On surface this is a domestic horror about a cursed family trapped by death. Underneath it is an exploration of racial identity, self-loathing, and internalized anti-blackness. It combines the history and legacy of slavery, passing, and intergenerational trauma. It looks at the ideas of family and legacy with our own identities.

This book is light on the scares but high in the dread. It really delves into the psyche of the main character and the family she is working for. I think in some pieces the author could have trusted the reader a bit more to understand what was happening. It felt like everything and even some internal characterization pieces were being stated out loud for the point of explaining to the reader and I think that the writing was strong enough to understand those pieces without them being spelled out.

This was a fantastic debut and I cannot wait to see what this author does next.

Disclosure: I received a gifted ARC and finished copy. No review was required and all opinions are my own.

Short synopsis: Jemma leaves her life behind in Chicago to move to St Louis to work for the Duchon Family. Only to find out they’ve been cursed and think she can break it.

My thoughts: I love a gothic haunted house book and this one was done so well! I loved how intricate each character was (although there were a lot to keep up with). I love how decision from the past haunted them and the way they had to work through fixing things.

I loved how I was able to vividly picture the ghosts that haunted the house, and “see” them along with Jemma!

This one delves into the history of slavery and is set during the time of segregation. It explored colorism and the how separation existed between the black community by this who were able to “pass” as white, and those with darker skin. Keep that in mind as you read because although it is part of our the American history it is still really hard to read!

Read if you love:
- Gothic horror
- Atmospheric settings
- Ghosts
- Family curses

A terrifying southern gothic tale that left me wondering what was going to happen next. A fascinating look at a cursed family and the lengths they will go to remove the curse. Jemma, reeling from personal events in Chicago, receives a call inviting her to come to a manor in New Orleans as a tutor, or so she presumes. Not having anywhere else to go, she travels there and meets the Duchon family. Immediately, she senses something off about the house and the family.

The longer she stays the more lies she uncovers and the more danger she finds herself in. As she digs deeper into the family and their past, she realizes that she has to embrace what she has run from her whole life: her ability to see, and potentially speak to, the dead. A frightening tale about the sins of our ancestors haunting our present.

Wow! Jemma is a powerhouse of a character. Jemma is desperate when she takes a job in New Orleans for the notorious Duchon Family. Right off the bat, she notices strange things but this isn’t anything new to Jemma; she’s been able to see spirits all of her life. At the Duchon’s, she finds out that the entire family is cursed and they expect her to break it. Jemma has stepped into an absolute heap of crazy and every day brings about a new revelation about the Duchons. Steeped in secrets and lies, Jemma will have to work to save the Duchons to save herself.

There is so much I loved about this story – I love a gothic horror but the history is outstanding, as well. I have to say, Del Sandeen is an author to watch! I cannot wait to see what she does next.

My thanks to Berkley Pub for this gifted DRC!

To start with a positive, I did like the idea of this book, but that's about it.

The prose was clunky, the dialogue unbelievable, the characters had conflicting motives, and the pacing left me nothing to hope for.

If you want a book about a generationally cursed house and family, and also want to be in your feels the whole time with little suspense, this one may be for you.

This had an intriguing premise but I failed to connect with the actual narrative. It was fine but I was finding myself disinterested without much to critique or praise about this story. I wanted to love it, but at most I could appreciate it.

I requested this one because it might be an upcoming title I would like to review on my Youtube Channel. However, after reading the first several chapters I have determined that this book does not suit my tastes. So I decided to DNF this one.

This was a RIDE oh my gosh. The epitome of Gothic and it will have you gasping in shock as only a good Gothic can. While I felt that there was a bit drag in the second half, between the "big reveal" about her family and her final attempts to break their curse, a little pacing trouble is not enough to mar the this books with it's beautiful, overgrown, oppressive feel and the themes of race and colorism with which it is contending.

If you’re a fan of haunted houses, creeping dread, and chilling family secrets, This Cursed House by Del Sandeen is the perfect autumn read! This novel follows the story of Lila, who inherits her family’s old, decaying mansion. But what she thinks is just a run-down house with sentimental value soon turns into something far more sinister…

Sandeen does an incredible job setting up the atmosphere, making every creak, shadow, and strange occurrence feel so real. The characters are complex, and you can feel Lila’s inner conflict as she battles whether to stay or leave this ominous place. The history of the house unfolds gradually, hooking you with each piece of the puzzle, while the supernatural elements keep you on edge!

A haunted house story set in 1960s New Orleans around a mysterious Black family trying to break a curse? Sign me ALL the way up. Creepy, suspenseful, and full of dark secrets, THIS CURSED HOUSE was exactly the atmospheric read I needed this spooky season.

Every fall I’m on the lookout for some good horror and thrillers to feed my spooky season cravings. One book I had been eagerly awaiting was Del Sandeen's debut novel, This Cursed House. It’s summer 1962 when Jemma has faced a series of difficulties at home in Chicago. From the death of her adoptive father to her boyfriend’s betrayal, she’s desperate enough to accept a stranger’s offer of employment down in New Orleans. But the job she arrives to do isn’t teaching a child, as she’d expected… it’s breaking a family curse. The more secrets Jemma uncovers—and the more entwined she becomes with this family—the more urgent it is that Jemma resolves the curse and frees herself.

Tropes & Narrative Devices:
- Cursed family
- Isolated home
- Creepy housekeeper
- So many secrets!
- Locals tell her to turn back now… she ignores them
- She can see ghosts
- Third-person POV

What I Liked:
- Jemma’s abilities. She can see ghosts, but she’s always been reluctant and even scared of them. Her parents certainly never encouraged these abilities. But now that she’s in New Orleans, this undesired skill could be the key to breaking the curse.
- This strange family. The Duchon family have a reputation around town, and upon Jemma’s arrival at their home, she finds that they truly are weird. They’re old-fashioned and secretive, but somehow the more Jemma learns about them, the stranger they become. Are they sane? Are they dangerous? Can she trust them?
- Discussions of family and connection. Jemma was adopted as a baby, and now that both of her parents and her boyfriend are gone, she’s so alone. She yearns for some belonging… maybe she could find it with the Duchons? Jemma doesn’t really fit in with them, and they are odd, but could it be the family she’s always longed to be a part of?
- Race and history. Jemma is Black; the Duchons claim to be, though they’re light enough to pass for white. There are many discussions surrounding race and internalized racism, Black history in the American South, and the horrors of slavery only a century prior to the book’s events.
- Secrets and curses. Jemma is there to break a curse, but that will be hard to do considering all the secrets the Duchons insist on keeping from her. Jemma uncovers the truth, bit by bit, both from conversations with others and through the secrets she finds around the Duchon home. What is the true nature of this curse and how can she finally end it before it’s too late?

What Didn’t Work for Me:
- It was sometimes a slower pace. Both the narrative and even the timespan the characters were in felt like it could have sped up a bit. Jemma is there for several months, but the story would have felt more urgent with a tighter timeline.

Final Thoughts
This Cursed House is a captivating Southern Gothic full of horror, from ghosts and curses to sordid secrets from a family’s past. I enjoyed Jemma and her path to uncovering the truth, and the spooky vibes were well done from the start. The book ends in such a way that I could see Jemma facing more supernatural mysteries; hopefully this will be the start of a series, because I’d love to read more!

This is a great fall October read. It’ll make you reflect on what it means to have horrible family. The mystery at the center of the book is enthralling and I just wanted to know how it ended. Jemma was a complex and naive and interesting main character and I loved Magdalene.

I do think it gets quite wordy and is much too long but I enjoyed it nonetheless. It's spooky and sad and the historical fiction aspects of 1950s New Orleans were obviously well researched and set a strong tone. This is also a great book about passing and what white passing Black Creole people did post slavery. A well-rounded, if a little too long, fall read.

Buzzwords: Horror debut. Southern Gothic.

Quick Set-Up: A young black woman leaves 1960s Chicago for a position with a mysterious family in New Orleans. It's not what she expected...

This Cursed House was high on my priority list and it didn't disappoint. I loved the atmosphere that Sandeen created and found the plot well-developed, as well as intriguing.

The Duchon family, the people that hire our MC, Jemma, are let's say, interesting, to learn about. As the Reader, you have a sort of fly on the wall perspective of so many dark family secrets being dug up; like a cornucopia of secrets. It's quite a trip and I feel like it's gonna stick with me.

This is a heavy story. Don't expected a light-hearted haunting with this one. It weighs on you, but with that, I feel like the author was successful. It should weigh on you. The themes explored within these pages aren't easy, but they are well worth the read and attention. Also, it will keep you on our toes. I was full of questions throughout my time reading this. That's one of the aspects I really loved. Each chapter left me wanting to know more. It kept me going and invested.

The author was smart with how she laid out this story. It really doesn't take much time before you discover the true reason behind this family hiring Jemma. Yes, it's no random hire, and I liked that. I'm glad she didn't draw it out, because it left so much more time to explore this family. Jemma is thrust into this new circumstance, which she definitely didn't expect and I liked going along with her as she learned about this family and their dark history.

There's so much going on in the house too. It says it all right in the title. Take that literally.

Overall, I loved the journey I went on with Jemma in this one and I also really appreciated the dark, unsettling atmosphere that Sandeen created. The historical aspects were also really well done and I loved the New Orleans backdrop. I actually would love to see more stories with Jemma as our MC. I definitely think there is more room to grow with her character. She really came into her own here, and I feel like she can use what she learned to help others. I would def pick up all the books if this were to turn into a series!

Thank you to the publisher, Berkley, for providing me with a copy to read and review. This is a great debut. I'm looking forward to more from Del Sandeen!

Sandeen’s Southern gothic horror, set near New Orleans in 1962, vividly swirls with ghosts and Black history, while acknowledging how some passing families may have used skin colour to escape a difficult life, or worse. The white-passing Duchon family, six of them, were cursed a quarter century ago to remain within the plantation boundaries—and every seven years one of them dies. Unemployed Jemma Barker accepts a position as tutor, but in the turmoil of her life in Chicago, she fails to ask essential questions of the matriarch who offers her the job, stunned as she is by the exorbitant $300/week salary. However, it doesn’t take long to understand the real reason she’s there, and that all is not well in this outwardly handsome family. As Jemma, who sees spirits she’d rather not see, prises back layers of history, each new revelation worse than the last, she becomes enmeshed in the Duchon nightmare. To survive she must find allies and most importantly, be true to herself and her heritage.

The concept of bias between white-passing and Black, about which Sandeen doesn’t pause in her condemnation, is at the heart of this evocative novel. The Duchons have no use for brown-skinned Jemma beyond her ability to rid them of a decades-long curse, which becomes ever more complex. Despite claiming to be proud of their ‘coloured’ heritage (Jemma reminds them repeatedly that ‘Negro’ is the term she prefers), their current behaviour and dark aspects of Duchon history belie that claim. I was enchanted by Sandeen’s eminently curious characters, whilst being equally repelled by some of them. Did I want the curse lifted? What does it all mean for Jemma’s future? This vibrant, stirring debut with its occult-imbued, steamy New Orleans setting perfectly offsets ghostly apparitions, bizarre behaviour and preternaturally weird plantation owners. Well worth watching what Sandeen conjures up next!

I read this book as part of my spooky, witchy, and scary October reading. While it started well, at about 40%, it became harder to continue.
This book follows the story of Jemma, an adoptee, who ultimately discovers her true family. The family is cursed, and she tries to overcome the curse to save them all.

The premise is interesting, and the writing is good. There was a lot of repetition, and the book is longer than needed. How the curse is resolved falls flat and lacks luster. There is not much that is spooky about the story.

Thank you so much to Berkley for the opportunity to read this book!

I immediately wanted to read this after seeing the cover and reading the synopsis and seeing gothic horror - SOLD. And let me tell you, it is hard to believe that this is the author's DEBUT novel! It was so well written and all the characters were well thought out. The ending kind of leaves you on a cliff hanger and there was just one small (kind of big) storyline that we never fully got closure on. I may re-read the last chapter just incase I missed it the first time around as I was eagerly reading it.

"It's the living you need to be scared of. Haints can't hurt you, but maybe they can tell you some things you want to know."

There were a lot of characters in this and I thought I was going to have a hard time remember who was who but I ended up being okay. Jemma is our female lead who travels from Chicago to New Orleans for a new start to her life. She had had a rough few years and even rougher recent weeks and thought this would be a fresh start. What she doesn't know is the chaos she is about to thrust into - whew! She learns she was asked to come to their home as they feel she will be the one to break the curse. See the family around bound to their home.

There is a lot that happens throughout the course of this book and it kept me wanting more each chapter. The set up of the premise and the hows & whys were probably the slowest parts of the book. I could totally see this book be done as limited series (hello Jordan Peele) as I think if done correctly, could be done so well that it would be really creepy on screen. Jemma is surrounded by ghosts and they communicate with her and when she arrives at this home, she is overwhelmed by these spirits and the mystery that she is so desperate to solve.

I absolutely loved Jemma. In the beginning of the book she is this broken woman and by the end she was such a badass! She grew throughout her time in New Orleans which gave her the strength to travel at the end to find out where she exactly belongs. I really liked one of the quotes towards the end, "All her life, she'd looked ot other people for acceptance, for love. She'd thought that if she were only pretty enough, smart enough, or something else enough, the would love her." No Jemma, you are perfect just as you are!!

I am trying to be vague in all the things that are revealed in the book as that would take away the fun in reading. You will root for Jemma, you will get invested in the side characters (love me some Magdalene & Fosette), you will dislike most of the Duchon family and your heart will break for others.

I know we are heading into the holiday season, but if you are looking for a book to put you into the fall/Halloween spirit - I highly recommend this one!

4.5

Thrilling gothic blend
of historical fiction,
the supernatural.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I give haiku reviews but am happy to provide more feedback.

This was such a great gothic read! When I think "southern gothic" this book cover is now going to come to mind--the descriptions of the house and the curse, the family, they were all so vivid and well-done. I thought that the way the author wove an exploration of colorism into the narrative was really insightful, and really well done. Even though it's negative to look down upon others because of the color of their skin, that really brought the family to life in a way and made them feel more real. Real people aren't all good traits, so showing the bad made them feel more rounded.
Overall, I loved this. This was fantastically done and magically rendered--I can't wait to read more from Del Sandeen!

While this book was well written and had an intriguing plot, it felt like it was going in circles and just repeating the same points over and over again. Definitely would fit more within fiction than horror as a genre.

Thank you to NetGalley, author Del Sandeen, and Berkley Publishing Group for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!

I loveeee anything related to New Orleans, especially spooky/gothic reads, so I was excited to pick This Cursed House for a Halloween-themed book club! Overall, I enjoyed this and rounded up my rating from a true rating of around 3.5 stars. This was definitely a WILD read and had a lot of twists and turns! Several were a bit evident to me based on foreshadowing in the story, but there were honestly so many that I was still surprised. I could never guess exactly where the book was going lol. I enjoyed the creepy setting and unsettling characters (although I could have done without the <spoiler>incest aspects?? although I understand how they were important to a race related story, still wild lmao </spoiler>). I also though Sandeen addressed some really important topics about being Black in the South, especially addressing it both back in the 1800s and in the 1900s as well. I do think the book had a bit "immature" writing at times through Jemma. Some of the stuff she would vocalize or think came across as childish and/or too modern for the time period in which this was set. I kept forgetting that things were occurring in the 1960s because it didn't feel immersive in the time period, and the writing of dialogue felt more current day. I wish Sandeen would have leaned into the period piece a bit more. Some of the events unraveled a bit too easily for my taste as well based off of what was occurring. I did have an enjoyable time reading this for spooky season though as a whole and will check out more of Sandeen's work in the future!

This Cursed House is a gothic mystery with paranormal elements. There are ghosts aplenty, but this reads more like historical fiction than horror, at least with the book’s focus. I’d almost compare this one to Arden’s In the Warm Hands of Ghosts in terms of tone. It could easily be shelved in horror based on the synopsis (a cursed haunted house), but the family drama takes center stage in this story.

I quite liked our main character, even though she read a bit younger than she was meant to be at times. Determined and naive, Jemma wants to find a place to belong, much to her detriment at times. Her growth throughout the story was a pleasure to read.

The pacing was uneven, especially towards the end, and without getting into spoilers, the payoff felt a little unsatisfying. I don’t know that the answer to the atrocities within, or the moral of the story, is a good one? Regardless, this was a solid debut and I would be interested in checking out more by the author in the future!