In This Cursed House, Del Sandeen creates a claustrophobic gothic family tale. Jemma is called from Chicago to Metairie, LA, to work for a family; she later learns the true reason for her employment. There are a lot of characters and plot points to keep organized, and at times the story is a bit frustrating. However, the themes (forgiveness, reckoning with our ancestors' decisions, colorism) are clear and Jemma is a great lead character. 3.5 stars rounded up.

This book is absolutely fantastic. The characters are great, the setting is excellent, and the story doesn't let up from start to finish. A wonderful addition to the horror genre, this book deserves to be read and enjoyed. Come for the ghost story, stay for the lessons in family and forgiveness. I absolutely loved this book.

4.25 stars rounded down.

Incredibly tense, atmospheric and sad all at the same time!

Jemma leaves Chicago to escape, yet runs to something so much worse. However, after uncovering the layers of the Duchon past, she begins to grow stronger and more capable.

The literal ghosts in the Duchon’s past propel Jemma and her story forward, while forcing her to grow and forgive. The story is eerie and haunting, but Jemma’s character is inspiring!

Advance reader copy provided by Berkeley and NetGalley but all opinions are my own.

I received a gifted galley of THIS CURSED HOUSE by Del Sandeen for an honest review. Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group, PRH Audio and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review!

THIS CURSED HOUSE follows Jemma, a young Black woman in 1962. After a big shake up in her life, Jemma leaves her life in Chicago to take a new job in New Orleans. When she arrives, the locals act very strange about the family she’s going to work for, and it turns out both the family and the job aren’t exactly what she expected. The house is cursed and the family is counting on her to find a way to release them from its boundaries. There are a lot of heavy topics in this novel including racism and colorism. The family Jemma is with prides themselves on their light complexion and look down on her for her dark skin.

It took me a bit to get sucked into this story and I think that is because it starts off very much feeling like a historical fiction novel. Once we start getting into more of the horror elements with the curse and the spirits that Jemma can see, I was much more invested.

I liked Jemma as our main character and the way she tried to make the best of a tough situation. She’s quickly picking up on some very odd things about the people she is working for and I appreciated being able to read through her POV. I also really enjoyed the gothic atmosphere that the author delivered!

This was a great debut and I will look forward to finding out what this author brings us next!

This Cursed House
by Del Sandeen

Thank you so much partner @berkleypub for the gifted eARC.

Blurb👇🏽

In this Southern gothic horror debut, a young Black woman abandons her life in 1960s Chicago for a position with a mysterious family in New Orleans, only to discover the dark truth: They’re under a curse, and they think she can break it.


🍂🐊My thoughts:

Completely atmospheric, this book is a whole mood!! It’s dark, haunting, and the people are horrifyingly wicked. With so many secrets, you’ll be engaged with this one and will need to know what the heck is happening… because I sure did! But what really got me was that Sandeen delivers this sinister and sense of foreboding in the writing that crept into my skin and sat with me until I finished. This was a different kind of atmospheric read in a way that’s hard to describe but my goodness was it good. There’s a lot to enjoy and unpack in what I’d say is a slow burn that is perfect for autumn and I will definitely be getting myself a finished copy to keep on my forever shelves. Here you’ll find a layered story full of mystery, secrets, and history. This Cursed House is out 10/9/24!

Happy reading 📖🍂🕯️🐊

Thank you #partner Berkley Pub for my #gifted copies of one of my most anticipated fall reads! It did not disappoint!

This Cursed House is a Southern gothic blend of historical fiction and supernatural horror set in New Orleans in the 1960s. It follows a twenty-seven-year-old Black women named Jemma Barker, who relocates from Chicago to New Orleans upon receiving a job offer from the mysterious Duchon family. But upon arriving, Jemma soon realizes there's something up with the Duchon family, and their secrets may hit closer to home than she can ever imagine.

The Vanishing Half meets The Haunting of Hill House in this spectacular debut novel from Del Sandeen! This Cursed House is a haunting, atmospheric, richly layered novel that blends the supernatural with themes of family, colorism, and long-held secrets. It's beautifully paced, so engaging, and the perfect read to get readers in the mood for the upcoming scary season (especially me, since I'm headed to New Orleans in October)! I can't say too much without giving everything away, but if you're reading this review wondering if you should give this one a shot: DO IT!!!

This Cursed House by Del Sandeen is a gripping horror tale that intertwines family secrets with supernatural elements. The narrative follows a woman who inherits a mysterious old house, only to discover that it harbors dark forces and unsettling truths about her lineage. Sandeen’s atmospheric writing and well-crafted suspense draw readers into a chilling world where the past refuses to stay buried. With its compelling characters and eerie plot twists, this novel is a haunting exploration of how history can shape our present.

Rating: 2.5

I was interested in the story, but hardly anything happened in this book. The main character could see ghosts, but I feel like that wasn't utilized enough. The writing was slow and boring.

THIS CURSED HOUSE had all the right pieces to put together a story that would captivate and emotionally wreck me. Unfortunately, the story’s execution and the writing style didn’t quite work for me. We have a perfect setup for immersive gothic horror, but we never quite got there.

The writing is lots of telling, not much showing. And the telling is repetitive. I wanted to feel the emotions and be immersed in the atmosphere, rather than simply being told about them.

I didn’t understand Gemma’s motivations for wanting any sort of relationship with this family. Yes, we were told a reason, over and over, but given the circumstances, it made no sense whatsoever.

Some heavy themes are explored throughout, which I thought were handled well.

This book opens with Jemma, a young down on her luck Black woman ignoring a ghostly figure in the corner of her eye while on a train from Chicago to New Orleans in 1962 to accept a job in a mysterious family’s house. These strangers and their home hold ancestral secrets and ghosts that will change Jemma’s life forever. This story is dark, creepy, disturbing, and unsettling. The only thing holding me back from giving this one a five star rating is that the beginning was a little slow paced. However, I wouldn’t say it was dragging because I was excited to get back to reading it every night. It just took a while to fully set the southern gothic mood as well as Jenna’s wavering feelings toward the family.

I really liked the bones of this story - the complex interweavings of colorism in the south and the relative privilege afforded to those who were white passing, the messy (and very Gothic) family dynamics, and each of the major twists were fantastic - but the pacing and the “telling”-heavy writing really hampered the overall delivery.

The first half of the book especially felt so long, and we were given the answer to the curse sooo early but not in a clever way; instead our MC deliberately ignores it and we circle around the same failed ideas several more times.

I found Jemma’s relationships with Laurence and Fosette to be confusing (another instance where the “telling”-heavy writing style works against us) because a switch is flipped and loyalties change and we don’t really get an explanation (at least not one that I was particularly satisfied with). I also wanted much more of the imagery/descriptions that are typical of Gothic-style books. We get the briefest introduction to what the Duchon house looks like when Jemma first arrives, but beyond that, nothing. And that’s my favorite part of the Gothic genre too…

Thank you to Netgalley and Berkley Pub for my e-ARC of This Cursed House!

𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔
👻 can see ghosts
👶🏼 were adopted as a baby
🌪️ love books with several twists
🎺 have ever been to Mardi Gras in New Orleans

• 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐓’𝐒 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓

In the fall of 1962, twenty-seven-year-old Jemma Barker is desperate to escape her life in Chicago—and the spirits she has always been able to see. When she receives an unexpected job offer from the Duchon family in New Orleans, she accepts, thinking it is her chance to start over.

But Jemma discovers that the Duchon family isn’t what it seems. Light enough to pass as white, the Black family members look down on brown-skinned Jemma. Their tenuous hold on reality extends to all the members of their eccentric clan, from haughty grandmother Honorine to beautiful yet inscrutable cousin Fosette. And soon the shocking truth comes out: The Duchons are under a curse. And they think Jemma has the power to break it.

As 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.

• 𝐌𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒

This was such an incredible book, and the fact that it was a debut made it all the better! It’s a bit on the longer side, but totally necessary to really delve into this story. It’s got history, backstory, and so many twists and turns you’ll never see coming! The MC was likable where her family was not. She acted in ways that I could never to be honest. The ghosts and curses in the story felt realistic and the entire story just flowed well together. I was happy with the ending, and honestly, I think we could see more of her in future books! If that is what the author wants of course!

4.5 stars - This book was super creepy, and I loved all the historical details (it's set in the 60s but also has echoes of the pre-Civil War South). There were aspects of this book that felt a little predictable at first, but then several twists were included that I did not see coming. So many of the characters are just plain unlikable, so they make for the perfect villains. I especially loved the last third of the book that felt like a more thrilling ride than the beginning (although I get there needed to be some serious tension built before the payoff). I would definitely read other novels from Sandeen, especially if they're in the horror genre like this.

Three hundred dollars a week is a lot of money in 1962. So much so, in fact, that it tempts Jemma Barker from the relative safety of Chicago to New Orleans, where Jim Crow is violently enforced. She should have known that the money was too good to be true. In Del Sandeen’s original and chilling novel, This Cursed House, Jemma quickly learns that three hundred dollars a week is far too little to compensate her for dealing with the Duchon family.

Traveling south from Illinois to Louisiana in 1962 is like traveling to another country, another time. First, there’s the transfer to the segregated “colored” car. Then, there’s having to step out of the way of white pedestrians. There are cafes that won’t serve Jemma and buses that won’t take her where she wants to go. When Jemma reaches the Duchon house, in the countryside near New Orleans, she discovers that this place is no respite from segregation. Something much stranger—and much more dangerous—is haunting this house. Jemma is greeted by the matriarch, Honorine Duchon, a light-skinned woman of African descent who rules her family with a fierce, menacing will. The Duchons are a strange group. They never leave their house and grounds. They dress in old-fashioned clothes. Their maid does not speak, no matter how the family abuses her. And there does not appear to be a job. Jemma is being paid $300 a week to do little more than entertain Honorine’s granddaughter. The Duchons, frankly, made my skin crawl.

Jemma is not the kind of woman to be bossed around by anyone, no matter how much she’s being paid. She keeps her temper until a venomous comment from Honorine or an act of abuse towards the maid, Agnes, provokes Jemma into speaking her mind. In fits and starts, Jemma’s anger at the family and their strange ways makes the plot begin to move. Her anger prompts Honorine and her family to give up their secrets. And then, if you can believe it, things get even weirder.

This Cursed House is an incredible blend of Gothic ghost story, racism, and a vicious family so concerned with their image that they commit all kinds of crimes against their own relations that it takes the breath away. I loved how the plot would twist and turn, never going in the direction expected but always adding new layers to the story. There are some moments towards the end that get a bit mawkish (I skimmed these), but I’m willing to forgive these because the rest of the book is so original and so atmospheric. Readers who are looking for stories that blend family and American history will find a lot to enjoy here.

I have said it before and I will say it again-this is the year of the debut! I tell ya! Im so shocked that this is Sandeen’s first novel. Thank you @berkleypub @netgalley for my advanced copy!

This is very much a southern gothic novel. The time period, the setting of New Orleans and the overall vibes really set the mood. You can literally smell the coffee and beignets.

Right off the bat you feel the unease. The horrors in this novel aren’t your typically spooky ghosts, no the horrors here are the real living people. All of the Duchon family are atrocious. At times, I gasped at the horror they inflicted. There is so much here to unpack and the heart heavy topics really affected me. Jemma was so resilient and went through so much. Throughout the entire novel she continued to push through. Sandeen is definitely an author to watch!

This book literally took my breath away. It had a little bit of everything that encompasses southern gothic. Atmospheric setting where ghosts and spirits swirl around you. The smell of smoke lingering in the air. It takes part during the 1960s in the south, you better believe there are some race issues that need to be discussed. A family that is light skinned and can pass as white. Getting rid of any relation that is a little bit darker than they are. There is a curse that bounds the Duchon family to their mansion. They are at Jemma's mercy to break the curse that has haunted them for decades. Will they be able to come together and figure out how to escape their bounds?

Jemma has had one intense month. Her boyfriend whom she lives with knocked up another girl. She has been let go from her teaching job and she has nowhere left to go. She has never felt like she has fit in anywhere. Even with her family she has felt like a failure. She craves the love and attention of a family, no matter who the family is. She needs to leave Chicago and have a fresh start. A letter arrives at just the perfect time, allowing her to take a job in New Orleans. She has no idea what she is in for. But what she is met with leaves her mouth hanging open and her mind racing. What will she discover when she goes digging into the Duchon family's past?

I loved this book. I was at the edge of my seat, a chill rolls down my spine, the Duchon family are the definition of nasty. They do not know when or how to stop their disgusting behaviors. I was not surprised that they had a curse set upon them. The why took my breath away. Buckle up you are in for one intense ride. Thank you to Del Sandeen and Berkley Publishing for my gifted copy of this incredible Spooky Season read.

I love a good Southern gothic horror novel. It's been a while since I'd read one, and this definitely hit the spot. Set in the Deep South in the 1960s, this story is full of curses, spirits, and dark family secrets.

The book focuses on 27-year-old Jemma Barker. When the book begins, Jemma's life is coming apart, so when she receives a letter from Honorine Duchon, offering Jemma $300 a month if she moves in with Honorine and her family in New Orleans, Jemma takes her up on the offer. Jemma has no idea who this woman is or how she found her, but she's desperate for money and feels that a change of scenery is exactly what she needs after all she has been through.

From the moment Jemma arrives in New Orleans, everyone she meets warns her to leave rather than stay with the family, and when she arrives at their home, it's abundantly clear that something is off. The family members, who are Black but can pass as white, never leave their house and are all dressed as if it's the 1940s. And where is the child that Jemma assumed she would be tutoring? It's not long before Jemma learns that there is no child, and the family brought her there because they need help with a curse placed on them 28 years ago. A curse that prevents them from leaving their property and claims a family member's life every seven years. Jemma has no idea how the family knows she can see ghosts or why they think she can help break their curse. But as the days pass, Jemma learns dark secrets about this eccentric family - secrets that may threaten her life and her sanity.

The author seamlessly blends elements of horror, suspense, and family drama and does it very well. The Duchon family's complex history, secrets, and the curse that haunts them provide a haunting backdrop for Jemma's journey. Even though I had a few suspicions about some of the characters early on, I loved watching it all come together.

Sandeen's writing is immersive and easily draws readers into 1960s New Orleans. This is still very much a Jim Crow South, and Jemma is exposed to a lot more racism than she experienced in Chicago. It's unsettling and adds an extra layer of danger and frustration to an already tense tale. Not only is there danger in the South, but all of that is amplified further at the Duchon's home with the family's dark secrets. There is a lot of tension and creepiness between these pages.

As far as characters go, this book is filled with several memorable ones. Jemma is a breath of fresh air in a genre that often lacks diverse representation. Not only is she fighting her own secrets, but she's also dealing with the racism of a Jim Crow South and the colorism in the Duchon household. She is strong and driven, and I loved watching her grow. As far as supporting characters go, the Duchon family is the icing on the cake. Honorine and her family are characters you will either love or love to hate. I found myself pitying them one moment and then hating them the next.

I think my only complaint with this one was that I felt the pace was uneven. The author tended to repeat herself a lot - almost as if she didn't trust the reader to remember certain plot points. I also felt like we would get several chapters of intense forward movement, and then things would slow down for a few chapters. I read an advance copy, so maybe some pacing issues were fixed before the final publication. Despite this, I still very much enjoyed the story.

Overall, I found this to be a haunting read that I couldn't put down. It's full of family secrets, curses, and creepy happenings, offering a unique twist on Southern Gothic horror. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys a blend of the eerie and the mysterious. If you're a fan of ghost stories, this one is a must-add to your Halloween TBR.

The author's passion shines through in this book. It explored some very intriguing themes. However, I didn’t connect with it or the characters like I wanted to. That's a reflection of me as a reader and not the book! It has great potential to appeal to other spooky/thriller readers and I encourage others to try it out! Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book.

First of all, this is an OUTSTANDING debut novel. I am so impressed by the quality of the writing, the storytelling, the character development, the scene setting and the atmosphere in this book.

This is a beautifully spun historical southern gothic filled with family drama, lies, curses and spirits. We follow Jemma, whose life has just imploded after she loses her job and discovers her partner has been cheating. She is offered a job in New Orleans that seems too good to be true, but she jumps at the opportunity to start fresh and immediately accepts. When she arrives, she realizes that the job is not at all what she was expecting, and neither is the family that she was employed to work for.

We've got lots of characters, from Jemma to the Duchon family, as well as some of my favorite (and the most likable characters) Dennis, Magdalene and Agnes. I loved watching the relationships between everyone grow and change, and I especially loved watching Jemma embrace herself and find herself again.

The social commentary is exceptional, with an emphasis on colorism and racism and it really put a spotlight on the harsh realities of life in the '60s in the south.

While this book is marketed as a horror, I felt that it was a little bit tame when it comes down to it, and I wish that there had been a bit more spook, gore or terror involved. That said, this is still an incredible read and I think it holds a ton of appeal for many different readers, especially considering the important themes that are tackled within its pages.

HIGHLY recommend this one! Del Sandeen is an author to keep your eye on!

I feel like for the past two weeks all I have read is holiday ARC’s so I needed a break and something a little more on tune with the spooky season reads, this book delivered!

If I had to just some of this book with a line, it would be “it was all about the vibes”. The vibes were just so good. Books like this make me love the gothic genre. I am a sucker for it, and always chasing the high that books like this one give me. There is just something about it that I love so much.

This book had such a great plot, and it had a nice amount of history in it. I have read enough history to know stories similar to this book played out in real life (okay not some aspects – it is fiction) but if you’ve read any books dealing with colorism then it will be familiar to the themes that this book is built on. I think that this book did the history justice.

There are so many lies in this book, so much deception and on so many levels. Don’t hear gothic and think boring, this book is anything but and will keep you engaged and interested from the start.