4.5 stars rounded down to 4!

If Grady Hendrix and Riley Sager had a gothic horror love child, it would be this gem of a book. Absolutely loved my time with this one as it seamlessly combined elements of so many stories I’ve enjoyed in the past. Huge thanks to Berkley and Christina Henry for my early review copy! Definitely recommend preordering this one for its release May 14th

Oh man. I really wanted to like this. I really EXPECTED to like this, in fact. I went in with high expectations, but I was wrong when I felt in my gut that this would be a 5 star read. Welp.

First the positives, What I like is that this book feels like a love letter to horror fans. Harry finds solace and escapism in watching films, especially horror films, relishing the fun of terror and excitement in a safe, controlled, environment. Javier, the owner of the haunted mansion, is a horror filmmaker. Yes, the book is paranormal, but this honestly is more of a thriller than horror. At least it didn’t end up being some person hiding in the walls or something. I would’ve been pissed if that is what had happened.

So, this wasn’t as scary as I had hoped. Maybe it’s because of the reviews I’ve read of Christina Henry’s other books (this is my first book of hers that I’ve read) but this wasn’t as dark as I was expecting, which isn’t a bad thing. But it also wasn’t very scary. This is penned as a haunted house book, but I realized when I was 70% in that barely any haunted occurrences had even happened. A couple, sure, but I’d have expected more by the time I’m mostly done with the book.

I hate to be critical but I really was expecting to like this more than I did 😭 I was expecting something dark and terrifying, with the reviews I’ve seen of Christina Henry’s other books, but honestly it felt like I was reading more of a contemporary than a horror novel. Maybe my expectations were too high but this wasn’t what I was expecting. The whole thing is just about the struggle of her life and providing for her son and very little of the story goes outside of that. This book kind of gave me similar vibes of that Room movie with Brie Larsen, and it’s more so a story of a parent’s struggle to give their child a better life. So, not horror. This felt more of a coming of age than horror. Coming of age is my least favorite genre. This book is barely horror until about 85% in. And even then it feels more like a thriller than horror.

My other critique is that this book glosses over how in the world would Harry have been able to afford to give birth to Gabriel in a hospital, after spending an entire half of the book describing how she has struggled from the moment she ran away from home. She says beforehand that she hopes she has enough money for a cab. The cab? If she’s worried about paying for the cab ride to the hospital, how in the world is she going to pay for the actual delivery? Assuming she has insurance, giving birth would still cost at least a couple thousand even with benefits. She literally says she refused the epidural because she’s afraid of the medical bills from it, which is the least of her worries, and afterwards, can’t afford a breast pump and can barely afford formula for her baby. Is she just thousands of dollars in debt now from giving birth and it’s just never mentioned because she’s going to pretend it doesn’t exist?

The ending was also way too abrupt. It needed another chapter to wrap things up. But even though I didn’t like this, I’d still be willing to try Christina Henry’s other books. They have rave reviews and sound like something that is right up my alley, so I’d be open to trying them. This one just didn’t meet my expectations unfortunately.

Thank you to Netgalley and Berkley for sending me an advanced copy in return for my honest opinion.

I am a huge fan of haunted house stories. The noises in a house, the banging in the walls, things moving and hearing voices. Is it the reader that’s going crazy or is it the character? I have to admit that I don’t scare easily and this book scared me. I ended up having a nightmare after staying up way too late reading this before bed.

This was a solid, scary read read that I enjoyed very much.

Thank you, NetGalley, Berkeley Publishing and Christina Henry for the eARC for an honest review of the book.

Thank you to NetGalley, Christina Henry & Berkley Publishing for a digital ARC of The House That Horror Built in exchange for an honest review.

I fell in love just this last year with Christina Henry when I read Good Girls Don't Die, so I was so excited to get to have an advance read & provide a review for The House That Horror Built.

This story had everything that I love in a horror/thriller - extremely gothic atmosphere, completely immersive and sketchy characters.

Movie Director, Javier Castillo's mansion is the stuff of nightmares for those who scare easily or a dream come true for those who love the gruesome & macabre. His mansion is completely filled with movie props & costumes from horror films he has directed & it is spooky AF!

Our MC, Harry, is Javier's housekeeper & because Javier demands discretion, she keeps to herself, doesn't ask questions & just does her job........dun dun dun.......until she starts hearing noises & cries for help from behind a locked door.

This was a quick read that will have the reader questioning what is really going on. Is there really something paranormal at play? Or is Harry just stressed to the max and everything can be explained as a psychological break? Or maybe both.

I will 100% recommend this book to my followers on IG especially since they loved my review of Good Girls Don't Die.

This was a great, spooky ready that would be great for those who love spooky, but not the blood & guts gore of some horror novels.

Solid 4 Star Read

I am disappointed. I wouldn’t classify this as horror, thriller or sci-fi. It wasn’t even eerie to me. Maybe I am desensitized to these genres, but this just felt, I don’t know, kind of blah? I would even go as far to say that this should be a YA book. Now had I gone into this thinking it was YA, my review would most definitely be very different, but it isn’t, and here we are.

Putting the genre mishap aside, and purely thinking of this as general fiction, really nothing happened with this plot. I found the “twist” to be lackluster and mediocre. The pacing was very slow, yes this was supposed to be gothic, but I was missing all the atmosphere that you normally get with a gothic book, so I don’t think that fits either.

I do want to like this author. Each time I read her books, this was my second, I see a lot of potential and she gets rave reviews. I keep thinking that next time I will like it and fall in love. Maybe I need to give up, but I will try again.

But would I recommend this book to some people? Yes. Would I buy this book for some people? Also, yes. I really think that some people are going to love this one, I'm just not one of them, and that does make me sad.

Overall, this one was sadly only 2.5 for me but I am rounding up to 3 since we can’t give half stars.

Thank you so much to Berkley Publishing and Netgalley for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the digital arc.

This was the perfect balance of thriller, horror and supernatural influences. Typically supernatural books throw me for a loop because they’re so outlandish but this made a ton of sense to me and served well to advance the plot.

Enjoyable and quick read!

Christina Henry's "The House That Horror Built" invites you into a gothic mansion dripping with chills. The setting: Bright Horses, a towering Chicago monstrosity once home to reclusive horror director Javier Castillo, now fallen into eerie silence. Our protagonist, Harry Adams, a single mother and housekeeper by necessity, navigates the labyrinthine halls, facing not just dust and grime, but whispers, shadows, and a gnawing sense of something deeply wrong.

Master of Atmosphere: Henry crafts a masterpiece of atmosphere. The mansion becomes a character itself, creaking with secrets, its dusty grandeur hinting at past tragedies and unseen horrors. Every creak, every cobweb-draped corner, sends shivers down your spine, pulling you deeper into the unsettling mystery.

Unearthing Secrets: Harry becomes our intrepid guide, drawn by unsettling noises and a yearning to know the truth about Bright Horses. As she delves deeper, she uncovers layers of Javier's past, each revelation shattering the image of a reclusive recluse. Hidden rooms, cryptic messages, and chilling props from Javier's movies blur the lines between fiction and reality, keeping you guessing what's truly lurking in the shadows.

Haunted by Humanity: Though ghosts and ghouls abound, the most frightening monsters in "The House That Horror Built" are human. Javier's past relationships, fraught with ambition and manipulation, cast long shadows, their whispers echoing through the house. This exploration of the darkness within human hearts adds a chilling layer of realism to the supernatural thrills.

Twists and Turns: The narrative twists and turns like a haunted hallway, never letting you settle into predictable chills. Just when you think you've grasped the truth, another revelation throws you off kilter, leaving you breathless and desperate to unravel the next layer of the mystery.

Flickering Flame: While the pacing is generally swift, some sections feel slightly slower, the tension momentarily dimming. However, these moments are quickly overcome by the chilling revelations and unsettling encounters that follow, ensuring you'll race to the book's final, unsettling resolution.

Overall: "The House That Horror Built" is a masterclass in gothic horror, expertly blending atmospheric chills with psychological suspense. Henry's sharp writing and her talent for building tension make this a page-turner that will keep you up long after the lights are out, questioning every rustle and creak in your own home. Just be prepared to enter Bright Horses at your own risk – its secrets are sure to leave you haunted.

I recommend this book to fans of:

Gothic horror with a modern twist
Atmospheric fiction that chills to the bone
Suspenseful mysteries with unsettling revelations
Character-driven narratives that explore the darkness within
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Creaking Doors

This just made me so happy, it was a perfect book for me: thrilling, creepy, haunted. Devoured this in a day. Highly recommended, especially if you're a fan of the genre.

Harry is barely scraping by as a housekeeper to a famous director of old horror movies. She is doing all she can to keep a roof over her family’s head and feed her young son. Javier, her employer, lives in an old home surrounded in mystery. Harry begins to feel the house may be haunted.

This was an atmospheric haunted house tale with several mysteries for the reader to solve. It was fast paced and well written with many creepy, unsettling vibes throughout the book. Harry is a main character that you can really empathize with. I enjoyed most of the book but found the twist to be easy to guess and the ending left a bit to be desired. It didn’t seem like it was meant to be ambiguous but didn’t feel settled either. However, the book is a quick and entertaining read that I’d recommend to those who enjoy a good haunted house story.

Thank you to Christina Henry, Berkley, and Netgalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

This was a quick read for me! It had a very good, unsettling haunting, keeping me swinging between is this actually a haunting or is it stress? There was a twist I half predicted and then one I didn't see coming at all! It was spooky and quick and definitely made me jump straight back to post pandemic life. Overall I really enjoyed it. The only thing is I would have liked one more chapter or an epilogue because it ended very abruptly and I was caught off guard by the last page!

Although the title itself has horror in it, the content, while a bit eerie at times, does not. It did have plenty of drama and mystery with a chilling atmosphere and a cast of unique, interesting characters. The protagonist had a great backstory but was a little too stuck in her ways at times. The only complaints I have are that the ending felt too short and needed an epilogue. The other is that there is a seemingly malicious reporter who made an appearance, and then it was just forgotten about when there could have been a story there. I feel like if the ending was expanded on with a bit more emotion and explanation, I would have liked it that much more. That said, it was a great, interesting read with a "meh" ending, and I rate it three and a half stars.

Thank you Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group for this ARC.

I loved this book. Harry was SUCH a relatable character, and I loved her, and reading about her story. The horror aspect was fantastic and I really loved the premise. I CAN NOT wait for this book to come out so I can get the physical copy.

This one is probably a 2.5/5 for me, but I am going to round down because I found more bad than good in the story. I absolutely fell in love with the premise but unfortunately it wasn't executed well. And that twist ending could be seen coming from a mile away except maybe how Javier preserved their bodies/thought Lena was still "alive". It felt like a lackluster story, and definitely can't be described as horror as it isn't really scary at all.
I do feel as if the writing style is very readable, so I still got through this one really quickly and didn't feel like I had to push myself to get there.

I hate doing reviews like this, but I just didn’t like this book. And I’m so sorry about that. I wanted to love it. I adored the whole idea of it, but the actual read fell short.

Prior to writing this review, I took another look to see what age group the book was intended for. You see, it feels a lot like a middle grade book with a few adult parts. Unfortunately, it’s intended for adults.

The story is simple and the spooky parts are mild at best with very few surprises. Our characters range from thin to caricature, none of them developed into living, breathing people. And the pace? Slow.

The book simply took me far too long to read and I ended it not enjoying it.

This one simply wasn’t for me. Your mileage may vary.

• ARC via Publisher

I have read a number of books by Christina Henry and loved them. My favorite was Near the Bone, so I was really excited to see this upcoming title and eager to get started. I did finish the book but I can't say I enjoyed it. Harry and her son Gabe are forced to move from their apartment and are invited to live with a film director that Harry has been working for. The house is full of objects and costumes from his movies and it doesn't take long before Harry knows there's an entity haunting the house and soon haunting her son as well. I really didn't like the main character Harry at all which made it difficult to care what happened to her.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this digital ARC.

I have super mixed feelings about this one, you guys. I generally enjoy Christina Henry's novels and thought that her previous book, Good Girls Don't Die, was fantastic. The House that Horror Built, on the other hand … I dunno. I enjoyed parts of it, but ultimately I think it just fell a little flat for me?

But let's start with the good, shall we? I love the premise, which is definitely original. I mean, obviously haunted house stories are nothing new, but I really like the idea of a reclusive horror film director with all of these creepy movie props in his urban gothic mansion. It's almost like the setting of, well … a horror flick, which I guess maybe is what Henry was going for? Really, the entire plot is rather movie-ish, which is kind of fun. The whole thing with the Sten costume is straight out of a low budget horror film and yet somehow it doesn't come across as too cheesy.

I also really liked Harry's backstory, as I am a sucker for any book/film that involves an escape from an obsessively religious-bordering-on-cultish family. The flashes back to her childhood were really well done and were some of my favorite parts of this novel.

Unfortunately, despite these really great ideas, there just wasn't a whole lot of suspense to be found, much less outright terror. The scary bits were way too few and far between, and I'm using the word “scary” very liberally here. The ending was also so, so, so very obvious from almost the beginning, so much that I was certain that there was going to be a big twist at the end that would leave me shocked. Nope. The Big Bad(s) is(are) exactly who you think, no surprises there. Sure, there were a few scenes that were unexpected (like the one involving the locked bedroom), but the overall plot had no real twists or turns. This isn't entirely a bad thing – sometimes you know who the villains are in a book or film from the very beginning by design – but I just kind of felt like the ending was supposed to be more than what it was? Like it was supposed to be this big surprise but fell short?

So, yeah. Great premise, interesting storylines, lackluster execution. I really wanted to like this one more than I did because it had so much potential, but in the end it was just kind of … okay. I have a feeling that others will enjoy this one much more than I did, though, so don't take my word for it. If you're a fan of Christina Henry and/or horror films and/or haunted house novels, definitely give it a read and decide for yourself.

Overall rating: 3.45 stars, rounded down.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for providing me with an advance copy of this book to review.

"The House That Horror Built" by Christina Henry is an engaging Gothic paranormal horror story that you can enjoy in one sitting, thanks to its gripping pace and compelling chapters that draw you into the mysteries of the Graystone Chicago mansion.

Following the story of Harry, a single mother and housemaid, who, after losing her job, takes a position in a mansion tied to famous horror filmmaker Javier Castillo. Harry, along with her son Gabe, faces eviction due to gentrification, adding urgency to her new job.

As mysterious events unfold in the mansion, threatening entities emerge, and Harry becomes entangled in its secrets, driven by the need to protect her son. The narrative offers an easy and captivating horror experience. However, a desire for a more conclusive ending leaves some questions about the surviving characters unanswered.

Christina Henry gave me chills with The House That Horror Built. Definitely a must read, I couldn’t put this book down until I’d finished it!

Thank you NetGalley for a free e-galley of this book in exchange for an honest review.

"The House That Horror Built" by Christina Henry is a spine-tingling novel that masterfully blends elements of mystery, horror, and suspense. Set in the gothic mansion of the reclusive horror film director Javier Castillo, the story follows Harry Adams, a single mother working as a cleaner in the mansion, as she uncovers a labyrinth of terrifying secrets that lurk within its walls.

Henry's storytelling is atmospheric and immersive, capturing the essence of a classic horror setting. The mansion, Bright Horses, is a character in its own right, filled with eerie props, costumes, and a palpable sense of foreboding. The descriptions of the mansion, with its hidden rooms and haunting atmosphere, are vivid and compelling, drawing the reader into the heart of the story's suspense.

The protagonist, Harry, is a well-developed character, her determination to support her son driving her to unravel the mysteries of the mansion. Her gradual discovery of the sinister secrets of Bright Horses, coupled with her need to maintain her job, creates a tense narrative that keeps the reader engaged. The character of Javier Castillo, shrouded in mystery and scandal, adds depth and intrigue to the plot.

The novel excels in its slow build-up of suspense and horror. The mysterious noises Harry hears behind a locked door, and her ensuing investigation, are skillfully woven into the narrative, escalating the sense of danger and suspense. Henry's writing is adept at creating a chilling and claustrophobic atmosphere, making this a perfect read for fans of the horror genre.

However, readers who prefer fast-paced plots might find the novel's deliberate pacing and focus on atmospheric build-up less appealing. Additionally, the blending of horror with the mundane aspects of Harry's job as a cleaner might not resonate with everyone.

Content warnings for themes of horror, mystery, and potentially frightening scenarios are appropriate. The book will appeal most to readers who enjoy a blend of horror, suspense, and gothic elements in their fiction.

In conclusion, "The House That Horror Built" by Christina Henry is a haunting and suspenseful novel that expertly combines the chilling aspects of horror with a compelling mystery. Its atmospheric setting, intriguing characters, and masterful storytelling make it a standout read for fans of the horror and suspense genres.

I really enjoyed this book. The house's atmosphere was phenomonal and I was so creeped out by the hoard of movie props that may or may not be coming after you! The ending did feel a touch rushed-- I really wanted to sit and savor the reveal but all of the sudden, the book was over. But a fantastic addition to Henry's collected works!