending horror books or haunted house stories.

I do want to add that I appreciate the author actually having the characters react to the weird stuff going on, rather than fully ignoring it and having them be like “oh it’s probably nothing” at every turn.

Thanks to the publisher for granting me access!

Calling all haunted house lovers! This one is perfectly creepy! Tommy and Kate agreed have made a deal of a lifetime. They move from the US to Italy after buying an abandoned home for just 1 euro. In an effort to rebuild and draw new people to a small town the mayor had offered anyone to buy a house for the small amount as long as they agree to fix it up! Who wouldn’t want to do this? Italy, romantic journey, maybe even possible to make some money back! That is where their heads were at when they agreed but as you can maybe guess it didn’t go as planned. Shortly after moving in they experience odd feelings, noises, and doors now unlocked that weren’t. And the worst part… they’ve seemed to upset grandma. Not just upset, she’s angry they agreed to this house. At a party everyone is whispering about the house and then and the dark history of the house comes to light. The House of Last Resort has secrets buried deep underground and it’s shocking to hear just what was happening by the priests tied to this Church turned house. Don’t go too deep into the house…you never know what you’ll find!

I thought this was a solid haunted house story filled with demons, buried graves, ghosts and haunted possessions. I love to think about the old bones and history of this haunted story. The paranormal activity was solid and I think the author did an amazing job painting the picture and giving imagery of the eery depths of this house. In fact, that is what I loved the most. The setting! My second favorite thing was the creepiness between Nonna, the grandma and Kate! Yes! There is just something about that scene where is upped the scare factor and I’m here for it! This was a first for me by this author and definitely enjoyed it! Can’t wait to see what he comes up with next!

A slow burn horror that will have you at the edge of your seat, especially at the end!
This atmospheric horror is set in Italy, has demonic possessions, exorcisms and a haunted house?? Yes please!
When they saw a small town in Italy was trying to start over and had houses for 1 Euro, Tommy and Kate couldn’t pass that up. Especially since Tommy has family in that town. So they picked up and moved their entire life from the US to Italy.
They slowly learn that their new home is known for being called “The House of Last Resort” and was owned by a Catholic Church. Things get really crazy when we learn what they were doing there.
I’d definitely recommend this to horror fans who don’t mind slow burns and love a good atmospheric horror with a twist ending.

Rating: 4/5
I received an eARC for my honest opinion.

What would you do if you were able to buy a house in a small town in Italy just for a Euro? Yes, you have to stay in that house for 5 years but for that price who wouldn’t jump on it. However, what if I told you that the house you bought has some very interesting history and you were not informed of this until after you moved in. Would you still do it?

This book, I don’t know what I was thinking it would be about other than I knew it would be like a horror thriller, but it was something more too. I thought the author did a great job of keeping the reader interested throughout the whole book, I knew I was wanting to know what was going to happen next and couldn’t stop turning the pages. I liked that the writing style was easy to read, and the pace was consistent. I won’t lie there are times that in the book it was slow and then it would pick right and go by so fast. I loved that when reading I would get a sense of creepy/suspense filled, and it was all because of the way Golden set the tone of the events. The twists and turns in the book were great, I do have to say I wasn’t expecting a part that did happen in the book a few times.

The characters in the book, I did not find them that easy to relate too sometimes. I mean the excitement of moving across the world to a small town in Italy I could understand but not the take charge way of waiting to turn the town into a tourist community, and there were other things that I didn’t like how Tommy or Kate would handle situations gave off vibes of “ I’m an American and I know best”…I really don’t know if that is the best way to describe it but honestly that is the best way I can.

Other than some parts of the characters that I didn’t like, I really did enjoy the whole vibe of this book and I will be reading more from this author.

I want to thank NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to review this book.

Wow! The end of this book was everything. The House Of Last resort is filled with the best spooky vibes possible. While this book is a bit of a slow burn the atmosphere definitely makes up for it. I loved the characters and the setting. Gosh that damn ending! Fantastic!

I feel like I will be thinking about this book for a long time.
4/5 Stars

Thank you so much to the publisher and Netgalley for sending me an arc in exchange for my honest review.

Would you buy a house for 1 Euro (equivalent to $1.09 USD) if the only condition for living there was staying there for a minimum of 5 years?

What if I told you the house was in Italy and that it may or may not be haunted amongst other things?

Kate and Tommy believe they’ve scored the opportunity of a life time. They bought a house and moved from the United States to Italy. The house was only one euro thanks to the new program the mayor is running to try and repopulate the old Italian city.

This seems like the perfect opportunity for the young couple, and will actually allow Tommy to get closer to his family that lives in the same town. But not everything is as it seems. Secrets are lying both within the walls of the house and within Tommy’s family.

This book was such a spooky delight. I’m Italian myself, so it was really cool to see some of the customs I’ve experienced first hand portrayed in the book! I loved the slow build haunting that took a wild turn in the last 50 pages.

My rating : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book is coming out January 30th, 2024!

Be sure to snag it if you’re looking for a book filled with ghosts, demons, creepy houses, Italian food/customs, and so much more!

Thank you St Martins's for the review copy! I am newer to Christopher Golden's writing but this was some good creepy horror, his writing was really effective at setting a tone and mood and building up dread/suspense. I was genuinely creeped out by some moments, which is what I want in a book like this, and appreciated the constant sense of unease.

That being said, some of the pacing was for me a little off, the rhythm of the book was slow, but that was generally ok for me, while later parts moved fast and to an action focused end (which is also ok but I prefer when pacing/ending of a book still match the approach of the suspenseful build... it's what Stephen King doesn't do well, a lot of build up and story to a quick action end).

Still a good book, still recommended and I think it's a win for haunted house fans. I also bet this would be good on audiobook, I like a scary audio!

I enjoy Christopher Golden’s work, so I was really excited about The House of Last Resort. The ominous title, the old Italian home, the cute little village, catacombs and promise of horror, it all sounded great but unfortunately it fell flat for me. It’s incredibly slow, which I’m fine usually, but it went far beyond the typical slow burn and simply just didn’t work this time. I can’t say that I liked any of the characters, and it wasn’t scary in the slightest. I loved the setting and the premise, and I see a lot of others who really enjoyed this so don’t let that deter you. The House of Last Resort will be published 1/30. Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for my eARC.

I loved this book. The setting comes alive with the descriptions of the older buildings and streets, especially 'The House of Last Resort'. There are two POVs, a husband and wife Tommy and Kate, who give up their life in the USA and embark on a journey to Tommy's roots in a sleepy town in Italy where his grandparents still live. Without knowing the history, they buy an old house for a single Euro as part of a local program to revitalize the town. The history woven into the story is elaborate, well-crafted, and revealed in tantalizing bread crumbs. The creepy vibes begin in the opening pages and build throughout into a wonderfully terrifying story.

Incredibly bland - I had high hopes for this novel based on the premise but the writing was very lackluster.

Boston natives, Tommy and Kate, have transplanted their lives to Becchina, Italy on an offer that sounds too good to be true and impossible to pass up. The dying town has begun selling homes for one euro in the hopes of rebuilding its populace with fresh blood, provided the buyers commit to living there for a minimum of five years and spend at least fifty thousand euros on renovations. For Kate and Tommy, it's a once in a lifetime opportunity and one that also allows them to reconnect with the little bit of family Tommy has still living there. Not all is bella fortuna for the happy young couple, though, for the house they have purchased has a dark and sinister history. Known to the locals as la casa dell'ultima risorsa, the house of last resort was previously owned by the Vatican and lies above the small town's bone-filled catacombs.

Christopher Golden's The House of Last Resort is a slow-burn horror, with the bulk of the narrative centered around the mundane. We spend plenty of time with Tommy and Kate as they begin righting their house and getting their affairs in order as they settle in, reconnect with his grandparents and cousin, Marcello, and meet the other recent immigrants to Becchina who jokingly refer to themselves as the imports.

Sprinkled throughout are moments of the uncanny -- Kate and Tommy are greeted by an earthquake upon their arrival at the front door of their new home, doors that are locked or stuck seemingly open on their own, mysterious power failures dog their nights, and the house is infested with rats. These initially minor happenings are enough to sustain interest, but only just, and it's not until the last third of the book, as we're thrust into a diabolical climax, that the narrative finally gains momentum and intrigue. The catacomb-centered finale is rife with wonderfully descriptive flair that recalls some of Golden's macabre scripting alongside Mike Mignola's comics, to the point that I couldn't help but wish for some Mignola illustrations to go alongside the climax. Once he digs into the horrors only previously hinted at, Golden conjures up some fantastic, evocative, and highly effective and memorable imagery.

Getting there takes a heck of a lot of patience, and the first three-fourths of the book is a slog saved only by those brief flashes of eeriness as the secrets surrounding the house are slowly and meticulously doled out. The resolution isn't particularly impactful, either, due to its expectedness, and where The House of Last Resort really suffers is in its predictability. While Kate and Tommy are hoping for the adventure of their life, Golden seems oddly content to play it safe. There is a neat reveal behind how and, more importantly, why Kate and Tommy wound up with this particular house, but all others feel like foregone conclusions. I do appreciate Golden's lack of pandering toward Christianity, though, with the Church getting a bit of a shellacking here and there (and rightfully so, given their less than stellar history toward human rights since its inception) and the hokey "God saves" messaging of so many other Christian-focused stories of similar vein, like The Conuring films, in an attempt to appeal to the masses. The rest, unfortunately, feels like paint-by-numbers horror that has been finely tuned for maximum mainstream appeal.

Have you ever heard of those little Italian towns that are trying to revitalize themselves by offering homes for a single Euro in exchange for the promise that buyers will stay for a minimum amount of time (five years or whatever) and put a set amount of money into renovating their new/old home? Well, THE HOUSE OF LAST RESORT is about that … but in its worst case scenario.

There are some legitimately creepy scenes in this book. It took me a little while to really get into it, but at the 50% mark I read the first hair-raising line that really sucked me in. It’s like The Exorcist, but with rats and catacombs and ghostly priests and crucifixes and scary-as-hell demons who lurk around for centuries.

My conclusion: I won’t be visiting the Catacombs of Paris (or of any city), ever, thank you very much.

If you like stories about demonic possession and haunted houses, this is the book for you.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an early digital copy of THE HOUSE OF LAST RESORT in exchange for my honest opinion.

The breeze coming through the windows aired the old place out, breathing new life into its worn interior. They walked through each room, admiring their new home, and imagined all the possibilities they could bring to this place. They looked at each other and smiled, full of joy, but little did they know the dangers that lurked in those walls.

The House of Last Resort is a horror following a young married couple who move to Italy and intend to fix up an old home and bring vibrance to a dying small town. They have hopes, dreams, and great ideas to revitalize… until they find out the true history of this place.

The Haunting in Connecticut travels to Italy… that’s one way I’d describe this horror story. The horror elements were fantastic and 100% creeped me out (which is what I wanted), but the pacing was a little off for me in this one. It’s slow moving, but the last 25% of the book was intense. I loved the small town Italian setting and the exploration of the dark side of religion and the unknowns religion experienced in the earlier centuries. It was an entertaining read for sure.

If you’re a fan of haunted houses, dark religious horror, and enjoy horror movies like The Exorcist or The Haunting in Connecticut… then I’d recommend picking this book up!

I don't read a lot of horror or horror adjacent novels so this one came along at the right time and caught me in the mood for a story like this.

The writing is good, it's detailed and atmospheric although it does tend to repeat itself a bit. Not in an egregious way but enough to notice that a particular scene or feeling has already been described.

As the tension built so to did my interest. It's genuinely creepy and there were times I was rapt and nervous. One thing I appreciated, especially in the second act is how the characters act and respond to things. They acknowledge how weird it is or how off putting rather than completely ignore it. It felt refreshingly real compared to many other works.

That being said, I don't think it quite held it together during the climax. All the tension and atmosphere gave way to an action movie ending and dialogue that felt out of place.

In the end, it's still a pretty good book and a good read but ended up falling shy of being a great one.

Sincere thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I haven't read a decent horror in awhile and one of my fav tropes is an old world/religious horror.

As someone with Italian roots, I loved that this took place in a small Sicilian town. The atmosphere was fantastic and I have to say, if I was offered a deal like they were - I would totally have take the leap and moved too - although maybe not to that house.

This book was creepy. So much so, that I found I was less inclined to read it when the sun went down, haha.

The last 20% of the book was a like - meh. I didn't like the rats aspect of it and kept imaging some cartoon situation that was more "comical" than scary.

Overall a great read! I will definitely need to check out more by this author!

A ghost story with a promising start.

This is my second novel by Christopher Golden and I'm starting to see a pattern. While the stories are a slow burn, he does a great job at building tension and uneasiness. You know something is wrong!

However, it builds, it builds, it builds and then the twists and reveals happen but it's kind of flat. I did not like the way what was happening was revealed in the end, right after the earthquake. But after the passage with * that * character, it started picking up again.

Overall, it was very intriguing and well written but it did not captivate me enough. A little something was missing for me and it didn't turn out to be a gripping page-turner. That being said, it was good and entertaining but just not memorable for my taste.