First of all, thank you to Saga Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, for the free e-copy of The Haunting of Velkwood by Gwendolyn Kiste for review. While the novel revolves around the supernatural and excels at delivering a unique twist on it, at the center is a love story that is deeply melancholic. After encountering Talitha and Brett and their years-long plight in this neighborhood, I was rooting for a happy ending for them. The writing excels at delivering a wonderful character-driven world that is highly atmospheric and engrossing, which only serves to enhance the story and drive the plot further along. Through the excellent writing you get to see how Talitha and Brett were highly constricted in their agency and choices long before the supernatural came into play. The Haunting of Velkwood is an easy recommendation for lovers of gothic and ghost stories.

Thank you Saga Press #partner for the #gifted copy and @simon.audio #partner for the audiobook!
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Twenty years ago, three friends left Velkwood street that turned into an invisible, haunting sheath impenetrable by nobody except the three friends. Grace went in once and came out traumatized and barricaded herself against humanity. Now it’s Talitha’s turn when a researcher approaches her. Talitha only agrees to go in to save her trapped little sister. Brett, the third friend, wants no part of it. Little does Talitha realize that by reentering the Velkwood Vicinity, she has to reckon with the very traumatic experiences that made her escape in the first place, so she can move forward.

Gwendolyn Kiste has now become my latest autobuy author! Haunted house tropes are my favorite but this book has not one but a street full of haunted houses with characters that lived in them, but also, they are analogies to the inherited familial and communal trauma that we carry from our childhoods and adolescence wherever we go. I also loved how the author portrayed the three friends’ individual coping mechanisms in moving forward with the choices they made. The entire story is melancholic and be prepared to cry in the final pages. However the ending is also optimistic.

If you loved 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙚𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧 𝙃𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙚 where haunted houses are channeling inner traumas, then you will love this book! I’m going to be thinking of The Haunting Of Velkwood for a while. Reading this story was a cinematic experience and I would love to see it being made into a movie.

I continue to be very impressed by Gwendolyn Kiste’s creativity and her ability to take traditional horror and ghost story themes and spin them into something new and unique.

I absolutely loved Reluctant Immortals, so I was really looking forward to this one. This proved to be a fun and intriguing read as well, this time more ghost story than updated gothic horror.

I loved the structure of this and how the story unfolded. Kiste does a lovely job of keeping things creepy and unsettling without ever veering off into ickiness or shock for shock’s sake.

Like many horror or horror adjacent novels this is in some ways a meditation on desperation and the desire to be seen, though what Kiste has done with that idea is very different from how it typically manifests in these types of books. I can’t wait to see what she does next.

This book was chilling and eerie and the haunting vibes were immaculate. I truly loved reading this. (Probably like a 4.5 rating, but rounded up to 5 because this was actually so good.)

An entire street disappears behind a veil of mystery and only the three girls who walked away from their sheltered hometown life can go back in - but there are too many questions. What lies on the other side of the shadowy perimeter? Do they even want to go back? And what happens if they do?

My unfiltered thoughts upon completing this book:
- I loved our main character her. Talitha has such a relatable attitude; she's likable but she has typical mc qualities that have her making questionable decisions.
- The ongoing mystery of what lies in the Velkwood Vicinity (I hate this name btw) was done SO WELL here. Like the creepy atmosphere of this ghost town/street was excellent. What's better than one haunted house?? A WHOLE STREET OF THEM!
- The dynamic between Talitha, Brett, Grace, and eventually Enid when we meet her is so interesting and I really loved the exploration into their friendships.
- Talitha and Brett's relationship journey was so well conveyed - from their childhood to adulthood and discoveries along the way, I truly loved them.
- Grace's twin brothers not having clear faces was SUPER creepy but also... the description of what they looked like is actually the perfect description for how I always visualize characters faces when I read soooo I actually loved that. Also they deserved to not have faces in my opinion (justice for Enid!)
- Why is every character named Enid just naturally super weird (at least in the eyes of everyone around them)?
- Jack is introduced as this semi-charismatic researcher man who I didn't end up totally hating by the end, so kudos for giving me a side male character who wasn't atrocious (I was worried he was going to turn into a selfish jerk at one point but we're all good)
- Sophie was so cute, I loved the child addition to throw in a different perspective on the whole thing.
- The changes to the mystery (surprise! sending people into a ghost town means that the ghost town is going to show subtle changes over time) added an extra element of urgency that had me not wanting to put the book down so I could find out what they were dealing with.

Minor spoilers:
- I kind of hated that it all came back to be focused around the asshole dad (like no sir you do not deserve to be the center of attention here, go away) - but also I get why this was because it wasn't just a family secret, it was a shameful secret of the whole street turning a blind eye to what he was doing.
- But also in regard to the asshole dad thing, I actually love that the root of the problem was someone not directly involved with the mc (yes, Brett was directly tied to Talitha, but most books would probably have the asshole dad be Talitha's dad to make it more direct, and I like that it was Brett's dad instead)
- Justice for Enid (again, in case you missed it above)

Just as Talitha Velkwood ventures back to her childhood home, Gwendolyn Kiste returns to familiar topics from her past works, exploring the traumas and abuses of youth, female friendships, and the ways in which our own personal histories continue to haunt, all set against the backdrop of an all too-familiar suburban gothic.

Talitha hasn't been home in twenty years. She spent her entire childhood seeking a way to escape, and was finally gifted that chance when her entire neighborhood was swallowed by a supernatural event. Only Talitha and her two closest (and now estranged) friends, Brett and Grace, made it out. When a researcher contacts her with the promise of money, Talitha is forced by circumstance to return. Her mother and sister still haunt their home, along with the other unfortunate families trapped within the timeless veil of the Velkwood Vicinity, and Talitha sees this an opportunity to not only fix things but to finally save her sister.

After passing through the veil and stepping into her own past, Talitha herself becomes the ghost haunting the homes she grew up and played in as her past and present begin to converge. Forced to deal with the violence and secrets of her and her friends' past, Kiste explores the thin line -- if such a line even exists -- separating past and present, and the ways in which one can influence the other.

The Haunting of Velkwood is a tender gothic focused on the exploration of Talitha and her history. Even outside the veil of the Velkwood Vicinity she's practically a ghost, perpetually in limbo as she floats from job to job, house to house, never building her own life or consecrating her present as she attempts to escape the past. By returning home, Talitha has no choice but to face the consequences of her past actions, exploring her old life, prior loves, and suburban secrets of sexual abuse and murder. There's no escaping the ghosts of our past, but the real question here is whether or not they can be conquered before they destroy us and those we hold dear.

Three friends leave their hometown, headed back to college, and receive the worst phone call imaginable. There are eight houses in their neighborhood, and everyone who lived there is gone. Not only have the residents vanished, but Velkwood Street refuses to allow anyone to enter.
That is except Talitha,Brett,and Grace,the three girls who got away. Talitha has drifted from one dead end job to another for 20 years. When a researcher tracks her down and offers her enough money to live on for a while, if she returns to that street, she says yes. But returning home comes with a steep price. She has finally found her little sister, looking the same as the last time she saw her. Are the resident somehow still alive or is Talitha just seeing the ghosts of what once existed.
It’s quite a mystery and deals heavily with the traumas these girls lived through growing up.Talitha convinces Grace and Brett into coming home too, as the three of them need to finish what they started on the night they left. A spooky and definitely creepy story, but I didn’t find it extremely scary.
I was sorry how it ended for some of the characters and happy for others. My first read by this author, and I’m definitely going to check out her backlist.

Twenty years ago, the Velkwood Vicinity became shielded behind a barrier that nobody could breach, except for three women who survived. Ever since, the ares has been investigated by paranormal researchers and documentary makers.

Talitha Velkwood, namesake of the little subdivision with eight houses, is approached by Jack to go back in and help him with his research. Having avoided anything to do with her childhood home, she reluctantly agrees. What will she find when she sets foot in her old neighborhood? Will the secrets the three have been harboring for the last 20 years finally come to light?

This slow burn tale was quite enjoyable. I liked Talitha and felt she and her two childhood friends were well fleshed out. I was quite intrigued by the plot and it kept me interested throughout the book. The book looks at the perils of suburban living and how people tend to "look the other way" so that their own skeletons don't see the light of day. I also liked how the subplot of Brett and Talitha unfolded, from their youth and understanding sexuality, through the end of the book. The only minor issue was some repetition, including the same adjective being used repeatedly. Overall, this is one thar I'll be thinking about for a while.

My thanks to Saga Press, author Gwendolyn Kiste, and NetGalley for gifting me a digital copy of this book. My opinions are my own.

The Haunting of Velkwood starts with a street that is haunted, with researchers trying to figure out why nobody can cross onto the block from the end of the street, and those that have feel sick. They have spent twenty years trying to learn more about the eight houses and the ghosts that still live in this impenetrable area and what events led up to the entire street being filled quarantined and with ghosts. The researchers have also tried for years to get one of the three survivors who escaped the street right before it turned into a ghost to go back into the haunted street for research purposes. Grace went back a few years earlier and has not been the same since. Brett has told the researchers there was no way she is going back. This leaves Talitha as their only option. Talitha has been drifting between dead end jobs and dead end boyfriends, not really doing much with her life but running from her past at Velkwood. When a researcher proposes money and the chance of saving her eight-year-old sister Sophie, who has been trapped in the area, she reluctantly agrees. 

Gwendolyn Kiste has appeared on a few podcasts in promotion of this novel (This is Horror and Dead Headspace are the ones I have listened to), and she has repeated on both that she was half way through writing the novel when she realized she was writing a novel about her history of struggling with her bisexuality. Kiste has feelings from her teenage years that are explored through the relationship of Talitha and Brett, and in the end, the haunting of Velkwood is really a love story, with Talitha and Brett being brought back together and the haunting of the street is about resolving the problems that they were running from as teenagers. 

I liked the story and the writing. I thought the premise was interesting, and I did enjoy the Velkwood Vicinity in the beginning with the researchers and the mysteries. It reminded me of the mysteries of The Southern Reach Trilogy by Jeff Vandermeer, Once Talitha started going back to the street, the story shifted focus away from the area and more on the people inside of it. The story is good, but I did not attach to the teenage girls in the love story much. This story was not much for me, but there might be a young person reading and struggling with the same feelings as Talitha. This could be the story to encourage them to follow their heart. We could always use stories like this. 

I received this as an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

What if the past that is haunting you is an entire street? What if that street is haunting the entire country and not just you? Have no fear Gwendolyn Kiste has answered these questions with The Haunting of Velkwood. Twenty years ago, three teenage friends left town the same night everyone in their unambiguous neighborhood disappeared from society and essentially turned into ghosts. For years the world was captivated with the news of this mysterious impenetrable veil that surrounded the suburban street known as Velkwood. No one could get in and no one could come out. The fate of its residents and the cause of the disturbance was a complete unknown. The only people who could enter Velkwood were the three girls who made their escape with no intention of looking back. When a researcher asks the survivors to return home for scientific purposes only one girl will say yes, Talitha Velkwood. What then unfolds in the pages is haunting, mysterious and deep. This is not your everyday run of the mill gothic horror story, this is angering, heartwarming, spine tingling and psychological horror done right. The setting is pitch perfect with its delivery, it isn’t just a place and feeling, it is alive. The whole book throws off heavy 90’s movie vibes filled with biting social commentary and edgy personalities. I found this book to be nothing like what I expected it to be, and it smashed through my perceptions of what one can achieve in the gothic genre. This is a short quick read and is well written.

3.5/5

This book had such an interesting premise. A town lost to time, stuck between the living and the dead and only three people could come in and out. There was a good setup for a great creepy mystery, but there was just something that didn’t quite feel right in how the story unfolded. It felt very scattered to me, very unsure of what it was trying to say at first and then overbearing in its message with no subtlety later on. I wish it let the reader draw their own conclusions rather than the heavy handed way it presented all its ideas and morals.

A lot of the characters felt rather hollow too, more of stand-ins to fit a role rather than actual people. The whole research team and Jack felt like they were just there with no real purpose. The characters inside the town at least had a reason to feel hollow. In the end the only interesting characters were Talitha and Brett.

Overall I think there was a really cool idea here but it was not quite executed as well as it could have.

This book was mostly a miss for me. The writing was well done, but that was pretty much the only thing that I liked. I didn't think the characters were very interesting. They weren't very well developed, especially the side characters. But even the MC didn't feel like a fully fleshed out person and I couldn't connect to her at all. I also wasn't a big fan of the plot. There isn't really an explanation at the end about what's happening. It's kind of like "Oh, we did this magic thingy somehow and we don't know why but let's just get together and another magical thing will happen again!" I wanted more from the story than just bumbling around, hoping something happens. I also didn't like how the main conflict between the MC and another character is lack of communication. If these two characters acted their age and simply talked to each other half the conflict of the book would have disappeared. And that's not the kind of story I want to read. I want something more interesting than "I'm scared to tell her how I feel."

I don't think this is a bad book, but I wish the author had developed the story a little bit more and had a more interesting plot.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

Book Review | THE HAUNTING OF VELKWOOD by GWENDOLYN KISTE

3⭐’s |  PUB DATE: 5 March 2024

Read if you're looking for:
- A strange event that caused a neighborhood to disappear many years ago, à la X-Files
- A beautifully written eerie & unsettling atmosphere
- A slow-paced meditation on trauma and loss
- Lots of ghosts & bugs


Our main character, Talitha, has been floating through life in a dead end job since her neighborhood back home blinked out of existence. A paranormal investigator approaches Talitha to help his team, as it seems only previous residents are able to enter the shimmering boundary of the ghostly neighborhood. With no other prospects and guilt about leaving her little sister behind in the neighborhood, Talitha accepts, and eventually convinces two other survivors, and old friends, to join her. As Talitha makes several journeys back into Velkwood Street, she begins to put together the pieces of how she might be able to save her sister, all the while trying to keep the true events of the night of the schism hidden from the researchers.

This book really caught my attention with the summary, the idea is really intriguing. And I was really hoping some super weird stuff going on in the old neighborhood. However, although this is categorized as a horror novel, it’s more paranormal, and Talitha has a lot of interactions with the ghosts of the neighborhood. This story is also more metaphorical, dealing with the “ghosts of the past” and revealing old traumatic events in order to process them and move on.

Kiste does an amazing job making the reader feel the creepy and mysterious atmosphere, and I loved the descriptions of the neighborhood. I also really enjoyed the romantic relationship that is built over the course of the story. However, the substance wasn’t quite there for me. There is a lot of repetition, of ideas and plot points. I think that this might have worked better as a novella, so that the pacing worked a little bit more. The dialogue and setting was well written, but the characters felt a touch flat to me. I would have liked to see a little bit of a deeper dive into the main characters. Overall, this was a well written ghost story, with amazing creepy atmosphere, but don’t go into it expecting a ton of action, as it is more of a meditation on trauma.

CW: Child abuse, Death, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence

NOTE: I received this ebook for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

A twisty, psychological paranormal, HAUNTING OF VELKWOOD had me on the edge of my seat. Kiste writes tension masterfully, intertwining confronting past traumas by allowing them to take the form of ghosts. I love books where the absence of something is a character in itself.

Thank you to Saga Press and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I've been a fan of Kiste's work since And Her Smile Will Untether the Universe, and her newest novel continues her conjuration of places and events of the here-not-here. The Haunting of Velkwood takes us into the suburban fantastic as Talitha is forced to confront the literal ghosts of her past. Twenty years ago, Talitha's neighborhood disappeared over night - trapping her mother, sister and neighbors inside - with only her and two friends (Grace and Brett) on the outside. Now, when offered the chance to go back by a researcher, she takes it. What lies on the other side of the boundary is weird, wonderful, and wistful.

Talitha and the other characters are brought to life with careful attention to how this major event shaped them. She's wandered for years, never really finding happiness or settling, and the broken promise to her younger sister weighs heavily. Brett, on the other hand, has succeeded and has no desire to go back. This push and pull of crossing the suburban boundary, the costs it has, and what is learned each time we crossover builds a nice tension. The novel is full of longing for a would've, could've, should've and what ifs. It's that teenage desire to leave everything behind but the adult realization that what you leave may be truly gone. Talitha's inner conflict with her desires and the guilt she's grown with felt terribly realistic and her choice between past and present/future was engaging. To the end, I didn't know which choice she was going to make.

The setting is fantastic with vivid descriptions. The friendship and relationships were well done, especially between Talitha and her mother. The novel acknowledges the inherent nostalgia and dreams built in what becomes a suburban hellscape, and asks, "Where did we go wrong?" The answers, naturally, are complicated.

I recommend this novel for fans of Kiste's work, anyone who left a small town and never looked back, and adults who were forced to be someone they weren't (and may still be hiding in the shadows). A beautiful, haunting accomplishment for Kiste.

A full-length review was posted on my blog on March 5, 2024.

You know that feeling you get when you are sure that there is something behind you? Something just out of your peripherial vision that if you could just turn fast enough it would leave you unhinged? #TheHauntingofVelkwood by #GwendolynKiste is that feeling creeping up on you. I adore this book so much. It sucks you in from the very beginning with a story of 3 girls that manged to escape destruction in their neighborhood. They become something akin to celebrities being the only ones that didn't vanish along with the neighborhood they came from. Although people from their old town still whisper about what could have caused a whole street to disappear taking the people with it.

Nothing can get through the barrior that protects Velkwood, well almost nothing. The girls that escaped can find their way back in but only at a certain point and time moves differently there. They find themselves caught up in Velkwood once again when one of them returns and brings something back with them. The ghosts of their childhood are calling to them. Velkwood is calling to them, its time to end what began all those years ago.


Thank you so much to #Netgalley for the chance to read the eArc of #TheHauntingofVelkwood by #GwendolynKiste in return for a fair and honest review.

Thank you Saga Press for the review copy of The Haunting of Velkwood. I admit this one had me at yellowjackets vibes...

A solid example of speculative writing, paranormal mystery and suspense, a gothic take on ghosts and feeling/being haunted, and at the heart also a family drama, a kind of reverse coming of age as main characters try to process a night that left them lost and alone except for each other during their college years. The story is original, the plot is creepy and unsettling, and the voices and story resonated with me and held me attention. There is a lot to appreciate in this complex book and a lot of appreciation for a story that stands out for being unlike others I have read and a plot that is creative and works. My one note is at times some pacing/writing issues that held me a little back from fully loving the book but still a lot of promise for future books from Kiste and a great read for thriller fans who want something new, off the beaten path.

Okay so oh my LANTA the ✨emotions✨ with this one that I did not expect. For anyone who loves September House just as much as I did this book is for you. It’s very similar vibes on addressing trauma and how you realize people in real life as well as situations can be just as scary as ghosts and hauntings. Instead of a house, it takes place in an entire neighborhood, and instead of being a mom and her daughter, it ends up being a trio of girlfriends, with the focus being primarily on Talitha.

First when I started reading it, I wasn’t sure if I was going to like how much the relationship between Talitha and Brett was a part of it. It seemed rather unnecessary at first. I didn’t really understand how it tied into the story, but as the story moved on, it became clear how it was very much actually one of the focal points of the book and a very necessary included narrative.

The neighborhood, which seemed almost be its own actual character in the story, that seemed very alive and all consuming, was also an interesting point that I didn’t expect at first. But it plays on that Gothic trope (which is also one of my favorite tropes) of the house, or in this case neighborhood, being alive. The time jumps between being inside the neighborhood and outside the neighborhood was another nice little add in. Because when you hear characters talk about being inside the neighborhood, you have to wonder how long they were actually there and vice versa.

Whereas September House seem to explore the intimacies and secrets you may hide from your family members, or even yourself, as well as the positives and negatives of those types of relationships, This focuses more on what secrets and biases of the time can affect specific friendships and your relationships with your family members as a result of those friendships.

I rated this four stars a couple reasons. Firstly, because in the first maybe 25-30% was kinda a slog to get through and not the most exciting. Honestly, like I said before, I wasn’t expecting to enjoy this as much as I did. However, once it picks up around the second time she goes back into the neighborhood is when you just want to keep reading through the end to find out what happens.

Also, I wish that the character of Grace was a little bit more flushed out because you got these really, really strong characterizations of Talitha and Brett, but it doesn’t seem that you know you get to learn as much about Grace as the other two, despite them all being supposed to be these three girls in a close friendship. You know that Grace as an adult was very, very focused on the past, and as a teen was very into her boyfriend, quiet and I felt like that was kind of it.
Meanwhile, with Brett and Talitha, it felt a lot more in-depth where you got to understand the intricacies of their emotions and their personalities and why they were the way they were. Then it seemed like Grace was kind of along for the ride. I would’ve at least liked to know a little bit more about Grace’s, backstory and personality, why she was the way she was and why she was so focused on the past. We never really find that out .

I also would’ve liked to know more about Talitha‘s toxic family dynamic because again, you get to figure out like how in depth and how toxic/not great the family relationship was in Brett’s family and all the things that were going on but I feel like you don’t get to know quite as much about that as with Talitha and her family. You get a glimpse of it towards the end, but otherwise you don’t really get quite as an in-depth description.

Overall, I think I really enjoyed this book way more than I thought I would like I think I literally read the second half of it in two different nights because I had to find out what happened and what the specifics of why they left were. In fact, it almost made me cry as many times as September House did towards the end because I did not expect any of that as an ending. WHO WAS CUTTING ONIONS IN THE CLUB WITH THAT ENDING 😭😭😭

Twenty years ago, Talitha's mother and sister disappeared when a block in her town, named after the family, Velkwood becomes mostly invisible to all except 3 friends that lived there.. After leaving the area, Talitha is approached by a paranormal researcher wants to explore the street, she agrees and decides to return. One three people can return and she is one of them.
Very good story that is able to make you cry with sorrow for the missing and the girls who are still alive. I enjoyed the read and will be looking for more from Ms. Kiste.

Talitha(name of little girl revived in a Christian gospel) has a hopeless life with little ambition. After her suburban neighborhood block disappeared, along with her beloved little sister and mom, she has failed to move past the tragedy. When a paranormal researcher, Jake, offers the opportunity to explore Velkwood, as the media dubbed the ghostly block, Talitha decides to return. She is soon reunited with her childhood friends. Soon, the secrets of their past are revealed. A poignant, creepy page-turner.

Twenty years ago, Talitha's neighborhood turned into a ghost and took every remaining person on the street into ghostliness with it. Known as the Velkwood Vicinity, only Talitha and her two former friends can return. But they don't. Despite their denials, they've kept the secret of what happened the night the neighborhood went into limbo and why they believe it happened...but now it's time to go back.

Dark, sad, bittersweet, and hopeful in the end, it's a meditation on the way the open secrets we keep can twist and mutate our humanity. It's about protection, communication, and ultimately about letting of the past so that you can have a present. Talitha is so sad but so easy to feel for, even when you disagree with what she does, it's hard not to understand why she made the choices that she did.

Despite the darkness, this made me cry more than once. It's absolutely wrenching to watch the horror on the inside effect the outside, and to see what it takes to wash away the dark and allow everyone to move on.

Some topics are kind of danced around or not explicit, and I appreciated that Kiste did not make those things the center of the story even if they are important to everything that happens. It truly stays a story about Talitha, and the relationships she had before and after the events that created Velkwood.

This was my first Gwendolyn Kiste and I think I will be looking up other books by her as her writing style was compelling and soft in a way I can't explain. Not my usual read but I very much enjoyed it.