This book is awesome. The characters are strong, the setting is perfect, and the story keeps you hooked. It’s a great mix of horror with a deeper look at family and forgiveness. I really enjoyed it!

I don't know what it was, but the writing wasn't working for me at all. Also, I'm hesitant to say this since I didn't finish the book, but by the point I reached, there were no horror elements AT ALL. I've seen a ton of negative reviews saying this was poorly marketed and miscategorized, and my first impression left me inclined to agree.

This debut novel was a wild ride, and I was here for all of it. First off, Sandeen captured the humidity of south Louisiana incredibly well. I felt it both in my backyard and on the page. Second, I loved Jemma. She inspired me. She infuriated me. We laughed, we cried.

One morning in 1960s Chicago, Jemma finds out that her guy has gotten another woman pregnant. During her fit of fury, she receives a letter from a family in New Orleans. The letter asks her to come on down to the deep south for a job. It doesn't specify what type of job, but Jemma is so pissed that she doesn't even notice that part (relatable). She just wants to get out of town. So she does. But when she arrives in the city limits, she's told by many Black Louisianians that they would never venture out to this family's grounds on the edge of town. Once the taxi drops her off at the end of the street and leaves her choking on dust before she can even thank the driver, she realizes she's not quite in Kansas anymore, Toto.

This was super fun. A well-written, surprising Southern gothic filled with generational trauma, realistic historical context, and a cast of characters straight out of Dynasty.

4 stars and I'll definitely be reading Sandeen's next one

This Cursed House by Del Sandeen is a chilling and atmospheric Southern gothic horror debut that blends supernatural suspense with powerful themes of identity, family, and self-discovery. Set in 1960s New Orleans, the novel follows Jemma Barker, a young Black woman trying to escape her troubled life in Chicago, only to find herself tangled in the eerie and mysterious world of the Duchon family.

The best part of this novel was the slow-burn tension and the richly layered character dynamics. Jemma was a deeply likeable character. The family is not likeable in the slightest, but is a fascinating mix of the bizarre and unsettling, with each member revealing darker secrets that keep you turning the pages. Sandeen does an excellent job of creating an atmosphere that is claustrophobic and creepy. The tension between Jemma and the family members—especially the ways they look down on her because of her skin tone—adds a layer of social commentary that makes the supernatural events feel even more impactful.

Southern Gothic novel set in 1960s New Orleans, crafting a tale of haunted legacies and family secrets, exploring the ever-present impact of racism. Solid first half, before losing its way significantly.

I was really looking forward to this story, but it felt like it didn't live up to its potential. There were so many cool layers to the premise, and I found myself ready for it to be over so much sooner than it was.

Now this is a debut! Best Southern Gothic
Horror of 2024 for me. Masterful delivery of a haunting/ghost story that addresses family, curses, the supernatural, colorism, forgiveness, and so much more! Livinggggggggggg for this book and all of Miss Sandeen's work to come!

This book was spooky and atmospheric. I enjoyed the characters and the setting was mysterious. This book left me anxiously turning my pages throughout as the suspense kept building and building. I highly recommend!

Jemma Barker flees from Chicago and the emotional fallout from a broken relationship she leaves behind, impulsively taking a job as a governess to a family who live on the outskirts of New Orleans, the Duchons. She immediately realizes that things are not as they seem when she meets the family, very light skinned black people who hold themselves above darker black people, including Jemma. They react to Jemma in a variety of ways, from indifference to downright dislike. But they need her to break a curse that binds them to the house they inhabit, and continues to claim the lives of family members. Jemma realizes that she has her own personal reasons to stay and try to break the curse, including revelations about her own traumatic heritage.

This Cursed House is a bonafide Southern Gothic story. From the New Orleans/bayou atmosphere that’s impeccably conveyed, to the family members who are afflicted with madness and despair that they cannot escape from the bondage to the past. The house itself creaks and groans from the weight of the secrets it carries, and the sense of the uncanny drips from the narrative like Spanish moss on live oaks. The characters are walking wounded, bent down by the weight of their ancestral heritage. Jemma carries emotional damage that has crippled her in ways that she must heal from in order to be her best self. She is haunted by the rejection she has suffered as well as literal haunts as she sees ghosts. Although the cast of characters is small, each one has an important role with an impact on the narrative. While this is far from a comfortable read, This Cursed House is an effective and chilling paranormal novel. Sandeen unflinchingly deals with the topic of chattel slavery of black Americans’ ancestors, and the dehumanization, cruelty and violence that was intrinsic to the practice. At its heart, this is a novel about the heavy weight of secrets, the ugly and destructive power of racial hatred and bigotry, and yet, it also shows that there is hope that the past can be overcome, people can be set free from the mental and emotional shackles that imprison them.

Full Review coming to Cemetery Dance

Snippet from Cemetery Dance Review:

This Cursed House was unputdownable from the get-go.

It’s richly gothic and impressively uses the subgenre’s infamous tropes, such as a governess/teacher called to a haunted house, ghosts, family secrets, generational curses, and nasty deaths. Sandeen’s genre blend is painfully immersive, with endless punches of dread.

The author’s vivid portrayal of America’s haunting past of racism and colorism made this Southern Gothic feel undeniably important in these strange times.

I can’t wait to see what Del Sandeen does next. If you like The Haunting of Bly Manor or The Reformatory by Tananarive Due, you’ll love This Cursed House as much as I did.

This Cursed House is an intriguing, tense, fascinating book with the right level of secrets, paranormal, and horror. I was intrigued and felt I wasn't able to guess what was going to happen.
A fascinated gothic novel set in New Orleans, a winner in my book.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

This Cursed House is a Southern gothic horror novel set in 1960s New Orleans, about a young Black woman who goes to work for a strange family. She thinks she’s been hired as a tutor, but the family has a darker reason for wanting her there — tied to her ability to see ghosts.

The Cursed House is engaging and reveals its secrets deliberately. This is a strong social horror that leans in to the horror of racism and prejudice, and also emphasizes the strength of forgiveness, community, and freedom. Jemma is a great protagonist, smart and empathetic, who kept me rooting for her.

Readers of character-driven, atmospheric social horror will love this book. If you enjoyed When the Reckoning Comes by LaTanya McQueen or The Reformatory by Tananarive Due, pick up Del Sandeen’s confident debut.

Thank you to Berkley and Netgalley for my review copy of this book.

This book has a great start and I wanted to know more and unravel this families secrets because there were plenty and the Duchons make you side eye them at first contact and it just gets worse as the story goes on and we have more interactions with them. The mystery is gripping but there are parts in the middle that start to drag and could've been handled more succinctly or maybe even cut. After a certain point the story does take a turn and we focus on more of the ghostly aspects that are hinted at during the setup. It's overall a pretty good book and I did enjoy it despite not understanding her wanting to be accepted with such terrible people. But I suppose, that was the point. She was isolated, lonely, and vulnerable after a hard breakup and mild crashout.

This was a chance to learn more about her heritage and potentially be accepted just to be faced with the reality that sometimes it's better to not know. You can see her inner turmoil dealing with the fantasy vs. reality of this. There are ramifications of the past that she decides to handle as it is key to her learning about her mom but sometimes it's frustrating to see her get pulled around with half information. This book deals with generational trauma and has some interesting insights on the topic. It's worth the read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for this copy of "This Cursed House."

It's 1962 and Jemma has just been fired from her teaching job for assaulting her cheating boyfriend when she receives a job offer in New Orleans. Thinking it's a tutoring position, she accepts and travels to discover she's working for a cursed family.

Jemma has always been able to see ghosts but she's terrified of them and learns to ignore them. However she'll need their help to uncover a way to free the Duchon family.

This debut novel was actually more heart-wrenching than scary and slowly builds to a very satisfying ending. Dealing with ancestral guilt, grief, and forgiveness, Jemma is a very strong character who learns to embrace her talents, intuition, compassion, and friendships.

This Cursed House is a horror-filled historical fiction novel that doesn't hit quite right.

Jemma is hired to work as a tutor (she thinks) for the Duchon family in 1960s New Orleans. But when she arrives, the family doesn't need a tutor, they need a curse broken, and it had to be by her, as she is their biological cousin/niece/granddaughter.

The Duchons are a proud colored family, as they define themselves, even though Jemma tells them again and again that the correct term is Negro. The family hasn't been able to leave the plantation in 27 years, since the curse began, and a member of the family has died every 8 years.

To add to the horror, Jemma sees ghosts, of which they're are many on the plantation.

There are many things that work in this novel. The theme of racism is prominent in this book, as well as the preference of the family to be light-colored enough to "pass." The horror aspect works well. There isn't too much gore, but the characters do discuss disturbing things.

But what didn't work for me were the characters. I had trouble caring about them at all, and understanding their motives. Jemma should be easy to care for and understand, but I really questioned her actions several times - they just weren't believable.

I did really want to finish this book, so that is a vote in its favor! Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy of this book.

This was a page turner! I really enjoyed the overall plot arc, the twists kept me guessing and the writing style was incredibly engaging! The exploration into race and blood quantum was a particularly fascinating aspect that made this mystery/horror that much more interesting. I’d happily pay to read an entire series of Jemma solving mysteries and freeing trapped ghosts while searching for her mother!

This will be in my top books for the year it’s a five star read for me!! I read this book in a day.
It’s 1962 and Jemmas life hasn’t been easy and she’s looking for a new start, so when a generous job offer from the Duchon family in New Orleans is offered she immediately accepts. So she packs her belongings leaves Chicago and heads to New Orleans. Stepping off the bus a in New Orleans, Jemma immediately notices that people are welcoming until she tells them she will be working for the Duchon family. They turn her away and even warn her against working for them. She’s left wondering what kind of family will she be working for? After stepping through the Duchons door she learns she was brought there under false pretenses, and that their motive is a dark one. They have been cursed by her mother 28 years ago when Jemma was born and they believe that she is the only person who can break the curse. You see Jemma was adopted and sent away because her mother slept with a black man. They are unable to leave their home or property if they try they are stopped. All her life Jemma can see ghosts she tries to block her gift but in the Duchon family the home is filled with ghosts, Jemma wrestles with the gift she’s run from all her life, she unravels deeper and more disturbing secrets about the mysterious Duchons. Secrets that stretch back over a century. Secrets that bind her to their fate if she fails.

A woman wanting to escape her life in Chicago takes a job in New Orleans. Once she arrives, she learns the job is not what she was expecting.

The characters are well developed and interesting. The setting is compelling and atmospheric. This Cursed House is an entertaining story of secrets, drama, and ghosts.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I have been talking about this book since I finished it. Definitely recommending this title. The way the author sets up everything was very well done and I always felt I wanted to keeping going right along with Jemma. She really wrote very unlikeable characters well. This author is definitely on my watch list.

I enjoyed this one. I love the premise of a girl who can see ghosts and a creepy house with the weird family.... sign me up! I think this book was well written, and it was a little slow in the beginning.... but so worth it. I recommend this one for those horror lovers out there.

Thank you Net Galley ARC