THE HAUNTING OF VELKWOOD
by Gwendolyn Kiste

Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book to review!

WOW ! Great book. The past will always haunt us, maybe not as specifically as in this book but the statement certainly holds true.

The protagonist Talitha Velkwood has skimmed through her life, never settling down or making anything of herself. She has always been haunted by what happened in her neighborhood when she was a teenager .

For reasons unknown to the reader until about mid book, Talitha, Brett and Grace, three close friends from high school, leave Velkwood in the middle of the night never to return. Brett has created a fabulous life for herself and never had a moment of guilt about that night many years ago and didn't look back. Grace returned one time and it caused her to have a nervous breakdown which now reflected the life of an agoraphob. Talitha just kept on existing until one day researchers asked her to return to Velkwood to help them understand what happened there and solve the mystery. Perhaps it was the money she was offered but I think it was more about the guilt of leaving her little sister Sophie behind.

And so the story begins, Talitha and the group of researchers return to the outskirts of the Velkwood neighborhood which by the way, disappeared on the night the 3 girls left 20 years ago. A perimeter is set up where only certain people can enter (those people being one time occupants of the neighborhood). Time acts differently in Velkwood.. What is supposed to be an hour upon Talitha's first visit turned out to be 3 months in real time. When she returned to Velkwood she could see all the former neighborhood residents, neighbors, her mother and sister Sophie but they could not see her. Were they ghosts? This is the big question researchers want to answer.

Weaving throughout the story comes some answers as to why the girls left in the first place and why each of them has different emotions regarding the old neighborhood. Without giving anything away I can say this was one of the most unique “ghost” stories I've read. I still ask myself, but were the former neighborhood occupants ghosts? Still not certain. Am certain if you like this type of novel you should definitely read it. Horror – Sci. Fi – Mystery and a damn good story !

5 stars for quality, unique concept and writing flow.

It’s impossible to read The Haunting of Velkwood and not put yourself in Talitha’s position. What would my personal Velkwood look like? It made me question why I don’t read more magical realism. This was a really interesting concept, like a lost episode of the Twilight Zone. At roughly 185 pages I was curious how the pacing of this intricate story would play out and was pleasantly surprised. I kept waiting for the story to fully flash-back to “the before times” but you realize quickly that Velkwood makes you wait. It gives you little intriguing pieces of information as it goes and lets you slowly put it together yourself. You keep reading because you HAVE to know the why and how. I was worried about how the resolution of the street would play out but I felt really good about it. It was the perfect mixture of justice redemption. I will say the one issue I had was the over use of similes, once you see it you can’t un-see it but overall I really really enjoyed my time with this story.

Talitha Velkwood wants nothing to do with the past she escaped twenty years ago. That is until she needs money. Pulled back to the neighborhood shrouded in mystery she wishes she could just forget it’s a new researcher’s hope that Talitha can help him make any kind of discoveries about the Velkwood Vicinity. Nobody can get in, nobody can get out. Except Talitha, her estranged best friend Brett and clearly off her rocker Grace who has made it past the perimeter once before.

The Haunting of Velkwood is an eerie tale about the ghosts of our pasts, the things we will do for the people we love and the guilt those things leave us with.

I wanted to like this book more than I did. Don’t get me wrong, the story is great. It has everything you could want - best friends, are they or aren’t they lovers, sibling bonds, actual ghosts and a neighborhood that is literally reaching out to call back what it’s lost.

Right off the bat Talitha gave me very strong Camille from Sharper Objects vibes. That faded as time went on but it did stick with me. Brett does a similar thing where I could envision an older her as a Stockard Channing type but in my mind young Brett was Haley Lu Richardson and I have no idea but that’s just what stuck in my mind. They are the only two characters who came off the page for me in a way I could see them outside the book.

Talitha wants nothing more than to forget about the neighborhood she escaped as a young adult except for that she’s left her sister Sophie behind. No one knows if Sophie or any of the other residents on Velkwood Street are even alive because no one can get in. What bothered me about Talitha’s strong desire to save Sophie is that it took twenty years and one faint photo of a possible ghost to get her back to that place with an unwavering determination. That and $5,000. In the grand scheme of the story Sophie isn’t really that important. Yes, she serves as a device to keep Talitha going back into the neighborhood but at the end of the day we don’t need Sophie for this story to be told and a lot of time is wasted on her. That time could have been better spent padding out Enid’s backstory. She is arguably more interesting and more important and it almost feels like there’s more to be said about her and why she is the way she is and how she does what she does. Talitha essentially says that without Enid there would be no Velkwood Vicinity. But she’s barely a blip on the radar, there to serve a minor purpose when she definitely should have been a bigger character. Another character who suffers this fate is Grace. Needed to get us to our conclusion but mostly forgotten otherwise, she is an afterthought.

Our main character is also not essential to the story outside of the fact that she is the one who gets everyone where they need to be. It isn’t something I realized until I was done with the book but the ghost story portion of this entire book belongs, heartbreakingly, to Brett. While each of them have ghosts they leave behind the catalyst is what happens to Brett, what’s been happening to Brett for the duration of the book. Each glimpse into the past says more about what she suffered and how no one was there to stop it. Not until the end. Not until the ghosts break down the whole mirage. I get that Talitha needs Brett and that Brett needs Talitha and that who they are together is important but I think this story has the wrong main character.

What I did like was how vividly you could see the past and the future. Bits of Talitha walking through the neighborhood, as strange as it had become, read like old photographs from the 90s, a filter over them that said this was another time. When you’re brought back to the present everything seems more bleak, darker, peppered with images of researchers popping up and making everything feel sterile and odd. There was a sense of longing through the book that made you want a happy ending for Talitha and for Brett. I just wish more time was spent telling me what they had to go through, how the incident the night everything changed happened outside of the minor blip it became. There is so much more story here but what kills me is that what is there is great. Maybe it’s the reader in me just wanting more.

Thank you Netgalley and Saga Press for the opportunity to read this book.

Twenty years ago, three teens were the sole survivors of a bizarre and inexplicable event that transformed their neighborhood into an inaccessible, ghostly territory. They’re also the only ones who can re-enter the area, and after her two estranged childhood friends, Brett Hadley and Grace Spencer, decline a researcher’s re-entry proposal, Talitha Velkwood is the last one who might be able to unravel the incident that separated her from her mother and sister, derailed her life, and left her penniless, alone, and adrift. Was it occult influences, a scientific anomaly, or something else entirely? How will Talitha solve the mystery and what, exactly, will she find once she returns?

In order to move forward and salvage some semblance of self and existence, Talitha must reconcile with and overcome her past — an elusive entity as painful and ever-present as the veiled remains of Velkwood Street. To do so, she must reconnect with and elicit help from Brett and Grace, who have also been irrevocably changed by their shared history. What follows is a complex and layered narrative that gradually reveals its secrets, pulling the reader along on an impactful, unputdownable, and unforgettable collision course where freedom comes at a cost and truth may serve as both savior and destroyer.

A unique and refreshing take on the suburban gothic, The Haunting of Velkwood is a chilling, eerie, addictive, and resonant meditation on history, memory, and tragedy; family, love, and friendship; identity, understanding, and acceptance; and truth, choice, and accountability. It’s a powerful and indelible tale that truly moves and enraptures, and an astounding accomplishment that readers will relish and devour.

Thank you to NetGalley and Saga Press for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

I liked this book. It wasn't my favorite but it was something I enjoyed. Thank you Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

I very much enjoyed this book, both the story, the execution, and the style of writing. At its heart, The Haunting of Velkwood is about friendship and shared trauma. Kiste has created a great, mysterious, spooky world in the Velkwood Vicinity. I could see it all clearly.
For me, there were no surprises in the plot or aha moments, but I've read a lot of books. If you're looking for a wonderful creepy tale with a great ending, this is a terrific choice.

Thank you Saga and Netgalley for the chance to read an early copy in exchange for my unbiased thoughts.

I really enjoyed this haunting tale! This is about a woman who returns to her childhood town that is now inhabited with the ghosts of her friends, family and neighbors.

On the night it turned into a ghost town Talitha and her friends Brett and Grace got out of there before it could claim them too. They are the only ones who can go in and out of the area, and of course the government is interested in studying it. Will this area finally tell us what happens after death?

This is a very character driven story with an eerie and unsettling atmosphere. There’s also a second chance/forbidden romance. I’d say this was a cross between magical realism and paranormal/horror. For a story about ghosts and a mysterious past, it didn’t feel outrageously unrealistic. Combined with the element of the government wanting to study this area it felt creepy and realistic.

There were a ton of jaw dropping moments and I found myself hooked to this story. I did find the final reveal regarding how this town changed to fall flat, but overall I thought this story was engrossing and captivating.

Read this if you enjoy:
👻 Ghost stories/hauntings
💀 Dystopian vibes
🚷 Movies with government testing sites (think 28 Days Later & Outbreak)
💘 Forbidden + Second Chance romances (don’t worry, this isn’t entirely a romance!)
🙎🏼‍♀️Character driven stories
🪄 Stories with a touch of dark magic

This publishes on March 5, 2024 and this was a great book to read this month for spooky season! Thank you NetGalley and Saga Press Books for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

SO GOOD.

Seriously I could not put this down. The story felt fresh, original, & something that really made me think as i read it. From the beginning I was hooked. I kept asking myself questions such as “What is the purpose of these characters? What happened to this neighborhood? Why did this happen?” & i could not put this down until i got my answers.
The story ties together so perfectly I did not have any lingering thoughts after. I loved how the characters tied in together, everyone felt like they were complete.

My only cons are…
1. Justice for Brett
2. We couldn’t have given Brett a better name?
3. At some points the author had characters in a conversation that happened in the past, but then the next paragraph would be in the present. I found it hard to follow at times, & it wouldve been better to have a break between paragraphs so i knew we moved into the present.

I loved the premise for this book and basically read it in one sitting. It didn't fully live up to my expectations, but it was definitely interesting and had some solid twists and emotional gut-punches toward the end. Also, it's super queer in the end, which was great.

The Haunting of Velkwood is compelling from the first page, and does not let go until the very end. The concept of this novel is so clever, yet so simple. Instead of a haunted house, we have a haunted block of homes, which no one can enter, except the three survivors. Our protagonist, Talitha, is one of these survivors.

Twenty years after the incident, Talitha is invited by a researcher to return to the tragic scene, which has been the subject of much media attention. Down on her luck and unmoored, Talitha accepts the offer, and hopes for a resolution to the mystery that has haunted her for most of her adult life.. And when she enters the spectral street, things get very bizarre indeed.

I have read so many ghost stories and novels; some derivative, some terrifying. But The Haunting of Velkwood is utterly original, and incredibly exciting. It felt like every chapter ended with a revelation that made me physically gasp and urge me continue reading (FYI - I started this book on a Friday night and was finished by Sunday).

Kiste is a fantastic writer; her short story The Man in the Ambry is one of my favorite ghost stories. While I enjoyed her previous novels, The Rust Maidens, and Reluctant Immortals, for me, The Haunting of Velkwood truly captures the horror and the intrigue of the aforementioned ghost story.

I can’t recommend this book highly enough. Beautifully written, perfectly paced, and heartbreaking and terrifying in equal measure.

Echoing some of the same themes as her Bram Stoker award winning novel The Rust Maidens, Gwendolyn Kiste's The Haunting of Velkwood explores the ennui and unfulfilled dreams of suburbia. While The Rust Maidens explored the rusting and failing of the factories abandoned during the 1980's, Velkwood is described as a bland suburban place: "too far to be anything but a nothing town.". The Velkwood Vicinity has been explored by occultists, conspiracy theorists, documentarians but no one save the three young women who escaped can enter what once was a suburban block of homes but is now surrounded by an impenetrable, ghostly veil . Estranged from her former best friends, Brett and Grace who also successfully fled, Talitha Velkwood works a series of part-time jobs, trying to escape her past and avoiding anything related to the mystery that took her sister and mother from her. When a researcher offers her a substantial sum to go back, she says she's doing it for the money. No one knows what happened the night that her neighborhood disappeared or what happened to the people still trapped there. Will Talitha be able to find out?

The push and pull of the past and the allure of the idea of going home is as much of a trap as the veil that surrounds Velkwood. Kiste seems to ask if Velkwood hadn't disappeared, would Talitha had been able to escape at all? Readers will be drawn into Velkwood as the characters are, with the sense of dread and fear building throughout the book. The way Kiste is able to craft groups of female friends and explore those relationships will also appeal to readers who might not immediate seek out horror. Fans of The Rust Maidens will find much to love here as will fans of other novels that explore the suburban malaise like The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix, Good Neighbors by Sarah Langan, and Suburban Monsters by Christopher Hawkins.

Well, this one really dragged me in. I keep picking up these books thinking "this will be spooky" and then being hit in the head with beautiful tragic stories of love and loss and dedication. The Haunting of Velkwood has all of this and more.

Kiste masterful weaves a narrative of a street out of time and I found it to be inventive and unique. I love how she tackles sexual orientation and prejudice in a way that seems wholly natural.

My only want was to get to know more about Jack. He's interesting and I felt like he had more of a story to tell.

This was a perfect late October read.

More gothic than the horror I was expecting, but overall it was a fun quick October read! Plot definitely needed fleshed out a bit more, but the characters were well developed! If you like gothic ghosts you’ll like this!

I found this character-driven story to be truly fascinating. It had depth and maturity, but was also a page-turner despite the rather slow pace. I like this author and will keep coming back to their works. Recommended.

3.5 stars

This is an intense and deep slow burn. It’s very character driven, with very real and flawed characters. Everything unfolds at a nice pace that keeps you wondering what’s really going on. A perfect novel if you enjoy a slow burn, however if you’re looking for something fast paced this may not be for you.

The Haunting of Velkwood has a unique story in that the “ghosts” may be dead……or maybe not?

This is definitely a character-driven novel, where the characters take center stage over the setting or plot. I really liked the two main protagonists, and thought they were well rounded and relatable. I had a bit of a problem with the plot.A few things are left unexplained, and I would have liked more background on one of the minor characters.

Thank you for allowing me to read this ARC! Receiving this book as an ARC did not influence my opinion in any way.