The Haunting is the perfect read for fall and Halloween. The vibes were perfect, Halloween AND a murder mystery! I suspected several characters of being the killer and was still surprised by the twist at the end.

Penny lives in a small town where, one year ago, a series of murders started on the days leading up to Halloween. Her boyfriend’s dad was arrested for the murders of five teens. A year later, there seems to be a copycat killer. Or was the original killer never caught? This story will keep you guessing up until the end.

I really enjoyed this quick, spooky read. I am only taking away one star because of the abrupt ending. I KNOW Preston’s books always end on a cliffhanger, but this one was especially frustrating. Still a great and entertaining read. I was completely invested. Thank you so much to Netgalley and Random House for the eARC! Four stars!

I would recommend "The Haunting" to anyone looking for a fast-paced Halloween Slasher in the YA Genre.
I've read all of the author's books and true to her style the storyline will grab ahold of your attention and keep you turning pages up until the ending which will undoubtedly leave you stunned. If you've read any of her books you know exactly what I am talking about.
Overall I found this book to pretty enjoyable and I think it's going to do really well with both her fanbase and intended audience. Another solid Mystery Thriller!

Thank you Natasha Preston, Net Galley and Random House Children's, Delacorte Press for providing me with an ARC of this book.

I completely understand that all of Natasha Preston’s books end in cliffhangers and yet, I continue to read them.

With that being said, the premise of this was calling out to me, so I just had to answer. I mean, c’mon, it’s the perfect read for spooky season!

It’s Halloween and thus marks the first anniversary of the killing spree Nash’s father went on where he killed five students. Penny happens to be Nash’s ex (unwillingly) and can’t stop thinking about how he’s feeling with the whole town ostracizing him and his sister. But when yet another student ends up dead, who are they gonna blame with Jackson Whitmore behind bars?

Soon, bodies start popping up one by one and Penny keeps finding them. She has even had her fair share of run ins with the killer themselves. No matter what she does, she can’t figure out who it is and she’s running out of people to trust. Will she be able to crack the case before the next target is someone she loves or worse?

While vain and sometimes incredibly annoying, I enjoyed the characters in this book and felt like they each added something. I loved the spooky vibes and how the story had me second guessing everything. I figured out who the killer was early on, but this still had my head spinning.

This was fast paced and captivating with just the right amount of teen drama. I was hooked until the very last word. The word that had me rolling my eyes, telling myself I knew it. Just once I would like a real ending, a sequel, an epilogue, SOMETHING!

.

Penny has a great group of friends but she can't shake her feelings for ex, Nash. Nash's father was arrested last year for the murders of four teens. Now Penny is banned from seeing Nash, and the whole town treats Nash like a parirah. The town can't seem to understand that Nash and his sister Grace aren't their father. Now it's Halloween season and the one year anniversary of the murders is approaching. But what starts of as an ordinary day for Penny turns into a nightmare. Penny stumbles across the body of a classmate and now she is racing to figure out who the killer is. Can there really be a copy cat killer following in the foot steps of Nash's dad? Penny is now Ina cat and mouse chase with the killer. Will she be able to solve who it is in time?



What I enjoyed:
- this was a quick read for me and I was able to finish it in a couple of hours
- Loved the Halloween setting and spooky vibes! Minus all the murder, her town actually sounds super festive!
- Kept me on the toes and second guessing the whole time

What a fun little spooky, Halloween read! This was perfect for the season. I throughly enjoyed it too. This was a quick paced book that had you feeling creeped out at times. I swear I didn't feel like I was being watched while reading this. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 stars out of 5! Thank you Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

As the town rebounds from the trauma of last year's spree killing, this group of teenagers is getting ready for the annual Halloween event. Then, one of the group is killed in the same manner as the spree killer's. Now they must work together to find the killer before more of their friends die.

I thought the premise sounded interesting, but I struggled with this one. The ending was unsatisfying and abrupt. Everything felt a bit average, and nothing will stick with me now that I've finished the book. I found the main character annoying, which made it hard to stay engaged or care about the outcome.

I know I’m not the intended audience. But I adored Natasha Preston’s first 3 books. I was OBSESSED. Ever since then I feel like I’ve been chasing the high. She’s had a few books that have circled around what I love about her story telling. But this one? I think I figured it out. Her style is like an alien writing what it thinks teenagers want to read. The voice is off and that’s what it making it difficult to become absorbed. I know my students will like this so of course I will recommend. I just wish I could get back how on the edge of my seat I was during the Cellar or The Twin.

Last Halloween the town was turned upside down by a string of murders. Penny’s boyfriends dad was accused of killing his son, Nash’a, classmates. A year later as Halloween comes back around, it’s happening again but how when the murder is spending life in prison? Penny was for ed to distance herself from Nash when his dad was sentenced to prison but now people think he is following in his fathers footsteps. It Penny knows that’s not true. Who is committing the newest string of murders and why are they targeting Penny?

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher and amazing author for my ARC!

This was the perfect book to start the Halloween season! A fast paced thriller told from the point of view of the murderer’s son’s ex girlfriend. Interesting perspective, right? As Penny, the ex gf, struggles with her feelings toward Nash, the son, a new murder takes place. Is there a copycat on the loose? This book has lots of twists and turns to keep you guessing. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

The perfect book for entering spooky season!! Halloween, murder, small town, outcast family, the girl who can’t stay away…

I loved this book even though I knew the ending would get me. Every time. All the questions. I need answers.

I also want to say I love Nash and your heart will break for him so many times. He is my favorite Natasha Preston character to date regardless of how this book turns out.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to read and review.

Penny will always be known as the ex-girlfriend of the son of the serial killer. Last year, Jackson Whitmore killed several people leading up to Halloween. This year his kids, Nash and Grace are ostracized. Penny still has feelings for Nash though, but those feelings become complicated when more dead bodies start turning up. Is Nash finishing what his dad started?

This teen slasher synopsis drew me in along with the title. I was expecting something supernatural, but the title is misleading. This is just a typical whodunnit mystery novel. It’s predictable with the teenagers making really reckless decisions, but the settings and Halloween activities were fun to read. As with all Natasha Preston books, it doesn’t really end. The final sentence is a mid scene cliffhanger. I just wish one of her books would have an actual conclusion.

This was such a good Halloween read! The Haunting was such an atmospheric read for the spooky season and I really enjoyed it. I was drawn in to the story right away and it kept me guessing until the end. There were many times I thought I had it figured out, but then something would happen to change my thoughts. In the end I did end up guessing whodunnit, but not why or how. This one definitely ends on a cliffhanger, so be prepared for that!

This book follows Penny a year after her ex boyfriend’s father goes on a mass killing spree in their small town the week before Halloween. Everyone in their town has ostracized Nash and his sister Grace because of their dad’s actions. Everything seemed to have gone back to normal until the killings started happening again. No one knows if it’s a copycat killer or if Nash and Grace are following in their dad’s footsteps.

Overall was was a fun quick whodunnit type young adult horror. If you like spooky vibes, mystery and suspense I recommend adding this one to your fall tbr.

This was quite the page-turning thriller! Set one year after a set of murders in her small town, Penny and her friends are just starting to feel like things are kind of going back to normal. That is until she stumbles across a body, and the police and most everyone else suspects the son of the man convicted of the first killings. But not Penny, she and Nash used to date, and she hasn't stopped thinking about him since her parents made her stop seeing him after the first murders, and she knows he had nothing to do with this.

This took me on a twisty-turny ride, a proper slasher which was a lot of fun. I suspected everyone close to Penny, and while I started to get an inkling of who the killer could be towards the end I was still surprised by how it all played out. And while I can get behind this author's choice to just leave the story where it doesn't seem finished, I really wish we could have gotten a proper ending with this one. Still even with that abrupt ending I really enjoyed this story, it sucked me in from the beginning and I loved the journey to figure out who the killer actually was.

Read this if you love books that aren’t finished.

The Haunting is a typical Halloween slasher story like the ones you know and love. The story follows Penny and begins one year after a small town was terrorized by a masked serial killer. The killer was the father of Penny’s boyfriend and has been serving time in federal prison ever since he was caught and arrested. But on the one-year anniversary of his first killing, another body was found. Soon, they realize they have a copycat killer on the loose and nobody knows who to trust anymore.

As far as slashers/thrillers go, this was actually pretty good. It’s rare that I get spooked by a book but this had me double-checking my locks and jumping at small noises. The dialogue sometimes felt like the author didn’t really know how teenagers talk and act, and it is definitely a YA book, but it wasn’t bad.

I didn’t have many complaints until the last chapter. There is a lot of action and quick dialogue which was confusing at times. And then it ended on a huge cliffhanger. Like I don’t even want to call it a cliffhanger. It was like the author meant to write another chapter and forgot to send it with the rest of the book. I understand stories that have “non-endings” but there was literally no reason for this one to do that. Apparently, that is common for this author which I didn’t know or I wouldn’t have started this book in the first place.

This was looking like it 4⭐ book until the ending. I really liked a lot of things about the story, but they were all overshadowed by the lack of resolution. I ended up giving this a 2.75⭐ and rounded it up to 3/5⭐.

Natasha Preston has done it again! I truly twisty tale with a shocking ending. A murder and then a copy cat murder the next year! An intense and thrilling read

3.5/5 ⭐️
A year after a horrible serial killer was caught, more bodies are turning up. Penny is still dealing with the aftermath of her ex being the son of a serial killer who killed fellow students at her high school. Now bodies are showing up again, but Jackson (the killer) is still in jail. Is there a copycat?

I found this fast-paced and enjoyable until the end. It ends on such a weird “cliffhanger” (which would imply a sequel but it doesn’t seem like it). Like no epilogue, no nothing. That really took away from my enjoyment of this one! It was such a page-turner and then I was so let down by this. If you can deal with a wildly abrupt ending with lots of unresolved plots, then you’ll love the ending. Otherwise, enjoy the ride but prepare for the abrupt ending.

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Young Adult thriller in time for Halloween. A young woman is kinda trying to move on from her relationship with a young man whose father committed a multiple murder last Halloween 👻. Only, this Halloween 🎃 she finds a body and now she is in the thick of it, how can it be the guy’s father when he is in prison? Is he killer her ex? The feel of this read is right for young adult, dialog seems in tune. Just didn’t seem “thriller” enough for more 🌟s.

The Haunting had me hooked on every chapter. I really loved the small town setting in this one and all the festive Halloween vibes! It was a fast paced story. Perfect to read during spooky season. I really needed so much more from the ending though!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my e-ARC of The Haunting!

𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔
🎃 love all things Halloween
👀 feel like you can’t trust your friends
👫🏼 have ever had to stay away from the person you love
🌽 live in an area surrounded by corn

• 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐓’𝐒 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓

Penny's trying to forget about her ex, Nash. His father was arrested for the brutal murder of four teenagers on Devil's Night last year. Penny's parents have forbidden her to have anything to do with Nash or his family. It's hard not to think of what happened as spooky season gets underway—but she's trying. 

That stops when she goes to the Halloween store with her friends to find a costume. What she finds instead is ripped from a horror movie: a classmate bleeding out on the floor of a dressing room. Stabbed.  

Is a copycat killer on the loose? The adults are saying no. But Penny knows better.

• 𝐌𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒

I went into this one with high hopes, and I really enjoyed the suspense of not knowing who the killer was. I did have my suspicions but wasn’t 100% sure who it might be, and I was definitely shocked by one twist, but the ending was way too open ended for my liking! Is there going to be a sequel or are we just supposed to assume we know what happens next? I am stuck in the middle between the two options. Overall, this is definitely a fun thriller for younger kids who will enjoy the fast pace and constant thrills!

What a read. Honestly, Natasha Preston knows how to keep a reader engaged up till the end. Even for a YA Thriller it was extremely hard to put down and that means this was a good book. I do love a good slasher book. I am in love with this authors writing style and her sense of story telling. I really enjoyed this and I’ll continue to pick up her next ones too!